Language, Race, and Power

Illustration: Michael Duffy

In this standardize- test-and-punish era, there's too little consideration for how race matters in school — from the language we prize or penalize to textbook content to how teachers discipline students. The six essays in this section, led off by Rethinking Schools editor Linda Christensen's "Putting Out the Linguistic Welcome Mat," argue for critique and inclusion — with race at the center.

"By bringing students' languages from their homes into the classroom, we validate their culture and their history as topics worthy of study," Christensen writes.

In "The Murder of Sean Bell," New York City-based creative writing teacher Renée Watson details how, using the curriculum, she helped her students turn their anger and fear stemming from the police shooting death of 23-year-old Sean Bell into powerful poetry that gave voice to a grieving community.

Other articles in the section include:

"An Incomplete Identity," by Marona Graham-Bailey

"Whitewashing the Past," by Bob Peterson

"More Than a Statistic," by Dorothy Franklin

"Peers, Power, and Privilege," by Lauren G. Mednick

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