In this text, Venture Smith recounted his experiences as an enslaved person in New England, including his work to pay his enslaver for his freedom in the mid-18th century.
Many educators profess, as a virtue, that they treat all students the same. But when a student’s specific needs and story are erased, it’s not equitable—it’s damaging.
Educators who connect their teaching to students’ cultures, languages and heritage create classroom environments that value critical home-school relationships, affirm student identities and challenge stereotypes.
Racism, white privilege and white supremacy are challenges that people of color neither created nor should be expected to resolve. This scholar encourages white allies to step up.