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Among my third-graders, conflicts often arose over the issue of skin color. “Your mama left you in the oven too long. You look just like a burnt cookie!” “Oh yeah, well you look like a white boy. I bet you ain’t even black.” As a young white teacher coming into a school that is about half African-American and half Latino, I knew there would be racial conflicts, but I didn’t know how they would manifest themselves. I assumed that both groups’ first concern would be the oppression and racism from white people. I was not expecting the intense criticism that I found within the African-American community of its own members.

What 'Brown v. Board' meant to the United States.

Costumes and makeup aren’t the only markers for cultural appropriation. Dr. Neal Lester explains the prevalence of—and problems with—“figurative blackface.”

School enrollment patterns in the Deep South are no coincidence.

This educator wants young people to know that a small group of organized, passionate and hardworking people is behind a national movement.

Dr. Timothy McCarthy talks through the history of Reconstruction and why it’s more important than ever to get it right.