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Friend,
A world history class at a Georgia high school last year created a stinging yet motivating memory for Azaio Udoh.
When topics like European wars were discussed in class, “everything was free rein,” the 15-year-old sophomore recalled recently.
But when the topic turned to slavery, she said, “suddenly everything was off limits.” The mood turned tense as the students pressed the teacher for answers.
“He refused to describe the condition of a slave ship or show a picture of a slave ship,” Udoh said. “He changed the subject immediately when students asked what they wanted to know. The Black and Brown students said out loud that slavery wasn’t that long ago and that some of our ancestors were slaves, so it affected us personally.”
Udoh, whose parents are from Trinidad and Nigeria, had witnessed – and sometimes bore the brunt of – aggressive, racist comments and innuendo throughout her years in Atlanta’s Fulton County public schools. Now she felt hurt, angry and frustrated that repressive education policies had not only spread an uncomfortable atmosphere of self-censorship among teachers but kept students from learning the history they are entitled to receive.
“I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say. I don’t want to say something that will get me fired,” the teacher muttered loudly enough for Udoh to hear.
“He was also a Black man,” Udoh explained, “so there was disappointment for him and empathy that he couldn’t speak the truth.”
Since then, the censorship and intimidation of educators in Georgia have only intensified.
The Georgia General Assembly this year passed repressive new laws, including one (HB 1084) that prohibits the teaching of nine “divisive” topics involving race and racism. Another (HB 1178) gives parents the right to continuously review – and reject – teaching materials and to withdraw their children from classes. A third (SB 226), which takes effect in January, gives parents the right to file a formal complaint against teaching materials that are “harmful to minors.”
“Even beyond the troubling comparisons of this kind of censorship to history, the overall goal of conservatives is to undermine public education,” said Bacardi Jackson, interim deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Children’s Rights Practice Group. “The politicians are pitting white people against people of color. Through racism, hate and homophobia, they are playing on people’s fears and pride – whatever makes people feel better about themselves. And they are using our children as political fodder.
“[School] libraries are being purged,” Jackson continued. “Kids can’t even find information in libraries. [Students] are getting harassed online. Educators who have spoken out are called ‘groomers.’ They are creating an unsafe environment, emboldening people who possibly pose a physical and emotional threat to others.”
‘Reclaiming power’
Udoh and other students are organizing to fight back against the assault on inclusive education, and no one should underestimate the resilience of emboldened student organizers in Georgia. They are media-savvy, politically astute and determined to win the battle with adults who seek to undermine their ability and right to receive an accurate, honest and high-quality education.
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In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
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