By Carolyn Jones, EdSource, June 1, 2020
After George Floyd, an African-American man, died last week in Minneapolis after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white police officer, protests and rage erupted throughout the U.S. On Monday, education leaders across California spoke out about systemic inequities and current crises facing young people. Here’s a summary:
“It has been difficult for me to make sense of how a man can beg and plead for his life and still have his life snuffed out. It has been hard for me, as a black man, who every day thinks about the impact of race. It has been difficult for me, as a parent raising African American children, to know what to say, how to answer their questions when they ask me, ’Dad, why did this happen?’ And to know that I have to confront my own vulnerability: that when they ask me, ‘could this happen to them?’ that I might not be able to keep them safe. … We know that bias exists in every sector of society. Now is our time to speak, and to address racism and implicit bias in education.”
— Tony Thurmond, California Superintendent of Public Instruction, in a statement on June 1, 2020.
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