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BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN Vol. 77, No. 2
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IF YOU WANT A REVOLUTION,
THE ONLY SOLUTION, EVOLVE:
THE USE OF CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE
TEACHING IN TODAY’S CLASSROOMS
By Satasha L. Green and Bennie Green
have used education to help bring about revolutionary
changes in their quest for inclusion in American society.
Within both society and schools, racial discrimination and
segregation have created some of the most volatile and
tumultuous challenges in United States history. For decades
following the implementation of slavery in the United States,
African Americans received little to no education, influenced
No matter what they do they can’t break
by laws prohibiting teaching enslaved African Americans to
your stride, evolution is a thing that starts
read or write.5 Although there were notably a few schools
inside. Throw your hands up, clinch your
for freed slaves in the north, formal education remained
fists with pride. Hold your head high no
unobtainable for the majority of African Americans. When
need to hide... if you want a revolution the
opportunities for education became more readily available
only solution...Evolve (you got to evolve).1
to people of color in the United States, these institutions
- David Banner
still operated under a doctrine of “separate but equal,” as
In 2014, thousands of youths and young adults
around the nation participated in many protests and
demonstrations against police brutality and violence. These
events were sparked by the shooting of an unarmed African
American teenager, Michael Brown, who was killed by
a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Movements
for social justice, similar to the current movement to stop
established in the historic 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy
v. Ferguson, upholding the constitutionality of racial
segregation.6 Further, schools for students of color were
notably underfunded, understaffed, and deficient in quality
learning materials in comparison to white schools. The
“separate but equal” doctrine served as the justification for
racial segregation for several decades to come.
police violence, have traditionally incorporated the call for
The 1950s saw another historic, legally defining
access to quality education. Historically, education has been
moment for the United States public school system in the
used for advancing racial equality and affording peaceful
Supreme Court case Brown v. the Board of Education of
responses in times of conflict and civil unrest.2 According
Topeka, Kansas (1954).7 Challenging the common practice
to the Ferguson Action Movement, ending “policies that
of racial segregation in United States school settings,
criminalize our young people as well as discriminatory
the Brown decision dismantled the legal framework for
discipline practices that bar access to quality education”3
racial segregation in public schools by declaring that the
has implications for the disproportionate representation of
discriminatory nature of racial segregation “violates the
African American males in the school-to-prison pipeline.4
14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which
There is a need to provide students with a school system that
guarantees all citizens equal protection of the laws.”8 In
provides a quality education for all, regardless of their race,
overturning the longstanding decision of “separate but
ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
equal,” Brown v. Board of Education laid the foundation
Researchers have determined that education is
perhaps the single most important criterion for social change
in society. Education has become both a privilege and a right
for most American citizens. Moreover, African Americans
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for shaping national and international policies regarding
human rights and developing inclusive educational settings.9
Importantly, the spirit of this case assisted in laying a solid
foundation for the Civil Rights Movement in the United
78
States (1955–1968) and the passage of the Civil Rights
in order for educational systems to evolve and ultimately
Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on
provide a quality education for African Americans.
race, religion, gender, national origin, and ethnicity and
encouraged the desegregation of schools.10
The efforts
toward racial desegregation of schools and the integration
of racial diversity served to charge similar movements in
later decades to create inclusion in school settings across
the country, notably the gender equity and disability rights
movements.
Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is needed
to help bring about a revolutionary change in education.
CRT provides cultural connections for students to content
material.16 Providing students with CRT can support them
academically.17 According to Illana Lane, CRT supports
students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD)
in the development of a “cultural personality.” It encourages
Currently, the reinvigoration of the movement
students who are CLD to pursue and identify academic
for social justice spreading across the nation has notable
excellence within their own cultures.18 CRT is intended to
implications for our educational system and the educators
help increase students’ academic attainment, but also to help
who teach within it. We must ask ourselves, “What are the
develop the needed knowledge and skills to achieve economic
roles of educators in this fight for social justice to provide
independence and citizenship based on an authentic and in-
quality education for all students?” The U.S. educational
depth understanding of the political system in which they
system was founded on the ideal that education “can and
live.19, 20 Aligning curriculum, instruction, and evaluation
should be used to change the existing social order, in order to
practices that complement student cultural values and ways
‘improve’” society.11 One of the proponents of this philosophy
of knowing can successfully and effectively meet the needs
was Lester Ward, a social revolutionist who thought social
of students who are CLD.
change could be achieved by way of social intervention by
government and mass education. He believed that the public
educational system could play a pivotal role in bringing about
revolution.12 Given the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri,
the current modern-day revolution echoes this sentiment and
calls into question the current role of education as a change
agent in this movement for social justice.
The Michael Brown incident has catapulted a
movement for social justice that offers a platform for
educational discourse and brings to the forefront the need
for access to quality education for all students. Many
revolutionary changes in society have historically been
focused around education. Education has been used in
evolving racial equality and nonviolent responses to
The African American struggle for equal access to
conflict.21 As the U.S. educational system continues to evolve,
capital and education continues, and, consequently, the long
our instructional practices must parallel this progression.
journey for education by generations of African Americans
Revolutionary teaching strategies, such as CRT, are needed
proceeds on much different terrain. For example, African
to not only provide a quality education for all students, but
Americans have been and still generally are excluded from (a)
create evolutionary change in the U.S. educational system.
gifted and talented programs, (b) access to “highly qualified”
It is through the lens of CRT that educators can begin to
teachers, and (c) schools that have ample resources.14 This
effectively address the disparities facing African Americans
racial and ethnic cohort still struggles against inequalities of
within K-12 education.
13
the past; they have been denied total access to educational
capital since the country’s colonial beginnings.15 Therefore,
there is a need for revolutionary practices in the classroom
BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 78, NO. 1 | 13
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Notes:
12. Stephan J. Sniegoski, “State Schools versus Parental
1. David Banner. “Evolve,” YouTube video, 3:10, May 1,
2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAtIZafyeHI.
2. David J. Smith, “Ferguson Social Justice, and the
Role of Community Colleges,” Huffington Post,
September 30, 2014, accessed December 15, 2014,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-j-smith/
ferguson-social-justice-a_b_5902296.html.
3. “Our Visions for a New America,” Ferguson
Action Movement, accessed December 10, 2014,
http://fergusonaction.com/demands/.
the School-to-Prison Pipeline (New York: Teachers
College Press, 2014).
An Essential Preface for Understanding the MisEducation of the Negro (New York: A&B Books
Publishers, 2000). Original work published 1931.
Wright,
215–28.
13. Vivian L. Gadsden and Daniel A. Wagner, Literacy
among African American Youth: Issues in Learning,
Teaching, and Schooling (Cresskill: Hampton Press,
1995).
14. Linda Darling-Hammond, “The Color Line in
American Education: Race, Resources, and Student
Achievement,” Du Bois Review 1, no. 2 (2004): 213–
15. James D. Anderson, “Literacy and Education in the
African-American Experience,” in Literacy among
African American Youth in Learning, Teaching, and
5. Carter G. Woodson, The Education of the Negro:
L.
Social, Political, and Economic Struggle, June 1985,
46.
4. Crystal T. Laura, Being Bad: My Baby Brother and
6. Richard
Rights: The Legacy of Lester Frank Ward,” Journal of
“Functional
Language,
Socialization, and Academic Achievement,” The
Journal of Negro Education 52, no. 1 (1983): 3–14.
7. Keith W. Medley, We as Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson
(Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 2012).
8. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S. Ct.
686, 98 L. Ed. 873 (1954).
Schooling, eds. Vivian Gadsden and Daniel A. Wagner
(Cresskill: Hampton Press, 1995), 19–37.
16. Winifred
Responsive,
Montgomery,
“Creating
Culturally
Inclusive
Classrooms,”
Teaching
Exceptional Children 33, no. 4 (2001): 4–9.
17. Robin Averill, “Reflecting Heritage Cultures in
Mathematics Learning: The Views of Teachers and
Students,” Journal of Urban Mathematics Education
5. no. 2 (2012): 157–81.
18. Illana R. Lane, “Good Teaching: Truth or Fiction,”
Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin 72, no. 4 (2006): 9–12.
9. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
10. “Equal Protection of the Laws,” Brown Foundation,
20. Mwalimu Shujaa, “Cultural Self Meets Cultural
accessed December 10, 2014, http://brownvboard.
Other in the African American Experience: Teachers’
org/.
Responses to a Curriculum Content Reform,” Theory
11. Charles W. Whalen and Barbara Whalen, The Longest
Debate: A Legislative History of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act (Cabin Locks: Seven Locks Press, 1985), 115–7.
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into Practice 34, no. 5 (1995): 194–201.
21. Cheryl A. Utley, Satasha L. Green, and Kimberly
M. Edwards, “Infusing Culturally and Linguistically
78
Responsive Teaching into STEM Programs,” in STEM
Education: How to Train 21st Century Teachers, ed.
Satasha L. Green (Hauppauge: Nova Publications,
Students should be able to:
•
Ferguson and the results of the case;
2014).
•
22. Ibid.
Discuss the events that led up to Plessy v.
Discuss how past events can shape how people
think and act;
•
Satasha L. Green, Ph.D., is dean of the College
of Education at Chicago StateUniversity, located
in Chicago, Illinois. Her research interests
include STEM education, culturally responsive
teaching, and multicultural special education.
Email: [email protected]
understanding history.
Objectives
•
Develop a deeper understanding of Plessy v.
Ferguson through discussion and analyzing events.
•
Bennie Green, Ph.D., is a professor in the
Department of Psychology and Sociology at
Texas A&M University-Kingsville, located in
Kingsville, Texas. His research interests include
multicultural education, gerontology, and the
study of social behavior and human social life.
Email: [email protected]
Demonstrate the use of primary sources for
Comprehend how past events shape present
educational systems.
•
Explore primary resources to investigate historical
events.
National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) Standards
Time, Continuity, and Change
Teacher Expectations:
•
institutions, values, ideals, and traditions, as well as
LESSON PLAN
PLESSY V. FERGUSON: SEPARATE BUT EQUAL
IN TODAY’S SCHOOLS
processes that lead to change within societies and
institutions, and that result in innovation and the
By Satasha L. Green and Bennie Green
Connections to Elementary and Middle School
Have learners identify continuities over time in core
development of new ideas, values and ways of life.
•
Have learners explain why the past is important
This lesson focuses on Plessy v. Ferguson, the case that set
to us today. How has the world changed and how
forth the doctrine of “separate but equal” in the U.S. edu-
might it change in the future? How do perspectives
cational system. Students will explore the historical events
about the past differ, and to what extent do these
that led up to this groundbreaking case and the implications
differences inform contemporary ideas and actions?
of the case for the American educational system. Students
will discuss how the current education system would be different if we still lived by the “separate but equal” doctrine.
Lesson Plan Goals
•
Have learners use stories about the past to help
develop an understanding of ethical and moral
issues as they learn about important events and
developments.
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Individual, Groups, and Institutions
Teacher Expectations:
•
Have learners analyze institutions’ important roles in socializing individuals and meeting their needs, as well as in
the promotion of societal continuity, the mediation of conflict, and the consideration of public issues.
•
Have learners identify and analyze those institutions that they encounter and how they operate.
Activity
•
Have students read and discuss the book Plessy v. Ferguson: Separate but Equal? by Harvey Fireside.
•
Discuss with students the concept of “separate but equal” and what treating people equally means.
•
Tell students that they are charged with creating a world where Plessy v. Ferguson was not overturned and “separate
but equal” is still the law of the land. Students will create a world that considers “separate but equal” in school. They
will write a personal reflection about how this would affect their lives today.
Assessments
•
Students will write a personal reflection describing how “separate but equal” would affect their lives today.
•
Students should be able to effectively identify the events that led up to Plessy v. Ferguson and the results of the
case.
•
Students should be able to use primary sources to investigate the facts of Plessy v. Ferguson.
Teacher Resources
•
Satasha L. Green and Bennie Green, “If You Want a Revolution, The Only Solution, Evolve: The Use of Culturally
Responsive Teaching in Today’s Classrooms,” Black History Bulletin volume 78, no. 1 (2015).
•
Harvey Fireside, Plessy v. Ferguson: Separate but Equal? (Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1997).
Additional Resources
• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_plessy.html
• http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson
• http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/separate-but-equal.html
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