Courtesy of Erika Whitfield
Erika Whitfield
In 2017, then seventh-grade English teacher Erika Whitfield was navigating her students' conversations about the acquittal of former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, who shot and killed St. Louisan Anthony Lamar Smith. The 12-year-olds, learning things as it happened from their cell phones, had a lot of questions. It was the second time Whitfield's administrators encouraged their staff to engage in discussions about race in the classroom; the first being after the shooting death of Michael Brown.
It was a predominantly black public school in St. Louis, and conversations about policing and race often came with personal stories: "Male students discussed how, when walking with a group of friends, being questioned by the police was commonplace," Whitfield wrote in an essay published by The Washington Post. "And they recount these interactions with police as if they are telling me the weather. No emotion. It's normal to them."
Whitfield has since left the St. Louis public school. For the last two years, she's taught at one of the few predominantly black schools in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, but that school closed in May, citing the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now a part-time adjunct teacher at Columbia College, Whitfield's classroom lessons feel more important than ever.
When I read the headline of your Washington Post piece, I assumed it was written in 2014, in light of the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. But it was actually written after your seventh-grade students began asking about the acquittal of former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, who shot and killed Anthony Lamar Smith in 2017. Now we are seeing nationwide civil unrest and calls for police reform, sparked by the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd, and protests here in St. Louis. St. Louis is a very interesting place, just historically. It feels like we're rooted in segregation. That segregation really truly dictates how we're moving forward. Our communities are going to have to band together and make the decision that we want better for ourselves. Whether people agree with the way that the protests are happening, whether they feel like they're turning violent and that's not okay, that's one school of thought; the other is that this is the result of all that frustration and, no matter how you feel, this is the time where we have to make some positive change.
What does that change look like to you? Frankly, I want to invest in the youth. Other people might want to invest in businesses in order to [create change], so we need to all find our lane and start doing the work. We need people who can create opportunities for the kids so they can see how important they can be. You don't necessarily know that you can be an engineer until you know an engineer or see an engineer and that engineer looks just like you.
How has St. Louis changed since you wrote that essay? I think that the outside world is more aware of things that are happening in towns like St. Louis and areas that are similar to St. Louis. It's no longer this thing that only St. Louisans know. If you live here, you know there are certain municipalities where they police more heavily. Now the outside world knows that exists, and we learned that in other cities, the same things are happening.
If you were still teaching younger students what conversations would you be having about George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the protests? It's not like it's something we could ever avoid, because kids have so much access to information. We can filter how they're interpreting the information and give them an outlet to let that out, whether it's writing or journaling. Whether it's just talking with a responsible adult that is willing to listen or allowing those students to speak freely without judgment. Right now there is no one way, no right way to do this. It's so multifaceted that we just have to create many-layered avenues for our students to be able to release feelings. America is being traumatized over and over and over again—and the kids are being affected by this trauma. We just have to create like safe spaces for them, it's just super important that they have safe spaces. Because if we don't, then it's just going to build up, and the way that they release it might not be constructive.
In your Washington Post article, you wrote the ways you taught about racism in addition to the standard curriculum. What lessons have you added over the years? A lot of times, I open space for them to ask questions. But here's the thing about kids: They don't want to be made fun of by their peers and they don't want to be embarrassed. If teachers create a space where they can anonymously ask questions—maybe they write the questions on a post-it note and don't put their name on it—then you go through those questions to make sure that they're truly appropriate for the discussion. If you answer the questions and you as a teacher facilitate a discussion around it, it can be really powerful for those kids.
How can parents have these conversations with kids at home? It's tough, because I am a parent, my son is 7 years old and he's asking me about the man who was killed by the police. I can't say to him, "You'll never be put in that situation." I have to find a balance for my young son to explain to him that, "These bad things are happening. They shouldn't be happening, but I will try to protect you." On the other hand, with my daughter, who will be 13 in July, the conversations are a little bit more realistic and more sophisticated. She has some historical context. So I think it's really important that parents are being as honest, based on age and based on their maturity, about things that are happening, because kids are going to get this information. I filter my Facebook page and I have seen the [video of police officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on George Floyd's neck] more times than I care to. So just imagine your kid, who has access to social media, who is not filtering the people that they're attached to—think of how many times they have seen that video.
How should white parents be addressing the subject of racism and police brutality with their children? No parent has all of the answers. White parents need to find different perspectives from other people. They need to get perspective from black people. They need to make sure the children are getting a true representation of how black people in their community are truly feeling. It is not OK for you just to have one or two black friends. This is a world filled with diverse people, you should have access to someone who is African-American, who you can have conversations with. You have to be open to whatever it is they have to say.
What literature do you often use in lessons? A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is my absolute favorite book to teach. Here is an African boy in the Sudan, he's experiencing war. He's about 11 years old. He has to leave his entire family and venture out on his own in order to be safe. If inner-city students couldn't resonate with that, I don't know what they would be able to resonate with, because that's their lives. For students that are more mature, the autobiography of Frederick Douglass is a must-read. It's kind of graphic in some areas, because it is a true account of slavery. You have to help students understand that even though things seem very explicit, it is very true and very real. I think knowing that Frederick Douglass was able to escape from that—and that he was able to be as successful as an African-American man could be in that time—that is such an awesome story for students to read.
If you're a teacher or parent looking for resources on anti-bias conversations, Whitfield recommends the Anti-Defamation League's guide.
