Yesterday we unpacked the n-word.
Me–an Indian teacher; them–a seventh grade class.
Yesterday we unpacked the n-word: its ability to dehumanize, its reformation and reclamation, its ownership
We barely scratched the Surface.
I ache to do it right: be a steering voice to this class of twelve white kids and one. black. boy.
—but—
They will never be complete—these talks
for they will walk out; he will walk Out
and I cannot protect them. Him. from the deep-set veins of prejudice that flow, drenching every surface that he will step on.
So I look into their eyes. His eyes.
and try
to offer a tiny slice of the opposite each day he enters my room.
and hope it’s enough.
