all kids deserve to be "smart alecs."

From everything I have read about teacher/student interactions, it is safe to assume that the majority of my teachers from 4th - 12th grades hated me. I wasn't a discipline problem in the traditional, throwing chairs and cursing people out kind of way. No, I was just a really smart Black kid who challenged her White teachers and actually wanted to learn stuff. I was what they called a "smart alec."

My 5th grade teacher was the only one to ever call me a "smart alec" to my face. It was during Science time (we didn't switch classes). She spelled "vertebrae" wrong and I corrected her. Then she told me I was wrong, so I went and got a dictionary and showed her that I was right. She didn't acknowledge that I was right and never apologized for calling me a name, she simply kept teaching... and spelling "vertebrae" incorrectly.

I got straight A's in her class, but she always gave me bad marks for behavior that I never got in trouble for at home.  How could I have? My parents were the ones who had the audacity to both teach me things outside of the classroom and tell me that it was okay to be smart. I had this 'can't nobody tell me nothing' attitude (though I would never have spoken that grammatically incorrect statement aloud), and I credit my academic success to the fact that I still have it. If I think you're wrong, I tell you. If I have an opinion, I share it. In college and graduate school, this is encouraged. In K-12, it certainly is not... especially if you're Black.

Both research and anecdotal evidence show me that being a girl probably saved me from getting into serious trouble. Black boys are disciplined at rates much higher than anyone else, usually for engaging in the same behaviors that are overlooked (or even encouraged) in others. The school-to-prision pipeline is very real, and in this "zero tolerance" educational environment that favors harsh consequences over teachable moments, the differential discipline of Black boys has serious consequences. Kids who are suspended are much more likely to drop out, and drop outs are much more likely to end up in prison... all for something as simple as questioning a teacher. It's funny in a depressingly unfair, we-need-to-fix-this ASAP kind of way. (I'm working on it, but I need your help!)

But even with this knowledge, I want my (future) kids to be "smart alecs" like their mama. Actually, I want all kids to be "smart alecs", but especially the kids of color who are so often stifled from showing their intelligence by both peers who don't think it's cool and educators who don't think kids 'like that' are smart. I want it to get to the point where kids of color are told that they can do anything while not being expected to do anything. For this to happen, ingrained stereotypes and deeply held beliefs about people of color in general will need to be dismantled and discarded. Kids internalize these negative messages before they even know that there is something else out there. It is up to us as a society to make sure that all messages are positive ones.

Are you up for it? I know I am.

xo,
Lindsay