麻豆原创

For people of color in America, surviving the COVID pandemic thus far has meant coping with a huge additional stress: The police killings that have pushed the Black Lives Matter movement to the forefront.

For many educators, school psychologists and public health experts, that reality simply confirms an already obvious truth.

鈥淲e鈥檙e collectively recognizing that racism is a public health issue, which is long overdue. And if we are going to effectively address health inequities, we have to effectively address 鈥� and actively fight 鈥� against, racism, too,鈥� says Sonali Rajan, Associate Professor of Health Education.

In schools, that means that all grownups 鈥� including school psychologists 鈥� must be prepared to answer questions about systemic racism and Black Lives Matter, says Prerna Arora, Assistant Professor of School Psychology and Director of Teachers College鈥檚 School Mental Health for Minority Youth and Families (SMILE) Research Lab.

鈥淢ost school psychologists in this country are White females,鈥� Arora says. 鈥淭hey need to be comfortable discussing this topic, and that means they need to understand how to ask questions and how to explore their own racial identity, their role in systemic racism and their feelings of White guilt. In our program at 麻豆原创, we ask our students to be aware of these concerns and to address them in relationships with children and families.鈥�

Ultimately, she adds, 鈥減eople aren鈥檛 going to trust schools and school communities if they don鈥檛 believe those communities support them. So how we respond to Black Lives Matter is critical.鈥�

In the public schools in Camden, New Jersey, the response shaped by Superintendent Katrina McCombs (M.Ed. 鈥�96)  has been predicated on that same belief.

So many young people of color being shot and killed unnecessarily at the hands of police 鈥� it鈥檚 had an enormous impact on the psyche of our community.

鈥擪atrina McCombs (M.Ed. '96), Superintendent, Camden (N.J.) Public Schools

鈥淪o many young people of color being shot and killed unnecessarily at the hands of police 鈥� it鈥檚 had an enormous impact on the psyche of our community,鈥� says McCombs, whose student population in Camden is half African American, half Latinx. 鈥淭he killing of George Floyd was so very overwhelming.鈥�

McCombs praises the city鈥檚 police department as a model of community policing, but says staff, teachers and family members were all requesting support from the district on how to talk to the children about what was happening on a national level.

鈥淚t really focused us, as an educational organization, on what is it that we need to do? What actions do we need to take to support our students and families now, but also to make sure that we are building up our students鈥� resilience, building up our students鈥� ability to understand that they are cared for, that they are valued, despite what they may see happening in front of them.鈥�

We鈥檙e collectively recognizing that racism is a public health issue, which is long overdue. And if we are going to effectively address health inequities, we have to effectively address 鈥� and actively fight 鈥� against racism, too.

鈥擲onali Rajan, Associate Professor of Health Education

After the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Camden closed its schools for a day of reflection.

鈥淲e needed to think about the impact of what was happening in the context of our nation's history, and how to support our students and families, how to build up our students鈥� resilience and let them know they are cared for, they are valued, despite what they may see happening in front of them,鈥� McCombs says.

Ultimately, McCombs acted on three fronts.

First, she called for the review and revision of the Camden school system鈥檚 curricula around persons of color 鈥� 鈥渙ur African American history courses and how we teach students who are Latinx about their backgrounds.鈥� 

Most school psychologists in this country are White females. They need to be comfortable discussing this topic, and that means they need to understand how to ask questions and how to explore their own racial identity, their role in systemic racism and their feelings of White guilt.

鈥擯rerna Arora, Assistant Professor of School Psychology

Second, she called on the city to rename Camden鈥檚 largest comprehensive high school, Woodrow Wilson High School. 鈥淏ecause of the segregationist practices and racist views of Woodrow Wilson, despite all of his other accomplishments, we felt that name did not show our students who walk in and out of those doors every day that they are valued,鈥� McCombs says. A committee made up of the school鈥檚 alumni and current students is still working on the issue.  鈥淲e really want it to be a learning experience for our students about how you  can respond in a productive way to things happening in society that you鈥檙e not comfortable with.鈥�

McCombs also sought to ensure that Camden students who are of age understood the importance of their right to vote and know how to do it, remotely or otherwise.

鈥淲e didn't want our community not to vote because things seemed too weird or because they saw too many hurdles. So we鈥檝e provided tutorials, not delving into students鈥� political views 鈥� because your choice is your choice 鈥� but just making sure that our families and students know how to obtain absentee ballots or whatever else might be a potential barrier for them.

鈥淩acism is the other, ongoing pandemic that affects our society.  It鈥檚 going to take so much more to defeat it, but we wanted to start somewhere.鈥�