In America...?
Let's back it up.
I was a college student in the world of Education in 2004, and I have been a professional in the world of education since 2007. I LOVE THIS FIELD! Even if the professionals in this field are not held in anywhere near the esteem they deserve. Phew. I know so many of us know the value of educators; yet, the way educators have been undervalued and under attack, and the way so many armchair critics have decided they know better than professional educators.... PHEW!
It's like we are trying to single-handedly undermine the lowest paying field that requires the greatest amount of higher ed commitment.
In case you haven't noticed, the education field is DYING.
College students see the writing on the wall. It's nearly impossible to make a living wage in the education field. And it has become thankless... Joe Schmo at the school board meeting is convinced indoctrination is happening and shows up with his pitchfork fully committed to condemning teachers.
TEACHERS!
Teachers. Who love kids through thick and thin and want the very best for them.... and who WILL NEVER make enough money for their time, effort, and expertise. They do it because they love it. They do it because they love kids. They do it because they believe in the possibilities of society because of what an educated populace can bring to society. But folks who have zero experience in the classroom are DRIVING teachers away from the classroom and prospective teachers away from the field. Cool.
THE THING I LOVE MOST ABOUT THE FIELD OF EDUCATION.... is what I learn from my colleagues and students.
I was teaching in Los Angeles in 2017 when I chaperoned a field trip to the Holocaust Museum. There was a spiral walkway in the museum that had portraits of Holocaust survivors. I was not prepared for the number of my students who would say, "That's my great uncle." "That's my great aunt." "That's my grandfather. " I had to work to keep my composure. My 8th graders were pointing out their personal connections to this devastating, dark, horrific time in humanity's collective past.
And then.... We had a guest speaker come and speak to our 8th graders.
One of my students had a great uncle who survived the Holocaust. His great uncle came to our school. He shared his story. This afternoon in 2017 is embedded in my mind and heart.
Just as much as his survival of the Holocaust, his insight into current events was so impactful. He talked about receiving in the mail the Time Magazine issue that declared Donald Trump the 2016 Person of the Year. He said that he sent the magazine back to Time, but before doing so, he wrote something on the cover:
In America?
This man who survived the Holocaust. This man who was keenly aware of the signs of fascism. This man who came to America after the ATROCITIES of a fascist regime. He knew. He loved America. And this America that he loved. This America he came to for refuge. This America I LOVE... was somehow on such an unexpected, yet familiar, track.
In America?
This question lives with me. It haunts me. It drives me.
In America?
The events that have unfolded in Minnesota. Where families are being ripped apart. Where Americans are being murdered by the government in the streets. WHO ARE WE?! What is happening?
In America?
A few years ago, the school where I work came under an orchestrated political attack with CRT as the scapegoat. It was wild. It was also the 2020-2021 School Year. The school where I work had been open. We welcomed our students and our families in-person (and made arrangements for remote learning for students/families who weren't comfortable with in-person learning). We did the thing! We taught in masks. We social distanced. We changed so many of our procedures to do the best we could to keep our community together during a cluster of a time.
And a few families with political agendas rallied early in the spring semester of 2021. Nothing original. Everything was from a political playbook one could easily find with a Google search. And it snowballed. A few families turned into a few dozen families. And before we knew it, they were personally attacking professional members of our community - teachers and administrators.
Before I knew it...
I was also being attacked. Parents were trolling my social media accounts. A student written article about my efforts to build community was the front page of a "packet" that this group was leaving on donor doorsteps.
Literally my face...
Was the Face...
Of what these families were railing against. We were a school. A school of educators. A school of educators who love children. A school of educators who love children that had kept its doors open during a global pandemic. And this was the reaction of 30+ families.
We had bent over backwards to maintain a sense of structure and normalcy. And this was the response of 30+ families. Right here. At our School.
In the middle of America.
We just kept loving their kids. Our kids. We just kept doing our jobs. But, if I'm being super honest, despite our best professional face forward, we have not forgotten who those families were.
We will never not love their children. That's impossible. But we will never forget the parents who lost their minds in the form of political propaganda that convinced them we were trying to indoctrinate their children. They thought WE were guilty of indoctrination?
LoL.
I wish I could have been those parents' teacher. Critical thinking skills are so important. They missed that lesson somewhere.
In America. They missed those lessons in America.
The competing realities in America right now [and for the last decade] are wild! Like how is it possible that we are looking at the exact same thing and perceiving such different realities?! I'm about to sound ancient of days, but I think social media is actually the bane of our collective existence. I post things on social media, but I don't spend a lot of time consuming the opinions of others on social media.
Why?
I just don't think it's the right platform. I have seen the videos of the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. I actually don't care much what anyone else has to say about the videos. With my own two eyes, from all the angles, I can confidently say I believe they were both murdered at the hands of a federal agency. I don't need to see or hear anyone else's analysis for my own two eyes and brain to know that they were killed by the government of the United States. And I think it is WRONG. And yet. It is happening here.
In America.
In early 2017, when the Holocaust survivor came to to visit the students at the school where I worked, he was still asking... How is this happening...?
In America?
It's not a question in 2026. This is happening. Right here. Right now.
In America.
OUR AMERICA!
The magical thing about humanity and history is that we all have just a few short decades in the grand scheme of things to be alive.
To speak up.
To make a world we want to live in and leave for future generations. In addition to thinking "In America?" When something happens, I am now thinking "Is this OUR America?"
Is this the America we want?
Is this the World we want?
I used to feel anchored in a particular denomination in the wider religion of Christianity. In my adult life, I have found singular ideas of God/religion too limiting, but I do hold tightly to a foundational Christian ideal. It's found in the Gospels of the Bible. Here is it from Matthew 22:
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
