Dear Pleasant Valley Families,
The last few weeks have left me devastated in spirit and bereft of words. In the United States we have reached the grim statistic of over 107,000 deaths due to corona virus. Our economy is reeling from the effects of unprecedented shelter in place mandates, and millions of people across the nation are currently unemployed. On a much smaller but personal scale, we are ending the school year at PV without our usual celebrations and closure. All of this was hard enough, and then last week happened…
One week ago, I watched in horror as George Floyd died under the knee of a police officer in Minnesota. That incident alone would have sufficed to cause anyone to shout out in outrage, but Floyd’s death closely followed the deaths of three other African Americans: Ahmaud Ahbery, a 24 year-old gunned down by white vigilantes when he was jogging in the street. Breonna Taylor, shot and killed by police who stormed her bedroom at night in search of someone they already had in custody. Sean Reed, a 21 year-old who was shot and killed by police officers who reported he was driving recklessly and ignoring their verbal commands. There was also the video of Amy Cooper in Central Park threatening to call the cops on Christian Cooper (no relation) and she tells him “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening me.” Her threat suggests that she fully understood how the police would interpret her call.
I have struggled to find an appropriate way to express my grief, anger, and frustration. I tried imagining how the families must feel. How would I respond if it had been my brother, my son, my daughter who was killed? Loud protesting in the streets is the very least I would do to express those feelings. Being white, I have never experienced explicit or implicit racism directed at me personally, haven’t had to worry that my reckless son would be shot by police officers or my daughter could be shot in her bed. People of color live with that kind of threat of violence and oppression every day of their lives. They must teach their children to be more careful in public because people of color are more often not given the same respect or presumed innocence as other people. I cannot imagine what it is like and will never fully understand it.
Racism is insidious and it is violent. It is a white institution, and only white people can stop it. I cannot stand by any longer and watch silently from the sidelines. Justice, equity, compassion, dignity, freedom, and courage for ourselves and our loved ones.are “universal” values, meaning everyone has a right to them. The Declaration of Independence states it very succinctly: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
At Pleasant Valley and throughout NUSD, our educators and staff are reminded daily of our responsibility to be leaders of positive change in our communities. We teach students to be citizens of action, not empty words or easy sympathy. We take this responsibility very seriously. I urge all of us to stand together in support of the protesters to end unjust systems and institutions, and closely examine ourselves and our own implicit biases. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the only thing we can do if we want to leave the world a better place for our children and children’s children.
Start early by talking about racial differences in positive ways. Provide your children access to books, TV shows, and films that have black protagonists. Here are a few other things we can all do towards ending racism:
TALK — about race to your kids, to your friends, to your family and to your coworkers. Starting the conversation is the hardest part but it gets easier.
PARTICIPATE in non-violent protests like this PV family below did this week:
(Photo by Maya Gingold)
DONATE to an organization that works to support Blacks and other minorities.
READ – White Fragility; How to Be An Antiracist; Biased; Raising White Kids; Me and White Supremacy are good starter titles Start watching — any video or talk by Robin DiAngelo or Verna Myers or any TED talk about racism or bias in general.
WATCH films about racism – Some are based on true stories like Harriet, Fruitvale Station, 12 Years a Slave, and Just Mercy (currently available on Amazon for free). Other outstanding films are Moonlight or Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (although it is 30 years old, it is very relevant for our times).
I hope you will join me and others in taking action, and thank you reading!
Dana Sadan
Principal, Pleasant Valley Elementary