5. Being an Anti-Racist Educator Must Include Fighting for Restorative Justice

How Restorative Practices Can Eliminate Harmful

Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline

Dear Friends and Fellow Educators,

I haven't spoken with many of you since late May of this year, when a course of events began that would spark a racial upheaval in our country. I've been supporting students, families, and school staff in devising ways to listen to each other and heal from the various wounds that people have experienced and continue to feel. But mostly I've been reading books and articles and talking to as many people as possible to determine how I can best contribute to the movement to eliminate systemic racism from our schools. The video below is the culmination of these conversations and this period of study and introspection.

I share this message from the bottom of my heart, as a partner and colleague. Addressing racism and disproportionality is uncomfortable. I ask for your patience and open-mindedness in processing what is shared here. Unlike most of my bite-sized content videos about restorative practices, this is a more comprehensive, TED-style speech that I prepared to propel us into action and to provide a tangible demand to present to school leaders and educational policymakers.

All of the statistics cited and resources mentioned are linked below the video. Feel free to visit the YouTube page for this video directly if you'd like to leave a comment. I look forward to discussing this topic and collaborating with many of you.

Links to Data and Resources Mentioned in this Video:

• Police Shootings: Black Americans Disproportionately Affected

• Black students in New York City receive harsher suspensions for the same infractions, report finds

• When students of different ethnicities are suspended for the same infraction, is the average length of their suspension the same?

• The harmful impact of school suspensions and the disproportionate way in which they are unleashed on students

• Critical definitions for understanding and having conversations about racism

• Robin DiAngelo: White Fragility

• Chris Emdin: For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y'all Too

• Ibram X. Kendi: How To Be an Anti-Racist

• Ibram X. Kendi: Stamped from the Beginning

• MLK, Letter From a Birmingham Jail, 1963

• Police Sources: Man Seen On Video Shoving 92-Year-Old To Ground Has Been Arrested More Than 100 Times

• Trump in 1989: Well-educated blacks have an advantage over whites

• Lock the S.O.B.s Up’: Joe Biden and the Era of Mass Incarceration

• What are Restorative Practices and How Do They Enhance School Culture?

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Hemanth Venkataraman aka Mister V

I am a school culture consultant who guides educators to effectively implement restorative practices in order to transform school culture and maximize educational outcomes for all students.