Teach young people to celebrate differences, not fear them

Fear is born from ignorance.

The string of hateful acts across the country over the last several weeks and months has been overwhelming: Eleven people murdered while worshipping at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh –because they were Jewish, said the killer. Two people shot while shopping at a grocery store in Kentucky –because they were black, said the killer.

Our hearts go out to the families and communities of those lost. As we all try to grapple with these devastating events, I have appreciated and valued some of the public responses: criticizing hateful speech, calling for stronger gun laws, and getting out the vote.

Given this country’s, this planet’s, long, dark history of hate – of gruesome attacks against particular ethnic groups, religions, races, sexual identities — education is our most powerful weapon against history repeating itself again and again.

We are not born fearing and hating those different from ourselves.  Hate is learned. As educators, it is our responsibility to teach young people of all ages to recognize, respect, and celebrate our differences. It is our charge to see, name, and talk about the richness in our difference.

I am inspired by the examples of this work that are already taking place in our schools. There are educators teaching students of all ages to understand and honor our differences, to know what stereotypes and biases are — to understand that while we all have them, it is important to recognize and   address them before they cause harm.  Teachers are inviting Holocaust survivors to share their stories with students, they are reading and meaningfully discussing biographies of leaders with identities across intersections, like American novelist and influencer James Baldwin, a gay black man. For resources about discussing bias and building a culturally responsive curriculum, see Teaching Tolerance.

At the NYC Leadership Academy, we focus on helping educational leaders to identify and address their own biases and to understand the importance of understanding how those biases influence decisions, policies and overall leadership moves. As part of this work, it is also important to discuss how leaders create systems across schools and districts to recognize and celebrate differences. We must approach undoing or preventing hate from all sides if we are going to make an immediate and long-term difference, and we must be able to see and name what doing this looks like in our own contexts and on a day-to-day basis. It is not about celebrating Latinos in September or attending the Gay Pride parade, it is about daily actions and interactions.

As we have seen, the consequences if we do not educate and lead with intentionality around difference are dire. Consider the Anti-Defamation League’s Pyramid of Hate. At the very base of the pyramid are stereotyping, making insensitive remarks, and fears of difference. If those behaviors are not squelched, if they are not prevented, they can escalate into acts of bias like those violent incidents we have seen.

Let’s each take the lead on teaching appreciation of those different from ourselves, so that the lives we have lost of late will not have been completely in vain.