‘How do YOU dismantle the 'isms'?

The question above was posed to me in the comments section of a blog post I wrote recently. The post was entitled "Imani and the Cabbage Seeds. [2]" In it, I wondered about “isms”—racism, sexism and other things that either separate people or give one group power over another.

My interlocutor wanted to know how I try to dismantle the “isms.” Personally. I realized that I do it in four ways:

First, I choose to teach in a Title I school, where over 90 percent of our students are from families who qualify for free and reduced lunch and Medicaid. I try to follow the advice of my old friend Albert Schweitzer [3], who left the debates of Europe and founded a hospital in Gabon, West Africa. “I want to make my life my argument,” he said as he sailed away. I think my students (and those similarly situated) are the most vulnerable in our society. So I am there to be with them and use best practices to help them become all that they can become.

Second, I support the Southern Poverty Law Center [4], the parent group of Teaching Tolerance. It is sad to me, but our courts seem to be the place of last resort for those affected by the “isms.” I trust my friends there to seek out injustice and confront it in the courts so we can name it, see it and defeat it.

Third, I try to be a good example in both word and deed to my two sons as we try to build the beloved community in our home, schools, work places, and church. We look at the world around us and say, "Yes, we think that's it," and "No, we don't think that's it." When we say, "No," we ask, "What could we do to change it?"

Last, I try to put a human face and heart on my students by writing about them in this blog. I believe in the power of words, their power to build and heal. But, as I said above, I ultimately believe that actions are more important.

I wonder—do you believe there are “isms” built into our society? If you do, then how do you dismantle them?

Barton is an elementary school teacher in South Carolina.