As hundreds of citizens show up in town squares and streets to call for justice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, many people are asking: How can this happen? How can police violence and the deaths of black citizens at the hands of police happen over and over again in our American democracy?
And before this, we were already in a pandemic that was disproportionately impacting black and Latinx communities, many of whom work as essential workers.
For answers, many are looking at how our systems work in the U.S. and calling for systemic change, from our policing and justice systems to health care and education.
A big part of our system is our schools where it all starts with education -- how we’re trained and how we’re treated in our schools. On MU’s campus, systemic change and racist history was called up in the Concerned Student 1950 movement. And students at Mizzou and at Rock Bridge High school have recently taken their testimonies of experienced racism to social media.
At last night’s board meeting for the Columbia Public Schools district, students and community members presented a list of demands to address issues of inequity in our schools.
In this episode, we talk about equity and education. If it all starts at our schools, how can we make our schools fairer - and safer - for all students?
Our guests:
Carla London, Chief Equity Officer for Columbia Public Schools.
Annelle Whitt, director of Multicultural Acheivement Committee (MAC) of Columbia Public Schools.
AJ Foster, MU student and #BlackAtMizzou organizer.
To hear the live show, tune in weekdays at noon. Also, you can leave us a voicemail on our listening line at 877-532-0971. Tell us about how you are handling the current crises our region is facing and any questions you have.
