Massachusetts prides itself on education. We pride ourselves on the care we take in learning and teaching. It is time for our State to lead by implementing a mandatory structural change in education from K-12 to effectively educate our communities to be actively Anti-racist. With knowledge comes power, and change, and too long have the effects of white privilege and structural racism in American and global history been conspicuously absent from our classrooms. 

We need Anti-racist curriculum as a mandatory part of the content standards for all public schools in Massachusetts. This will allow for schools to implement the work as a central part of their curriculum rather than depending on individuals to carry the load for entire schools and districts, often without support, or appropriate training. 

We need a clear, structured scope (breadth and depth of what is being covered) and sequence (the order in which things are taught) for K-12 education in Anti-racism. We cannot stay silent and hope to wait for America at large to drift vaguely towards racial equity. We need to actively take on and learn about these issues in a mandatory, structured environment in our public schools in order to effect social change, and lift the curtain of “white blindness.”

This is a call for well-rounded education, but more importantly a call for social justice through educational reform. We must create systematic change in our education to allow for America to change. 

It’s time for Massachusetts to commit entirely to Anti-racism, and implement this education in our schools.