We believe partners play an important role in making schools feel more welcoming to students (Guardrail 1) and supporting antiracism work in school buildings (Guardrail 4). Partners help our schools and students flourish by highlighting and developing the strengths of our students, schools, and communities.
The District is working towards equity by cultivating prosperity and liberation for students and staff, starting with historically marginalized populations, by removing barriers, increasing access and inclusion, building trusting relationships, and creating a shared culture of social responsibility and organizational accountability.
We believe:
- All students achieve when our system works to ameliorate academic, social, and psychological barriers, and provides access to the resources that support academic learning and student led innovation
- The best kind of programming cultivates a sense of belonging through engaging, culturally-relevant activities and instruction that embrace different ways of knowing and understanding
- It is our collective responsibility to build a learning environment that is supportive and inclusive of the most marginalized groups within the school community
- Engaging our parents, families, and communities in authentic interactions where their suggestions and concerns are seen and heard, is central to developing a framework of shared decision-making that amplifies their voices
- In the distribution of funding, programs, and resources based on community need
We recommend partners:
- Design programs based on perceptions of our students that are rooted in their potential and strengths, as opposed to stereotypes.
- Provide regular training and support to staff on the topics including managing unconscious bias, recognizing privilege, identifying microaggressions, combatting saviorism, anti-racism etc.
- Ensure that voices of people of color are sought out and heard within your organization/program.
- Hire people of color and ensure they are not only employed in direct-service positions, but also leadership and decision-making positions within your organization.
- Establish and maintain a diverse board that reflects the community you serve.
- Connect with our office to share your strategies and resources!
Resources:
White Privilege
An unacknowledged system of favoritism and advantage granted to white people as the beneficiaries of historical conquest. Benefits include preferential treatment, exemption from group oppression and immunity from perpetuating social inequity.
White Supremacy
A system of exploitation to maintain wealth, power and white privilege.
Racism
When a racial group’s collective prejudice is backed by the power of legal authority and institutional control, it is transformed into racism, a far-reaching system that functions independently from the intentions or self-images of individual actors.
Racist
One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea.
SOURCE: Ibram X. Kendi, How to be an Antiracist, Random House, 2019
Antiracist
One who is expressing the idea that racial groups are equals and none needs developing, and is supporting policy that reduces inequity.
SOURCE: Ibram X. Kendi, How to be an Antiracist, Random House, 2019
See a glossary of equity-related terminology here
Books & Articles
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Racing To Justice: Transforming Our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society by john a. powell
- Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
- Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
- 106 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice by Corinne Shutack
District's DEI Office website
Review the SDP Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Learning Pathways.
Listen to the DEI Office Podcast.