Blog
The Absencing & Reimagining of Multiracial Youth Identities in K-12 Settings
Race in America has traditionally been viewed through a monoracial lens. Hence the “one-drop rule” of hypodescent, where having one drop of black ancestry meant one was raced as black. Hence the omnipresence of the “What are you?” question. Hence the insistence of diversity experts to “view America as a ‘salad bowl’ with separate racial/ethnic contributions, view diversity from a narrow-minded American viewpoint, and rely on one critical theory - the ownership of power - that requires each race/ethnic group to be completely separate in a hierarchically oppressed system” (Baxley, 2008).
Retention & Support: Reversing the Teacher Labor Crisis in Rural States
When I arrived at the University of Wyoming in 2021, I thought I knew what it meant to work at a rural land-grant institution, having spent the previous five years at the University of Vermont, in addition to seven years at the University of Georgia and six years at the University of Hawaii. While each of these states has a unique rural character, I was quickly disabused of the notion that I understood rural. Nothing in my career up to that point prepared me for the geographic vastness of my new home state and the challenges that come with those long, unpopulated stretches of unflinchingly straight highway.
Equity Begins with Our Educators
In American public education today, there is a lot of talk about equity–we hear about diversity, equity and inclusion, about leveling the playing field, about ensuring the same high-quality opportunities for all kids. But when you dig deeper, what is actually being done in this regard? With increasing intolerance in our society as evidenced by a rise in white supremacy and acts of violence against ethnic, racial, and religious minorities, and with a larger portion of kids than at any point in modern American history accessing free and reduced lunch (a proxy for identifying people struggling against poverty), something fundamental needs to shift in how schools address this crisis.
