Trump is not our first racist president. Considering that that eighteen of our presidents owned slaves at some point in their lives (famously including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson), and a long line of presidents supported laws of segregation, he might not even crack the most racist half. Unfortunately, his candidacy and election as president have certainly made racism more mainstream.
Today, for the first time, I had a student specifically cite President Trump's racism as a reason why his racist comments should be ignored. The student claimed that making a racist comment was his opinion and thus protected under the 1st Amendment. I explained that the 1st Amendment does not protect against threats or words which cause injury, nor does it say that there will not be consequences (such as losing a job or being suspended from school) for saying certain things. His reply was that Trump said racist things about Mexicans and he became president, and then asked what his consequences were.
While my reply was that there are a number of lawsuits that Trump has to deal with and that we might not know the full consequences for some time, my mind was spinning. How can we tell our middle school students that abusive, hate-filled, or sexually demeaning language is not acceptable if Trump was able to become president of our nation doing exactly that?
This is not the only class in which I have had to address racist or other hateful comments this week. Certainly, I've had to have these discussions with my students throughout my career, but the day-to-day incidents have noticeably increased. These aren't bad kids. I believe that they are honestly confused and are testing the boundaries of what is and isn't acceptable (as all teenagers do). I hope that I can guide them in a way that makes our world a less hate-filled place.
Today, for the first time, I had a student specifically cite President Trump's racism as a reason why his racist comments should be ignored. The student claimed that making a racist comment was his opinion and thus protected under the 1st Amendment. I explained that the 1st Amendment does not protect against threats or words which cause injury, nor does it say that there will not be consequences (such as losing a job or being suspended from school) for saying certain things. His reply was that Trump said racist things about Mexicans and he became president, and then asked what his consequences were.
While my reply was that there are a number of lawsuits that Trump has to deal with and that we might not know the full consequences for some time, my mind was spinning. How can we tell our middle school students that abusive, hate-filled, or sexually demeaning language is not acceptable if Trump was able to become president of our nation doing exactly that?
This is not the only class in which I have had to address racist or other hateful comments this week. Certainly, I've had to have these discussions with my students throughout my career, but the day-to-day incidents have noticeably increased. These aren't bad kids. I believe that they are honestly confused and are testing the boundaries of what is and isn't acceptable (as all teenagers do). I hope that I can guide them in a way that makes our world a less hate-filled place.
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