Should Michael Brown Be A Classroom Topic?

Yesterday I posted a Huffington Post article on Facebook. The article, titled "Five Ways To Teach About Michael Brown And Ferguson In The New School Year," was one person's opinion on how the story of Michael Brown can and should be taught in our schools. The article, written by Christopher Emdin, a professor of science and education, was written before all of the facts were known and well before the grand jury exonerated Darren Wilson in the shooting. It talked about different ways teachers should bring up the subject and proceed in teaching students about the incident.

The Five suggested teaching points were as follows:

1. Ask students what they know, and what they want to know.
2. Help students make connections.
3. Ask students to write letters.
4. Create a classroom memorial.
5. Carry the theme for the rest of the year.

Remember - this article was written just weeks after the shooting and well before the facts of the case were known.

The five teaching points on their own are somewhat controversial but it's the narrative that comes after each listed point that is the real problem. I'll break it down one by one.

1. Ask students what they know, and what they want to know.

It is suggested that teachers ask their students what they know (or what they have heard) about the Michael Brown case. 

"Once this question has been posed and students begin to respond, they can fill out a simple chart. On this chart students can write down what they know about Michael Brown and Ferguson, and what they want to know. The teacher can then utilize the information on the chart to assess what students have gathered over the last few weeks and plan a future lesson that helps students unearth the facts, fiction, and mistruths in media coverage of the events in Ferguson. The teacher can bring in news stories from different media outlets and work with students on understanding how and why there are so many different angles to how the story is being covered."

OK, that's fair enough - if you really thing talking about an ongoing investigation of which your knowledge is only what you have heard on TV. Asking them what they want to know is good - as long as they get honest information and not speculation.

2. Help students make connections.

The article says teachers should help students connect the Michael Brown shooting to "similar cases that have emerged in recent history." Gee, I wonder which cases those can be?

"It is important for young people to learn how to make connections between the Michael Brown shooting and similar cases that have emerged in recent history. While a discussion of the Michael Brown shooting and the current events in Ferguson are powerful, conversations about Michael Brown with a consideration of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Renisha Mcbride, and other cases that involve similar scenarios place the events in Ferguson in proper context. After introducing these cases, the teacher can ask students what connections, if any, exist across these cases and allow students to discuss the connections that they make."

Since two of those three people were shot by civilians and not police, and the third was not shot at all, the only possible connection the teacher could help the students make is that the dead people were all black. That's not a difficult connection to make but in doing so would not the teacher be turning the case into a racial issue without all of the facts?

3. Ask students to write letters.

"One of the chief ways to engage youth in the first few weeks of school and also develop their sociopolitical awareness is to give them an assignment to write letters to all those who are involved in the shooting. This includes politicians, police officers, the families of victims of the violence, and even the deceased. Having students write letters early in the school year gives them a task that helps them engage as soon as school begins. The teacher can ask students to write different letters to different people involved in the shooting and riots and frame the letters differently based on the person they are writing to."

Once again not a bad idea... except what will the the content of the letters? Will they be asking questions to learn the truth about what happened or will they be asking what's going to be done to prevent white cops from killing innocent, unarmed black men? The content and context of each letter is important so the students can learn the truth about what happened. And the main stream media has distorted the facts of the case from day one. Notice the instructions to the teacher say nothing about obtaining the truth.

4. Create a classroom memorial.

Of all the suggestions, this one is the most disturbing. 

"During the first few weeks of classes, students can create a memorial to Michael Brown on a classroom bulletin board. This activity involves having students use whatever they feel skilled in to create something that would honor Michael Brown and other people who have been victims of police and other violence. ... Students can use this opportunity to create a counternarrative to negative stories and images about Ferguson and Michael Brown..."

The facts about the shooting had not been made public when this article was written. We knew very little about Michael Brown - his criminal history, the details of the actual incident, or the officer's side of the story. All we knew was what a few witnesses had said on TV and those witnesses were completely discredited later in the grand jury hearing. The article wants students to turn Michael Brown into some kind of hero when the truth about the case proved he was not only no hero but a criminal and a victim of his own bad choices. 

(In all fairness to Mr. Emdin, President Obama did the very same thing when he sent a White House delegation to the funeral of Michael Brown before knowing the facts of the case. President Obama turned Brown into a heroic victim instead of waiting for the truth. That truth turned out be that Michael Brown was a criminal and assaulted a police officer - possibly with the intent to kill him.)

5. Carry the theme for the rest of the year.

"Once the teacher has engaged in the activities identified above, a theme has been established, and expectations have been set. Students realize early in the school year that this class goes beyond meaningless assignments like writing and talking about what they did over the summer. Without you mentioning your expectations or giving rules, students begin to see the classroom as a space where the teaching affects real life, and where assignments have meaning. At this point the teacher has to continue to maintain a high level of rigor and support students as they become more active learners."

OK - I'm good with continuing the discussion as things develop. But I can't help but wonder what Mr. Emdin will suggest the teachers talk about now that the facts are out and the grand jury has made its decision. Does he want the truth to be told - that Darren Wilson did what he had to do to protect his own life and that Michael Brown was not a hero to be memorialized? Or, since he made all of these suggestions before the facts were known, will he want teachers to decry the grand jury decision and maintain Brown's hero status - basically siding with the protesters against the truth? 

I'm waiting on his article about where to proceed from here...