THE NUMBERS OF BLACK STUDENTS WERE SMALL, AND THEY OFTEN FELT VULNERABLE AND EXPOSED. ALL THE SAME, IT WAS A BRAVE IDEOLOGICAL MOVE. RACIAL INTEGRATION WAS NOW SOMETHING THAT WAS ON THE CARDS FOR ALL SCHOOLS IN THE COMING YEARS AND THEREFORE A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION AT SIZWE. While our work could serve to lay the foundations for integration among students, we were very aware that the teachers, who would be most influential in leading or blocking the success of multiracial schooling, were not yet part of our programs. And so we began to discuss ways to leverage our strong relationships with local schools to include a teachers’ program. After much thought, we decided that a teachers’ exchange would be the most effective way of giving teachers a glimpse into the lives of their peers and, hopefully, shifting their thinking. The logical conclusion of multiracial schools was not only a mixed student body but also a racially mixed faculty, something that would ultimately prove far more unacceptable to white parents than even the thought of a sixteen-year-old black boy sitting next to their daughter.
What do You think about Holding Up The Sky (2016)?
