Thank you for this piece. I consider myself a vehemently anti-racist educator, and I've been trying to understand both sides of the debate. It sounds like you and I share a goal. We both want to explore the best way to educate our students: they are society's future adults. I am a white teacher of black and Latino students. I grapple with questions like this: when students arrive late to class, is it because they are delinquent, or is it because time is more flexible in cultures that value community and creativity over efficiency - and maybe that's okay? In modern society, our professional and corporate spaces require behaviors that are cultural (such as dressing a certain way) and behaviors that advance our institutions (such as designing an effective ad). I do think there's a distinction between "professionalism" behaviors that are for-show and productive behaviors that contribute to an institution's mission. But it's insanely difficult to disentangle the two. I want to build world where everyone is invited to achieve without being limited by traditionally white behaviors. It's hard, because it requires those of us with privilege to relinquish some of the ways we've come to believe things "must" be done.

I'm curious: do you think we share a goal? We purport to be on opposite sides, but perhaps there is more in common? I'd love to discuss further.