If this is your first year doing this series, we recommend starting with the August 2018 materials and following the 2018-19 Inquiry Series 1 Discussion Guides. 

Don't forget to give us feedback!

Join BARWE Core on Thursday, April 23, at 7pm (ET) for a national discussion on April’s topic. RSVP here and we will send you the Zoom meeting link. 

Overview

Since COVID-19 began to spread, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities have faced racist comments, jokes, harassment, assaults, and isolating behavior from those afraid of catching the virus. Our students may be facing this violence themselves or perhaps are perpetuating it. Educators have a responsibility to support those harmed by this wave of anti-AAPI violence and interrupt xenophobic narratives and violence. 

This xenophobic violence and rhetoric associating BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities with disease and contagion has a long history. For detailed historical context, see the additional readings. We see this history and recent violence as symptomatic of the legacy of white supremacy and the ongoing system of race-based discrimination it perpetuates.

While schools are closed and communities are in isolation, it may begin to feel like we are becoming disconnected from this work. BARWE would like to encourage you to reach out to your  networks and consider a plan for holding your monthly discussion groups virtually. Google Hangouts is a tool that we frequently use to host virtual meetings. It can be used through any device, although you may be required to download an app. Here is a simple video that explains how to schedule meetings through Google Hangout. Video chats through Hangouts have a cap of 25 users. If you are scheduling a larger virtual meeting, you can also use Zoom meeting software. Zoom has recently taken the step of lifting the time limit on free accounts. Instructions for the removal of that time limit can be found here.
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Primary Article

​Guiding Questions

  • How has anti-AAPI xenophobia and racism associated with COVID-19 impacted you, your students, and your school community? 
  • How can we interrupt xenophobic or racist comments, conversations, and harassment from our students or peers? (See this brief reading to get this conversation started.) 
  • How can we equip our students with the historical context and skills to discern when something is xenophobic and how they can respond? ​

Additional Resources

Facilitation Information

  • Set a day and time for your group to meet - Make sure to send reminders. See the overview for ways to schedule your meeting through Zoom or Google Hangouts, or join us on April 23 at 7pm.
  • Send this month’s Primary Article to your group. Look through the additional readings to see if there is another reading that might be better suited to your group and its interests.
  • Prepare yourself to facilitate by reading through our Norms and Discussion Protocol.
  • Pass the Hat and collect donations for Asian Americans United this month.
  • Complete the Feedback Form.
  • Prepare yourself for May by setting a date and time, inviting colleagues, and looking out for our next Discussion Guide on May 1st.

Feedback Form

As we grow in year two, we hope that one person in your group can take a few minutes to fill out our feedback form to let us know how it went.

Here are a few takeaways from previous meetings:

  • “The idea of language was powerful.  Both with the words racism versus prejudice and the very idea of having a group with the word White. Some teachers wanted clarification on why it is okay to call ourselves White Anti-Racist Educators. For some this was new territory.  That was confirmation that this group and materials will be useful.”
  • “[We are working on] Keeping our white fragility out of the equation...own up to what we have done and move on. Do not dwell on it, but instead focus on the work at hand by taking the burden off of our peers of color and beginning to do the work ourselves as white educators.”
  • “The discussion questions provided a wonderful way to dig much deeper into work already being done in our district.  The article gave us a more in depth and serious look at what we needed to really start delving into these topics with each other.  It has given us a much better starting point that then points us in the right direction to begin this important work in a predominantly white educator community and predominantly students of color district.”

Thank you all for your feedback so far, please keep it coming!

Pass the Hat

In addition to being accountable to our colleagues and students of color, we believe it is important to be financially accountable to people of color who are doing this work on a daily basis. Each month, we will recommend an organization led by people of color, in education and beyond, doing the work of pushing for justice.

At the end of each monthly discussion, pass a hat (or a box) and collect donations for the designated organization. You can then have one group member go online and donate in the name of your school. If you want, you can add “Building Anti-Racist White Educators” after your school name.

This month, we encourage you to donate to Asian Americans United, which “was founded in 1985 by a small group of volunteers seeking to create an organized response to rising issues of anti-Asian violence, substandard housing and the need for educational services for non-English speaking Asians in the city.  Since that time, Asian American’s United’s mission has been to grow leadership in Asian American communities to build our neighborhoods and unite against oppression.”

If you are looking to buy refreshments for your session, we recommend supporting businesses owned by people of color, especially Black-owned businesses, if at all possible. In Philly, we recommend Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, Franny Lou’s Porch, and Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books. Especially in this current moment, also be sure to patronize your local AAPI-owned businesses.