Learning from the Path of Our Better Selves

Currently, our country is increasingly becoming more polarized and divided. This book seeks to bridge the cross-cultural gaps in discussions about racism and other isms in the classroom. We have concluded that there needs to be more empowering and inclusive messages for all of our students. Having conversations about race that result in further division and tension causes students to diverge into different paths of “us” and “them.” How can we bring people together?

Our solution is to illuminate important key white humanists who risked their lives to advance racial justice and who worked alongside notable black activists for the same causes during a time of enslavement where their alliances seemed more unlikely. In highlighting the courageousness of white humanists, we are not viewing them as “saviors” but as complex individuals who evolved over time to follow black activists to the right side of justice. We try to balance the empowerment of all people, emphasizing their mutual paths and shared alliances.

It is our hope that the lessons in this pilot book would incite students to choose the path of engagement and a higher level of thinking in examining the social justice issues of the past and the present. To better understand the present-day discourse surrounding race, we will examine how these topics were addressed in the 1800s to show students how change can occur today. A critical discourse that centers on a humanist pedagogy is a key strategy educators can use to slowly eradicate the injustices of the past.