I never thought I’d have to deal with this, but here we are. It’s not common sense that racism is shameful and bad.
I teach a group of fourteen-year-olds who still think dropping the n-word is funny, but I can deal with those situations and made it pretty clear to them that if I ever hear it (or anything similar) in my classroom, they will have earned a ticket to the principal’s office and I will be talking to their parents.
However, there is a more complex situation that has been occupying my mind lately and I would appreciate your thoughts and advice.
A kid turned up to my class wearing ladder laced boots with white laces. (For those who don’t know, this means the person is a white supremacist, lace colour was/is used to showcase identity and can differ from place to place) It caught my eye when I heard her asking a friend if her laces were visible enough the way she folded the cargo pants she was wearing. I asked her if she was aware of the meaning of white laces and she said yes, but added that according to her skinhead friend, lace code was no longer taken seriously. I told her that while that is true, you can still get in a lot of trouble in certain places and that I do not want to see it on her again.
I also mentioned it to another teacher who immediately went and talked to her about it, but I feel like she is going to keep wearing the laces as a fuck you.
She wants to be cool and edgy, but she has no idea what shaky ground she’s on. She often makes racist remarks, but nothing that could get her into trouble so far.
I will stand my ground and speak to the principal about this if she continues wearing the laces, but very very few people know about their meaning so it’s not taken as seriously as if she wore a swastika or something similar. Still, I told her that if I know (and I’m not in those circles) then someone else will, too.
The bigger question here is sensitization, how I could not just enforce not showcasing racism symbols as a part of her outfit but to get through to her and the others who might think they are cool and edgy.
Thank you for reading!
They are seeking attention, from other fash. By wearing Nazi identifies they’re signaling to other Nazis they’re one of them. The kid knows all this per above. Tolerating it even a little is bad. I wouldn’t allow that kid in my class if in saw them wearing that shit after I discovered they knew exactly what they were doing. The parents allowing that is child abuse. This lib shit is why the us is the fash shithole it is.
They are signaling to other Nazis in a… middle school classroom? No, they aren’t signaling anything. They want to provoke a response and get attention from people who are expressly against what they’re showing. It’s a rebellion to authority for them. They’re copying what they think the “cool” kids do, and try it themselves.
Kids are shitheads, the parents could be diehard communists and doing everything they can to prevent this, but teens will always try to rebel and be cool. Nazi salutes, yelling penis, saying the n-word, browsing liveleak, anything that is taboo is fair game to those underdeveloped idiots.
Again, the commenter bellow represents what should be done. You have to challenge them without making them defensive. If the conduct repeats over and over, then yes, you will have to escalate. But if you do that out the gate they will see the engagement as a victory because they got under your skin.
It’s not tolerating. It’s drawing them into a situation where you have the upper hand. If you unleash a full broadside, they’ll just hunker down and double down.
Again, I feel like you’re overlooking that kids rarely act this way because they actually care about white supremacy or racism. They do it because it gets big responses like what you’re recommending. It plays right into their hands, and it’ll make the behavior worse if you fight fire with fire.
They put those boots on for the people they hang out with when not a school. Such as the skinhead friend.
Calling edgy is a huge reach. I was an edgy teen and hung out with other edgy teens. We didn’t say or do racist things BC that was the purview of the racist teens. They had their own table and everything. Hung out with their older siblings friends and their extremely fash parents. They had to eventually quit wearing the stars and bars but they just moved on to other signifiers. Lot of the older ones, 16+, had neat little angular peeks of tattoos showing too. A cool little breeding ground that was just ‘tolerated’.
The commenter below’s strategy would be for 8-12. A 14 year old is going to tell you enough that quit bothering them.