CMS chief calls on teachers to address racism, says summer 2020 was ‘an awakening’
“Not business as usual,” read the first slide of a virtual back-to-school presentation by Superintendent Earnest Winston earlier this month.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools chief, in his second year on the job, began his 25-minute message to teachers with an acknowledgment of pandemic-induced challenges facing educators and families. Then Winston dove into a discussion of systemic racism and the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. And he asked teachers to examine their individual roles and how they might narrow the the longstanding achievement gap between Black and white students.
Winston’s message has gained support from both former and current CMS teachers.
But the leader of one statewide teachers’ group is calling on the CMS school board to investigate Winston’s video. Judy Henion, who is white and a former CMS teacher, has labeled it “racist.”
WFAE first reported on the issue earlier this week, saying many find Winston’s approach to be bold — a necessary step in the “road to anti-racism” — while others took offense.
Winston, who is Black, posted his message to teachers video on YouTube Aug. 4. WFAE reported teachers watched the video last week while returning to work, at least temporarily, from school buildings.
In the video, Winston, who is a former English teacher, calls nationwide protests after Floyd’s death “an awakening.”
“An awakening of disparities, an awakening of consciousness, an awakening of the impact of this country’s original sin: Racism,” he says.
Winston focused most of his message on “systems and structures” that led to disparities between Black students and white students, and their families — and not just in education but also in housing, employment, criminal justice and health care.
“It is important to be clear about your own personal beliefs, bias and how they show up in your relationships with students,” Winston said in the video.
He also gave a sort of pep-talk to teachers: “I want us all to dig in,” he said. “Let’s change outcomes for children.”
‘There is work to be done’
Henion, though, claims some in CMS are upset and told WFAE she heard from some teachers after watching the video.
Henion is president of the Charlotte-based Classroom Teachers Association of North Carolina.
“His performance was the epitome of RACISM,” the retired CMS teacher posted on Facebook Aug. 6 with a copy of Winston’s video message. “Every parent in CMS should watch this video and ask yourself, “Who is the real racist here?” Henion posted. “Is this what YOU want leading your children?”
“I agree with you 100%,” one CMS teacher replied to her post. “I cannot believe that he went in that direction. I am shocked.”
But other current and former educators who commented on social media said they backed Winston and his message.
“As a teacher and a teacher educator, I don’t understand how one calls this racist,” posted Mike Steele, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “It is calling out structural racism and calling in CMS teachers to be antiracist in their work.
“Perhaps the fact that it’s making some of you all uncomfortable suggests that there is work to be done.”
Posted CMS teacher Joan Fitzgerald in reaction to Henion: “You have completely changed my opinion of NC Association of Classroom Teachers.”
Winston is the second high-profile leader in Charlotte in recent days to use his platform to address pervasive systemic racism in North Carolina and beyond. Earlier this week, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles zeroed in on how “urban renewal” policies in the 1950s and 60s systematically displaced and destroyed a thriving Black neighborhood, Brooklyn, in the city’s Second Ward.
Lyles apologized for Charlotte’s role in systemic racism and said city leaders now must form new policies to atone for past injustice.
She said historic city policies have long “impeded the stability, the well-being and progress” of Black residents.
This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 3:27 PM.