I lied to my students. It was unintentional. But I did it. I guess it's what comes from having white privilege. I told my students that, "It could never happen. Trump will never be President." When students blogged and wrote about their fears, I tried to put them to rest by telling them it would never happen. But it did happen, and so this makes me a liar. And in my class, your word means a lot. My kids are, "behavior students," and haven't always have the best experiences with adults. I'm lucky. My kids love me. And I love them. I am real with them and in return they are real with me. But I lied to them. I thought I was telling the truth and I would never have lied to them on purpose, I still lied. And it's killing me.
I have students who are in this country illegally. They haven't told me this. We haven't had a big discussion about it, but they have opened up in other ways about it. They have written about their fears. They have blogged about it too. They are worried they will be sent to Mexico, a place they don't remember. They worry they will be separated from their families. Kids are being bullied by other kids in my school, being taunted with words like, "your family is going to get sent back." Kids were in tears today and so were many teachers.
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I have students who have been the victim of different types of abuse and harassment. How can I look these kids in the eye knowing that I lied to them. I told them it would never happen. And it did happen. We now have President Elect Trump. He's an abuser and he's our elected President. We have let our children down. The future of our country showed up to school today in tears. The minority students, the LGBTQ students, the poor students, the students who don't fit into a group, the kids who feel they don't matter.
As I sat in the school parking lot and cried, I looked at the clock and saw that I had nine minutes to get it together and be there as my kids arrived for the day. My sister-in-law always reminds me that when bad things happen, Mr. Fred Rogers would say, "Look for the helpers." Teachers are the helpers. We are the ones on the front lines, day in and day out, with your children. We comfort them, we cry with them and we tell them they are loved. We also tell them if they react with hate, Donald Trump has won more than this election.
We are better than the hate. We are better than the fear. We rise above it. We take care of each other. Grieve and get better. Move forward. Vent and move along. We cannot allow this election to change us, to make us angry and bitter -- to make us the fearful. We are the hopeful.
To my students. I am truly sorry. I let myself get lulled into a bubble of privilege and I have learned my lesson. Always be aware of the world around you. Never take for granted the political process or those involved in it. Each of you is intelligent, funny, and make our class the family that it is. And I wouldn't trade any of you. I will fight and advocate for each of you just like always, nothing has changed. If anything, I have become a more fierce protector of you. As you kids say, "I got you." Trump or no Trump, "I got you."
