Eve L. Ewing

Thanks for having me.

Thanks for having me.

Well, schools have always served the purpose of reinforcing the needs of the state in the United States. And so our young people are being educated, but the question is always educated for what and by whom. And so the central argument that I would make here is that as the United States required the normalization of indigenous genocide, indigenous land theft,

Well, schools have always served the purpose of reinforcing the needs of the state in the United States. And so our young people are being educated, but the question is always educated for what and by whom. And so the central argument that I would make here is that as the United States required the normalization of indigenous genocide, indigenous land theft,

and the enslavement of Black people, that it has constructed a system of schooling that normalizes those things by telling us that Black children and Native children are not full children, are not full humans deserving of love and care in the same way as other humans are.

and the enslavement of Black people, that it has constructed a system of schooling that normalizes those things by telling us that Black children and Native children are not full children, are not full humans deserving of love and care in the same way as other humans are.

The United States, as you know, and as your listeners know, had a social, political and economic reality that for many generations was reliant on slavery and the enslavement of African people stolen from the continent and then raised here as property.

The United States, as you know, and as your listeners know, had a social, political and economic reality that for many generations was reliant on slavery and the enslavement of African people stolen from the continent and then raised here as property.

And at the same time, the land in which we walk, move, live and breathe and where you and I are speaking right now is land stolen from indigenous peoples. And so what that requires is the idea that disappearance for Native people, for Native children, is normal. The idea that it was their destiny to no longer be here.

And at the same time, the land in which we walk, move, live and breathe and where you and I are speaking right now is land stolen from indigenous peoples. And so what that requires is the idea that disappearance for Native people, for Native children, is normal. The idea that it was their destiny to no longer be here.

And we see that taught in schools today, often through omission, the ways in which Native stories are not mentioned, are not talked about, but also the ways in which the idea of Native people is relegated to a distant past.

And we see that taught in schools today, often through omission, the ways in which Native stories are not mentioned, are not talked about, but also the ways in which the idea of Native people is relegated to a distant past.

And so many of our children learn in schools things that the Native Americans, quote unquote, did in the past, as though there were not Native people living and breathing and moving around with us today. And then in terms of Black people, part of what the nation required of Black people, especially after emancipation, was this continued subservient role.

And so many of our children learn in schools things that the Native Americans, quote unquote, did in the past, as though there were not Native people living and breathing and moving around with us today. And then in terms of Black people, part of what the nation required of Black people, especially after emancipation, was this continued subservient role.

Because if you could no longer extract labor from Black people for free, from our children, from our bodies for free, then we had to keep Black people in this kind of perpetually economic and socially subservient position. And so we see that in everything from the way tracking works in schools,

Because if you could no longer extract labor from Black people for free, from our children, from our bodies for free, then we had to keep Black people in this kind of perpetually economic and socially subservient position. And so we see that in everything from the way tracking works in schools,

to the unspoken assumption that Black children are not as smart, which we also see reflected in representation in things like gifted and talented programs.

to the unspoken assumption that Black children are not as smart, which we also see reflected in representation in things like gifted and talented programs.

Even things like the conversation we're having right now around quote-unquote DEI hires and the way DEI in education has really become kind of a euphemism to mean just the presence of people of color more generally, and especially Black people, that is based on a kind of unspoken assumption that Black people do not deserve to be in a place on their own merits.

Even things like the conversation we're having right now around quote-unquote DEI hires and the way DEI in education has really become kind of a euphemism to mean just the presence of people of color more generally, and especially Black people, that is based on a kind of unspoken assumption that Black people do not deserve to be in a place on their own merits.