A network of Teacher Activist Groups (TAG) joins the outpouring of organizations and individuals outraged by the events surrounding the arrest and detainment of 6 African American high school students from Jena, Louisiana. Through the publication of a resource guide entitled, Revealing Racist Roots: The 3 R’s for Teaching about The Jena 6, TAG calls upon educators to raise the issue in their schools.

In her introduction to Revealing Racist Roots, Professor Pauline Lipman, Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago refers to the case of the Jena 6 as “a modern-day lynching.” This is a reference to more than just white students hanging nooses from a tree. It also speaks to the differences between how black students were treated in comparison to their white peers once racial tensions began to escalate and turn violent following the incident. The situation has been touted in the media and by organizations such as Color of Change as “a clear case of Jim Crow ‘justice’.” But “Jena 6 is much bigger than Jim Crow alive and well in the south,” writes Lipman. “It crystallizes the pervasive racist police violence, everyday discrimination, and criminalization faced by African American and other youth of color – on the streets and in their schools.” It should not be viewed as an isolated series of events in a single town, but as representative of a larger, ongoing struggle for justice and racial equity in the nation as a whole.

Lipman goes on to point out that the six students involved are just that, students. If all students are expected to learn about our country’s justice system, our history, our laws and our rights, what kinds of lessons can we learn from the Jena 6? TAG set out to collect resources and lesson ideas that might help teachers and students understand contemporary racial conflict by placing the case of the Jena 6 within a historical framework. “If we want our students to understand why events like this are still happening in the year 2007, it is critical that teachers help students reveal the roots of racism,” comments Bree Picower, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at New York University and co-editor of the guide. “We hope that this resource will provide educators with tools to engage in these difficult, yet important, discussions.” Connections are also made within the guide to literature, media literacy, the arts, math and social activism.

TAG is a growing network of teacher organizations with a focus on social justice education. Currently the group includes New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE), Chicago based Teachers for Social Justice (TSJ), and the San Francisco based Teachers 4 Social Justice (T4SJ). While each group has a unique identity and works independently on projects in their respective cities, collectively they share the belief that teachers and community members have the power to promote social justice through educating and organizing. This curricular guide marks the beginning of many more TAG activities planned for this year.

With his conviction overturned, Thursday, September 20th, will no longer mark a protest of the sentencing of Mychal Bell. Instead it will serve to rally supporters and call for their continued efforts to take action. TAG aims for teachers to act through teaching, in the hopes that we will continue to learn from the Jena 6 even after their cases have been resolved. Revealing Racist Roots is free and available via the internet at www.nycore.org and www.t4sj.org starting September 20th.