Last week, the Senior School had the honour of hearing from Ms.Minnijean Brown Trickey at our Annual Black History Month Assembly. In 1957, Ms. Brown Trickey was one of nine African American teenagers who attended Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas after Brown vs. The Board of Education declared racially segregated schools unconstitutional in 1954. The image of the “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be called, being escorted to school with the National Guard at their side is one that every American child, myself included, has been shown in school as a testament to the bravery of those who blazed the trail to end hundreds of years of racial segregation in the United States. However, what has always stood out to me about this photograph are the faces of their white fellow classmates, frozen forever with their hatred etched on their faces. Last week, I felt the photograph come to life as Trickey shared what it felt like to hold her head up high and walk through that wall of rage. 

 

The complex history of racism in the United States is personal for me because it is part of my own history. I was born and raised in the United States and lived there for most of my adult life until I moved to Canada in 2020. I have also taught American History for over a decade, in both the United States and Canada, and teaching about American racism is an integral part of teaching about America. I have used the story of Minnijean Brown Trickey and the Little Rock Nine to teach students how easily bystanders to hatred find themselves becoming perpetrators of hatred. For Ms. Brown Trickey, the experience of being part of the Little Rock Nine was an act of resistance that led to a lifetime of activism in pursuit of racial justice. Through the simple act of attending school, Ms. Brown Trickey was part of tearing down an empire of racism that had plagued the United States since its inception. As she reminded our students, we are forced to confront our values of integrity and justice every day in the halls of our school when we hear a friend make a joke in poor taste or an unkind conversation. She challenged our students to take these moments seriously because they are the moments that define us. 

 

Ms. Brown Trickey’s activism paved the way for over 100,000 Black students to attend public schools in Arkansas this academic year, making up roughly 20% of the total enrolled students. This statistic would have been unimaginable in 1957 and represents the progress we have made towards a more equitable world. However, we should resist the temptation of applauding ourselves for “solving” the problem of racial inequality. After hearing from Ms. Brown Trickey about her activism in 20th century America, Canadian activists Justice Faith Betty and Nia Faith Betty shared with their students their own path towards activism as Black women in the 21st century. Like many ballerinas of colour, Nia struggled to find dancewear that matched her complexion, which inspired her to start her own brand of dancewear, Révolutionnaire. The message they imparted to our students was that there are many ways to be part of the fight for racial equality, whether through active protest or simply seeing a problem and taking the initiative to find a solution. The availability of dancewear for diverse bodies means that more dancers from diverse backgrounds can participate in ballet, but it also sends a clear message that all dancers are welcome in a space that traditionally has been reserved for white dancers. 

 

Fellow activist Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Looking at the highly polarized political environment in the United States, King’s statement feels like a reassurance more than inspiration. This past November, I attended the National Conference of Social Studies in Boston, Massachusetts with thousands of Social Studies teachers from all over North America. I was shaken to my core by the fear I saw from American educators to confront difficult topics in history for fear of losing their jobs. I returned deeply grateful for the academic environment of St. George’s School and its commitment to exposing students to the real, pressing issues of the world they live in. It matters to those of us who get the privilege of teaching here, but it also matters to our students. After the Assembly, I spoke to some of the students in my AP US History class about how they found the speakers and almost universally they shared that getting to hear Ms. Brown Trickey telling her own story was a powerful reminder that the arc does not simply bend towards justice. It is bent through the hard work of living up to our values in our everyday lives and resisting the urge to turn away from the suffering of others. 

 

 ~ Ms. Robin Nider, Social Studies Teacher