A Center for Deep Multicultural Work?

Let me first state that it hurts me immensely that the recent acts of hate at Teachers College were directed at two outstanding people in the school community. Like most others, I believe that the perpetrators need to brought to justice.

However, I would like deal with a statement made in the e-mail sent by the administration, informing the TC community of the latest incident. It referenced the fact that Teachers College is and historically has been a center for “deep multicultural work.” Whoever thought there was a legitimate basis for making this statement is smoking weed. Plain and simple. The statement should have read “Teachers College, which has in recent decades run astray of the Deweyan philosophy of education being the fundamental method of social progress and reform, may have been steered back on the right track by recent events, which have impacted all throughout the community”. I find it ironic that hate crimes might be the impetus for the beginning of real structural change at this institution, but as Oliver Wendell Holmes said, a moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.

I think that these acts of hate have brought about a certain sort of “raw” truth about societal and cultural issues that permeate not only Teachers College but the University as a whole. These occasional stumbles, where an institution unexpectedly trips over this raw “truth”, are usually followed up by a short-lived commitment to either multiculturalism and/or diversity. Students of marginalized populations then become mentally and physically tired from an institution’s constant demands that they produce discussions around race, religion, sex, etc., and do for the university what the university should be doing for itself.

All of us here at Teachers College can see the writing on the wall, the noose on the door, or, simply put, the elephant in the room. Teachers College cannot be defined by how it performs during times of prosperity, like recently being rated the #1 graduate school of education, or by the growth of alternate revenue streams for the college through initiatives, such as the Center for Educational Outreach & Innovation. A TC alum, the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm, said, “When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom profit that loses.” In this time of adversity towards diversity, though, morality winning out is not enough. It must be actualized. It is not enough to stare up the steps—we must also step up the stairs.

In closing, I would reflect on a speaker I heard while I was watching the funeral of Rosa Parks:

“My Rosa resolution is that I will not rest until the fight is over. Wherever I see an injustice, I will stand up. If I can’t stand up, I am going to speak out. And if I can’t speak out, I am going to do like Rosa and grab a chair and just sit in the way.”