We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb Inaugural Poem
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
These words from Amanda Gorman hit a nerve. As a white woman raised in the south in the 60’s and 70’s, Just Is was a part of the thread that wove the fabric of racism in our time. Echoes of that’s just the way it is rang through the school hallways I walked, the places we shopped, the neighborhood streets we rode. The only dark faces I saw were our maids and their children.
Desegregation didn’t happen until I was in the 4th grade, 1971. I remember having no school for two weeks while the scramble to mix it up began. That was fun for us kids. When we returned to school, there were new faces, new teachers. My favorite was Miss Love. She was a large black woman with a great bosom for hugging you close. She gave us one of my favorite assignments, a state project. I chose Maine because the capital city is Augustus, my birthday month (of course!). I have never gone to Maine but have a special place for it in my heart because of Miss Love.
Change is easy for kids. Children don’t really know racism. I didn’t when I was ten. But now, in retrospect, I see more clearly how “just is” was not “justice.” I cannot change the past. None of us can. But we can do better when we know better, another famous quote from an African American hero– Maya Angelou.
Reflections on the Teche 
Thank you for your honest reflections, Margaret. I was struck by this line in Gorman’s poem too.
Powerful reflections here- just is ends up being an excuse in so many situations- we can be the change, but it is not easy or quick.
I am realizing how hard it is. I don’t always feel the strength to fight it but I must put on the armor. Things have to change!
I love Amanda Gorman’s poem and those lines. We as a country have a lot of reckoning to do w/ this “just is” rationale. It’s good to recognize the past injustices and vital to change the present ones.
What a learning journey, Margaret. Looking back to check out the roots of “just is”. So many paths to “justice” and to change.
I feel like I was oblivious as a child to the blatant racism around me.
Such a wonderful quotation. Thank you for sharing.
Margaret, your powerful memoir brought so much to mind, especially white privilege. Growing up in a white community without ever mixing with people of color until sophomore year in college when I switched schools made me think deeply about life. It was the experience of the 60s that turned me toward teaching and urban education for a life goal. I saw life through a different lens but still not the full picture. We need to do better to make education a road for all. Thanks for your poem with the amazing last line.
This is just the beginning. I also went into education because I saw the inequities but my path was not a straight line. I need to keep digging into what has made me who I am today. It’s not easy work.
Powerful memoir. I love how you pulled Gorman’s work and linked it with Maya Angelou another Inaugral poet with beautiful words that inspired Gorman and the work we do today. Thanks for sharing.
This is great, Margaret. Thanks for sharing it. Those lines are so powerful – several of my students picked them out as favorites.
Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
This was a post I could relate to when I read it, Margaret. Having just returned from visiting my parents in New York where they listen to Fox news all day, I have spent time recognizing the prejudices that I was raised with. It is hard to swallow and own it now, today. But, as Maya Angelo puts it, “we can do better when we know better.” I can only hope I’ve been a better role model for my own family, as I consciously sought to be better. For if there is no will to change, we will be stuck in our own past. Thanks for a thought-inspiring post. ~ Carol ~
Dear Margaret,
Thank you both for your calm and your candor. I recently moved from the South (Houston, Texas) to a suburb in Centennial, Colorado. My four Black boys (4 (pre-K), 7 (elem), 13 (MS), and15 (HS), who attended schools which were primarily comprised of minorities, have had quite the adjustment to often being the “only one” in their class complete with discrimination that followed them from there to here.
They find it most unpleasant to have to discuss racial issues when perceived as the inevitable spokesperson. They also find it uncomfortable when slurs and ideology are “read” and explained as they experience the collective gazes and head swivels of classmates who ask with out asking, “How do you feel about that?”
Coupled with the unfathomable racial incidents of the last two years and their growing awareness of racism in general, my husband and I have had innumerable challenges in helping them navigate the world around them. As a writer, poet, educator – and mom – I appreciate your efforts to help ease anxieties felt by Blacks around the globe.
It is a hurtful plight to want a child to be proud of his heritage while understanding that it is laden with epithets of which you must teach them to be leery. Knowing that there are some with the courage to move from just is to just better gives me hope that their injustices experienced will one day be far lesser than my own.
Thank You for your willingness to broach the uncomfortable. It is a difficult choice lauded by many.
With Warmest Regards, Carla Michelle
Carla,
Thanks for sharing your experience here. This statement stood out to me, “It is a hurtful plight to want a child to be proud of his heritage while understanding that it is laden with epithets of which you must teach them to be leery. ” Your perspective is wise and gives me pause to think about times when I may have inadvertently done this to my students. Racism and the pain it has caused and continues to fester is complicated. Thanks for your willingness to enter the conversation.
Margaret, thank you for your thoughtfulness. I was very encouraged today as I overheard my son’s English teacher during his virtual class. Though it’s only January, she began previewing next month’s content where all of the students will have the opportunity to explore positive aspects of Black History. Specifically, she referenced meaningful contributions to the American story, initiatives designed to catalyze empathy, awareness of events that have changed the course of history, and even a simulated game where students could explore intriguing facts about Blacks in America and around the world.
It was the most excited I’d seen my son about “school work” in a very long time – because he had such a strong point of reference from his previous education. He said, “Mom, I know this!” And he was happy to share.
Each student will also have the opportunity to complete a project on a prominent figure, though they were encouraged not to pick the most commonly chosen “two,” (i.e., Martin & Rosa) because there are so…many…more…
While others may find it a minor happening, for me, it was a monumental milestone. I’d much rather see him excited about what has been contributed than heartbroken by what was endured. I realize that our history (as with most) is a mixture of both, but I cherish the recognition that this story can and should be weaved in to the fabric of our nation for everyone’s knowledge, awareness and appreciation. It’s among the many things that make it a wonderful place to be, shortcomings and all.
Thank you for helping to reshape the narrative. Your reflection and revelations are a treasure to us all…
~Carla Michelle
I feel it is important to recognize the contributions of Blacks. I show my students the great works of Black writers like Maya Angelou, Jacqueline Woodson, Jason Reynolds, Kwami Alexander, and most recently, Amanda Gorman. And currently I have a student working on a project about her great grandfather who was an unknown figure in the Civil Rights movement. Black history is an integral part of American history. Good luck to you son.
Thank you for this post and reminding me of the need to return to that poem again. There was SO much content in her words and I need to do some reflecting as you did. Your choice of phrases hits home as I struggle with siblings that liked it as it just is, and not justice. We need to move forward with better. Thank you!
Amanda Gorman’s words, so powerful in their own right, sparked some powerful reflection in you. I’ve listened to her again and again and just printed out the words so I can study them and ponder. Thank you for openly sharing your personal thoughts and journey. I also love that Maya Angelou quote. It’s fabulous. What a wonderful slice!