Ethiopia. Iraq. Iran. Eritrea. Cameroon. Democratic Republic of Congo. Nepal. Sudan.
In my first year of teaching, I had students from all of these countries in my 7th grade world studies class. What a dream for a Social Studies teacher: our very own United Nations! Unfortunately, not all of my native Baltimorean students (and fellow teachers) shared my joy for diversity. It wasn’t long before these students – many of whom were new to the United States and spoke little or no English – were taunted for the way they spoke, dressed, walked, laughed. Their skin was too dark or too light. They were too religious or heathens. The math teacher put “those Africans” in the back of the room. What was she supposed to do with them? Some of them had never held a pencil. Some spoke three languages fluently.