High School Educator Teaches Class that Whites are Crushing Blacks with the “Boot of Racism”

Jon Greenberg, an award-winning public high school teacher and writer, is teaching his classes that “whites” wear the “boot of racism” in the United States, and for that reason, it is up to white people to end racism in the US.

Writing for the website Citizenship and Social Justice, Mr. Greenberg outlined his ideas on teaching race in an article titled, “Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism-from Ferguson to Charleston.”

Mr. Greenberg

When teaching his class, he tells them to “think of racism as a gigantic societal-sized boot.” He then asks them several questions.

First, he asks, “Which groups do you think are fighting the hardest against this boot of racism?” Students, Greenberg writes, usually respond “people of color.”

Then he asks, “If that’s true, then who do you think is wearing the boot?” Their response? “White people” (emphasis his).

Finally, if it is true that all white people are wearing this “boot of racism,” he asks, “Then whose responsibility is it to stop the boot from squashing them? The people of Color already pushing upward and resisting the boot? Or the people wearing the boot-consciously or not-who contribute to a system that pushes downward?”

The correct answer is that “it’s time for White America to take on a far bigger role in taking off the boot.”