Critical Race Theory: Comfort in the Classroom

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings: When you say you don’t want to have any discussion on race . . . when you say we don’t want white children to feel bad . . .

 You know, when I first heard that, I thought, “Well, my God, where were you in the 1950s and ’60s when I was in school?” 

[Angela chuckles] 

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings: Because I had to sit through honors English classes reading Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, with the liberal use of the n-word. And all of my white classmates sniggling and giggling, right? 

I had to sit through Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. Nothing about education is about just making you feel comfortable. Sometimes we learn the most in the midst of discomfort. 

Angela Fitzgerald: Watch more Why Race Matters online and on the PBS app on your phone, tablet, Roku, or any other streaming device.