“When I first started teaching more than 20 years ago, I went into the world of education with a mission. It was two-fold: first of all, to become a world famous history teacher, and secondly, to end racism. If the first of those two things is true, there is a lack of notice on social media, and I have not, as of yet, been bothered by too many texts or calls asking me about my fame as a history teacher. As I tell my students as often as I can, just because I haven’t yet accomplished the second doesn’t mean that I won’t someday or that I should stop trying. Notice, too, that I said I wanted to end racism, not help end it, not make it a little better, but end it outright. Clearly, that has not happened. But it’s still my goal and still the thing I take every opportunity to talk to my students about. I’m not naïve enough to think that my kids will remember the philosophy of Louis XIV, ‘L’État, C’est Moi,’ or the fascist policies of Getulio Vargas, but I’ll be sad if they don’t remember their teacher who thought he could solve racism, if only through telling them his ridiculous goal. I say to them, ‘Maybe I won’t solve racism, but maybe you will. Maybe one of your kids will, or maybe one of your students if you become a teacher. And if that happens, we all win.’ And I’ll take all the credit.”
– history teacher Dean Wood
