Teacher's Oath

Back in November, I was absolutely convinced that we were finally ready to break that damn glass ceiling and elect a black/ Indian woman with a beloved teacher running mate. How sweet that would have been. How different these last few months would have been and the next four years. 

 

The quote that keeps coming up for me is "Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know." I thought we had finally learned it. That kindness is better than cruelty. Simple living better than excessive greed. Knowledge better than ignorance. Justice better than tyranny. Truth better than lies told without shame and believed without thought. Accountability better than privileged immunity. Things like that. 

 

I was wrong. 

 

And so, like so many, overwhelmed by the shock of it all, trampled by the constant assault on every single front—education, immigration, economy, human rights, civil liberties, constitutional rights, outraged at 80 million of my fellow citizens and furious with 90 million more who didn’t vote. My strategy was to carefully monitor my news intake, accentuate the positive in my active teaching life, soothe and comfort myself and others through music, escape through an all-engaging TV series (This Is Us). And recently, go to a rally just about every week.

 

But now I feel something new on the horizon. A slowly growing surge of those genuinely resisting the onslaught and doing it together. The brave individuals and institutions who are choosing not to cave in and ignore, from Costco to Harvard to the thousands of lawyers in cities throughout the country retaking their oaths to uphold the Constitution. The despots trying to take the country down are depending on our silent complicity, their ability to sow fear and strike terror into our hearts to ensure our compliance, our inability to stay focused on what matters as we distract ourselves with mindless entertainment. 

 

But it looks like we’re not going down without a fight. As citizens in a country that began as organized resistance to tyranny, that amidst all its flaws, mostly guaranteed free speech and encouraged lively debate in schools and public discourse, we have a long history behind us that just maybe we’re not willing to give up. The image of the lawyers retaking vows is so powerful. It’s the moment to ride that wave and have every profession do the same. Doctors have their oath—“First do no harm,” teachers have their Mission Statements to promote critical thinking, foster a safe and inclusive environment, the Unions have their old slogan “Don’t mourn— organize.” 

 

I wish I had the skills and outreach to organize teachers. How I would love to see a national outpouring of teachers throughout the country, cities and towns alike, all on the same day, take an oath to re-affirm their determination to teach American students American history, re-instate lively debate, nurture comfort with uncomfortable truths and cultivate genuine critical thinking. 

 

Anyone out there know how to do that? Another Union slogan—“In unity there is strength” —and the tyrants are depending on us to sit quietly afraid for our jobs. We need to all stand up together or they will win. If we don’t, the children we have vowed to nurture and protect simply by becoming teachers will be the losers. Anyone with me here?