Our Voices: I never had a Black male teacher. Our schools need to do better.

The meme was a simple one, it read: Name the first time you had a Black male teacher. A painful but familiar pang hit me in my stomach. I had never had a Black male teacher in my entire educational career.

I had examined why so many times before. I initially landed on the nature of my school upbringing. I attended the county school in my hometown of Paris, Ky., and had a momentary reprieve only to attend a private school in Lexington before returning back to the county school to finish high school. Neither of those environments are particularly conducive to recruiting and maintaining Black male teachers or any Black teachers for that matter. My graduating class was less than 10 percent Black, most of the Black kids went to school at the crosstown rival. That was also where most of the Black educators taught.

While I grew up in a small town, a lot of things have changed there since I graced those halls. Even if things had remained stationary this problem is not exclusive to places like it. This problem is not exclusive to K-12 either. After my experience growing up I decided to go to school in the heart of Detroit, Michigan. There I was sure I would encounter an educator who shared a similar hue as me, but I was mistaken. There were only a handful of Black professors on campus, all in specialty majors. I considered changing my field of study to be able to come into contact with those educators but I was funneled to other areas of study due to the training schedule of being a college athlete.

The only time I ever came in close contact with a Black male educator was during my senior year of high school. My assistant high school basketball coach ran the in-school suspension room. It has not been lost on me that the only Black man I personally knew to receive an opportunity in a school was brought on in a punitive role. For me I did not not view it that way. A small oasis had opened up within the school. I spent most of my free periods in his room asking advice on my college decision, laughing and relaxing. I reveled in the small moments outside of the gaze of white educators who often perceived me as unserious and disruptive, no matter how good my work was or how well behaved I strived to be. When I was in that room the bullseye was removed from my back and it was much easier to breathe. I deserved to have that experience on a far more regular basis.

FCPS is made up of 23.3 percent Black students. FCPS needs to do a few things to ensure all of those kids get a chance to experience a Black male teacher. First we must understand the scope of the issue. FCPS needs to track and release data on the racial make-up of its K-12 teachers. Second, FCPS must be proactive with addressing what is uncovered. Even though I have been focused on the lot of Black male educators, I am under no illusions that there aren’t disparities with Black female educators and Latinx teachers. FCPS must examine those inequities simultaneously.

To improve the amount of Black male educators FCPS must recruit established Black male educators from across the US, train new Black male educators and provide a path for Black male educators to hold positions of power. I often wonder how many of FCPS schools are devoid of Black male educators yet are staffed with a School Resource Officer.

The Grassroots Law Project, NAACP of Lexington and the Institute of Compassion In Justice found that between 2017-2020, Black, Hispanic and biracial students were all suspended at higher rates than their overall representation. This tracks with other national level research that shows Black boys often receive excessive punishment from school systems that view them as men well before they reach adulthood. I know this to be a truth anecdotally as well. Black boys don’t need to be criminalized for their behavior; they need more safe havens to be their full selves.

While there is plenty of work to do, progress is being made. As I was preparing for this piece, I ran into a friend and then a former mentor in the same week. Both of these men are great human beings. After catching up I found out that both of these brothers are teaching at the same high school in Fayette County. Life is full of moments of synergy like that and because of those two brothers I am hopeful for the future of the Black boys that they will come into contact with. That hope is not enough though. We need more brothers to answer the call and we need the system to make space for these brilliant and talented individuals.

Russell Allen is an organizer and artist based in Lexington.

Our Voices: Written by your neighbors. Please respond like a good neighbor.