If I Could Rewind That Morning

rethinking schools

 If I Could Rewind That Morning

“This world isn’t kind to us, is it?”

In this article by Xavier Pierce we have a father and daughter who both live

in a mostly all white town. Aaliyah, the daughter, is a 5th grader at the school

where dad works as a TA. Aaliyah is a charismatic 10 year old, smart,

athletic and beautiful. She loves school, works hard to be the best she can be

and takes pride in making her dad and teachers proud of her

accomplishments. Her fellow classmates on the other hand take her strength

and pride as boasting and without verbalizing it, they “fear the armor she

wears”, the same armor “required to take the brunt of misjudgment and the

microaggressions she defends.” But together, the two of them, “found

solace in being two specks of color in a field of white.” They found community

within the differences they shared and their love for learning. They love this

school because of the joy that learning brings to them. How their peers and

leaders reacted to their joy was the issue!

It was on this one day that the author really regrets his silence, the one day

that if he could, he would have rewinded it all and prevented his daughter

from the scrutiny of her leaders. Shelly, the classroom teacher, was awaiting

Xavier that morning and when he arrived she states that “some parents have

complained that Aaliyah has been bullying the class” and she would like to

have a meeting with her when she gets to school. As much as Xavier was

frustrated by this, Shelly was his boss and he didn’t want to make matters

worse for him or his daughter, but looking back he wished he had stood up

to her and prevented that meeting from ever happening.

The meeting took maybe 15 minutes total, but it left a mark on Aaliyah that

would last a lifetime. When she walked out of that room she looked defeated

and in a saddened voice, she said “what did I even do” and in that moment

dad thought to himself, I failed her. Looking back Xavier wished he had

requested a different approach to the situation, to explore a different approach

to addressing this misconception between her and her peers. He would have

made sure Aaliyah was able to give voice to her actions and be listened to.

But he knew undoubtedly that one day this was going to happen, somewhere

someone was going to dent her armor.

The author Xavier Pierce argues that his daughter's situation at school was blown out of proportion and her actions were misconstrued by her classmates and teachers, not because she was actually a bully but because they were envious of her success, strength, and the way a girl of a different background could carry herself so confidently, "I observed how students would react, asking her to quiet down, misinterpreting her celebration of learning as boasting (Pierce)."