This TED Talk features educator Liz Kleinrock recorded live at TED Salon, Education Everywhere

2019.

So a few years ago, I was beginning a new unit on race with my fourth graders.

And whenever we start a new unit, I like to begin by having all the students list everything they know about it,

and then we also list questions we have.

And I had the type of moment that every teacher has nightmares about.

One of my students had just asked the question,

why are some people racist?

And another student, let's call her Abby, I just raised her hand and volunteered.

Maybe some people don't like black people because their skin is the color of poop.

Yeah, no. So as if on cue, my entire class exploded.

Half of them immediately started laughing, and the other half started yelling

at Abby and shouting things like, oh my God, you can't say that. That's racist. So just take a second

to freeze this scene in your mind. There's a class of nine and ten-year-olds, and half of them

are in hysterics because they think Abby has said something wildly funny, and the other half are yelling at her

for saying something offensive. And then you have Abby sitting there completely bewildered,

because in her mind, she doesn't understand the weight of what she's said and why everybody

is reacting this way. And then you have me, the teacher, standing there in the corner, like about

to have a panic attack.

So as a classroom teacher, I have to make split-second decisions all the time.

And I knew I needed to react, but how?

Consider your fight-or-flight instincts. I could fight by raising my voice and reprimanding her for her words, or flight.

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