Hope is not about a distant dream of salvation or a promise of a better future. Hope should be about a commitment to dealing with oppression and injustice in a proactive and constant manner. Critical race theorists challenge the liberal ideal that we are on a collective march towards a better future. Gloria Ladson-Billings explains that critical race theory “challenged the notion that ‘the civil rights struggle represents a long steady, march toward social transformation’ (Ladson-Billings, 10). This notion is especially important for teachers to consider. Teachers and students must not only deconstruct and expose the oppressive systems present in society, but also think critically about past movements that claim to battle injustice. As a teacher…show more content… (1963) referred to ‘the tranquilizing drug of gradualism’: an individualistic up-by-your-bootstraps hyperbole that suggest if urban youth just work hard, pay attention, and play by the rules, then they will go to college and live out the ‘American dream’” (Duncan-Andrade, 182). Teachers and students must be honest about the realities of the world. Dr. King’s warning of the tranquilizing drug of gradualism is even more relevant years after his life and fight for civil rights. We cannot be made passive by the progress we make. Rather, we must build upon the work of our forbearers to continue to remake our world in the name of justice and equality. Hope is not a promise of a past generation but rather a call to action. Teaching hope as a political act requires us to consider our history and the work of activists of the past as it relates to our own fight against injustice. Hope is not a promise for a better future but rather a promise that together we can fight for a better…show more content… Part of the act of hope is the ways in which we develop coping methods. These coping methods do not just justify oppression or act to normalize it. Instead, dealing with the pain of injustice furthers our commitment to think critically about the systems and structures of oppression. As teachers we must give voice to those students and community members that experience pain. Because we often internalize the oppression we face, giving voice to those oppressed allows us all to confront and critically analyze systems of oppression. Critical race theorists describe the importance of storytelling in allowing people to speak through truths and experiences. Ladson-Billings explains that, “critical race theorists are attempting to interject minority cultural viewpoints, derived from a common history of oppression, into their effort to reconstruct a society crumbling under the burden of racial hegemony” (Ladson-Billings, 13). The effort to reconstruct society and confront racial hegemony should take place in our classrooms. Oppression manifesting in racism, sexism, homophobia, and other acts of injustice does not exist in the past or in abstract. Teachers must create a space in classrooms for the learning community to reflect upon the oppression present in our daily lives. As stated, learning should involve the development of critical consciousness as way to understand
