As a civil rights movement surges in Philadelphia and across the nation, many are questioning what their role is in helping to build racial equity.
Teachers have an especially large responsibility in educating students on past and present race relations in America. According to data from the School District of Philadelphia, white teachers make up the majority at nearly 70%, with less than 25% of teachers being Black.
"People are definitely paying attention now," said Charlie McGeehan. "A big component of our work as BARWE has always been that anti-racism work especially for white people is ongoing work."
BARWE stands for Building Anti-Racist White Educators. McGeehan, a founding member, said they've been around since 2016.
The group engages in tough conversations about race and racism, in part through distributing a monthly Reading and Inquiry Series for white educators to use with their peers to develop anti-racist identities and practices.
"We realized that white people need to not only investigate their own racism and white supremacy without placing a burden on Black folks and people of color," said Laura Hummer, another founding member, "but in addition, we need to try as educators to make sure that we are using our resources, curriculum our classroom structures in a way that is informed about implicit bias but also is actively anti-racist. That includes curriculums that bring in voices of color."
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BARWE has spread nationally and internationally. They're hoping a recent grant from the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project will help them expand even further.
"At first we thought this was going to be something happening in Philly, maybe a couple dozen schools," recounted Brendan Morrissey. "What we saw is it's grown immensely. We have groups all over the country, Bay Area, Chicago, Vermont, certain school districts are starting to use our material for professional development. We heard about a BARWE group that formed in London."
McGeehan added, "Our mailing list has gotten so big that it's not free anymore and for a while we were paying out of pocket. Another part of the grant is being able to get us to conferences to share our work and do trainings, and also hoping and planning next spring to do a conference in Philadelphia."
He said the grant will also allow them to pay the "Melanated Educators Collective," a group of Black teachers who help review resources, provide feedback and guide the organization.