Michele Caracappa, Success Academy’s Chief Academic Officer, shared these thoughts with her staff on Sunday:
I’m sure you have been watching the events unfold in Charlottesville with heavy hearts and a range of emotions about our nation’s present, past, and future. Some of you have likely felt despair and disbelief that a deadly, white supremacist rally could take place in America in 2017, while others may have viewed the unmasked hate with horror, yet without surprise.
As educators, we have a responsibility to teach our students to think critically — seeing both sides of an argument and carefully considering opposing viewpoints. And yet this weekend, the language of “many sides” has sought to create a false equivalence between those who propagate hatred, racism, and bigotry, and those who condemn it. It seems to me that in this environment, creating a thinking culture is more important than ever.
On Saturday, Barack Obama drew upon words from Nelson Mandela to make sense of this madness. Here is another quote from Mandela which gives me hope for the work that we commit ourselves to each day:
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
