Better Late Than Never...A Response to the Resisting ICE Panel Discussion

I think I stand with most people, when I say that the Blood and Soil posters that popped up around campus earlier this semester were pretty alarming. Although it is disturbing, white supremacy groups like this and their propaganda isn't exactly surprising; however, what is rattling is seeing these hate driven messages plopped in the middle of our college campus––a place that I tend to consider a friendly, safe space. What I am trying to say is this: I know these groups exist, but I haven't considered the fact that they could be my neighbors, my classmates, or members of my community.

I was moved by the three speakers that presented and answered questions during the panel discussion, and, although I learnt some things from the presenters, I was left feeling like I had some personal work to do. The truth is, I am not fully versed on what the immigration process looks like, nor do I know too much about deportation and how that system functions. So, I had to do some research, and, although I won't go into detail here, I have a better understanding of what those people immigration and being deported in the US face.

This was a bump in personal knowledge, but what does this mean for my future students and my suture self, as an educator? Well, I have to start by admitting that I did not totally follow what was being discussed during the ICE panel because I did not have the framework to place and process the stories, terms, and timelines being given. If I don't have the framework––perhaps I am along, although I doubt it, in lacking an understanding of this system––then how can I expect my students to understand and grapple with concept of deportation and immigration? Are students not, in a public school, entitled to be educated about their government and its various systems? I think so, but who is teaching it? That isn't a sassy backhanded comment; I seriously don't know––perhaps the history teachers?

I think that for me, the resisting ICE panel discussion reminded me how important it is to have a conceptual framework for information. Information isn't as powerful if it is getting stuck in the middle of mental processing because you don't know where to put it. Students need proper scaffolding to enter into tough conversations like these, and I think that it is important to have these conversations and thus find ways to help students understand what the immigration and deportation process looks like. Who knows, you may even have a student who has personally experienced ICE and may have things to share with your class.

The takeaway for me: students need proper scaffolding, not just to read and write essays and poetry, but also to participate in civic discourse and understand the way certain systems are oppressing them or others.