"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” ― Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail

Thank you for including lessons that you've actually used. I sometimes see hypothetical lesson plans offered that haven't actually been tried out. This feels so much more authentic.

For example: (https://youthradio.org/)

Interesting definition of healing - literature as a way to process emotions. This makes me think about how grounding difficult conversations about race and discrimination in a central literary text can help students (and teachers) feel safer and willing to be more vulnerable by adding this outside source rather than engaging solely in personal experiences. Not that personal experience does not have a role in the classroom.

This reminds me of the response to the White male shooter in Las Vegas. I remember some coverage of Trump's immediate emphasis on condoling families, rather than calling out the shooter. And coverage of this in contrast to attacks in NYC at the time: https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/politics/trump-response-new-york-las-vegas/index.html

As educators, we must teach our students how to critically analyze media and journalism. This quote is even more relevant with the advent of 'fake news.'