QWhy does it matter if my children's teacher is Black? Why can't the teacher be White?

AI'm not saying a White teacher can't do it. But where are they going to learn how to do it? Are they going to learn it at Emory? Where exactly is this teacher education program? The professors don't know. So how are they going to teach the students? Tonight, I talked about the special charge of Black colleges of education. One-third of all Black teachers come out of Black colleges. [These institutions] need encouragement and support and finances to continue their colleges of education.

QBut there are not enough
Black teachers. So how do you
help other teachers who may be teaching Black children?

AWe do what we do at Emory. We help White students. Culture can be learned. Take a White teacher from Montgomery County [Maryland] who goes to Argentina. What do they do? They read about Argentina, they study, they make trips to Argentina. They meet people from Argentina. They talk to people from Argentina.
Teachers need to adopt the same spirit of learning that they adopt when they go to Europe, to Argentina, when they learn about the cultures of other children. But if they don't think there's anything to learn, or to appreciate, of course, they don't learn.

QBut many people don't think
there is anything to learn from
 Black children.

AThey try to deny cultural heritage, and put it down and say we're going to teach you to act like White people. That's equally bad. And when I look out on the street and see all these geniuses among these Black children — and people give up on them. Poor children are thought of as dumb children. There are very brilliant children out in the street. They many not be doing what they're supposed to be doing. But there are brilliant children out there — brilliant children with untapped potential.