• home
  • store

ASCD Logo

  • ASCD.org
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Virtual Events
  • Navigate Applications
    • ASCD Activate
    • myTeachSource
    • PD In Focus
    • PD Online
    • Streaming Video
  • Help

    ASCD Customer Service

    Phone
    Monday through Friday
    8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

    1-800-933-ASCD (2723)

    Address
    1703 North Beauregard St.
    Alexandria, VA 22311-1714

    Complete Customer Service Details

  • Log In
ASCD Header Logo
Click to Search
  • Topics
    • Assessment and Grading
    • Building Racial Justice and Equity
    • Curriculum Design and Lesson Planning
    • Differentiated Instruction
    • Distance Learning
    • Instructional Leadership
    • Personalized Learning
    • Social-Emotional Learning
    • Browse All Topics
  • Books & Publications
    • Browse Books
    • New Books
    • Member Books
    • ASCD Arias
    • Quick Reference Guides
    • Education Update
    • ASCD Express
    • Newsletters
    • Meet the Authors
    • Write for ASCD
    • ASCD Books in Translation
  • Educational Leadership
    • Current Issue
    • Browse EL Archives
    • Digital EL
    • EL Podcast
    • Subscribe
    • Upcoming Themes
    • Write for EL
    • Tell Us About
    • Contact EL
  • Membership
    • Benefits
    • Team Memberships
    • Member-Only Webinars
    • Communities
  • Virtual Events
    • Webinars
    • Symposiums
    • Leadership Summit
    • PreK and K Conference
    • Annual Conference
    • Exhibit with Us
  • Professional Learning
    • ASCD Activate
    • PD Online Courses
    • PD In Focus
    • ASCD myTeachSource
    • On-Site & Virtual PD
    • Success Stories
    • Request an ASCD Speaker
    • Streaming Videos
    • White Papers
    • Emerging Leaders
  • Main
  • Current Issue
  • Archives
  • Upcoming Themes
  • Write for EL
  • Contact
  • Buy
  • Subscribe
Buy this issue
 Share |
You must be an ASCD member or subscriber to view this content.

To view this article,
  • Log in.
  • Become an ASCD member.
  • Read Abstract

March 2015 | Volume 72 | Number 6
Culturally Diverse Classrooms Pages 16-20

Issue Table of Contents | Read Article Abstract

The Problem We Still Live With

Bárbara C. Cruz

Teachers often feel uncomfortable talking about diversity issues in the classroom—but such conversations are both manageable and important.

The 5th grade students were eager to begin reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, the Newbery Honor–winning book by Christopher Paul Curtis. The interdisciplinary unit was designed to sharpen their literacy skills while introducing the themes of prejudice, segregation, and the history of the civil rights movement. To begin the unit, I shared Norman Rockwell's The Problem We All Live With, a classic oil painting featured in Look magazine in 1964. The picture shows 6-year-old Ruby Bridges on her way to school in segregated New Orleans. In the illustration, the black child, dressed in a crisp white dress, is escorted by four U.S. marshals, their faces not visible. On a wall behind them, we see the letters "KKK" and an ugly racial slur; a red splat makes it evident that a tomato was recently thrown.

I asked the students, "Who are these people? Where are they going? What evidence of violence do you see on the wall behind them? Why would the little girl need police escorts?"

 

Continue reading this article
with an ASCD membership.

Join the education organization for all educators.

Get full access, plus expert resources and solutions
to support whole child education.

LEARN MORE
Already a member? LOG IN

Copyright © 2015 by ASCD

Requesting Permission

  • For photocopy, electronic and online access, and republication requests, go to the Copyright Clearance Center. Enter the periodical title within the "Get Permission" search field.
  • To translate this article, contact permissions@ascd.org

Subscribe to
Educational Leadership
magazine and save up to
51% OFF the cover price.

Subscribe

More EL Resources

  • Contact EL
  • Reader's Guide
  • Buy EL
  • Advertise with EL
  • Renew your subscription

ASCD Newsletters

Explore timely content from ASCD.

  • ASCD Express
  • Education Update
  • ASCD SmartBrief

  • ASCD on Facebook (External Link)
  • ASCD on Twitter (External Link)
  • ASCD on Pinterest (External Link)
  • ASCD on Instagram (External Link)
  • ASCD on LinkedIn (External Link)
  • ASCD on Youtube (External Link)

About ASCD

  • About Us
  • Contact Us / Help
  • Governance
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • News & Media
  • Government Relations
  • Whole Child

Get Involved

  • Membership
  • Educator Advocates
  • Affiliates
  • Emerging Leaders
  • Connected Communities
  • Student Chapters
  • Professional Interest Communities

Partner with Us

  • Partners
  • ASCD Job Ramp
  • Advertisers
  • Sponsors & Exhibitors
  • Distributors
ASCD Logo

1703 North Beauregard St.
Alexandria, VA 22311-1714

MISSION: ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

© 2021 ASCD. All Rights Reserved.