To Get Students to Understand What Racism Is, I First Had to Teach What It’s Not
In September of 2012, I stood behind a podium in an auditorium-style classroom, shaking as students filed in and took their seats. I was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and while the course was not my first as the instructor of record, it was the first time I would be teaching 200, mostly white students specifically about race and racism in the United States.