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Jason Rantz isn’t entirely wrong about a rally Seattle teachers held on Wednesday, but he’s missing the point of their ‘Black Lives Matter’ message. Here’s my response to his predictable post:听

RANTZ:听About 2,000 Seattle teachers聽wore “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts聽to their schools yesterday in a call for racial equity. Unfortunately, too many of these very teachers have been part of the problem in the resulting racial inequity.

BURNS:听Yes, they have. So what Jason is saying here is if you have been part of the problem in the past, you couldn鈥檛 possibly be part of the solution in the future. In his mind, you might as well turn off 鈥淎merican History X鈥� at the halfway point.

RANTZ:听Black students in Seattle are about聽聽more likely than white students to get suspended. In grades 3 through 10, half of Seattle鈥檚 African-American students聽. These are just two problems African-American students face, but both of these could have been handled, in large part, by teachers.

Teachers were the ones kicking the students out of class, sending them to inevitable suspensions. Too many teachers pass kids who need more attention.

This isn鈥檛 to say the struggles of too many African-American students are only a result of their teachers or even the schools. There are many issues that should be discussed and there are a ton of hard-working teachers who put in hours beyond their normal work days in order to help kids succeed.

But yesterday鈥檚 BLM stunt is just that 鈥� a stunt. One that doesn鈥檛 recognize the role these very teachers played in the unfortunate realities of their African-American students. Perhaps they were more interested in聽聽charter schools than spending time working on their own classrooms with students who need the most help?

BURNS:听Jason has stats! The stats show inequalities between African-American students when compared to the general populace. So, why is he against a group of teachers who brought attention to this very issue by wearing the BLM t-shirts yesterday? It鈥檚 simple. He hates the BLM movement in its entirety. The phrase itself nauseates him and any mention of it completely negates any otherwise legitimate issue.

RANTZ:聽I know there鈥檚 been some聽, and teachers during their last strike said they wanted to create conditions where students of color weren鈥檛 disproportionately impacted by suspensions; Suspensions that the very teachers caused.

Why isn鈥檛 there some acknowledgment that they were part of the problem and that now they want to help positively impact the lives of students with concrete plans? Instead, you鈥檒l hear that lack of support from the districts is the problem. In other words, everything and everyone except the teachers have been the problem. And if you criticize a teacher, you鈥檒l face their wrath. How dare you go after heroic teachers! They鈥檙e underpaid and undervalued. They may be underpaid, but they鈥檙e not undervalued. And they鈥檙e not above criticism.

BURNS:听Now he鈥檚 just repeating himself. We understand that teachers are part of the problem here. And yesterday, 2,000 of them acknowledged that. Isn鈥檛 that a good thing? Also, whoever said teachers are above criticism? My mother鈥檚 an educator, and she鈥檚 criticized constantly. It鈥檚 part of the job. Teachers understand that.

RANTZ:听Wear your shirts all you want. But, perhaps while in that shirt, look in a mirror and ask yourselves if a symbolic protest and rally will actually benefit these students in tangible ways. Wearing a shirt is not going to help these students. Embracing controversial activist movements may not move the needle. Concrete plans and follow-through will.

BURNS:听Jason is unhappy because this whole problem wasn鈥檛 solved yesterday. In one day. So what if the protest was symbolic? So鈥檚 the American flag. Symbolism creates an image to rally around. It can lead to real change. Before I judge what the teachers did yesterday, I鈥檒l give them some time to come up with some “concrete plans.” You can鈥檛 fix a problem until you acknowledge there is one to begin with. That鈥檚 what the teachers did yesterday. Kudos to them.