• shifting the way we make decisions and think about this work; and
• healing and transforming our structures, our environments, and ourselves.
URL : https://multco.us/diversity-equity/equity-and-empowerment-lens/whats-new
Equity and Empowerment Lens (Racial Justice Focus) A Lens leads us to think about issues in a new way; it can bring an idea into focus, or alternately, expand it outward and upward. In this particular case, this Lens does both, by asking us to focus in on how equity and racial justice relate to a particular issue at hand, and then how that issue also exists in relation to a much larger system of factors. The concepts of equity and empowerment are not new per se; many cultures have been focusing on balance, sustainability, relationships, and honest analyses of cause and effect for thousands of years. URL : https://multco.us/file/31833/download DEI Issue Type: Culture Everyday Racism – Algebra or Pre-Algebra? Narrator: Tony is an African American student about to begin high school. He wants to be the first in his family to attend college and hopes to be a biologist. He did well in middle school and took advanced math. But he didn’t score well on the school district’s new high school placement exam. C ompared to white students, most Black and Latino students don’t score as well on this exam. The students of color mostly come from two middle schools, known as the worst schools in the district in the poorest part of town. They’re overcrowded and have the least qualified teachers. When Tony enrolled at the high school, he was referred to Mr. Perez, the guidance counselor. He was happy Mr. Perez was Latino since most teachers at the high school are white.
Mr. Perez: Tony, you seem like a good student but I’d recommend that you enroll in the Pre-Algebra class instead of the regular Algebra class.
Narrator: Mr. Perez, for years, has been routinely advising most African American and Latino students to take Pre-Algebra because a lot of them fail regular Algebra.
Tony: But I’ve already taken advanced math class in middle school. And I know that Algebra is a requirement before I can take any science classes.
Mr. Perez: I’d really like to help you, but the school district has new testing policies—if you don’t score well on the placement exam, you can’t take Algebra. That’s the rules.
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