Today I asked students: What is the point of learning about white supremacy and facing the realities of indigenous genocide, slavery and centuries of legal oppression? What do they think of the idea that such topics are "hateful" or "divisive"? Their answers were extraordinary.

Students spoke about the role of education in helping them understand how we are shaped by our upbringing and by ongoing histories. They described knowledge as a tool for not only making sense of society but also taking an active role in changing society for the better..

Some students said that becoming educated about racism and white supremacy is also helpful for white youth who would like to speak up about racism in all-white spaces. Others talked about the need to acknowledge the wrongs of the past in order to address present day injustices..

A student said they've observed "cognitive dissonance" among some whites when being confronted with the realities of racism later in life. In their view, such dissonance derives from the exclusion of diverse perspectives in education. They spoke to the need to broaden curricula..

One student said that they felt "even more patriotic" than people who deny the history and ongoing realities of racism because they see love of country as tied to learning from the past, addressing injustice and creating a better society.

Although one student expressed reservations about focusing on the history of Western racism and white supremacy given the broader context of global oppression, many seemed to frame the value of the topic in terms of transforming knowledge into antiracist action and social change.

The latter point is one that I agree with -- there needs to be some work done to contextualize any study of Western racism in the much longer history of human oppression. I try to equip students to understand that Europeans did not invent slavery, ethnocentrism or brute violence.

Nevertheless, we are in the West and in this nation in particular and so we must do the work of understanding how our history is inextricably tied to the ideology and practice of white supremacy. I'm glad to see that so many students already understand why this work matters..

Oh! I forgot one of the most important things students said -- that learning the history of racism and white supremacy could actually help them build compassion and empathy for other groups. What a powerful statement. I'm so impressed with my students' wisdom and insight.