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Moments in Black History – Special Teacher
September, 1995:
The dedication and achievements of our ancestors have brought us Black History Month. Let us not forget people of all colors, religions and backgrounds should be celebrated during this historical month. Today, we remember....
Born in the suburbs of Chicago, Tara Gordan was raised in a predominately white community where she attended predominately white schools from elementary through high school. Admittedly, she had no black friends, nor had she spent much time amongst black people other than the occasional visits to the city where her father had his shoes shined and car detailed once a month. In the summer of 1995, Tara Gordan saw a movie which changed her life forever.
“It was during summer school my junior year of college,” remembers Gordan. “Some sorority sisters and I saw a movie called 'Dangerous Minds' starring Michelle Pfeiffer.”
"Dangerous Minds" told the story of a white female ex-Marine who accepts a full-time teaching position in an inner-city school. Suffering through racial challenges and administrative hurdles, Pfeiffer’s character reaches out and captures the minds and hearts of her students, helping them to believe in themselves, their potential, and their inner spirit.
“That movie….the way Michelle [Pfeiffer] overcame racial struggles really moved me and refocused my direction in life,” admitted Gordan, who initially believed she would return to her alma mater, white-bread high school in a teaching career. Fueled by the film and the lyrics of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”, Gordan graduated college with a teaching degree and a commitment to make a difference in society. She accepted a teaching position in a predominately black high school. Having little knowledge of black people, she opened up her heart and embraced the black culture, pushing aside age old stereotypes. Day by day, she changed the lives of every student who graced her classroom.
“She was the best,” remembers Calvin Freeman, who was in Gordan’s third period class during the teacher’s first year. “She was the first white person I’d ever liked. That was definitely my favorite class.”
An unconventional teaching style perhaps best described Gordan’s approach. She believed utilizing the hidden talents of her black students increased their learning potential. She allowed her students to speak frankly and express their opinions, while she consciously related to her black students as an equal.
Laquita Barry looks back fondly on those so-called unconventional teaching styles:
“Ms. Gordan was just real. She let us be real too. Every morning when we got to class, she had us march into class singing old Negro spirituals. She said black people always sang spirituals during slave times, so we shouldn’t forget our past. And on Fridays – she’d let us dance and watch recordings of Soul Train. She called them ‘Bump-n-Grind Fridays.” Years later, opponents would argue Laquita and many other students became pregnant during those Friday classes.
Another student, Waldoff Radley, remembers Gordan as a caring teacher who was not afraid to show her emotional side to her students.
“She cried a lot,” said Radley. “I remember the day Tupac died. The next day she came into class wearing a red bandana that read “Dear Mama” and began crying. She said another great black man and voice of the black people was assassinated, and that dirty white cops wouldn’t do anything about it just like Martin Luther King. She said she hated white people then we watched a Tupac movie.”
Another student remembers a special friendship and bond between Gordan and her classes:
“We once asked her how she knew so much about black people and how many black friends she had. She smiled and started pointing to everyone in the class going, ‘one, two, three, four…’ pointing to each and every one of us. It was touching. She called us her little Crips and Bloods.”
As an emotional leader, Gordan challenged her students to accept their black heritage and avoid letting the white man hold them down.
“I remember one day I was really upset about my grades,” recalls Terrence Mitchell. “My mama had grounded me because I was failing 2 classes. Well, Ms. Gordan sat me down one afternoon and I still remember the words she said: She told me not to worry about the white man’s grading system because it was biased and unfair to black people, and that all I need to do is concentrate on sports ‘cause as long as I could dribble a basketball, I’d be rich.”
Other students report similar meetings with Gordan.
“She told me that God gave all black special powers, like running real fast and the ability to dance,” stated one ex-student.
Overhearing students talk, fellow educators began to grow suspicious of Gordan’s classes and unorthodox teaching style. While parents and administrators were blindfolded by overall improved attitudes and class attendance, some teachers believed the classes were inappropriate. Some reported overhearing the true events of Gordan’s classes. One teacher even recalled hearing a student call Gordan’s class the “Underground Railroad of Education.” Eventually, Gordan’s classes became the talk of the campus. Other teachers began to closely watch Gordan and report her curriculum to school administrators. However, Gordan stood on her beliefs and refused to allow administrators to detour her teachings.
“She said the white administrators didn’t want us black kids to learn nothing,” said Jamal Jenkins, who transferred to Gordan’s class from another white teacher’s class after failing a semester. “It was the only class where we could be ourselves and kick it. Sometimes, I’d just chill in the back sucking my thumb. Plus, on payday we always played dominos. She always paid up.”
Investigating the accusations, Tom Wolfgen, an administrator with the school system, was asked to visit and observe Ms. Gordan’s classes. What he witnessed shock him:
“First, I found it inappropriate for our students to sing Negro spirituals throughout class. Singing “We Shall Overcome” and spirituals about slavery should not accompany daily class work duties; nor do I understand the educational significance in watching the television mini-series, 'Roots' and Jamey Fox movie, 'Booty Call'. This is a math class for crying out loud!”
More and more allegations were charged against Gordan and she came closer and closer to losing her job. In a last attempt to save her career, she demanded parents and students to attend a P.T.A. meeting to explain her intentions and teaching methods. Attempting to win over the parents, Gordan arrived at the P.T.A. meeting an hour early with refreshments. As the parents arrived, Gordan stood waving excitedly next to a rental truck filled with fresh watermelon.
Gordan was fired before the meeting began.
“She meant a lot to us,” said Mitchell. “I ain’t never liked a white person, but she was different. She made us feel like we was special. She made a difference.”
Mitchell eventually received his GED and plays city league basketball; and as Gordan promised has “white groupies all over his jock”.
Maybe he was right about Tara Gordan; maybe she did make a difference.
This is Moment in Black History.
"Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life." Jackie Robinson
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