They teach us to be small because they know how big we could be.

Neutrality is a privilege.

The fact that exclusively nonviolent activism is taught in schools when relating to marginalized communities is no accident. They are scared we will learn to fight their oppression, not in ways easily extinguished by their power, but in ways that they can't readily ignore.

A boy laughs too loudly in class because no one laughs at home. A child acts out because nobody at home will discipline him. We all see this pattern in schools, a pattern we promptly criticize. These kids don't disappear. They grow up. They vote. They hurt. They remember that we failed them.