CHICAGO – Before schools shuttered during the pandemic, Ayaana Johnson worried every time she dropped her daughters off at school.
Johnson, a Black woman, says racism is rampant in her predominantly white Georgia town. At her daughters’ school, a student once used racial slurs and told another child he doesn’t play with “brown people.” She says teachers are quick to punish or reprimand Black children and Ku Klux Klan flyers can be found in mailboxes. “I knew from pregnancy on that this would be something we’d have to deal with,” she said. “This is the kind of area we live in, so you can imagine that you’re always going to feel protective of your children.” As schools reopen across the country, Black students have been less likely than white