Missing Voices in High School Lit
This post about teaching diversity comes from fellow writer, retired teacher and Detroiter John Jeffire, who graciously allowed me to share it here.
As a young person studying American Literature in grade school, I was led to believe that the only literature produced in our country was written by white males. In high school, everything was basically repeated with a mention of Emily Dickinson and an even briefer mention of Frederick Douglass. History classes were the same, a study in presidents, generals, and millionaires, all white males, with a mention of Eleanor Roosevelt and, again, an even briefer mention of Frederick Douglass.
In college, my mind was blown by the greatest lit teacher I ever studied under, Albert Glover, who introduced me to the words of Imamu Amiri Baraka, Gwendolyn Brooks, Etheridge Knight, and other writers. At St. Lawrence University, I was able to meet Yusef Komunyakaa and hang out with him for an evening.
Why had I never heard of any of these writers before I entered Professor Glover’s class? Why had no one taught me about the incredible contributions of all the female, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native-American writers?
Opening Minds as a Teacher
John taught high school for over three decades and consistently worked to expose his students to other voices, including their own. As a former student said, “J’s class was a safe space – every troubled kid that was struggling in their life could finally feel protected and cared for. He taught us that we could share our feelings with our peers… as equals.”
As a teacher, I looked forward to February so I could bring new voices into my classroom and address the failures of the education I had experienced. I eagerly let my students hear the voices I was not allowed to hear when I was their age, and it was magical to observe how their worlds expanded.
Now, Black History Month is the target of Cancel Culture in the military, being white-washed away with the stroke of a pen. Diversity is a strength and is what has distinguished us from any other country in the world.
Challenging Prejudices on a Personal Level
John recalls a lesson in courage that his own father taught him:
I am reminded of my father and his army days, when his best friend was a fellow soldier named Guy from Gary, Indiana. On leave, they took turns visiting each other’s homes. When Guy first visited my father’s house in Detroit, my grandfather asked my father why he brought a n****r into the house. My father was both humiliated and devastated; he didn’t need to explain anything. I knew what the lesson was.
When my father died, Guy was one of the first people I called, and I can still hear him crying on the other end of the phone. So, as Black History Month takes what I hope is only a four-year kick to the gut in our military, I express my sadness, disappointment, and disgust at what I am witnessing.
Celebrating diversity (you know, E Pluribus Unum) makes us great. It is not “putting one group in front of another” but rather recognizing the contributions of the marginalized who are still willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our collective good. These months [Black History Month and all months] have always been about inspiring people who have been left out of the national story to feel included, inspired, and recognized after being ignored or shunned.
John should know. His teaching philosophy was “If you entered my classroom, l shared my knowledge no matter your race, gender, sexual orientation, politics, religion, or social class. If you asked for help, l gave it–before school, after school, during my prep or lunch periods. If you needed to talk, l tried to listen. For over three decades, no one was turned away.”
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John Jeffire was born in Detroit, Michigan. His novel Motown Burning, was named Grand Prize Winner in the Mount Arrowsmith Novel Competition in 2005 and won a Gold Medal for Regional Fiction in the Independent Publishing Awards in 2007. His first book of poetry, Stone + Fist + Brick + Bone, was nominated for a Michigan Notable Book Award in 2009. Among his other awards are the 2022 American Writing Awards for Legacy Fiction, a finalist award in the same competition for poetry, and his short story “Boss” appeared in Coolest American Stories 2022. He was the Michigan Arts Council Special Guest Instructor at Western Michigan University in 2015.
Connect with John on LinkedIn or through his website — he’s available for freelance work in editing, writing, proofreading, and consulting or speaking.
Thank you for visiting.
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist
Books: In the Context of Love | Gordy and the Ghost Crab | Sleepwalker
New novel, Love and Other Incurable Ailments, coming fall 2026 from Regal House Publishing
Connect with Linda on social media: LinkTree
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