Op-ed: Black male teachers have positive influence on students of all races | The State

I was wasting time on Twitter when I came across a post that stopped me mid-scroll. The original post posed a question: How many black male educators did you have in kindergarten through 12th grade.

One of my former students chimed in with a shocking number: 1…Coach Thorne.

That’s me; that’s who I was. I taught social studies at Blythewood High School for 11 years and was an assistant football coach.

At first glance, the number 1 seems to be an indictment and a referendum on what we in education circles have known forever — we need more black men in the classroom. But upon further inspection, with a little critical analysis, I believe there is power in one.