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In Dr. Montessori's 1915 letters to her father, she used racist language to describe people of the global majority. About Mexico, she wrote, "You could 'sense' an indefinable filth everywhere"; "an authentic 'savage' was on display"; "the women dressed ...in bright, clashing colors and absurd materials." Elsewhere, she called Filipinos "Mon-goloid race" and American Indians "redskins."
I first learned about this via social media. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when a post caught my eye: "How does everyone feel about Montessori's racist language in her 1915 letters?" My immediate reaction was denial. I wasn't alone-the comments section quickly filled with defensiveness. "What racist language? Dr. Montessori is not racist, she can't be." "Yes, I knew about it, but we have to put it in the context of time." People were more concerned about upholding Dr. Montessori's legacy than addressing the words she wrote or seeking to understand how she could have fallen victim to such rhetoric. At one time, I might have been inclined to dismiss Montessori's words as reflecting her ignorance or naivete. But since joining Montessori for Social Justice (MSJ), I have a new understanding around language, be it subtle or explicit, that oppresses any group; I am conscious of how white supremacy is embedded in all of our systems and institutions.
Consider these words from the Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice: "Ifwe see white supremacy as a collection of ideas that values whiteness over other cultures, then we can...