The importance of Black male teachers

Ryan Henderson met just two Black teachers during his years of schooling, including while attending college to earn his bachelor’s degree. The impact, he says, was profound.

“I did not see myself represented as a teacher, and when you don’t see yourself represented as somebody who is with you for hours teaching you, molding your brain, you don’t see yourself doing that,” he says. 

Luckily for Henderson, he was blessed to have a strong family to support him, including his father, who played in the Negro League for the Philadelphia Stars and worked as a supervisor at a U.S. Postal Service office.

“My father was my hero. He always came home to his children and his wife, and my mother was so happy,” says Henderson, who teaches television broadcast, journalism and film studies to high school students at Sugar Creek Charter School in Charlotte. “I saw what an example of what a strong Black male was, and that made all the difference in my life.”

Black male teachers matter

The percentage of Black men who teach in U.S. schools is low. The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans says Black teachers represent 7% of the teaching workforce, and Black men account for 2% of teachers nationwide. The initiative works to improve educational outcomes for Black Americans of all ages and is part of the U.S. Department of Education. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools says nearly 8% of its teachers self-identify as Black men. 

At Sugar Creek Charter, 15% of the teaching staff are Black men.

Henderson, who has been at Sugar Creek Charter for six years, knows he teaches students more than coursework. He strives to serve as a daily example and offer a supportive ear.

“When you have the opportunity to have a strong Black male teacher in the classroom, giving positive reinforcement and knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life, it makes a huge difference in how a child will turn out,” he says.

A colorful world

Sugar Creek Charter School was founded with a mission to eradicate generational poverty in the lives of its students by providing a rigorous education for scholars in grades K-12, with a strong focus on college and career readiness and life skills.  Everything is done with that mission in mind.

A majority of the school’s students identify as Black or Hispanic and come from economically disadvantaged situations. Many are raised by grandparents. 

Kareem Benson has taught at Sugar Creek Charter since 2015. As a young boy, he would ask teachers at the end of the school year if he could take home their grade books and worksheets so that he could play school with his stuffed animals.

Benson met his first Black male educator, a woodshop teacher, in middle school. He later came to admire a Black instructor at South Carolina State University, where he earned a degree in Family and Consumer Science and Education.

“I thought, if I could be a teacher just like him, then I’ll do great,” Benson recalls. 

Benson says it is important for students of all genders and races to see Black men as positive role models, in part to counter the many negative stereotypes that exist around Black males. 

“If I go to school and I see a strong Black man there, that helps me respect everyone as a whole,” he said. “I may not have a lot of African American guys in my life, but when I go to school, there’s a Black teacher there, and he lets me know I’m great and he’s great, then I’m comfortable around him.”

Each day at Sugar Creek Charter, Benson interacts with about 150 students in grades K-4. He instructs them on topics including self-esteem, conflict resolution, anger management, public speaking and dinner etiquette.

He strives to have a personal connection with every student, he says. For example, he has a song about Central America that delights his students from El Salvador. He asks his Asian students for suggestions on foods they should try. He developed a special connection with a white student who shared his adoption story after the two bonded while talking about their fathers, who had both passed. 

“We live in a colorful world here,” Benson says. “I try to make sure I’m relatable to everybody.”

Connecting with students

Cheryl Turner, the school’s director and CEO, says she has emphasized to her staff that she has high expectations of Sugar Creek’s teachers. If a student is not successful in class, Turner says she views it as the teacher who needs fixing, not the student. 

“The problem is that everybody is quick to blame the children. They say they have a hard life, don’t have stable families, they come from poverty. Supposedly, all these things make it impossible for them to learn,” she says. “Our expectation is you will learn. And our theory is, if the students didn’t learn, we didn’t teach.”

Former Charlotte mayor Richard Vinroot helped bring Sugar Creek Charter and Turner to Charlotte, and he has remained involved with the school. Vinroot credits Turner’s leadership and her teachers’ work ethos for the school’s success. (During the 2022-2023 school year, students at Sugar Creek Charter outperformed Black and Hispanic students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and schools statewide.) 

“I think it’s magnificent what they do,” Vinroot said.

In addition to high expectations, Turner says she gives teachers flexibility to make changes when needed. If something is not working, teachers are expected to try something different.  

“We work really hard here — harder than most people — and we don’t apologize for it,” Turner says.

That commitment to excellence is what attracts and inspires teachers such as Henderson, who was named the 2023 North Carolina Public Charter School Teacher of the Year.

Becoming a teacher

Henderson came to teaching unexpectedly. His initial goal was to be a television personality, but after earning a bachelor’s degree from Rowan University, he became a father. He turned to teaching, he says, because he knew a career in freelance journalism would require lots of traveling with a young one in tow.

Henderson calls the Sugar Creek Charter School community his extended family. As a Black man in the classroom, he says, he can offer his students the benefit of his lived experiences. 

“I’ve been pulled over, I’ve been racially profiled,” he says. “And that leads to the understanding of something that doesn’t need to be spoken. It really makes a difference to have someone who speaks a similar language, who has similar experiences as you.”

Henderson says he embraces the opportunity to guide students through classwork and life.

“I love my people, and it brings me joy that I’m doing something for my community,” he says. “When I look at these children, I feel like I’m looking at my own children, and that’s a bond that you can’t really break.”

Want to see a Sugar Creek teacher in action? Watch Kareem Benson as he leads a classroom.