Atlanta parents lead movement to bolster AAPI history education, address racism

Lorraine Irier is one of the many parents who volunteers to teach AAPI heritage during the month of May. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

Lorraine Irier pointed at a black-and-white photo of a little girl on the screen at the front of a classroom. She visited her son Zaren’s fifth grade class at Decatur’s Fifth Avenue Upper Elementary.  

“Do we know who this is?” she asked. The class responded with a collective, “Ruby Bridges.” 

Ruby Bridges was six years old when she became the first person to desegregate an all-white school in New Orleans. Students in Georgia learn about her — as per the state’s educational standards — as a lesson on historical figures that represent important character traits, like fairness.