Accountable by Dashka Slater
Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed
By: Dashka Slater
Reviewed By:
Alex Karpp, Tami John, Paul McGary, Diego Leon, Katrina Govea
Review:
Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater offers a unique perspective about the lives affected by a racist Instagram account. The account’s owner would post racist remarks and images to bully their classmates. In total, the account had seventeen followers.The question of responsibility comes to play when Albany High school finds out about these appalling posts. There are some content warnings consisting of racism, suicide, self-harm, and bullying. There are heavy themes of racism within the first few chapters of this book.
Slater’s styling offers a fast-paced yet impactful read for those who are not used to reading non-fiction. Her background in journalism provides short chapters similar to a storyboard of the event that took place. This book spans from 2017, which was when the account was exposed to 2020 for when the court cases were finally settled. Slater personally interviews those affected by the account as well as those who followed the account. This book questions how the boys involved with the account should be punished. It also discusses the importance of appropriate online usage while maintaining a digital footprint.
Accountable is an important read for high schoolers to showcase how social media can not only be detrimental to their relationships and mental health, but to their community as a whole. This social media account destroyed the little town of Albany, California. There were countless town meetings where the parents apologized while the victims showcased how hurt they were. Slater provided direct quotes from these meetings which made the reader feel as though they were really there. These meetings brought up the question of whether the perpetrators should return to school or face any criminal charges. Instead, they gained money and never learned from their wrongdoings.
At times, Slater lingered on the boys involved in the social media account longer than the victims. This limits the other side of the story which is important to the events that have occurred. While focusing on the perpetrators, Slater misses the opportunity to enforce how terribly this has impacted the victims of the account. In order to teach this book, we must understand these limitations in order to grow from these experiences. It is obvious what the boys did was wrong, so it would be more important to focus on the victims rather than trying to understand the boys motives. In doing so, the boys and future students will never learn that what they did is unacceptable.
Overall, Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed is an important read for high schoolers to better understand their social media usage while implementing how racism needs to be understood as a serious topic. Slater emphasizes how there are always consequences to one’s actions. The book itself is a fast read with poetry, first hand events, and simple vocabulary. It’s broken down into small parts in chronological order with a straightforward structure. All in all, Accountable is an easy read for everyone and it discusses important topics which are relevant to today’s day and age.
Author Biography:
Dashka Slater is a curiosity-driven journalist, author, and speaker. Over the course of her career, she has published fifteen fiction and nonfiction books for adults and children. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the California Book Award, the Stonewall Book Award, and the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction finalist Award. Slater is committed to seeking truth with a lens of empathy for all and enlightening her readers about the lasting effects of bullying, ignorance, and complacency in our society. Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed is her most recent nonfiction novel, published in 2023. Her most well-known novel, The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives, published in 2017, is critically acclaimed and considered one of TIME magazine’s “100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time.” Slater travels to schools and universities to speak about her work and to connect with young audiences. On her website, Slater has educational materials related to teaching her books in classrooms as well as links to interviews she has done about her work. She also writes a “Justice and Accountability” newsletter, as they are both integral aspects of her Young Adult novels. Slater was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now resides with her husband and son in Oakland, California.
A quote from the author on her intentions behind Accountable:
"One of the things that I hope that a book like this can do is to frontload kids with some understanding of the fact that things on social media are not private and that jokes have lasting consequences, both for the person who is the target of the joke and for the person who makes the joke" (Dashka Slater).
A quote from the author on writing:
"My life as a writer and journalist is fueled by curiosity and that is the sensibility I bring with me into schools, whether I'm talking with kindergarteners or high school seniors. Curiosity is the engine that powers both creativity and empathy, and I want kids to leave my presentation burning with the desire to find out more about the world" (Dashka Slater).
Instructional Resources:
Digital Citenzchip
This visual resource is about digital citizenship, and discusses safe ways students should utilize the internet to protect themselves. Students will learn what kind of information is safe to post or not to post. Students will also get a better understanding of how important it is to be safe on the internet because what goes on the internet stays on the internet. Students will learn about a digital footprint that they leave behind.
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Digital Citizenship Information
How to stand up to bullies, and conflict resolution:
This resource really dives into how harmful cyber bullying can be, and the consequential damage that can occur to victims of it. This resources also gives a wide variety of ways how to handle cyberbullying. One thing that this resources does very well to is it highlights what law enforcement can enforce when cyberbullying happens online. A lot of times cyberbullies think they are anonymous but that is not the case. This website also does a good job detailing how students can take action against cyberbullying.
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Conflict Resolution And How To Stand Up To Bullies
Further exploration into the different types of justice:
This resource really does a good job explaining between the different types of justice there. In the book "Accountable" by Dashka Slater she writes a section about four different types of justices being "Punitive, Permissive, Restorative, and Transformative." This resource dives deep into the meanings of punitive, restorative, and transformative justice. This resource is thought provoking, and gives real world examples of how our justice system works today as well as questioning whether our operational justice system today is the right way to handle injustices.
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Speaking Up Without Tearing Down:
This resource does a really good job with how to handle conflict when someone has promoted a bias or a stereotype. Instead of calling a person out, and tearing them down this guide talks about the process of "Calling In". Calling In is not tearing someone down, but actually inviting them in for a discussion for learning. If a person uses a bad stereotype the other person in the discussion can handle this situation by saying them lets back up for a second, and then teach the person who used the negative stereotype why what they said can hurt others. This allows for an opportunity to teach one another. This resource gives real life examples of how to deal with conflict, and to make a better world in our conversations.
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Speaking Up Without Tearing Down
Back to School Mental Health Resources:
This resource provides a variety of resources for any student who may suffer from mental health issues, whether it be from online or in person bullying.It provides hotlines, videos with tips on how to improve your mental health, and a section dedicated specifically on educating children on the impacts technology and digital media can have on mental health. This resource also contains a section for parents and a section dedicated to teachers on how to help aid the mental health of students. From the book it is clear to see how much the children disregarded the mental health of one another and a rescue like this is very good at illustrating ways to move past this hate and better your mental health
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Mini Lesson: Microaggressions:
This is a self paced mini lesson that should take you around fifteen minutes to complete. While completing this lesson students will be shown videos that define what a micro aggression is, different types of micro aggressions, and the impact they can have on the victim. I like how this lesson not only point out verbal micro aggressions, but non verbal ones as well which many people may be unaware of. In our novel there is obvious racism, but there is also a lot of micro aggressions in the story that affect some of the characters. Small comments that may not mean a lot to you can take a huge mental toll on a minority and this mini lesson illustrates that very well.
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Model Minority Myth:
In our novel one student has a presentation where he included false stereotypes about Asians which is considered as the Model Minority Myth. This website provides lessons that help students understand the history of this myth, why it was created, the negative impacts of the myth, and a more in depth look than is presented in our novel. It also includes a video with a personal story of an Asian American woman who talks about her experiences which illustrates the mental toll this myth/stereotype can have.
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Information and History of Model Minority Myth
Penalizing Black hair in the name of academic success is undeniably racist, unfounded, and against the law:
In our novel there are many comments made about the hair of African Americans that are straight up racist and take huge mental toll on the victims of this abuse. Although some may see it as just hair, people in this community face constant backlash for their natural hair which is unjust and leads to poor mental health amongst young African American students. This is because their personal freedom and expression is constantly being judged or made fun of. This resource offers a lot of examples of how African American students have been targeted and illustrates how it is more than just hair as some people may say. Being punished or made fun of something natural is terrible for mental health and identity and this resource will help students understand the severity behind thinking it’s just hair.
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Racism Against Natural Hair of African Americans
Preview:
The lesson’s objective is to explore the different functions of the four types of justice, as analyzed in Slater’s Part 7: Justice, and the limitations of such systems through the settlements of the “harmers” and the “targeted” at Albany High School. The lesson focuses on the employment of justice types while exploring the content standards of literature within world history.
California Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.A
Introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and
distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when
useful to aiding comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.D
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic and
convey a style appropriate to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely readers.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.2.B
Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended
definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the
audience's knowledge of the topic.
Resources and Preparations:
Instructional Plan:
1. Encourage critical thinking and appropriate vocabulary use through collaborative warm-up. In small groups, reflect on the actions and behaviors of the following characters. Then, estimate the district and settlement outcome of the three students at varying levels of involvement.
Andrea: A direct target of the account's blatant racism. Pictures of nooses around her neck, the incident of a follower touching her hair, casual racism implemented through the accounts “memes,” and offensive language are all hurled her way.
Charles: The creator of the account. He accepted the following requests of 14 followers and continued to spam post more than 20 violently offensive racist “jokes” about classmates and even a post with nooses drawn around a coach's neck.
Eren: A year below the majority of those involved, he is a bystander turned “victim” in the case. His involvement in a culture that perpetuates the pervasion of systematic racism questions his accountability within the situation. Regardless, he is now labeled as a racist of the highest degree within the community.
2. Reveal the situational outcomes of each student involved.
Andrea: Andrea was paid a mere $10,00 from Patrick and 15,000 from Charles. In the end, her settlement did not reach her goal of 80,000.
Charles: He sued the district but was rejected in his plea for the violation of the First Amendment. He paid Andrea $15,000 out of his own pocket, and his parents paid her around $9,000. He was initially suspended for five days, then expelled.
Eren: The sophomore was granted $73,353.90. He was initially grouped in the same suspension plan as the others involved. The settlements were paid by the district's insurance.
3. Refer to Slater’s page on the four types of justice. Review the four types of justice and reflect on the District of Albany’s employment of each type in terms of student involvement.
4. Based on your personal experience with social media, where does the distinction between racism and immaturity end? Explore how anti-blackness within internet culture goes unnoticed as per the events of Albany High School.
Explore these questions through collaborative peer discussion. The limitation of the novel is an element itself, so the open-mindedness of Slater’s effort in the portrayal of the followers’ representation reflects the warm-up activity.
Bibliography:
“About.” Dashka Slater, www.dashkaslater.com/about-contact.
“Anti-Bullying.” – About Us – Langston HughesSchool,hughes.eastorange.k12.nj.us/apps/pages/index.jsp uREC_ID=2190868&type=d&pREC_ID=2188397. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024. (Image)
Chang, Ellen. “Why the Model Minority Myth Is Dangerous.” Lotus Project, Lotus Project, 9 May 2023, www.lotusprojectphi.org/youth-mental-health-blog-project/why-the-model-minority-myth-is-dangerous. (Image)
“Dashka Slater | Authors.” Macmillan, us.macmillan.com/author/dashkaslater.
“Dashka Slater.” The Author Village, theauthorvillage.com/presenters/dashka-slater/.
Hinrichs, Christie. “Slater.” Authors Unbound, 17 June 2022, authorsunbound.com/dashka-slater/.
Student Support Services / Mental Health/Suicide Prevention, fl02219191.schoolwires.net/Page/24778. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024. (Image)
Sutton, Roger. “Dashka Slater Talks with Roger.” The Horn Book, www.hbook.com/story/dashka-slater-talks-with-roger-2023.
