The post below was written in 2015, but never posted. (Not sure why.) Goodness, has the world changed in those 4 years. Now, our "president"--45--and EVEN more police brutality and racial bullshit situations have forced us to talk about what we have avoided for far too long. The below post represented a turning point for me in what topics I use for class. I'm glad I made that turn. I now actively work to decolonize the classroom and reiterate bell hooks' call to use transgressive teaching. Join me.
For the first time in too many years to count, I've decided to use articles in my classes that openly discuss race. I purposely selected "The Topics Dystopian Films Won't Touch" by Imran Siddiquee and a response to that article titled "Why The Hunger Games Is about Racism" by Alissa Wilkinson because both articles focused on a book and film series that most students nowadays know very well--The Hunger Games.
In asking my students to discuss these articles, I've learned a few things. One I already knew and know very well and some other things I'm a bit surprised about.
One--people (esp. people of average college age) are STILL uncomfortable talking about race without a LOT of prodding, coaxing, nudging and sometimes being shoved off a cliff of discussion. Despite all of the many racially charged events that have happened in recent months, despite the many forums being held, despite the continued protests designed to continue these conversations, despite the many speeches political leaders have given (which often sparked even more controversy--yes, I'm talking to you NYPD), people still struggle to talk openly about race. (And unfortunately, in the time since this post was originally written and now, we experienced a year (2016) in which it seemed that every week or every other week brought us a new story of black males, people with mental health concerns, homeless, lower-income people in rough situations entangled, harassed, and more often than not, killed by cops. Often due to overly nosey (white) people calling cops on people unnecessarily. Sigh. This shit never truly ended, but good god it's exhausting to witness. The Mangled Apricot Hellbeast became president in Jan. 2017 and since then, everything he does/says/tweets sucks the air from the room and distracts from other social issues. We have to talk about that stuff too even though it's exhausting as hell!)
Two--we do our students a huge disservice by NOT talking about race. By avoiding the conversations, we trick ourselves into believe in the popular buzzwords of the day: post-racial, post-Obama America, colorblind, etc. No matter how much we want to claim or believe we live in a post-racial society or a colorblind society, we don't. I learned this lesson long ago: we see race, period, full-stop, end of.
From a distance, we see race. That is, until you know people intimately, yes, you see race. When we are always surrounded by people of the same race, of course, you don't notice race because it's a group of all the same race, but if you enter a situation in which there are other races, you notice that there are differences. (This is probably why minorities notice race quicker than whites. Depending on the community, environment, workplace you inhabit on a regular basis, many minorities are often truly the minority in the situation. Some people ignore it, but most minorities instantly notice if they are the one or two dots in the situation.) This has nothing to do with racism, nothing to do with people being racist, prejudiced, etc. It is basic human nature to notice differences. That's it.
Now, what people choose to do with those differences is where decent humans are separated from the arseholes among us. (Yes, they walk among us.) If you're decent, you will befriend people of varied races, and after awhile, you will see them as people and not instantly see their race. Ya know, "colorblind" and "post-racial" and all those other feelgood phrases we use. Because once you truly become friends with someone, you see that person for who they are, not for the complexion of their skin. If you're fortunate enough to experience that, revel in it, celebrate it. (I appreciate my friends of different races. Thanks!)
Three--when we don't have conversations about race, younger people sometimes don't even have the proper terminology with which to discuss race. This is perhaps the biggest and confusing revelation I've discovered. Over the past few weeks, I've discovered that without discussions, sometimes students might not understand that saying something is "about racism" and saying something or someone "is racist" are VERY different. But how can we expect them to converse intelligently about a topic when society has basically stopped talking about it and shout people down that they are "using the race card" for merely pointing out a racial situation. It's as if society, in many ways, felt, "hey, we elected the black guy twice. There's no more racism, so let's just stop talking about." But it isn't as if we talked about it a lot before Pres. Obama was elected. And now, the issues that were simmering just below the surface have boiled over and we are being forced to discuss race rather than discuss it comfortably on our own terms.
Confession:
For a long time, I was the person doing the disservice. Several years ago, I assigned Shelby Steele's "On Being Black and Middle Class" to my classes. That was the last time I discussed race openly in my classes. That semester, my students accused me of "always discussing race" despite Steele's essay being the only race-related article we discussed that semester. I took that statement to heart and for fear of being accused of always discussing race, I ran from it. Despite it being literally impossible for me to avoid race, I chose to ignore it in my classes.
No more.
I will no longer go out of my way to avoid it. I will do as I have always done--make sure we discuss things that are current, relevant, and rhetorically a part of our world, but I will make sure I don't run from race when it comes up.
I will no longer support the power structure that would prefer we sit quietly back and ignore the simmering pots right in front of us.
I will no longer wait for the pot to boil over before I broach the topic.
No more.
I will no longer be that disservice. Avoiding relevant conversations harms them. No more.
Pay attention.
Be informed.
Take part.
 |
| From https://www.flickr.com/photos/collegelibrary/10859112445 |
In asking my students to discuss these articles, I've learned a few things. One I already knew and know very well and some other things I'm a bit surprised about.
One--people (esp. people of average college age) are STILL uncomfortable talking about race without a LOT of prodding, coaxing, nudging and sometimes being shoved off a cliff of discussion. Despite all of the many racially charged events that have happened in recent months, despite the many forums being held, despite the continued protests designed to continue these conversations, despite the many speeches political leaders have given (which often sparked even more controversy--yes, I'm talking to you NYPD), people still struggle to talk openly about race. (And unfortunately, in the time since this post was originally written and now, we experienced a year (2016) in which it seemed that every week or every other week brought us a new story of black males, people with mental health concerns, homeless, lower-income people in rough situations entangled, harassed, and more often than not, killed by cops. Often due to overly nosey (white) people calling cops on people unnecessarily. Sigh. This shit never truly ended, but good god it's exhausting to witness. The Mangled Apricot Hellbeast became president in Jan. 2017 and since then, everything he does/says/tweets sucks the air from the room and distracts from other social issues. We have to talk about that stuff too even though it's exhausting as hell!)
Two--we do our students a huge disservice by NOT talking about race. By avoiding the conversations, we trick ourselves into believe in the popular buzzwords of the day: post-racial, post-Obama America, colorblind, etc. No matter how much we want to claim or believe we live in a post-racial society or a colorblind society, we don't. I learned this lesson long ago: we see race, period, full-stop, end of.
From a distance, we see race. That is, until you know people intimately, yes, you see race. When we are always surrounded by people of the same race, of course, you don't notice race because it's a group of all the same race, but if you enter a situation in which there are other races, you notice that there are differences. (This is probably why minorities notice race quicker than whites. Depending on the community, environment, workplace you inhabit on a regular basis, many minorities are often truly the minority in the situation. Some people ignore it, but most minorities instantly notice if they are the one or two dots in the situation.) This has nothing to do with racism, nothing to do with people being racist, prejudiced, etc. It is basic human nature to notice differences. That's it.
Now, what people choose to do with those differences is where decent humans are separated from the arseholes among us. (Yes, they walk among us.) If you're decent, you will befriend people of varied races, and after awhile, you will see them as people and not instantly see their race. Ya know, "colorblind" and "post-racial" and all those other feelgood phrases we use. Because once you truly become friends with someone, you see that person for who they are, not for the complexion of their skin. If you're fortunate enough to experience that, revel in it, celebrate it. (I appreciate my friends of different races. Thanks!)
Three--when we don't have conversations about race, younger people sometimes don't even have the proper terminology with which to discuss race. This is perhaps the biggest and confusing revelation I've discovered. Over the past few weeks, I've discovered that without discussions, sometimes students might not understand that saying something is "about racism" and saying something or someone "is racist" are VERY different. But how can we expect them to converse intelligently about a topic when society has basically stopped talking about it and shout people down that they are "using the race card" for merely pointing out a racial situation. It's as if society, in many ways, felt, "hey, we elected the black guy twice. There's no more racism, so let's just stop talking about." But it isn't as if we talked about it a lot before Pres. Obama was elected. And now, the issues that were simmering just below the surface have boiled over and we are being forced to discuss race rather than discuss it comfortably on our own terms.
Confession:
For a long time, I was the person doing the disservice. Several years ago, I assigned Shelby Steele's "On Being Black and Middle Class" to my classes. That was the last time I discussed race openly in my classes. That semester, my students accused me of "always discussing race" despite Steele's essay being the only race-related article we discussed that semester. I took that statement to heart and for fear of being accused of always discussing race, I ran from it. Despite it being literally impossible for me to avoid race, I chose to ignore it in my classes.
No more.
I will no longer go out of my way to avoid it. I will do as I have always done--make sure we discuss things that are current, relevant, and rhetorically a part of our world, but I will make sure I don't run from race when it comes up.
I will no longer support the power structure that would prefer we sit quietly back and ignore the simmering pots right in front of us.
I will no longer wait for the pot to boil over before I broach the topic.
No more.
I will no longer be that disservice. Avoiding relevant conversations harms them. No more.
Pay attention.
Be informed.
Take part.
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