Week 2: Assignment B: Colorblindness
is the New Racism: Raising Awareness about Privilege Using Color Insight -Armstrong
and Wildman
This article was extremely insightful and offered a lot more
context to the idea of “white privilege” that I did not previously have. This
reading stood out to me because it had several different powerful quotes.
The authors state “Whites may observe the discriminatory
treatment of non-Whites and consider only the disadvantages that flow from
being non-White without having to consider any of the benefits of appearing to
be White” (Armstrong & Wildman, 2013, p.63). As soon as I read this quote,
I thought about a video I saw a few years back called “White Privilege Glasses”
and in this video there are two POC individuals who give this white man, who
claims to not understand white privilege, these ‘white privilege glasses’. He
then goes around the city and sees, with these glasses, different ways in white
POC are often treated differently from white people. You can catch the video
here: https://www.colorlines.com/articles/new-video-asks-can-you-see-white-privilege
to see the different examples that are brought up. I thought a lot about this
video and how it connects to this particular quote and tried to determine if it
was the white man seeing the ‘disadvantages of being non-White’ or if he was
seeing the advantages of being white. I think it does a little bit of both, but
I definitely think that it brings up examples of microaggressions that POC experience
every single day, which is something that should be discussed more often in our
society. This goes back to the reading because it connects directly with the
idea of holding oneself accountable for their actions and for their perception
in our society. Armstrong and Wildman (2013) bring this up again and again throughout
the article, but sum it up nicely in their statement “In this so-called colorblind
and post-racial world, educators in the classroom setting often fail to name and
examine whiteness” (p.65). Teachers interact with students on a regular, daily
basis and act as role models in and outside the classroom. They are the ones
who make students feel seen and heard, but that can’t be done if the idea of ‘colorblindness’
is brought into the classroom. If students’ identities are not being seen or
explained in ways that bring up topics such as the history of the United
States, or what words like microaggression are then students will continue to
grow up with a mindset that is not conducive to working towards equity in our society.
The
authors of this article give examples on how to help students develop “color insight”
in the classroom. The one that I thought was extremely effective was the
offering up a space for dialog about privilege and how it works in our society.
I, myself, have tried to have open conversations with my students several
times. There was one time in particular where my students and I were discussing
something (to be frank I don’t remember it was in September) and I said the
word “nice”. One of my students who is Latinx yelled out “Ms. that is a white
person word. If you’re Latina then you shouldn’t say it. Say chill instead.” I
took that opportunity and ran with it to have a discussion about words and
whether or not they should be categorized by race. What amazed me the most was
how easy and engaging it was for the students to have this discussion. They
wrote dozens of words under the category “white people words” and “POC words”
and then carried out their own discussion on the ways in which society has shaped
the way we talk based on race. We need to be doing more of this in the
classroom to help students feel more comfortable with topics that are
uncomfortable.
I loved your statement about how teachers are the one's who make students feel heard and seen. It highlights what Armstrong and Wildman are discussing when they mention teaching across all racial lines. Keeping your point in mind, I think if we employ some of the tactic provided in the text we can ensure all student are in fact heard within our classes! Also being aware of the words we choose and owning the fact that some words are inherently "white" and being able to discuss that in class will make sure our students can proceed in the classroom with cultural awareness and ownership.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the conversation you had with your students about 'white words" versus "POC words". It is such a great way to acknowledge such a strong topic but to put it in a way that relates to them and in a way that everyone can be involved in the conversation. We don't realize just how much educators can be influential to students just by letting them know that we see them and we hear them and we are there for them.
ReplyDeleteFYI the above comment is me. I accidentally commented using the wrong email address.
DeleteThe video you linked to was a powerful one. It makes me think about the idea (which was discussed in our readings) relating to how white people do not typically think of race in the same ways that POC individuals do. Because our society's 'dominant race' is white, we do not think about the ways in which our whiteness privileges us over POC people. Having these glasses sure would help us lead to a more positive and justice oriented society!
ReplyDeleteGreat points, Sara. I think poindering this is particularly useful: " I thought a lot about this video and how it connects to this particular quote and tried to determine if it was the white man seeing the ‘disadvantages of being non-White’ or if he was seeing the advantages of being white." This is exactly what Johnson and A&W are talking about. I am still thinking about the convo with your students... I think this is EXACTLY what DElpit is getting at when she talked about the "rules and codes of power!" "Underrepresented students are often so aware of the fact that there are "white people words" and "POC words" and we (as teachers, or as people who have insight on this) can be instrumental in helping them navigate between them.
ReplyDeleteSara, I agree that as educators we need to be able to have these conversations with our students and use the right names to call things what they are. I teach in Providence where the majority of my class is Hispanic or Black. We’ve started talking about culture and where each person’s ancestors came from since we are going to be having our Cultural Night soon and each student is going to make something to talk about the country or countries in which their ancestors originated. We actually had an impromptu discussion today about skin color and where people came from and one girl went home and asked her mom about her family’s ancestors and she talked about how she wasn’t sure since they came over as slaves. The girl said it like it was no big deal, like she had already known her ancestors were slaves, but for me to hear that from one of my own students that I love and laugh with, broke my heart. I know this as an educated person, but for someone I care about and see every day to say it to me and remind me that, that is a part of her family’s history, it really made me sad. We talked about it how yes many black people were brought to this country as slaves and we talked about evolution actually and how humans started in Africa and the reason why people in Africa (and in other countries) have darker skin is because those countries are closer to the equator and their skin has more melanin in order to protect them from the rays of the sun. We talked about how humans migrated out of Africa and got further away from the equator their skin lightened over many, many years. And I said that is the only difference between you and me. My students, the majority being of color, were extremely interested in this and we had a really interesting and meaningful conversation that although ventured from the lesson we were doing, was an important avenue to take.
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