let's have an uncomfortable discussion about racism.
I've only had three Philosophy and Society classes so far this semester, but I knew from day one I would love this course. First of all, the teacher is great--personable, reasonable, and interesting. Second of all, the topics we're going to cover are topics that interest and matter to me. Because of MLK weekend, we're kicking off the course with racism, and spent Wednesday's class and most of today's watching a documentary about a class dealing with racism at Berkley.
The class was comprised of students from all backgrounds--Latin@, African-American, Asian, and white--and focused on everyone's misconceptions about different races, and racism in general.
After the film was over, the professor asked us if it had pushed any buttons. In a class made up of mostly white students, in a university full of white students, in a town full of white people, I shouldn't have been surprised by the answers.
"Oh, you know, there's self-induced racism. I mean, look at Obama. He's half-black, but he's well-spoken. That's why he was elected. If black people from the ghetto would just educate themselves, they wouldn't be in their situation. Or they could at least get out of it!"
"But it's the norm to speak 'proper' English! They should try to learn how to do that! They can talk however they want to in the communities that THEY start."
"The majority of the angry, racist students in that video were the Latin@s! They were being so ~racist to those white kids."
It carried on. The professor calmly challenged the students to look at society critically--asking themselves not, "Why don't minorities conform to the norm?" but, "Why is this the norm, anyway?"
For most of the discussion, I sat there, fuming, biting my lip to keep from snapping at the one, smug blonde girl doing most of the talking. I was only able to get one comment in: pointing out that, hey, there is no such thing as "reverse racism." Minorities cannot be racist against white people in America. Actually, that's not the case anywhere. Racism lies in power. There's a difference between racism as she was defining it and bigotry.
The teacher validated what I'd said, but the majority of the class met this observation with resounding silence, before the guy behind me said that hey, isn't racism really over now? The really racist people are like one in a million.
The blonde girl I'd taken issue with ended the class by saying she wished it was more diverse.
I just don't know. I don't know how to respond to these people. I don't know how to handle myself in discussions like this without shouting or crying or pounding my fists on the ground, because how in the hell are they this sheltered? Do they have any idea that just because Obama is president, he doesn't somehow encounter racism every damn day from the media, from the birthers, from other politicians, from tax paying citizens? I don't imagine that every person in the class grew up rich, or at least well-off, (no matter their race) but all you have to do is look around this campus and recognize that racism is alive and well.
I've discussed my own ethnicity before: I'm part Latina, but I even struggle with saying that. Racially, I'm white, look white, was raised in (largely) white communities. I have white privilege. I live in a system that benefits me, as a white woman.
On the other hand, my name is "ethnic," Spanish. This might not seem like a big deal--until you get automated calls questioning you about your immigration status in Spanish, go by a white nickname to avoid getting bullied or looked at weird in elementary school, or deal with people asking, "What ARE you?" It's not a big deal until you hear people behind the counter at a store laughing at your grandmother's thick accent, or people assuming she must clean houses because she's from a Latin country. It's not a big deal until people are "surprised" that you're not brown.
So no, people don't follow me in stores, and I've never been called a racial slur. But I've seen racism. I know what it looks like. I know that white privilege, whether people who are white are aware of it or not, makes a world of difference in how the world treats and sees you.
And I'm still looking forward to this class--don't get me wrong--but now, I'm kind of dreading discussions. Not because I won't contribute (I certainly plan to, and a lot), but because I'm afraid of hearing what people think about racism (or about the objectification of women) and snapping. I'm glad the professor is good, and there were other people in class today who spoke up, pointing out that racism existed simply because of the fact we were having a discussion about its existence.
The fact of the matter is, white privilege is hard to recognize. It's hard to say, "Yeah, I benefit from an inherently evil, RACIST system. Now what am I going to do about it?" Sometimes, it takes a class like this or a heated argument to wake people up, or at least make them aware.
I'm interested to see where this class goes, what happens. If the people who rubbed me the wrong way realize what they said isn't okay, isn't even close to reality.
I'm not saying that I don't have a lot to learn, either, by any stretch of the imagination. I do. I look forward to it.
For me, this semester is full of courses about deviancy and social change and issues within society. I'm probably going to be frustrated or angry a lot. But, I hope, I'm also going to be glad--glad that I'm learning, glad that others are (please oh please) learning, and glad that these issues are at least getting talked about, even if not enough people are listening.
The class was comprised of students from all backgrounds--Latin@, African-American, Asian, and white--and focused on everyone's misconceptions about different races, and racism in general.
After the film was over, the professor asked us if it had pushed any buttons. In a class made up of mostly white students, in a university full of white students, in a town full of white people, I shouldn't have been surprised by the answers.
"Oh, you know, there's self-induced racism. I mean, look at Obama. He's half-black, but he's well-spoken. That's why he was elected. If black people from the ghetto would just educate themselves, they wouldn't be in their situation. Or they could at least get out of it!"
"But it's the norm to speak 'proper' English! They should try to learn how to do that! They can talk however they want to in the communities that THEY start."
"The majority of the angry, racist students in that video were the Latin@s! They were being so ~racist to those white kids."
It carried on. The professor calmly challenged the students to look at society critically--asking themselves not, "Why don't minorities conform to the norm?" but, "Why is this the norm, anyway?"
For most of the discussion, I sat there, fuming, biting my lip to keep from snapping at the one, smug blonde girl doing most of the talking. I was only able to get one comment in: pointing out that, hey, there is no such thing as "reverse racism." Minorities cannot be racist against white people in America. Actually, that's not the case anywhere. Racism lies in power. There's a difference between racism as she was defining it and bigotry.
The teacher validated what I'd said, but the majority of the class met this observation with resounding silence, before the guy behind me said that hey, isn't racism really over now? The really racist people are like one in a million.
The blonde girl I'd taken issue with ended the class by saying she wished it was more diverse.
I just don't know. I don't know how to respond to these people. I don't know how to handle myself in discussions like this without shouting or crying or pounding my fists on the ground, because how in the hell are they this sheltered? Do they have any idea that just because Obama is president, he doesn't somehow encounter racism every damn day from the media, from the birthers, from other politicians, from tax paying citizens? I don't imagine that every person in the class grew up rich, or at least well-off, (no matter their race) but all you have to do is look around this campus and recognize that racism is alive and well.
I've discussed my own ethnicity before: I'm part Latina, but I even struggle with saying that. Racially, I'm white, look white, was raised in (largely) white communities. I have white privilege. I live in a system that benefits me, as a white woman.
On the other hand, my name is "ethnic," Spanish. This might not seem like a big deal--until you get automated calls questioning you about your immigration status in Spanish, go by a white nickname to avoid getting bullied or looked at weird in elementary school, or deal with people asking, "What ARE you?" It's not a big deal until you hear people behind the counter at a store laughing at your grandmother's thick accent, or people assuming she must clean houses because she's from a Latin country. It's not a big deal until people are "surprised" that you're not brown.
So no, people don't follow me in stores, and I've never been called a racial slur. But I've seen racism. I know what it looks like. I know that white privilege, whether people who are white are aware of it or not, makes a world of difference in how the world treats and sees you.
And I'm still looking forward to this class--don't get me wrong--but now, I'm kind of dreading discussions. Not because I won't contribute (I certainly plan to, and a lot), but because I'm afraid of hearing what people think about racism (or about the objectification of women) and snapping. I'm glad the professor is good, and there were other people in class today who spoke up, pointing out that racism existed simply because of the fact we were having a discussion about its existence.
The fact of the matter is, white privilege is hard to recognize. It's hard to say, "Yeah, I benefit from an inherently evil, RACIST system. Now what am I going to do about it?" Sometimes, it takes a class like this or a heated argument to wake people up, or at least make them aware.
I'm interested to see where this class goes, what happens. If the people who rubbed me the wrong way realize what they said isn't okay, isn't even close to reality.
I'm not saying that I don't have a lot to learn, either, by any stretch of the imagination. I do. I look forward to it.
For me, this semester is full of courses about deviancy and social change and issues within society. I'm probably going to be frustrated or angry a lot. But, I hope, I'm also going to be glad--glad that I'm learning, glad that others are (please oh please) learning, and glad that these issues are at least getting talked about, even if not enough people are listening.