Sunday, August 4, 2019
Exploring Race and Challenging Privilege Essay -- Personal Narrative R
Exploring Race and Challenging Privilege I thought I understood racism well enough. Since early childhood Iââ¬â¢ve learned from parents and teachers that racism is a sense of racial superiority, a way of making judgments about people based on their skin color before you get to know them, and a cause of hate crimes and foul language. I think Iââ¬â¢m not racist, and as a white woman Iââ¬â¢m not likely to be the victim of racism, so I usually think racism has nothing to do with my life. But Iââ¬â¢m uncomfortable with the idea of race because what Iââ¬â¢ve learned about race is contradictory. Iââ¬â¢m taught that people of different races are equal, but I see that they live separately. Iââ¬â¢m told that they should get along, but the past and the present reveal that they donââ¬â¢t. Iââ¬â¢m a product of political correctness that at best gives me a list of things not to say, and at worst makes me want to pretend that race doesnââ¬â¢t exist, but that does not give me a thorough understanding of how to think about race or how to see my role in a society in which race matters. Kozol, Tatum, and Delpit made me confront my discomfort and guided me through the thorny terrain of thinking about race. Theyââ¬â¢ve made me think more about my own identity as part of racial and socio-economic groups. Theyââ¬â¢ve given me some tools that seem more effective than rhetoric about equality to help me to recognize and overcome prejudices that Iââ¬â¢ve always pretended I didnââ¬â¢t have. Theyââ¬â¢ve taught me that racism and classism are not evident only in isolated discriminatory acts, but that they pervade American institutions, including the one upon which our hopes of creating a truly equal society most firmly rests, public education. Theyââ¬â¢ve made me aware of the effects of white privilege and e... ...a firm understanding of racial dynamics in my classroom and know what I want to teach my students about race and how to go about that so that I donââ¬â¢t accidentally teach them the wrong things. As an active tax-paying citizen, I want to support tax reform that will equalize the disparities in public education and other public institutions that should serve all Americans. As an individual, I search myself for biases, try to be aware of the way others perceive me, and make it a goal to take risks to breach gaps between racial and class groups. This commitment to open learning should help me through the many processes that remain ââ¬â as I try to develop my stance on other thorny issues like affirmative action, as I form new relationships with people, and as I acknowledge my starting place as a white woman in racist America when I make choices about how to lead my life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment