Celebrate Culture.

Pollock feels it is important to address racism at a societal level and not just at an individual level because “everyday antiracism requires both addressing people’s experiences in the world racial group members and refusing to distort people’s experiences, thoughts, or abilities by seeing them only or falsely through a racial lens” (Pollock, xix). It is important to recognize people’s backgrounds and history. In education, teachers have always had difficulty balancing between being “colorblind” and “race conscious”. This adds to the structural issues behind racism. It is important to start teaching kids from a young age on how to be “antiracist”. Last week we discussed structural issues behind the stereotypes of race and poverty. This led me to realize how far back in history the structural issue had started, and why it continues to this day. Pollock states, “Everyday antiracism in education involves rejecting false notions of human difference; acknowledging lived experiences shaped along racial lines; learning from diverse forms of knowledge and experience; and challenging systems of racial inequality” (Pollock, xx). If racism was only addressed as an individual attitude, the world would not change. The racism and stereotyping would continue to be an issue. It’s like “nipping it at the bud” when we address it at a societal level. Educational and life opportunities seem to be racially unequal. Prior to the last couple of decades, certain races were seen as inferior to others school-wise, which decreased their chances of succeeding in academia. This led to a decrease in job opportunities. This is because teachers were not providing the correct resources and would put it on the student as a part of their “culture”. This is seen in Landson-Billings, It’s Not the Culture of Poverty, It’s the Poverty of Culture: The Problem with Teacher Education.

This analysis expands on my understanding of racism because I never realized how much education was a part of the structural issue behind racism. I always knew history played a part in it, but to know that teachers were a part of unequal opportunity in a classroom was a shock to me. I’ve always gone to very diverse school and never thought of anyone getting better treatment or “benefit of the doubts” based on their race. It brings back into thought on how everyone could be treated differently based on race, if we all came from the same place, Africa. It is not fair to be judged based on the environment you grow up in or what race you are born into. This reminds me of the movie Freedom Writers, where student defy the odds. No one thought that an English class in the ghetto would do well in school because of their environment. No one looked into the structural issues behind why the students weren’t doing well. It was seen as the culture you get when you go to school in the ghetto. I’ve learned that when one accepts racial disparities as normal, it is the same as being racist. We need to actively change this notion, and that is how we can be antiracist and change the way human beings are seen because of their race.

According to Landson-Billings, the problem with the way many educators use the term “culture” in education is that “culture is randomly and regularly used to explain everything” (Landson-Billings, 104). Teachers are using the term as a way to explain why a child may not be doing well in school or why they do things a certain way. Basically, when they don’t have an answer for the behavior or schoolwork, they say “it’s a part of their culture” and let it be. The “culture answer” masks racialized inequality in American schools because it is used as a proxy to race. “Culture” is only the answer if the students in question are not white, not English speaking, and not native-born U.S. citizens” (Landson-Billings, 106). Saying “it’s a part of their culture” sounds better than “it is because he’s black”. This problem became worse, in my opinion, when “most members of the dominant society rarely acknowledge themselves as cultural beings” (Landson-Billings, 107). Having a different race was being seen as having a different culture, even if the student grew up in the same environment and in the “American culture” as everyone else in their class. An example of treating people as racial group members helps them bring something different into the situation. They are able to use their experiences and knowledge in a positive way to provide different perspectives. It could harm them because they may be seen as a stereotype, which either means that they are a menace to society or that they will be held to expectations that are not based on their own set of skills.

People at our community partner site celebrate diversity. Although all of the women currently in the group are Hispanic or Latina, they don’t act colorblind toward their supervisor, Teresa, or toward me. Regardless of being seen as a stereotypical Hispanic/Latina teenage mom, they create their own experiences and learn from it. They don’t use their race to hide when it gets hard. They are succeeding in life, or trying hard to. A way they celebrate diversity is speaking in Spanish and English to their kids, bringing food that is from their native countries for everyone to try, and even going back and visiting their native countries. They don’t want their kids to not know where their roots are. They are trying to make sure they keep the diversity in America by being a part of the American culture but also by experiencing their native culture. I do feel like this is an example if an antiracist act. This is because they are rejecting the false notion of human difference. They don’t look at others who are not like them as a human difference, but acknowledge it as a background difference. They acknowledge each other’s lived experiences and learn from it. They also challenge the system of racial inequality by trying to do better and getting what they deserve by not allowing racial inequality to get in the way.

Out of the four suggestions for beginning courageous conversations about race, I find expecting to experience discomfort the most challenging. This is because I am the person who will disengage if they feel discomfort. I can get engaged at the start of the conversation, speak the truth, and accept that there won’t be any closure, but discomfort is not a feeling I like to have. Sometimes I do feel like I start backing away when I get into an intense disagreement. However, it is something I have been trying to work on. After the readings this week, I will respond to racialized comments by starting a conversation and learning where they get their perspective from. From there I will either tell them the facts I know and for lack of a better phrase, put them in their place. At my community partner site, I know we can talk about race openly because we have, and it has never been anything negative. It was always a learning experience for everyone involved.