Don’t Turn a Blind Eye
“Election days come and go. But the struggle of the people to create a government which represents all of us and not just the one percent — a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice — that struggle continues.” -Bernie Sanders. The great Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks the truth, and the truth is all too revealing about the kind of America we are currently apart of. In a country where we have prided ourselves on progressiveness and equality for all, have time and time again contradicted ourselves and displayed an array of disrespect and inequality towards certain members base on their race. Our country has still yet to recognize the social seclusion that so many people of non-white races face every single day, socioeconomically, geographically, academically and even professionally. The time is now to step up and correct this racial inequality, and there are many people who have already spearheaded the charge to do so.
As the editor of the book Everyday Antiracism, Mica Pollock has worked tirelessly to let our country know about the issue of racial inequality and ways that our community and communities around the country have addressed or have not addressed the issue. The reading is a real eye opener and touches base on many topics of societal racial inequality, one main point being that our children and youth need to come to understand that they are disadvantaged or privileged by a social system that they can help make more equitable. This issue can also be addressed and lead by our nation’s educators, by teaching our youth and children about privilege and disadvantage. The reading makes a lot of points about our education system and how it is a medium that can help set the standards for racial equality, “For this type of lesson to be successful in another environment, some key conditions need to exist. First, a school system must provide space for deep questioning of taken-for-granted ideas. A lesson like this interweaves science with social issues. We discussed how science is social and political. The students appreciated that science is not merely objective, but a human enterprise.” (Pollock 7) Clearly, Pollock is addressing the issue in the reading and states solutions or ways to find solutions to racial injustice and inequality that can either stem or stop in the classroom. Pollock is trying to expand the root of racial inequality among societies, she looks through the issue as more society than as an individual problem, “Educators can tackle topics that relate to their own personal experiences. High school teachers might discuss racial achievement gaps; teachers of younger students might explore students’ tension-provoking uses of racial slurs on the playground. The discussion leader must have thought through these issues from multiple angles in order to steer the conversation in a positive direction.” (Pollock 19) Pollock knows that in order to properly address the issue, the community must understand and set up a plan, it takes more than just the individual.
Another one of these leaders in the fight for racial equality is non-other than Gloria Ladson-Billings. Billings is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and is famous for her groundbreaking work in the fields of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Critical Race Theory. Billings is also the author of It’s Not the Culture of Poverty, It’s the Poverty of Culture: The Problem with Teacher Education an extremely powerful reading and lecture that dismantles racial inequality and shines a light on the real issue that is racial inequality. In her reading, Billings states that that term “culture” is used by educators to mask racism,“…it is increasingly important for teacher education to take more global dimensions. Although many of our campuses offer study-abroad possibilities, the demands of teacher education may thwart prospective teachers’ efforts to participate in such programs.” (Billings 109) Billings is addressing issues in our current education system model and how our society cannot use the cover term “culture” as a way to mask everyday racism. Treating different racial groups different than how you would treat you own is the type of structural inequality that Billings is addressing and is an issue that needs to be stopped.
Throughout my experiences at my community partner, I do not believe that the members of Venetia Valley School necessarily act colorblind towards their students. The teachers and faculty treat all of the students equally and truly want what is best for them in the future, regardless of race or ethnicity. The term colorblind is very relative and in reality should not be a way to address racism or your lack thereof. Being “colorblind” means that you believe that you do not see people’s color and therefore cannot be in any way justified as a racist person. Yet when you don’t see someone for who they are then you are ignoring their past and what the person has been through. Rather than be “colorblind” acknowledge the person for who they are because we all have pasts and none should be ignored or disregarded, the point is to just not treat someone different because of their color, thus creating a system of racial equality among not only communities but as a nation. Should I witness someone making real racial comments I think it is important to address that person but not attack them. I would tell them exactly what I have written above, and to follow the golden rule, treat others the way you would want to be treated.
