Week 9: Discussion on the Past Week of Events
These past two weeks at Georgia Southern have been very impactful with author Jennine Capó Crucet visiting to speak about her book and the events that came after. There have been many things written in local newspapers and posted on the national news. Currently, as I am sitting in the dining commons facing the windows, a group of thirty people just passed by walking with signs and protesting. It looked like they were walking to Eagle Village, but I am not 100% sure. One of the signs read "Don't change the book."
Monday
In class on Monday, we started by taking a "quiz" that evaluated our standing on the author's talk. The very first question began with the two words "Be honest." Then, it proceeded to ask the two questions "Did the author's talk last Wednesday make you uncomfortable? Can you explain why it did or didn't?" We got a list of the answers back from everyone in the class, and they were all anonymous of course. I was not that surprised to see that only 3 people said "no." I actually was one of the ones that answered "no" but I continued to say that the Q & A at the end did make me a little bit uncomfortable because there was so much tension in the air. One of my favorite answers from the list was "Yes, I think there was a miscommunication in the Q & A between economic privilege and social privilege."
In class we discussed that there was an aggressive tone in the author's voice, but we also acknowledged that Jennine did mention her tone and how sometimes she has to hold herself back. We also discussed how some people from the talk felt as if they were attacked for being white. However, I really enjoyed Taylor's comment towards the end... she asked "Don't y'all think minorities feel that way a lot of the time?"
Wednesday
On Wednesday, we started class by reading the article "11 ways white America avoids taking responsibility for its racism" (1) by Dr. Robin Diangelo. The very first sentence of the article is "I am white." I really liked one of the bolded quotes in the middle that says "How dare you suggest that I have done something racist!" I actually have heard a few people in my lifetime say this because it is our human nature to get defensive when we are called out. We then go on to list how there is no way that we could have possibly done or said something racist because "we are not a racist person"... instead of just acknowledging it, accepting it, and being more conscious while moving on. Dr. Robin Diangelo even mentioned that most of the time it is an unconscious thing and not even intentional. That is frighteningly accurate. Therefore, we need to be able to take the feedback in order to create "revolutionary" change.
After discussing the article, we went into detail about the meaning of "white privilege." I can honestly say that I did not truly know the meaning of white privilege until after this class. I always just assumed that it was based off of economic privilege. I loved how to help fully explain the definition of white privilege the focus was taken off of race and onto gender to get the full picture. We were presented with the scenario and question that as a woman would you put in headphones and go out to your car to get something at 2 am that you forgot. We all answered with "absolutely not" while the boys said that they would. Then, our professor went on to say that people of color are taught the same way on how to act and handle certain situations to keep them from harm because of their skin color. It was not until one of my classmates began getting emotional about being worried about her brothers because of their skin color that I truly understood white privilege.
Resources:
(1) https://www.salon.com/2015/06/16/11_ways_white_america_avoids_taking_responsibility_for_its_racism_partner/?fbclid=IwAR2HnDVkVGzkyZjNEgYq3BDNpGl9Y5Qe9WFzcoMM74m4KDobx2MdTZYtS4k
After discussing the article, we went into detail about the meaning of "white privilege." I can honestly say that I did not truly know the meaning of white privilege until after this class. I always just assumed that it was based off of economic privilege. I loved how to help fully explain the definition of white privilege the focus was taken off of race and onto gender to get the full picture. We were presented with the scenario and question that as a woman would you put in headphones and go out to your car to get something at 2 am that you forgot. We all answered with "absolutely not" while the boys said that they would. Then, our professor went on to say that people of color are taught the same way on how to act and handle certain situations to keep them from harm because of their skin color. It was not until one of my classmates began getting emotional about being worried about her brothers because of their skin color that I truly understood white privilege.
Resources:
(1) https://www.salon.com/2015/06/16/11_ways_white_america_avoids_taking_responsibility_for_its_racism_partner/?fbclid=IwAR2HnDVkVGzkyZjNEgYq3BDNpGl9Y5Qe9WFzcoMM74m4KDobx2MdTZYtS4k
Michelle, I really enjoyed your blog this week! Side note: I love how organized it is. I found it really interesting that you actually saw a group of protestors - I had no idea that people would feel the need to demonstrate, but, of course, they have the right to - nothing wrong with that. At the end of your blog, I noticed that we both claimed to learn the actual definition of white privilege only after our FYE class. I am glad and also interested that I am not the only person who felt this way. Thanks for sharing!
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