Diversity & Inclusion: Part IV

Introduction

This week in class, we kept the discussion about diversity and inclusion going. This time, in relation to everything that went down last week with the book author and her speech. There was really a lot to be said on the subject and not nearly enough class time to discuss it all. Monday was focused on how we personally felt about the speech while Wednesday became a continuation of our discussion on white privilege. 

The Speech Itself

With everything that happened, from the book burnings and making the national news, I was really looking forward to our class discussions. Our class always has a lot to say about any topic presented to us, and this one was bound to have some varying opinions. I'm always pretty impressed with how well our class seems to handle topics like this. Most of us feel comfortable enough to express our opinions, but we also try our best not to overstep any boundaries. 

I mentioned most of this in my blog last week, but not to the extent that I would've liked. First, I would like to say I was actually pretty intrigued by Crucet's speech as a whole. She got up in front of a majority white audience and proceeded to speak out on a topic that isn't addressed nearly enough. White privilege. I wouldn't say that I absolutely loved it at the time, but there was a lot to be taken away from it. Even as a white person, I agreed with nearly everything she had to say about white people. To say that we don't have privilege would be a lie. The only issue I had with her speech was that she was more talking at us than with us. With a topic as sensitive as race, I feel it's more successfully received when people don't feel as though they're being attacked. That being said, I can see why she did everything the way she did, especially after discussing it as a class. The way she set up her speech allowed every white person in the room, including myself, to feel exactly the way a person of color feels everyday of their lives. I had only been semi aware of that feeling before her speech, but that situation did a lot to open my eyes. 

White Privilege

Okay, so yeah this was touched on in my previous paragraph, but it's a pretty important topic, so there's a lot to be said. I've done my best to educate myself on white privilege and what it means, but I'm still learning, and class discussions like ours put a lot of things into perspective. In my own mind, I knew what white privilege was, but I could never put it into words well enough to explain it. The best explanation of the term I've heard so far, is "white privilege doesn't mean you've never faced hardships, it just means those hardships have never come from the color of your skin." I'd never really been aware of white privilege until I saw a video on it when I was probably around 12 years old. In the video, there's a group of teenagers lined up on a field. They're all of varying races. It's then explained by the person leading the activity, that they will be participating in a race to get something like $50. But, before they begin the race, he tells the teenagers to step forward when any of his following statements apply to them. He began to list off things like never having to worry about your next meal or what you're wearing or how you speak and on and on. By the time he was done, there was a significant difference in where everyone was standing. That video opened my eyes to a lot of things. I had never realized that not everyone had to worry about their actions more than I did. Dra. McGrath pointed out that women have to worry about some the same things as people of color, but clearly for different reasons. We were asked how likely we were to put our headphones in while walking alone at night, and all the guys unanimously agreed that they would do it without a second thought. Not a single girl would even consider it. Most of us wouldn't even want to walk alone at night without the headphones. That small comparison was really what brought it all together for us.

One Last Thing

The last thing we discussed as a class was an article on how white people avoid taking responsibility for their racism. After I read it, I wanted everyone I knew to read it and then read it again. In the article it listed off the various ways most white people deal with racism when it comes their way. They avoid it entirely by denying they were ever racist in the first place. Here's the thing, even if you didn't mean to say something racist, the effects of your words still exist. So instead of making the person who pointed it out to you feel even worse, we all need to start doing a better job of taking responsibility for our actions and words. If you don't understand how or why something you said may be taken offensively, then ask. I can almost guarantee the person pointing it out to you would be more than willing to help you understand because it shows them that you genuinely care. After all that, just try to take more time to consider your words or any jokes you want to make. Nobody is going to be perfect all the time, but as long as we try and actually listen to each other, we might actually start to get somewhere.