Author accused by students of "racism towards white people"

[msmerymac]

and had her book burned. Stay classy, American college students who don't believe in white privilege, even when displaying an example of white privilege. 


“‘I noticed that you made a lot of generalizations about the majority of white people being privileged,’ one respondent said into the microphone. ‘What makes you believe that it’s okay to come to a college campus, like this, when we are supposed to be promoting diversity on this campus, which is what we’re taught. I don’t understand what the purpose of this was.’”



Amid “audible reactions from the audience” Crucet used the question as an opportunity to point out the privilege inherent in the student’s statement:



“‘I came here because I was invited and I talked about white privilege because it’s a real thing that you are actually benefiting from right now in even asking this question,” Crucet said. What’s so heartbreaking for me and what is so difficult in this moment right now is to literally have read a talk about this exact moment happening and it’s happening again. That is why a different experience, the white experience, is centered in this talk.’”


jezebel.com/georgia-southern-students-burn-cuban-american-authors-b-1838948055?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&fbclid=IwAR1AffsDtK_0n7dndCMssO7SCunRuEfc6KhqrNMdiliU6so7hOGuLWObdak

[pixy0stix]

Good lord. Way to prove the point, privileged white college kids.

[Patsy Baloney]

What is the point of being so openly hateful, stupid, confrontational, and obnoxious? WOW, look at you and your blazing book barbecue! You're so white and fragile and willfully obtuse. WOW!

Shame on them. It's a privilege to get to speak to an author whose work you're studying and have a chance to dissect and discuss that work. How dare they rob other students and that author of safety and a great learning experience. I am incensed reading this.

[msmerymac]

Oct 11, 2019 10:46:49 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Good lord. Way to prove the point, privileged white college kids.

We're supposed to be diverse here! Please uphold the status quo and don't question white people's intentions, or else you're upsetting our feel-good "diversity"!

[WOT?*]

"Crucet was scheduled to speak at another event on campus on Thursday. The event was subsequently canceled. On Twitter, Crucet said the event “was canceled because the administration said they could not guarantee my safety or the safety of its students on campus because of open carry laws.”

It sounds like there were some students trying to shut down these particular students. Methinks that some of those questioning her weren't doing so in good faith but wanted to upset the forum. Racism is an inherent privilege and if these students were actually *students* (as in, learning and not just warming seats for the credits) they'd know this and it's not racism when it's bias against those at the top of the power structure; bigotry or prejudice are possible, but not racism. "They teach diversity here." Fine, so flipping LEARN about diversity and bias and privilege and quit telling a POC that she's racist because you don't like what she says.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Not trying to be a snob, but I'm 0% surprised this happened at Georgia Southern.

[bronxgirl]

FFS. Further proof that the idea that racism will die out with the older generation is such bullshit.

[mbcdefg]

Oct 11, 2019 10:37:54 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

“‘I noticed that you made a lot of generalizations about the majority of white people being privileged,’ one respondent said into the microphone. ‘What makes you believe that it’s okay to come to a college campus, like this, when we are supposed to be promoting diversity on this campus, which is what we’re taught. I don’t understand what the purpose of this was.’”

[NitaX]

So a couple of things before we head down the dismissive, yet standard - "it's the South, and the least progressive of us" stance.

Reminder - these students are in their late teens, early 20s. That means anyone in their late 30s to early 50s bears the responsibility of having reared these students so that they would better understand the concept of privilege and race. That hasn't happened because their parents were given a colorblind ideology that skipped right on over the nuances of race in America - because again, Americans only think of race in a linear construct of - slavery - Harriet Tubman - Abe Lincoln - MLK. The End.

I bet if you might press these students as to why they find the discussion of privilege so damaging and why they think that discussion is "racist", you might find the echos of - All Lives Matter - in it. So, I don't want to just write this off as poor little dum-dums without the larger discussion of how white Americans continually fail at these larger, nuanced conversations and why.

[Patsy Baloney]

NitaX you pointing out the age of the offenders (and their parents) is something that made me angry/sad when reading this account. I'm a millennial, so colorblindness is where I am comfortable. But, I think of college years as a time to challenge what you "know" and what your background may be and sort of re-build as you 2.0 - a little more knowledgeable, a better critical thinker, comfortable with discomfort and understanding that your view is not the only view, broader horizons, etc. This book burning and confrontation all seems completely contrary to that. I'm understanding of the angry backlash of feelings when your worldview is challenged, which I'm sure is where some of the, "This is racist against white people," response came from from these young people, but, man, reading this brought my blood to a boil.

I'm not really sure where I'm headed with this post, but there is a component of sadness to see the poison of colorblindness.

[NitaX]

Oct 11, 2019 15:08:59 GMT -5 Patsy Baloney said:

NitaX you pointing out the age of the offenders (and their parents) is something that made me angry/sad when reading this account. I'm a millennial, so colorblindness is where I am comfortable. But, I think of college years as a time to challenge what you "know" and what your background may be and sort of re-build as you 2.0 - a little more knowledgeable, a better critical thinker, comfortable with discomfort and understanding that your view is not the only view, broader horizons, etc. This book burning and confrontation all seems completely contrary to that. I'm understanding of the angry backlash of feelings when your worldview is challenged, which I'm sure is where some of the, "This is racist against white people," response came from from these young people, but, man, reading this brought my blood to a boil.

I'm not really sure where I'm headed with this post, but there is a component of sadness to see the poison of colorblindness.

I had this whole long post typed out and accidentally closed my browser! AGH!

So, I don't think the students would recognize that there is an inherent fallacy in Color Blindness. It makes sense, but they would need to be walked back through the nuances. Which is something that even their parents probably can't comprehend because to them Color Blindness = Acceptance of All the People and the author is not practicing that which makes her book bad. 

I have a colleague that I find myself having to do this with. I had to take her through how racism (without even saying the word) in housing makes my husband a tad bit afraid of having a conversation about buying another home. To her, we shouldn't have an issue because we can afford to do so. But, I have to say - well, we still have to contend with housing practices that have left my largely black neighborhood on the short end of the stick thanks to housing values that haven't rebounded - which means I have to explain discriminatory lending practices and the devaluation of home values in black neighborhoods as compared to white neighborhoods. That alone was eye opening to her because she never thought about it. But, me, I have to think about it because I know it matters.

In all of this, it just becomes necessary to have other conversations instead of just stopping with "own your privilege." 


 

[StrawberryBlondie]

As an elder millennial from a small, white town, I definitely grew up with the color blind philosophy. I'm trying to do better with my own kid and an definitely planning on correcting or supplementing what she learns in school.

Does anyone know if majority minority schools are generally better at this sort of thing than majority white ones?

[NitaX]

Oct 11, 2019 16:43:46 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

As an elder millennial from a small, white town, I definitely grew up with the color blind philosophy. I'm trying to do better with my own kid and an definitely planning on correcting or supplementing what she learns in school.

Does anyone know if majority minority schools are generally better at this sort of thing than majority white ones?

I was thinking about this and I believe the answer to be no. I don't think majority minority schools do a better job because we ain't write the curriculum. The concept of privilege and deconstructing race doesn't happen in a public school setting on a regular basis.

I mean, although my school was diverse, we had a group called Colorblind, of which I was a member. *Shrugs*

Everything I ever learned about race came from 1) my mom who made sure I went to every MLK day march, 2) I created my own black history space in college and 3) I read continuously.

Maybe some school does this well. I just haven't seen it locally.

[W.T.Faulkner]

Oct 12, 2019 21:07:53 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Oct 11, 2019 16:43:46 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

As an elder millennial from a small, white town, I definitely grew up with the color blind philosophy. I'm trying to do better with my own kid and an definitely planning on correcting or supplementing what she learns in school.

Does anyone know if majority minority schools are generally better at this sort of thing than majority white ones?

I was thinking about this and I believe the answer to be no. I don't think majority minority schools do a better job because we ain't write the curriculum. The concept of privilege and deconstructing race doesn't happen in a public school setting on a regular basis.

I mean, although my school was diverse, we had a group called Colorblind, of which I was a member. *Shrugs*

Everything I ever learned about race came from 1) my mom who made sure I went to every MLK day march, 2) I created my own black history space in college and 3) I read continuously.

Maybe some school does this well. I just haven't seen it locally.

I work at a school where 100% of the students are black and I can tell you that we try. We’ve hired more teachers of color, overhauled the Social Studies and English curriculae specifically, and have been doing diversity and inclusion training with our staff. 

I don’t think we are doing a good job yet. I do think we have more to do. But I know we’re doing more than some of the majority-White schools in the suburbs because I was in interviews with some of those schools, asked them about their initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion, and one school actually said to me “We teach Maya Angelou” as part of her answer. 

[Jalapeñomel]

Oct 11, 2019 16:43:46 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

As an elder millennial from a small, white town, I definitely grew up with the color blind philosophy. I'm trying to do better with my own kid and an definitely planning on correcting or supplementing what she learns in school.

Does anyone know if majority minority schools are generally better at this sort of thing than majority white ones?

I taught at a school where students are predominantly from DR and in a very urban environment. The new Chancellor is trying to implement a new program geared toward this very factor, and the push back (racism) from the white teachers is astounding.

nypost.com/2019/05/18/nyc-schools-chancellor-richard-carranza-has-made-whiteness-toxic-doe-insiders-claim/


I realize this is the Post, but they aren’t wrong. I read this on a handful of teacher FB sites, as well as in the hallways of where I taught.

More links: www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/cathy-young/cathy-young-anti-racism-initiatives-nyc-schools-1.31690789

www.foxnews.com/opinion/deroy-murdock-new-york-department-of-education-implicit-bias-racism

[pugz]

a superintendent that was hired in part because he brought a passion for diversity to a local district was subsequently pushed out when he pushed for teacher training about systemic racism and implicit bias. Apparently they just wanted a superintendent of color, but didn't want him to actually talk about race issues. They bought him out of his contract after white families in the district and board members kept pushing back against his initiatives. It's a disgrace and not at all surprising.

www.kshb.com/news/local-news/lees-summit-superintendent-dennis-carpenter-resigns-district-says

[NewOrleans]

Oct 11, 2019 16:43:46 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

As an elder millennial from a small, white town, I definitely grew up with the color blind philosophy. I'm trying to do better with my own kid and an definitely planning on correcting or supplementing what she learns in school.

Does anyone know if majority minority schools are generally better at this sort of thing than majority white ones?

They definitively are not. Because the majority of their teachers will still be white. And the professional development in this direction will seek to keep them feeling comfortable.  

[downtoearth]

This is very troubling... even if it were just a handful of students. To go from not liking being called white-privileged and being dismissive, at the least, or aggressively racist toward a woman of color author who is bringing direct discussion of her experience to your class by burning a book she wrote?!?! Why aren't these college students more aware? Burning books is synonymous with dictator rule (Nazi Germany and Iran Ayatollah 80s-90s especially) and oppression, yet they still thought that was a reasonable response to feeling challenged in thinking about their world view. That is a violent, aggressive response.

I agree that the colorblind agenda of the 80's/90's that many of their parents backfired on many of us in this generation. I'll admit that I didn't immediately think of that until I read these comments on this post. I'm sending this article to my new person who is teaching a teacher seminar about integrating different cultural and races' voices into middle/high school curriculum in a respectful and honoring way. This is a good discussion topic he may find really interesting.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Imagine being a POC at this primarily white campus and seeing your peers literally throw your experience into a fire. Horrifying.