For going on five years now, I’ve had the honor of working with graduate students in the School of Education at the University of Redlands. I’ve taught multiple courses there and love to work with their graduate students because first, it’s a well-kept-secret-jewel-of-a-university in the Inland Empire (California). Second, the ideals of EQUITY and ACCESS drive the School of Teaching and Learning. I LOVE my association with the college because it DEMANDS more justice-related dialogue and action be the work of educators across America. You know—the woke.
Who are the woke, you ask? They’re the folk of our nation that advocate practices emphasizing equity and democracy for all. They’re the folk advancing the value of human diversity through experience and expression. They’re the folk that aren’t just asking for systemic change—they’re leading the charge.
The Woke Folk.
But note how conservative-minded supremacist people now use the word woke to mock the progressively-minded, equity-driven Americans who are bringing that change. Woke is a word/concept that came up primarily through communities of Americans, principally of African racial heritage. The use of the word came from the colloquial call to action “People gotta WAKE UP!” And if they see the injustice, the blatant supremacy, the bigotry of some of our institutions for as long as so many of our brethren have, they answer that call to action with…
“[You want me to wake up? Well…], I’M WOKE!
It’s SUCH a clever turn of phrase.
I just wonder what exactly are folks mocking when they say “woke” like they just burped up a lobster. I tell ya, they’re just so, I don’t know…what’s the word…oh yeah—(I’m gonna go with…) DEPLORABLE.
Anywho, back to the action.
Over the years, I’ve taught my grad students exactly how public school systems across the country play such an immense role in perpetuating inequalities. It’s not ALL I teach. But it’s the framework I use. An #EducationalJustice approach.
As such, we use #EducationalJustice in the folksonomy of social media to delineate the need for educators to …
Champion educational accessibility for all.
Encourage inclusive education through diverse learning, teaching, and scholarship.
Model self-awareness as a foundation for growth and change.
All of the courses I teach are enmeshed with critical social theory or Anti-racist/Abolitionist educational philosophies and as such, I place great emphasis on a familial framework as opposed to an individualist one ‘cuz it’s not about me—it’s about family. I’ve come to recognize the glory of our American ancestors as WELL as how insidious so many of them were. See, we’re not done with eradicating that dominance-based ethos that’s starting to eat away at our own seams. In fact, I’d say we’re just now starting our final approach. Please put your seats back, return your trays to the upright position, and fasten those seatbelts, cuz it’s gonna get bumpy…
It wasn’t ‘til the late 60s that it became socially unacceptable for our countrymen from primarily the western European continent to participate in racism. You know, the people of the Corded Ware culture. I’m talkin’ about White people. I don’t want to talk about White people. I consider the term “white people” rude, in fact. Or “black people” or “name-your-color people”. By continuing the use of color-based adjectives to identify groups in the name of simplicity or tradition, we perpetuate racialized classification. I mean, shoot: White people used to refer to the most modern peoples of the European nations. I’m talkin’ about Germans, the French, the English, Italians, Polacks, Swedes, Norwegians, the Portuguese, the Spanish, Canadians, New Zealanders, Aussies, Czechs, Russians, and even many South Africans!
But today, “White people” includes South Asians, West Asians (what we refer to as the Middle East), and North African ethnicities as well! That’s right. Iranians are White people. Armenians are White people. Egyptians are White people.
“White people” is an ambiguous term and it’s being used as a weapon.
How you ask? (you did ask, right?)
Well, it AAAAAAAAAAAL started during the late 1600s when some pretty twisted dudes got this idea in their head that sooner than later, the poor are gonna come for the rich. So, being the rich, they figured they’d run a confidence game on the poor, destitute, and downtrodden middle and lower classes in the then-budding nation.
They planted and seeded fear among the families that owned property—the mostly White people that weren’t land owners, but worked for land owners, and the communities of the original colonies; a fear that they would all be run out of their own homes and have their women and children raped by the people that didn’t look like them. Yeah—just like right-wing media is doing today.
Why did they do this? Because the 1% can’t hold back the 99%. But if they could convince 90% of the 99% that they were the SAME as the 1% (by way of their skin color), they could hold back the hordes of unwashed masses (he said, sarcastically) just a little while longer before they came to their senses.
Since 2014, I’ve been learning more and more about American colonial period history with the aim at ferreting out the pathfinders of racial classification. In fact, I used to be a middle school social studies teacher meself (20 years ago) which is why I have a yen for it. I submit, for your review, my current list of the individuals I believe are responsible for the Original Sin of Racialization (not exhaustive and you’ve probably never heard of most of ‘em):
Anne Hutchinson (OMG; a woman?)
Check these folks out. It takes some doing and time in rumination but you’ll see just what they had in common (and it wasn’t because they were all white).
Stepping back…
After the 1960s Civil Rights Movement here in America, for the first time in our storied history, the balance tipped and it became socially UNacceptable to be a ‘good person’ and engage in bigotry (which was erroneously referred to as ‘racism’). If you were a racist, you were a bad person.
How precisely did this come about? Here’s how. (Now, don’t tell anyone…)
Methodically, racism was equated with simple, isolated, and extreme acts of prejudice. Acts like White people in the region of “the South” smiling and picnicking at the base of lynching trees; store owners posting ‘Whites Only’ signs over drinking fountains; innocent children, like Emmett Till, being beaten to death.
That’s it. That’s how we got to where we are now in the summer of 2021.
Sure, you might be saying, “Isn’t that a good thing? Being a racist IS wrong so it’s a good thing that we consider people that do racist things to be ignorant, mean-spirited bigots."
Naturally! That’s wonderful. But take a look at how that plays out…
Suppose you declare or comment that someone is a racist. To them, you’re delivering a fatal blow to their real self—their ego—in the mind of those brought up on the paradigm of racists=evil; it’s character assassination.
Now imagine you’re the person being accused of racism. What would YOU do in that situation?
DEFEND YOURSELF, right? Because, again, racists=evil.
And as a result, guess where aaaaaaaalll the energy of the exchange will then be focused on. Yup—karen-ing; DEflecting, instead of REflecting on behavior…
…WHICH MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO ENGAGE WITH MEMBERS OF THE DOMINANT ETHNIC CULTURE TO DISCUSS BIGOTRY AND RACISM— WHAT THEY ARE, HOW THEY SHAPE US, AND INEVITABLY COMPEL EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE IN A RACIST FRAMEWORK.
And if we CAN’T engage the dominant ethnic culture because of the Good/Bad Binary (as Robin DiAngelo would say1), it becomes impossible for the average member of the dominant ethnic culture to even understand racism much less interrupt it.
Good and Bad offer a FALSE dichotomy. We ALL behave with prejudice. Your mom may’ve told you that everyone is equal; you can have friends or lovers of non-dominant ethnicities; and you may NEVER tell a joke that slights any culture. But if the very bedrock of society is racist, you’ll STILL be affected by the forces of racism. You’ll have the world view of the dominant ethnicity (White people). THAT’S WHAT INSTITUTIONAL OR SYSTEMIC OR STRUCTURAL RACISM MEANS. We’re like fish, swimming in the ocean wherein the ocean represents systemic racism. We’re SURROUNDED by it. It’s in us. We couldn’t IMAGINE a waterless environment. And yet, about 30% of the Earth’s surface is just that.
“But how could that be?” said the fish with a French accent.
NOTE: I don’t know why, but I imagine this fish as a smoky Frenchman. This will be discussed in group.
Referring to people as ‘good’ or bad’ allows the structural nature of socialized racism to be obscured. If you conceptualize racism as either good or bad, you’ll place yourself on the not-racist side. Right? And if you’re not racist, what else are you supposed to do? You’re not racist so you don’t have to change or act differently at all, right? It’s not your problem. It doesn’t concern you. Which GUARANTEES that you won’t develop skills in speaking or thinking critically ABOUT racism or your duty to challenge ethnicity-based inequalities.
“C’mon. She’s not racist. She’s a nice gal. Her BOYFRIEND is Black.”
If you’re interested in this topic, check out Professor Robin DiAngelo’s lecture at the the University of Washington wherein she explains ‘fragility’. In fact, one of the texts my graduate students use in class is by Robin DiAngelo. She’s a force of nature. And there are others. Many others…
Here is a FASCINATING article on the topic of Good/Bad Binary in how TEACHERS are represented in young adult literature… https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v39n1/cummins.html