Why are all the Black Kids Sitting together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum. Chapters 1, 2, and 4
On Privilege, Fraudulence, and Teaching As Learning, edited by Peggy McIntosh. Chapter titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Inivible Knapsack
Why are all the Black Kids Sitting together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum. Chapters 1, 2, and 4
On Privilege, Fraudulence, and Teaching As Learning, edited by Peggy McIntosh. Chapter titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Inivible Knapsack
This reading really resonated with me as an African-American. Coming from a predominantly black high school, I didn’t really need to segregate myself from other black people since everybody was the same race as I was, but coming to Grinnell College at the beginning of freshmen year, I noticed that I was more comfortable talking to other African Americans because I was more comfortable with and was told that white people were out to get me from back home. I know this now not to be true for the majority of white people, but it is interesting how media and other people’s opinions about a particular thing or group can have an impact on how you perceive them even though you haven’t had any experience with said group or thing. Although this is my experience, and every person has different experiences. Some may face racism and ignorance on a daily basis in certain situations. This may have an impact on how a person perceives a particular group and creates racial trauma. In conclusion, every African American has a different story to tell and has lived different experiences when it comes to race.
What stands out most from this reading is the “Damned if I do, damned if I don’t” nature of growing up black. Specifically in regard to personality, mannerisms, and taste, which is described in the “Developing an Oppositional Identity” section of the text, it is clear that Black adolescents lack the freedom to enjoy the things they may want to enjoy, or behave in a way in which they are not subject to criticism. Tatum depicts the common origin of Black counterculture, where all notions of stereotypical “whiteness” are chastised by Black youth and anti-whiteness traits are embraced. Despite the obvious positives of reinforcing in-group culture, this limits the options for Black children who are beginning to place themselves in the world. The example given of a student who felt exiled by her Black peers for seeming too white before forcing herself to adopt “standard” practices of those peers illustrates the inevitability of fitting in and losing some aspect of one’s identity. On one hand, the student could be embrace their true identity and lose a necessary support system of individuals experiencing the same discrimination as her, but in maintaining that connection, she would lose her ability to find joy in many things she may have before.
An interesting question to explore may be: What happens when a black child grows up in a mostly-white setting and the dominant choices for self-expression are reduced even further? How might their adolescence be affected?
Most of the ways in which white people oppress other racial and ethnic groups are unconscious, and this is where most of the racism still present within the American System stems from. Racism defined by Tatum is “a system involving cultural messages and institutional policies and practices as well as the beliefs and actions of individuals” (Page 4, Ch.1). Most white people do not actively move on the treadmill, an analogy proposed by Tatum that describes how white people choose to deal with their racism, they stand still and let the belt of the machine move, choosing to stay ignorant and not move toward antiracism. When thinking of examples of acts of racism, white people tend to think of, for example, when an old white man shouts racial slurs at a POC. However, the most common form of racism results from unconscious passivism.
Expanding on unconsciousness, most people would classify themselves as non-racist. The problem with that is that there is more to racism than blatantly wanting to spread hate on the account of racist ideologies. The American system works to uplift the socially advantaged (White People), who possess the ability to ignore the oppression and disadvantages of those considered in groups of lesser power (POC), by neglecting and/or ignoring that need to run against the treadmill. Instead of supplying American school systems with a diverse set of literary and historical works, they instead receive textbooks and books that erase POC history, are all written by white people, credit white people for the creation of inventions that were invented by POC, uplift the wrong people in history like Christopher Columbus, because they are white, by erasing their extremely problematic pasts and then are replaced with a simplified, fantasy of the truth, etc.
Children are fed secondhand racial and ethnic misinformation regarding groups of people that they themselves have never and/or rarely experienced, and accept it because they are neither old enough nor aware enough to have a basis to believe that what they are learning is not the truth. Americans being conditioned from a young age to unconsciously conform to a role that society has created for them with no effective modern solutions to counteract this practice in place is why it is so common for people to seek others in the same societal role as them because they understand their experience. That is why we see all-white-male friend groups, all-queer friend groups, all-black-female friend groups, friend groups with a common religion, etc. Until society moves to take steps in the opposite direction of the treadmill, there will not be reform. It is difficult to run against the belt, yes, but it is possible. The hard part is getting those who are the advantaged and unconscious to acknowledge their role and wake up.
What I most appreciated about the chapters we read for class from Beverly Tatum is the fact that the author details the psychological implications of racism for children. From my perspective, the effects of racism are mostly discussed in health, safety, or economic terms, not psychological terms. At the same time, most of the information I encounter on the effects of racism largely focuses on adults or teenagers, not children in elementary or high school. Given the importance of how future generations view themselves in relation to society with respect to race, there needs to be an open dialogue on how children growing up in a racist society perceive themselves and others in relation to society. Thus, it is clear to me that there needs to be more emphasis on promoting and caring for diversity in schooling for young children.
One avenue for supporting children of color through childhood and education is having inclusive teaching material. As Tatum points out, the American education system lacks support for children of color in many ways, with one being the lack of representation in the material being taught. With educators not being exposed to material from people of color, few educators are aware of the resources available to make sure their students feel represented in the material being taught. Another issue that contributes to racism in K-12 education is the issue of funding. Based on my knowledge of my home state of Illinois, school districts at the K-12 level are largely funded by local property taxes, creating a disparity in school funding severely along racial lines.
I fit the mold mentioned of a lean, white, straight man who comes from a financially secure background and thus a person with enormous privilege. Over the past couple of years, I realized I put myself in several situations where I enabled or did not stop racist behavior in my surroundings. I am not proud of this fact, but it is a truth I think anyone who is similar to my characteristics can be guilty of. The fact that I believe my story is common points to the fundamental problems of my privileges (white, man, hetero, etc.) being treated as normal.
I come from a group that historically has been catered to by any sort of systematic or societal policy. A point brought up in Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? about this concept in particular resonated with me. Although I personally did not craft the policies that enable my privilege (it is “not my fault”), it does not forgo racism and inequity from being my responsibility.
The idea of responsibility continues with the principle of education. Education allows me to acknowledge my responsibilities as a privileged person and the tools at my disposal to do something about it. However, something that is recognized in the readings for today is that a lot of privilege appears in the schooling environment. Whether it be the tracking programs or the cafeteria race as well as sexuality, religion, etc., schooling and the classroom were originally designed for the protestant, white, straight, man only. The readings’ perspective on how almost every aspect of society is designed for this aforementioned group really took hold of me here. The classroom currently just happens to be on the mind, but as the second reading mentions, I can find myself in a place of privilege and exception in almost every environment I am in. The overprivileged mentioned by Peggy McIntosh is a new way of phrasing this idea to me, but the fact that is new again points to how I have been brought up in a world where I am allowed to think of others as underprivileged and never question my own place in ways that I should.
Overall this was a bit of a ramble of some personal takeaways in accordance with some things I learned but the questions I left with were:
How do we fix a system designed for one specific mold without adhering to the society built surrounding that mold?
How is being dynamic and a learner important in this process?
I just realized one of my sentences is a little off. I intended “Whether it be tracking…” to be “Whether it be the tracking programs or cafeteria dynamics, race as well as sexuality, religion etc., play into the classroom originally designed for the protestant, white, straight, man”
I began these readings with the chapters from Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, and honestly, it was a bit of uncomfortable process. As a white person, I am very aware of the privilege I hold but it is rarely a thing that I engage in targeted discussion about, largely for feelings of white guilt. As Tatum mentioned, as a member of the dominant, privileged racial group in the US, when my identities are spoken on, my race is rarely brought up because my whiteness is seen as the default, and though, as Tatum put, even though the historic and present aspects of society built on racism are not my individual doing, “to say it is not our fault does not relieve us of responsibility”. I am not proud of it, but apart from being aware of my privilege, I have too often failed to do something to challenge it. I’ve been part of a book club filled with other white people where we read and discussed How To Be an Antiracist, and I’ve been to marches for Black Lives Matter, and while there’s certainly nothing wrong with these things, they do not constitute effective actions towards actively calling my privilege into question, they are like walking slowly in the wrong direction on the airport conveyor belt, a show of consciousness and defiance that still ultimately takes me to the same destination of societal privilege and institutional injustice as the white supremacists who ran with the conveyors flow. I need to be doing more.
Coming into the last reading, McIntosh’s Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, my thinking was firmly in the place to latch onto the idea posed of being overprivileged, as opposed to seeing members of racial minority groups as underprivileged as a result of institutional racism; the outcomes of white supremacy have just as much to do with what I am afforded without earning as they do with what others are unjustly denied. Though several identities I hold I would not consider to be privileged (woman, queer, disabled, lower-than-average socioeconomic standing at least by Grinnell’s standards, to name a few), before I am any of these things, by outward view that informs how I am treated by society, I am white. I think about these other identities a lot—when we did the identity activity with the post it notes on the first day of class I marked them as my salient ones, leaving my privileged identities to a non-overlapping category—but need to spend a lot more time grappling with the ways my privilege in whiteness is also deeply salient in how others view me. This is in my favor, but it is unearned, and I am left thinking about what I can do to more actively protest a system that is working to my benefit by the perpetuation of injustice.
I took a special topic class in the education department a few semesters ago on CRT in education, and we watched a video – which as far as I know is often shown in intro EDU classes as well – that follows the decision in Arizona around 2010 to prevent schools from offering Mexican-American studies classes. Watching the documentary, you could tell how impactful these classes had been to those who identified as Mexican-American. They felt seen and like they belonged in the classroom. The class really had a transformative effect on many lives because in a nation where our textbooks and curriculums focus heavily on the achievements of white men, this class allowed Mexican-Americans to embrace their identity in an academic setting. In interviews of students who took the class, you could tell that they did not feel like they belonged in the education system, but really found a passion for education through this class.
I think that the “Oppositional Identity” mentioned in the text can be amplified by the way we have curated what is taught in most schools. The text does mention this, but the lack of Black, Indigenous, or other groups in much of our surely must amplify any feeling of not belonging. Witnessing my own identity in education as a white man is something that I have identified within my indivisible knapsack of privilege, along with the many other items I need to continue to unpack and understand.
Reading the first chapter of “Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”, I learned a lot about the more nuanced and thorough definition of the word “racism”. Coming from outside of the United States, even though I am aware of the biases and stereotypes towards people of color, my mind often defaults to the individual definition of the word. I have heard and seen stories of active and intentional acts of racism, and have experienced unintentional but insensitive interactions with people over the fact that I am Asian. The notion of being “viewed as an individual, rather as a member of a racial group” really resonates with me, as I have seen myself being on the receiving end of the latter portion, as well as being guilty of having prejudices about a stranger based on their appearances. However, the definition of a more passive form of racism being “a system of advantage based on race” is one I do not have much experience with. Here, the idea of “omissions and distortions” in educational systems that perpetuate ignorance and stereotypes to later generations is interesting for me to think about. As an example, I learned about “The Three Musketeers” in a Vietnamese primary/secondary classroom. I always assumed the author Alexander Dumas was white, for I was never taught about him and unconsciously used my experience at that time with the white-dominated American media to fill in the gaps. Only until I watched “Django Unchained” did I learn that the author was alledgedly black, and only until writing this essay did I find out that the author is mixed-race. With me going my whole life unaware of such an innocent example, I can only wonder what kind of information a biased educational system may omit or distort.
Just before I really get started, I wanted to say that while I really found the readings fascinating, they went way faster than I expected, and would not envy the job of deciding what to cut, I think this reading amount was a bit much.
I really liked both Wellman’s definition of race in relation to advantage and Tatum’s distinction between racial bigotry and racism. That’s something I had seen people argue a lot about, but when considering the necessity of advantage and power, it really makes that difference clear, and helps to justify things like affirmative action, where otherwise people might get stuck on the fact that it’s still discriminating by race. The point about how racism hurts the economy and even white people (a bit) was also interesting and something that I’d never heard brought up before. The last 2 points I want to note from the first chapter are the socially-constructed nature of race (I liked Van den Berghe’s def) and the poignant line of “two groups of people, those of acknowledged African descent and those of unacknowledged African descent.”
I guess something else I want to acknowledge, when they mentioned “the racial tracking pattern at the local school” it reminded me of the public school I went to when we lived in Philly (K-6th grade). My grade only had maybe 4 or 5 white kids, including myself and my sister, but almost all of us ended up in the “Gifted and Talented” program. I’d like to think that I got in solely because of how I performed in class. I’d like to think that all the kids who deserved to get in did. I don’t like feeling like racism has helped me, but it has. Without that program I might not be here. It makes me uncomfortable and sad, but that’s kinda the point of confronting it and I’m definitely not the victim here.
I also really liked the example of Dr. Tatum’s son describing his height and how that will turn into race being salient just because of the actions of others. I don’t really have any commentary that wouldn’t be repeating the obvious. Just that it was a great example and showed me something I hadn’t considered before.
Finally, I liked how the readings meshed in the sense that Tatum’s strategy in Chapter 2 of thinking of your experiences of subordination was essentially what McIntosh did in informing her view of white privilege from her view of male privilege. I thought her list brought up many avenues I hadn’t considered, but I guess at the end I was hoping for a bit more concreteness in what someone like me could do.
Your comment about the amount of reading is noted, though the fact that it went faster than you expected is also noted 😉
-Professor Eikmeier
The reading is interesting for me as an international student. The statement by Tatum, “People of color are not racist because they do not systematically benefit from racism” caught my attention. People of color have a history of oppression in the history of the United States and some of it is still continuing. However, I want to pose a question; Do only white people get advantages based on race? I believe not.
People of color can also receive advantages based on their race. For example, the case of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023) showed that Asian Americans face disadvantages in the school admission process which results in advantages for other racial groups, including people of color. As Harvard claims, it is undoubtedly important to maintain diversity in the college. However, when there are individuals with the exact same scores in areas such as GPAs, test scores, extracurricular activities, family background, and school tend to make offers to a non-Asian American student, doesn’t this imply that non-Asian American students including people of color, gain systematic advantages?
Hiiro – thanks for bring this study up (from 2023). I would be curious to hear what your classmates think as well. Something to consider: should we take into account the historical & structural barriers that are in place for Black people when making admissions (or other) decisions? Do we think that a Black student and a (enter non-Black race here) student who have the same GPA among other things have had equal experiences before college?
This is extremely relevant to algorithms we will discuss in Module 2 (Algorithms informing policy). This is undoubtedly a topic that we all feel passionately about, so kind reminder to follow our classroom expectations.
-Professor Eikmeier
I have encountered excerpts from both of the readings in my GWSS coursework. In particular, I am quite familiar with Mcintosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, and find it to be a foundational text, especially for other white readers. The societal construction of white as the “neutral” (that is to say that dominant groups are taught that they are the default, and as discussed in the other reading, are less likely to saliently define themself as white) is such that unless you are actively questioning and problematizing whiteness, you may be functionally unaware of it. It is our responsibility to consider the positions in which we hold privilege and power, and McIntosh’s piece provides a framework for doing so. Oftentimes, the first step in engaging in antiracist/antisexist (etc.) work, is questioning that which dominant society posits as natural / inherent / unconstructed. Overall, in revisiting these pieces, the importance of questioning what we are told is normal / inevitable stuck out.
Although I do not share the same racial identity as the one primarily discussed in the reading, I do relate a lot to the portrayed experiences as an Asian studying abroad in a predominantly white institution in the US. I never thought too much about my race or ethnicity because I grew up surrounded by people of the same descent, who look the same, speak the same language and embrace the same cultural values as I do. It was not until I came to Grinnell that I started to feel very strongly about my own identity as well as the stereotypes associated with my race. This heavily influenced how I presented myself in different social settings. Gradually, I have come to realize that my behavior depends a lot on what appears to be the predominant race in the room, and whether I wish to fit in or to make my nationality a topic of discussion. I also notice myself occasionally going out of my way to make myself comfortable in friend groups of a different race by de-emphasizing characteristics that are stereotypically Asian, at the expense of being alienated by my other Asian or specifically Vietnamese friends. Another thing that I relate to in the reading is how I still spend the majority of my time hanging out with people with the same racial identities because those are the people that can relate to my abroad experiences, that speak to all the cultural shocks that I experienced when I first came here, and that undergo the same struggles.
One thing that I found particularly helpful about the reading is the conveyor belt analogy on p.29. It helps visualize the relationship between different types of reaction to racism, and how everyone including bystanders of such actions is carried along with the systemic prejudices unless they actively fight and go against them. Based on this analogy, failing to stand up against the system or take action as bystanders is the same as enabling and perpetuating racism.
After taking classes such as EDU-101 and SOC-101 and then finally reading these passages, I noticed that the common phrase is obliviousness to issues such as race advantage and male privilege. Reading these 2 passages has given me a bigger insight into what is going on in our school society in general. One phrase that really resonated with me from the reading, “Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”, was their definition of racism and how it is defined as “a system of advantage based on race”. Even with all these dimensions and identities that put us in disadvantages or advantages, we still have a hard time getting a grasp of what really is the definition of these terms such as racism. Is it the stereotypes that we assume and create rude comments, or is it the different advantages that people receive based on their identities? I thought this was very interesting to think about, and even in McIntosh’s book, we see that it will continue to be a very very long process in finally figuring out a possible answer to how we can approach this problem. As an Asian American who was more into Asian culture through my parents, I noticed that I related to Tatum’s reading, where, back in elementary and middle school, I hung out with anyone without noticing that I was the only Asian student in my classroom. But as I grew older to high school and college, I realized that I was only hanging out with Asian students and international Asian students, due to the influence of my parents and my interest more in Asian culture than American culture. With these thoughts in my head, I realized that there were so many different influences that led to our obliviousness, rude tendencies, and so on. Especially in chapter 4 of Tatum’s reading, I thought it was so fascinating to finally see why we develop as we grow older and how each encounter builds up to who we are now. It is so crazy to see how we change as people due to our environments and our views of certain things, and how they stick with us as we grow older. I feel like today’s readings really helped connect the dots to how people become who they are now, and especially how I became who I am today. This reading really opened my eyes to how we developed throughout the years and especially how I am who I am due to where I lived, the school I attended, and the people around me.
As someone who hasn’t read much about racial identity theory, I must say I found both texts to be eye-openers. I believe that we live in a time where terms such as racism and white privilege are constantly being used while also being misunderstood. To start, I feel that both texts do a phenomenal job of defining terminology, like explaining the difference between prejudice and racism, while also acknowledging the flaws in the language we use to talk about race. I found it brilliant how both authors use metaphors to explain privilege and racism. I had never thought about how most of us aren’t aware of the implications race has in my daily life and how, in an indirect way, I’m affecting others’ lives.
An idea that I found really interesting was the concept of ethnic individuals grouping together as a way to cope with different encounters. When author Beverly Tatum talks about puberty being a fundamental moment in the life of persons of color to define their racial identity, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I never even considered my racial identity during that time. It makes complete sense that the only individuals who had similar uncomfortable encounters and understand the pain behind them are the members of the same racial group. Yet, this has implications for racial identity.
The debate between the influences each individual receives, whether they join a group made up of individuals of their same race or a group of predominantly white students, was surprising. However, what was even more surprising was the introduction of the METCO program. The idea of a school implementing a voluntary desegregation program by separating black students to improve their academic performance and social relationships seems unrealistic, but it makes sense that it works. It provides black students with a safe space to explore their racial identity while receiving guidance. Overall, I must say that this texts made me reflect on the privileges I have and the implications those have, while also being mindful of the mindset that I must have to be able to stop the racism cycle.
The chapters in Tatum’s book focused on her interactions with her young child and how she approached difficult conversations about race and prejudice with him. This was directly relevant to me, since I happened to engage in a similar conversation just before reading this work.
I’m a volunteer for LINK mentoring, a local Grinnell organization that pairs “big buddies” (most but not all are college students) with “little buddies,” elementary and middle-school aged children. I meet weekly with a boy named Carter during his lunch period, where we talk, play games, and try to build a relationship.
Today was the first time I had seen Carter since May when graduated from elementary to middle school. In our conversation, he brought up a Mexican boy in his grade (that I had met before) that moved to Grinnell in April and has limited English ability. He mentioned how the boy and a lot of other Mexicans in town live together in a neighborhood near his apartment. He talked about this fact with seemingly little prejudice, but it was clear that Carter was reckoning with why and how the other boy and his family seemed distinctly ‘other’.
In reference to the other boy, I mentioned how it must be scary and difficult for him to learn English, referencing a similar experience I had when living in France. I also asked Carter if he knew that children were much better at learning languages than adults. This was confusing and funny to him, since he just started learning Spanish in school and it wasn’t easy. We then continued our game of Battleship.
After engaging with this reading, I realized how critical conversations like that one are for children’s development. It also made me wonder if I could have responded differently, in a way that helped both of us understand more about why the boy and other Mexicans in Grinnell seemed like outsiders here. This is difficult, but especially important in Grinnell schools, where white children like Carter make up a large majority. I’d be interested in other’s feedback in case a similar topic comes up again.
I think over the past few years I’ve thought more about race than I have before in my life. I took multiple classes last year on race and ethnicity, furthering my knowledge of the historical and cultural contexts of racism in America, and reckoned with my mixed-race identity as someone who is white and experiences white privilege, but also is Korean and has had uniquely Asian American experiences. Then, over the summer I spent a month in Korea, where I felt both closer to Korean culture and dealt with the understanding that I am much less connected to it than I initially thought. The more I reflect on race, the more I question my previous understandings of myself. I found Tatum’s description of racial identity development very apt, as I have never been confident in proclaiming or embracing my racial identity, and have gone through multiple stages of self discovery. For all my life I’ve experienced conflicting thoughts about my race and ethnicity, but unlike many others I’ve had the ability to do so without much of the pain and struggle many people of color go through. I have very rarely felt like I am being excluded or put in danger because of my race.
I think both readings do a very good job of describing how our environments shape our views on race and racism. Growing up within the American education system, I had the experience I think many of us had: from an early age I was taught that there was slavery, then the Civil Rights Movement happened, then racism ended. For many white kids, I think this set the precedent that they are exempt from any responsibility to understand the racist systems at play in our country. Just as McIntosh said, “we are not taught to recognize white privilege.” And also like she said, I think many faced with this reality of privilege are able to acknowledge certain aspects of it, but are not especially concerned about it. These structures of white and male privilege are still very present, and those with privilege, including myself, need to always be doing and learning more.
While reading these two texts I began to view racism as primarily an institutional problem. I think if people are raised in an environment with inlaid institutional racism, sexism, etc., then they will often conform to those beliefs, oftentimes without giving it much thought. I liked the mention of how when many privileged peoples are confronted with such an idea, it is difficult for them to accept it. After all, by doing so, they are directly acknowledging such institutional prejudice, aware that they have benefitted from it. It’s a good reminder that bystanders are not blameless. Once someone becomes aware of how they may be benefitting at the detriment of another, I think a lot of people will simply deny and ignore it. While reading, I was reminded of some statistic I had read a long time ago about how most people will not help if they see someone being mugged, assaulted, etc. Most bystanders wouldn’t want to put themselves in danger, but in doing so, they are hurting the victim further. Bystanders are morally obligated to take action, otherwise they are no longer bystanders but the perpetrators.
Sometimes the privilege is invisible to the owner but only to others. As Peggy McIntosh (1989) described in “A Privilege Paper”, some women of color would charge white women who are doing things oppressively but the author, who is the identity of a white woman, may be unconscious. And many times, the privileges of race and gender are interlocking, which creates even greater inequality. Education from school may also bring privilege by making the whites believe that “this is seen as work which will allow “them” (people of color) to be more like “us” (white). ”
Since I stayed in Baltimore this summer where nearly 63% of the population is black and Latino, I got a chance to observe the black population. I found that there is a group of black people that are able to get jobs. However, most of the jobs are service: bus driver, cashier, cleaner, etc. And it is hard to find people with other skin colors doing it. I was surprised when I saw a white bus driver since that was the only time I saw this scenario. Although the sample size observed by me is still too small which may not be good data, I think it still happens that people of color would have a hard time and fewer options in job-searching.
As an international student or a person of color studying abroad in the United States, the reading titled “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh resonates strongly. The reading discusses the concept of white privilege, which refers to the unearned advantages and benefits that white individuals experience simply due to their skin color. This privilege is often invisible to those who possess it, but it greatly impacts their daily lives.
Firstly, as an international student, I experienced microaggressions a lot in the US. Microaggressions are subtle, often unintentional acts of discrimination or bias that communicate derogatory messages to individuals based on their racial or cultural background. These can include being asked where you’re from, as if your nationality defines your identity; being assumed to speak a language that’s not your first language; receiving compliments about your English proficiency; or even being mistaken for someone else of the same race. While these comments might seem harmless on the surface, they can accumulate over time and contribute to feelings of isolation, alienation, and invisibility. They remind individuals that they are seen as different and potentially inferior, undermining their sense of belonging.
Secondly, engaging in discussions about race can be complex, especially for international students and people of color. These conversations can disclose the dynamics of privilege and discrimination: White students might feel uncomfortable discussing race and privilege, as they are confronting their unearned advantages. This discomfort can sometimes lead to avoidance of these conversations, perpetuating a lack of awareness. On the other hand, people of color and international students often appreciate open discussions about race, as it validates their experiences and creates an opportunity for others to understand their challenges. These conversations can lead to increased cultural competency and empathy.
In conclusion, microaggressions and discussions about race all intersect in the experiences of international students and people of color studying abroad in the US. Recognizing and addressing these issues is vital for fostering an inclusive and equitable environment that values and respects the diverse perspectives of all students.
In Beverly Tatum’s writing, there were several points that really stood out to me. The first is the differentiation between racism as racial prejudice versus a system of advantage based on race. For me, the question of if people systemically benefit from racism or not helped clarify the difference between prejudice and being racist (as well as sexist). In addition to acknowledging the flawed terminology we use to discuss race, I think Tatum clarified the words used in the text well so that we were all on the same page.
The discussion of which aspects of our identity capture our attention and which aspects we become aware of due to their otherness taught me a lot about how we create and grow into our identities. Because most of the students in my high school identified as women, I realize now that at the time this was not one of those characteristics that set me apart (at least in an academic setting). This changed after taking some of my college courses in my first year.
I found the section on the five stages of racial identity development to be really interesting; so many people have these collections of experiences, but I was never aware that there were distinct stages that were identified. The pre-encounter and encounter stages that ultimately force Black people acknowledge how racism impacts them, was a really stark contrast with Peggy McIntosh’s experience as a white woman who was taught to see racism as something not necessarily related to/benefiting the dominance of her own group. While it is almost inevitable for people of color to notice and be negatively impacted by others’ viewing of them as part of a racial group, those identified as “White” may sometimes not even have to think about it. McIntosh’s list of conditions that she can count on were not surprising to me, but seeing them written down in quite a lengthy list that can very much be extended was disheartening (I don’t think that’s the word I’m looking for but I can’t think of another at the top of my head).
I appreciated the length at which the “unconsciousness” of complexes and privilege was discussed. I often think about the damaging portrayals of people of color in children’s media, especially in older cartoons, where blatant racial stereotypes are presented shamelessly and often with clear political commentary. Sure, in modern formats, these works are typically presented with a message that disclaims the work includes racist, sexist, or otherwise insensitive elements, but is a child really equipped to understand the complexities of ever-evolving racism? More often than not, they will simply internalize what they see as they do with everything else. Even when these elements are modified or removed, which is a process that upsets more people than the existence of plainly racist elements themselves, it simply paves over the cultural mindset and lasting legacy of a time where even the mere presence of people of color was meant to amuse a white audience.
The section where a student reflects on the course (about fundamental privilege) and affirms that he is extremely privileged, then resolves to do nothing about it because he benefits from the system, gave me a mixed reaction. At first, I was shocked. But after thinking about it for a while, I realized it was the declaration of the opinion rather than the opinion itself that surprised me. There are probably few people in which this opinion has become conscious enough to directly articulate, but I feel there are many more people who have unconsciously absorbed this idea, moved racism from a systematic to an individual problem/basis, and still consider themselves “non-racist.”
I particularly resonated with the section about “training” in seeing oneself as particularly advantaged, and even someone who is an “oppressor.” This is mostly due to the fact that my home state, Florida, and its government have been quickly erasing the already minimal opportunities to educate children on the history of race and oppression in the United States. Even more insulting is that Ron DeSantis, who is leading this charge for political gain, spoke at a gathering after a deadly hate crime was perpetrated by a white supremacist in Jacksonville. It is horrifying to me that our leaders will only step in at the point where racism is so overt and clear that people are being killed because they exist, but will categorically deny opportunities for children to learn about racism, its systematic presence, and how we can find ways to make society more equitable.
As has been touched on by a couple of other students in this thread, I’m interested in the smaller moments of racism that these readings shed light on. In my head racism relates primarily to those obvious acts of hate that take place in the real world. Slurs and people utilize their positions of power to put minority populations down. This is racism, very obviously, my mental definition of racism was not wrong it just wasn’t very expansive. Especially through reading this discussion board, my definition has been expanded in a sobering fashion. The less visible racism is the stuff that feels less scary to me. It’s not straight up violence, and as a result, doesn’t often grab my attention at all. Which is worrying, because in the CS context, I am certain there are people in large positions that also don’t notice what they’re perpetuating on a large scale.
I took CRT this spring and that, coupled with the experiences my friends and I have had in the USA, leaves me unsurprised with the content of these readings. As discussed in the ‘White Privilege’ article, whiteness is viewed as normative, inherently othering people of color. So, while white people get to be raceless individuals, people of color are constructed as racial monoliths who are representative of the entirety of a given population. In the question of representation in television brought up by the author, this would also mean that if people of color are put into white narratives (which are the majority of what get funded, due to whiteness’s cultural hegemony) for the sake of diversity, audiences perceive them as a performance of their race instead of a complex individual with an identity that influences their experiences.
Furthermore, Tatum’s exploration of racism as a system of advantages based on race also necessitates the existence of affirmative action programs for true equity. This ensures that there is a systemic remedy, however little or ineffective, for systemic harms to then be iterated upon. With the recent supreme court ruling against affirmative action in higher education, the common narrative is that Asian Americans are disadvantaged by affirmative action programs. While Asian American’s are discriminated against in the college admission process, it is not because ‘their seats’ are going to other minorities. Instead, it is because higher education institutions insist on maintaining the programs that ensure that they will always be schools with majority white populations of higher social classes. Affirmative action is not about diversity- it is about attempting to bridge an extremely segregated education system where knowledge and resource distribution is completely unequal. Instead of ending these programs that try to give a better chance for students to get into colleges without being penalized for a broken education system beyond their control, we should be questioning why legacy programs that assure the admission of disproportionately white students, who are likely not as qualified as other applicants, continue to be endorsed. Why should minorities have to fight over seats when we could just have more?
Asian American Law Professor Mari Matsuda writes in her piece “We will not be used” that, increasingly, the role of Asian Americans in politics has come to resemble to racism what the middle-class represents to capitalism. Asian Americans, due to their role as the racial middle as professor Matsuda calls it, have the power to perpetuate white supremacists cultural logics by buying into the mythology of meritocracy on which it functions in the hope that they may one day have the same power as white individuals (a day which will never come under this system), or “dismantle white supremacy if it refuses to be the middle, if it refuses to buy into racial hierarchy, if it refuses to abandon communities of Black and Brown people, choosing instead to form alliances with them”.
McIntosh’s 25th item in her list of effects of white privilege says “If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.” This particular point resonated with me. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how or if my status as an uncloseted transgender person affects how people treat me in daily social interactions. I have a tendency to wonder whenever I have an unfavorable social interaction if it had anything to do with my transgender status, yet when I voice these thoughts cisgender people will usually reassure me that it’s not the case. Still, it causes me distress that I can’t be sure and that I have no way to confirm if those things happened for other reasons. As a white person, the possibility that people of color might have very similar thoughts or doubts about the presence of racial overtones in their social interactions was not one that occurred to me prior to reading this. Even though I knew that the effects of internalized prejudice frequently come out in subtle ways even in the social interactions of people who aren’t actively racist as well as people who are actively antiracist, I was not fully considering how hard it could be for a person of color to tell if these effects are significant in any given interaction.
In the past my doubt has caused me to assume the worst and interpret many more situations as related to prejudice than is probably reasonable, but that knowledge doesn’t make interpreting any specific interaction any easier, and I am still sure that prejudice does play a part at times. I’m going to continue thinking about what the implications of this are for people of color and my own interactions with them.