Edward Carson Houston Christian High School [email protected] Getting Real About...
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Transcript of Edward Carson Houston Christian High School [email protected] Getting Real About...
E d w a r d C a r s o n
H o u s t o n C h r i s t i a n H i g h S c h o o l
e c a r s o n @ h o u s t o n c h r i s t i a n . o r g
h t t p : / / p r o f e s s o r c a r s o n . w e e b l y. c o m/
Getting Real About Whiteness in Independent Schools
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Purpose
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
The goal of this session is to discuss historical, cultural, economic, and anthropological constructs that impact both students and faculty members; addressing the argument that independent schools profess an attitude towards diversifying their campus; however, according to faculty members and students of color, there is a sense that there is a right kind of diversity
Methodology
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Surveys sent to sectarian and non-sectarian independent schools
Qualitative data gathering Review of LiteratureCampus affinity group gathering and discussion
Being Invisible
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison:
“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe; nor am I one of those Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids-and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination-indeed, everything and anything except me.”
Iceberg Model
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Born in the 1960sMission: Educating white leaders on the
inclusiveness of people of color, gays and lesbians, and gender differences
Aligned with the Civil Rights Movement, circa 1960sIt sought cultural change during the decades of the
60s, 70s,and 80s….Turbulent decades regarding race relations
Iceberg Diagram
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Furthering the Iceberg
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
On your campus, what observations do you make about your white allies and your black brothers and sisters regarding race and culture?
What polarizing constructs exist on your campus, and have you and your colleagues dealt with them?
If you had to convey a MYTH or a LIE that exist on your campus regarding race, what might that be?
Iceberg Analysis
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Why Does It Matter?
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
I am confused as I do not see the difference from a White person to a Black person.. I will teach my children the same.. We are all the same... The title of this article says it all I need to know about the author. I do not need to teach my children any thing different.. WE ARE 1.
I wish people would stop teaching their kids that we're all the same. We are NOT all the same. Every individual on this planet is unique in some way. And in terms of race, each one has its distinct and non-distinct differences also. By telling children "We're all the same", you're basically saying race/ethnicity doesn't exist. Each group of people weren't given classifications for no reason.
But it Does Matter To Some
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Students’ ThoughtsStaff Members’ ThoughtsFaculty Members’ Thoughts
Defining The Decades: Making Generalizations
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Using the iceberg model, what historical conclusions can be drawn for the
1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Present
Hollow Head Activity
Fill in the person’s head with their point of view towards the challenges and conditions constructed during a particular decade
I. Example: What behaviors, actions, languages, and styles defined the black plight during 19__?
II. How about Invisible characteristics?
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Uncle Tom
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Origin of Uncle Tom
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
1852 novel by Harriet Beecher StoweTom the protagonists for abolitionists Tom the antagonist by 1960s following the Civil
Rights MovementBlacks acting whiteThe Oreo Notion
Chris Rock on Race
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Minstrel Show
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Minstrel Show
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Uncle Tom and Black Ideology
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
The End of Racism by Dinesh D’SouzaDinesh D’Souza challenges deeply held orthodoxies
about race and racism in America Was slavery a racist institution? Is America a racist society? Is Eurocentrism a racist concept? Can African Americans be racist? D’Souza argues that the liberal crusade against racism is
detrimental to both blacks and whites, and that our next step must be to eliminate race as the basis for identity and public policy.
Conservative Black Ideology
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Black people who prefer white lawyers, white bankers, white dentists are seen as Uncle Toms
Dating back to the days of Booker T. Washington, he argued that if black people do not visit and help black professionals, who will
Black conservatives gave rise to the middle class notion by the 1980s with the likes of Thomas Sowell
Conservative Black Ideology
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Homophobia and anti-gay attitudes are pervasive as seen by the fact that many black Americans are anti-gay marriage
Affirmative action policies, though it helped many ascend to middle class status, are no longer needed
Black politicians are needed to protect the economic status of the black middle class, not to speak about social justice
Black liberals have no focus and can no longer speak for the burgeoning black middle class
Conservative Black Ideology
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Intra racism has long been the standard among blacks of different shades of blackness
Academic underachievement is the result of the black home, not institutional problems such as racism dating back to Jim Crow
Poverty is a problem that should be addressed by local communities and not the federal government a la taxes and welfare
Black Liberal Ideology
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Blacks continue to eye states with a great deal of suspicion. As a collective group, blacks shifted their political loyalty by the 1960s; it was at this point that blacks supported Democrats over Republicans, though an embryonic move was in place during the New Deal
Black folks did not embrace Ronald Reagan. Better yet, he was seen as a racist — one who catered to groups looking to recapture the traditional elements before the civil rights movement of the 1960s
Black Liberal Ideology
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
The traumas of the 1960s and 1970s created a loss of confidence among Americans; Reagan capitalized on this feeling by easily winning the 1980 election
Reagan promised to rebuild the nation’s defenses, cut inflation, restore economic growth, and reduce the size of the federal government
Reaganomics and its assault on welfare are linked to racial issues of the 1980s
Black Liberal Ideology
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
The poorest Americans fared poorly during the 1980s
The bottom tenth saw their low incomes decline by 10 %
In 1986, a full-time minimum wage worker earned $6,700 per year – almost $4,000 short of the poverty level for a family of four
One out of eight children went hungry and 20 percent lived in poverty, including 50 percent of black children during the 1980s
Transformation of Black Thought
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Black Power Movement of the 1960s gave way to hip-hop from the 1970s to the present
Shift from color-conscious racism that was predicated on the norms of strict racial segregation to what is now colorblind racism
Colorblind racism constructed a skeleton that promised equal opportunities…but it provided no avenue for African American advancement
Impact of Transformation
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
New “sense” of blackness by 1986 MTV, Run DMC, Michael Jackson represented whiteness Yo MTV Raps and NWA represented blackness
Pride in languageCapitalism and exploitation of the black image
White kids being black Again, how do we define “blackness”?
Fear of Uncle Tom MC Hammer – sellout
Impact of Transformation: A Conservative Reaction
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
The 1980s Cosby Show, 1984 – 1992
Impact of Transformation: A Conservative Reaction
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
The 1980s Webster, 1983 – 1987
Black Anger
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Rap group Public Enemy
White Perception, Black Reality
DrugsEducationPrisonSportsGangstersGhettoTeen pregnancySingle parent home
Examining Whiteness
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
Scholars serving on a panel from the likes of Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore noted:
The problem on many traditionally White campuses seems to be that the majority of students, faculty, and administrators are oblivious not only to what it means to be White, but to the extent to which their Whiteness dominates the campus culture, making it uncomfortable for many people of color
Examining Whiteness
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
NY Times article Admitted, but Left Out published Oct. 19, 2012
In New York City --African-American, Hispanic and Asian children, according to the National Association of Independent Schools, up from 21.4 percent a decade ago. (Nationally, the figure was 26.6 percent for the same period, up from 18.5 percent 10 years before)
Once students are enrolled, they become part of a vanishing community
There are not enough faculty members of color who can understand their plight
Diversity
2012 NAIS People of Color Conference
From The Colors of Excellence
"People of color, be they African-American, Native American, Asian, Middle Eastern or whatever ethnic group, have spent years discovering their roots, developing a keen pride in their heritage, and accepting who they are. So don’t expect the current crop of prospective faculty to fit into your conservative profile. Many of them will not, and, frankly, I don’t think they should even try! Is that shocking? Is that unacceptable to you and your clientele? Then, perhaps, diversity is really not for you. If a turban or a dashiki pants suit offends, then so will diversity! Diversity by definition implies that the status quo will be upset."