This entire country's systems and ideals were created out of white supremacy and an illusion of superiority. This can be seen from birth in the advertisements we have, the language adults used around and about us, what hair styles were acceptable, who we learned about, and who was teaching us. Every aspect of our life was shaping our own self efficacy as well as how we see our value in the world, or rather how the world sees our value. All the messages are saying the same thing, black and brown bodies are inferior.
Growing up we are all taught to protect whiteness, reflecting back on James Baldwin discussing Gary Cooper, rooting for him to win against the "Indians" then realizing one day that you are the "Indians". Thinking you were one of the "good guys' when in reality the good guys aren't good and you are not one of them. In the classroom you see this realization on kids faces, when they realize that the country they were taught is the greatest in the world is not the reality they live in. (This is a dope BLM Documentary I have used with youth! I think it is conversation invoking)
The truth is all of these messages were created and held up to protect white fragility. We were taught, and in most places are continue to be taught, that Christopher Columbus came here and became friends with the "Indians" and they created this mutually benefiting relationship and lived happily ever after. Why? To protect the narrative of white innocents. To this day in Black History Month is filled with fluff lessons on peaceful marches and MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, which don't get me wrong are important parts of the Civil Rights Movement, but it is not the entire reality in any way. We are taught that black and brown folks asked nicely for their human rights and were granted them, which erases our realities and protects the innocence of white people and the United States.
When this way of teaching is challenged and a curriculum designed that reflects the needs and truths of the youth it serves it is often hit with resistance from the norm protectors. Education that empowers youth is frowned upon openly and passively. Think back to the video we watched last week, Precious Knowledge, there was an uproar because people in power felt threatened over people learning and having pride in their own heritage and history- this was an example of open resistance. Passive resistance happens so suddenly throughout everybody's work day. I think back to one of our 5th grade units, Greek Myths, the "objective" of this unit is to teach the Myth Cycle and how to interpret and write your own myths. I was so excited because I found this website full of free Cape Verdean Myths ( 95% of my schools population is Cape Verdean) when I offered to rewrite the curriculum to include these I was told it was not possible because they have always done Greek Myths and had to prepare students for what they should expect on standardized test. This was passive resistance to change because there was never an outcry but just complacency and unwillingness to change the "norm" from centering white history & creation in our public school system. Through these decisions and resistance our cultures our continuously erased, from society and from ourselves.
When we think of "how far we have come?", because that is what we are taught - that we have come so far, we think of all the things we ought to be thankful for. This idea that attending school, walking down the street, and being served in a restaurant is something that was given to us out of their own generosity. James Baldwin spoke to the constant effort to protect white people and this country from its reality. These ideals are still held up today, look how white protestors were treated a month ago, compared to how POC and allies are treated during todays protests. The treatment reflects how people are seen in society and whiteness is innocents therefore they were treated as innocent protestors but POC are seen as criminals and are treated as such. Times have not changed much, if at all. 
You make some wonderful points throughout your writing. In schools, we teach such a romanticized version of America's history that is only from the white perspective. By failing to teach the history of whole populations, we are just erasing their pasts and the hardships their ancestors have faced. This reminds me of Deculturization book by Joel Spring from last week. By leaving out history, are we just promoting white dominant culture to our students? Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteZoe, I really appreciate the way you center white claims of (or moves to, as Indigenous scholar Eve Tuck puts it) innocence, and how that is inextricably linked to the erasure of Black suffering, the erasure of structural racism, the erasure of white privilege (which is, to me, a way of thinking about how whites benefit in very material ways from structural racism). One thing I've been thinking about lately is the insane amount of LABOR that goes into maintaining white innocence and these mechanisms of erasure. Like, white people work hard to make this happen. And so for me it's becoming important not only to look at the structures, but also the structures of feeling, or the deep psychology, of racism and more specifically white supremacy. Baldwin is really helpful in this regard.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Dr. Benson
Oh and I've also shown Stay Woke in my classes. It's awesome. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Zoe!
ReplyDeleteYour post touched on a lot of the same questions and thoughts that I had as I was watching and analyzing the film. I echo a lot of what the previous commenters said about how history is taught to students and how whitewashed and exclusive it is. The last line of your post really stood out to me because it is a harsh reminder that there is still so much work to be done.