Privilege

     Growing up I never had it easy, but I never wondered where our next meal came from. I grew up in Forsyth County going to private school. It was never if I was going to college, but where I was going to college and for what degree. I had the chance to experience new things and to go to different places shaping the person I am today, all because of the privilege I have being the race, gender, religion, etc. that I am.

     According to Sensoy and DiAngelo (2012), privilege is “the rights, advantages, and protections enjoyed by some at the expense of and beyond the rights, advantages, and protections available to others” (p.58). They go on to say, “privilege is not the product of fortune, luck, or happenstance, but the product of structural advantages” (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2012, p. 58). I use to think that privilege was just living a better life or having something given to you. After reading part of Is Everyone Really Equal, I realize that my privilege I experienced growing up was at the cost of someone else’s privilege or lack of privilege. I have never lived as the minority or as the one majorly different from someone else and as a result do not have the experiences of feeling different or the outcast as those who are not the majorities have possibly felt more frequently. As a result of this, I believe I will need to be intentional in leaving those preconceived ideas and stereotypes at home when I go into my classroom. It will be important for me to have an open mind when meeting and interacting with my students. I think that knowing about this in advanced will help me be a better teacher in the near future.

Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2012). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Blog Post #2

Why is it important to openly discuss issues that are seen as having racial dimensions?

     It is important to openly discuss issues that are seen as having racial dimensions because the only way to improve is to discuss things and change. There is no benefit to keeping everything in and staying stuck in your ways. Even though you may not admit it, there is a little bit of racism in most people who have grown up as the majority. For me personally, I have not ever lived as the minority anywhere. While most people are not overtly racist, there are still racist tendencies in a lot of people. This reminds me of the quote that talks about before you can remove the speck in someone else’s eye, you have to first remove the plank from your own. Before you can talk about someone else’s issues, you have to first address your own issues. In order for our society to change, we have to first discuss and change ourselves and then we can discuss the issues of others and help them to become a better part of society.

     A quote that stood out to me under this idea is that, “This is both the power of our filters and the dilemma of our denial that they exist; if we can’t see (or admit) that this is happening, we can’t stop doing it or put protections in place to help minimize it” (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2012, p. 20). We need to discuss these issues, because without discussing it, we a pretending it does not exist, when in reality it is a big problem and the only way to fix it is to discuss it and promote change.

What do educators need to do to foster productive examination of issues that are seen by some—or all—as being influenced by the race or ethnicity?

     Educators need to foster productive examination of these issues because students need to grow up knowing and understanding these issues in order to have the most diverse and accepting society possible. The classroom is not just for learning textbook information, but also about interacting with others and learning about others and their cultures. Our children are going to come from many different backgrounds, upbringings, and family environments. As the teacher, it will be our job to foster an environment where these differences will not be seen as barriers but rather as places to grow new friendships. As an educator, there are many different ways that we can facilitate this type of action in our classroom, such as picking groups, so that students work with different students and not just whom they feel comfortable with. We are raising the next generation and it is our job to make sure our students are the best members of society that they can be, including being as open minded as they can be in terms of racial views.  

What are some examples of effective strategies for initiating and facilitating conversations about race?

      There are many different ways that we can effectively facilitate conversations about race in our classrooms. One way that I immediately thought of is inviting my students to share about their own culture; have them tell the class about what it is like in their family, what they do for fun, what special traditions they do. Having students work in groups of students that they do not typically work in can also facilitate conversations that can lead to deeper conversations about race. Also, reading stories that are age appropriate that are about children of different races can also help facilitate these conversations. Understanding other cultures is very important. Facilitating these conversations will help all of our students grow and become more welcoming of others, becoming better citizens in society.