Unit 2: Inclusive Practices: Blog Post on Pre-Tasks and Workshops 5 & 6: racism in HE
Definitions of Race
The definitions of race were an interesting starting point. Thinking about where the definitions had come from, who was writing the definitions and whom they were writing the definitions for.
The Cambridge Dictionary definition of “Ethnicity = a group of people with a shared culture, language, history & traditions”1 and The Law Society definition of “Race: physical attributes or traits vs Ethnicity: long shared cultural experiences, practices, traditions, ancestry, language, etc.” are perhaps not as cognisant of this as they could be.
This led to interested discussions amongst the group about how parents who grew up at ‘home’ and then moved to the UK had different experiences that made up their identity. The ‘shared experiences’ of parents and their children were different in these circumstances.
This made me think about fragmentation and difference and intersectionality. The more we break down our identity, the more commonalities and shared experiences we may find. The example of parents moving from home to the UK and their children growing up here shows the shifting of experience from generation to generation.
In Shirley Anne Tate’s TedTalk the importance of stereotype threat and how important it is that you see people who look like you in universities is discussed. She talks about the “cold climate that BPOC students receive and the daily experience of racist micro-aggressions” 3. She goes on to explain that this is why BPOC students drop out more than white students “the BPOC attainment gap for 2017 according to the EEC is 25%”4. This attainment gap is caused by the cold climate and racism that BPOC students encounter. This has the knock-on effect that BPOC students do not carry on with their studies and continue to progress through their field of study into academia. This results in BPOC students feeling othered and not seeing people in positions of power from their ethnic backgrounds. Tate’s powerful point that there is no “unconscious bias is not unconscious, racism must be named” 5. This highlights the importance of diversity, retention, support and care that we must offer, in particular to our students from marginalised backgrounds to create an inclusive space for them to learn, feel supported and grow.
Whiteness (White Supremacy and White Fragility)
White Supremacy = conscious or unconscious ideas of supremacy, dominance and control.
White Fragility = the difficulty and uncomfortableness white people feel when discussing race, racism, white privilege and white supremacy.
White Fragility is a term coined by Robin DiAngelo. DiAngelo says that white progressives are some of the hardest people to explain racism too as they are too busy showing how they are not racist instead of:
“Engaging in ongoing self-awareness, continuing education, relationship building, and actual antiracist practice. White progressives do indeed uphold and perpetrate racism, but our defensiveness and certitude make it virtually impossible to explain to us how we do so.”6
DiAngelo goes onto show how white supremacy is built into the fabric of our society and as Shirley Anne Tate shows, all racism should be considered as conscious and called out. Through this, people are offered the chance to learn from their blind spots and mistakes. DiAngelo says that the work is to uncover why these discussions make white people feel discomfort:
“The key to moving forward is what we do with our discomfort. We can use it as a door out – blame the messenger and disregard the message. Or we can use it as a door in by asking: Why does this unsettle me? What would it mean for me if this were true?” 7
This way of thinking and learning could give white people a greater understanding of the world around us, of the myths of meritocracy and lead to greater learning.
This workshop also dispelled the notion of ‘I don’t see colour’ as clearly being something that only a person in a privileged position could say and a view that is clearly not possible. We see colour, whether we like it or not, and it has a profound effect on how we have moved through our lives and the experiences that we have.
We were tasked with thinking of examples of Whiteness and White Fragility within our workplaces at UAL. This image below shows what we as a class came up with.
Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Critical Race Theory is the telling of stories through the voices of the oppressed, focusing on listening to and using examples from marginalised voices, and is based on the empirical, lived experiences of those who have experienced racism. To me, this seems like the right thing. It provides a space for those generous enough to offer up their experiences to teach those of us who wish to learn and see more.
The difficulty I have with CRT, is: how does a white person who agrees with CRT, and wants to help, be active in anti-racism through the CRT mode? CRT is based on empirical experience but, as a white person, I have not experienced racism… I worry that this would position me as a bystander which is problematic. I would like to have asked this question in class but felt unsure of doing so.
In many ways, CRT made me think of how artists such as Theaster Gates and Mark Bradford use objects to tell their stories and to speak of their histories through materiality.
Workshops 5 and 6 have led me to re-think my plan for my Intervention, I think I would like it to link back directly into teaching. And to be based around the theme of identity and focus on intersectionality and for this to done through connection to materiality, and the act and journeys of making.
References
1. The Cambridge Dictionary
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ethnicity
Accessed on 6 June 2024
2. The Law Society
Accessed on 6 June 2024
3. Tackling the ‘BPOC’ Attainment Gap in UK Universities | Shirley Anne Tate | TEDxRoyalCentralSchool
4. Tackling the ‘BPOC’ Attainment Gap in UK Universities | Shirley Anne Tate | TEDxRoyalCentralSchool
5. Tackling the ‘BPOC’ Attainment Gap in UK Universities | Shirley Anne Tate | TEDxRoyalCentralSchool
6. Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Penguin Books, 2019, page 90
7. Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Penguin Books, 2019, page 145