Teaching at the Intersections, by Monita Bell explains how a female African-American student is only seen for her academic short comings despite the fact that her success is being halted by the need for her to be a caregiver to her younger siblings while her parents work. Her lack of privilege and her adult responsibilities make it impossible for her to be on time for school or get her work done. Bell states, "Multiplied oppressions accompany her particular combination of identities." She is expected to put the well-being of her siblings ahead of herself. If teachers would take the time to understand more than just what they see, perhaps they could find a way to help her succeed. Would they be more willing to dig a little deeper if she were white? If she were male?
Watching 5 Tips for Being a Good Ally helped put a lot of things in perspective. Step one is understanding your privilege. While I am aware that this is something I still need to work on, and will continue to work on for the rest of my life, this is a new concept to me. Like I had written in previous blogs, I hadn't thought of myself as having power. I grew up lower middle class/working poor. I have been homeless. I have gone to bed with a hungry belly so that my brother could eat and extra helping of dinner. I have worked for everything that I have, and I wouldn't change that. It was not until learning about social justice that I realized that while yes, there were times that I struggled or that my family as a whole struggled, I was able to overcome a great deal of that likely do to my privilege. I am White, straight, cis female. I did not have the same hurdles to clear that a Black female or even a White gay male may have had.
Step two and four also stood out to me. 2. Listen and do your homework. Even after this course ends, I intend to continue reading about privilege and power to remind me to keep mine in check. 4. You will make mistakes - apologize when you do. When I think back about reading Colorblindness is the New Racism, I remember being afraid to speak up. What if I use the wrong terms? What if I offend someone? This class has taught me to try. Try to say what I am thinking. Try to speak up. If you don't know the proper term, ask. The only way to do better is to try! I came across this article, 6 Ways to Respectfully Be a Better LGBTQ Ally and one of the lines that stuck out to me was:
Hi Danielle! I really loved what you wrote about understanding your privilege and relating it to your own life. It is amazing all that. you have accomplished! I am proud of and for you! I also feel the same way about what if I say the wrong term or don't know what to say when it comes to speaking up, but this class and these readings have definitely helped!
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