Racism In The Classroom
The key leanings from this class and the readings will certainly resonated with me throughout my social work career. The readings and class discussions have taught me aspects of racism I had never considered, mostly because I am white. Often people who are privileged cannot possibly see the struggles of those who do not receive the same privileges. For example, as a white person, I can open a magazine and know for certain that my skin color will be well-represented. As a straight female, I know that I don’t have any reservations about whether to tell my friends or family about my sexual orientation. Joshua Miller and Anna Garran co-wrote a book, Racism in the United States: Implications for the Helping Professions, that analyzed both social
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As said by Tim Wise in his book, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, he wrote, “Colorblindness is not the proper goal of fair-minded educators. The kids in those classrooms do have a race, and it matters, because it says a lot about the kinds of challenges they are likely to face” (Wise, 2005). Prior to this reading and class discussion, I would have agreed that not seeing color is the correct approach to end racism in our society. I believed that if we ignore the idea of race then we cannot be racist. Through this book, I saw that being ‘colorblind’ only further separates white people from other races, and the idea of being able to be colorblind is a privilege. Wise continues to say, “To not see color is to not see the consequences of color. And if color has consequences, yet you’ve resolved not to notice the thing that brings about those consequences, the odds are pretty good that you’ll fail to serve the needs of the students in question” (Wise, 2005). Colorblindness is ignoring an important facet of their identity. People of color suffer discrimination in life, whether it’s through the educational or criminal justice system. If white people ignore the struggles that correlate with a darker skin color, white people are ignoring the injustice that is happening in society. This idea of ignoring race leads into my next key learning about white identity and
As said by Tim Wise in his book, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, he wrote, “Colorblindness is not the proper goal of fair-minded educators. The kids in those classrooms do have a race, and it matters, because it says a lot about the kinds of challenges they are likely to face” (Wise, 2005). Prior to this reading and class discussion, I would have agreed that not seeing color is the correct approach to end racism in our society. I believed that if we ignore the idea of race then we cannot be racist. Through this book, I saw that being ‘colorblind’ only further separates white people from other races, and the idea of being able to be colorblind is a privilege. Wise continues to say, “To not see color is to not see the consequences of color. And if color has consequences, yet you’ve resolved not to notice the thing that brings about those consequences, the odds are pretty good that you’ll fail to serve the needs of the students in question” (Wise, 2005). Colorblindness is ignoring an important facet of their identity. People of color suffer discrimination in life, whether it’s through the educational or criminal justice system. If white people ignore the struggles that correlate with a darker skin color, white people are ignoring the injustice that is happening in society. This idea of ignoring race leads into my next key learning about white identity and