I feel like it's my responsibility as a human being, and especially as a teacher, to educate myself about race, gender, sexuality, ability, etc. Learning about discrimination and oppression is infuriating, but the more I learn, the more I feel like I can help my students become thoughtful adults who try to correct inequities when they see them. Anyway, today's post is about the definition of racism, namely a couple questions I have. My expertise is education, not social justice, so if anyone who does have a social justice background would like to help me out, I'd appreciate it.
Question 1: Why the Definition?
I get pushback from people about "racism = racial prejudice + power." Many people are new to that definition, while others have heard it before, but don't see why the definition is being changed to something other than the dictionary/colloquial use. I feel kind of unprepared, and the conversations tend to go like this:
Other person: "Racism has been used to mean racially prejudiced for a long time, why should we change it now?"
Me: "Because we need to make a distinction between prejudice and prejudice that has power behind it."
OP: "But why didn't they make a new term instead of trying to re-purpose this word? Racism is a charged word, and you can't suddenly make everyone change how they talk."
Me: "Um..."
And that's where I get stuck. I'm cool with redefining words, and I know the dictionary isn't exactly bias-free, but I also recognize that it's hard to change speech patterns. Many conversations about racism that I've had/heard seem to get sidetracked by linguistic arguments, even when both parties are generally in agreement. So, why is it important that we argue for the prejudice + power definition of racism instead of creating a new term?
Question 2: Kinds of Power
Training to become a teacher has made me very aware of how much power I have over students, not only in terms of official things like grades and discipline, but also socially and emotionally (it's inspiring when I feel like changing the world, but scary when I fear saying the wrong thing). What I want to know is, does a teacher's power in the classroom have an effect on whether someone is racist vs. racially prejudiced?
Here's a scenario:
A white student in high school has a black teacher. The teacher has strong racial prejudices against white people (let's assume a "low normal" level of prejudice on the part of the student). Teacher ridicules student's answers, calls student a racist to other students (which leads to threats from these students) and staff. Teacher makes frequent statements about what "all white people" are like, uses student as negative example. Teacher claims "I can't be racist because I'm black."
Can a teacher be racially prejudiced, but racist specifically in the context of the classroom? I'd like to know more about what types of power come into play when the discussion is about an individual vs. society.
If you're reading this and can help answer my questions, I'd appreciate your explanations and/or links to papers, blogs, forums, etc. If I've written anything offensive, outdated, or otherwise counter to my goal of being a decent human being, please let me know. I'll adjust my behavior accordingly.
- Brianne
