In The Shame of the Nation, Jonathan Kozol wrote about the
apartheid conditions of America’s public schools and begged educators and
policy makers to do something about it. That was in 2006 and not much has
changed. Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan declared
education ‘the civil rights issue of our generation’ however sub-standard
education conditions continue to be the norm for low-income children of color,
particularly for blacks and Latinos. Half of all black and Latino children grow
up in or near poverty. Half of all black and Latino boys fail to graduate from
high school. Fully two thirds of black men without a high school degree will
serve time in prison as some point in their lives.[1]
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 50.3 percent of
students identify as black, Hispanic, Asian or another nonwhite ethnicity.
White students no longer make up the majority of students in California and
Texas. In New York City, nonwhites make
up somewhere between 58 and 65 percent (depending on whether Latinos identify
themselves as white) and if we step back and consider the population of the
globe, you will find that whites make up only 16 percent of the total
population with Asians being the majority. With numbers like these, it becomes
clear we need to consider our use of language in this country especially when
it comes to the term minority. Putting a false label like minority on the
majority acts as a pernicious mental barrier that blocks us from really
unpacking the systemic and structural elements of white privilege and
apartheid-like conditions of our schools.
The
truth is if you are a Latino in New York City, for example (or a member of any
of the ‘non-white’ ethnic groups) you can and should stop identifying yourself
as a minority and should refuse to be labeled as such. Furthermore, you should consider it an act of
protest just a powerful if not more than laying down in Grand Central station
with a placard on your chest. Changing the language we use in conversations around
race, equity and human rights can and will get us closer to seeing the true
nature of who we are as a society. Misleading labels perpetuate false notions
of entitlement for some and second-class citizenry for others and tearing them
down can heighten our perception of how we identify ourself and others as we
struggle for sustainable change.
In
response to the Eric Garner case in New York City, many whites across the
nation communicated that it was the first time they felt an overwhelming sense
of injustice. According to them, unlike other incidents of police brutality this
was different because there was clearly no evidence to dispute the criminal
nature of the killing. In the midst of outrage and protests that took hold of
our city (in great part due to the connection with Ferguson events), I was
confronted with mixed feelings about how to engage in constructive
conversations around social justice and race particularly with educators. I thought
a lot about Rebecca Klein and her article in the Huffington Post entitled A
Majority of Students Entering School are Minorities While Most Teachers are
Still White. I realized that although I
was in New York City and represented the majority in numbers, I was still perceived
as a minority. How does this perception inhibit or strengthen my voice when I
talk about injustice and equity?
The incongruence
of being labeled a minority is magnified when my work with educators often
takes place in all brown communities. I’ve noticed an
overwhelming reticence to allow
people of color to take ownership of an event and how it is shaped publicly even
when the event has direct implications for communities of color and especially
if the conversation can leverage a movement for equity. Freire calls this phenomena
false generosity. False generosity is
when a group of people who are historically seen as pedagogical authorities and
hold leadership positions in the field who for all intents and purposes want to
transform the unjust order but because of their background they believe that
they must be the executors of the transformation.[2] Unless we see the relationship between power and
language in society and examine who are positioned constantly in positions of
leadership aka the ‘executors of transformation’— we are never going to make a change.
It is time we ask ourselves: What does
equity “look” like rather than sound like?
There
is a plethora of research behind the notion of power in language. Using a term like minority to identify a
person is a tool of power. There is also power in the notion of pedagogical
authority— that is who we by default turn to for decision making. Who do we associate
with critical thinking and strategic planning in our society? Who is the
expert?
Refusing
to use the label minority is about understanding your
place. It is about entitlement and staking a claim in a situation with
full confidence, determination and leadership. Entitlement is the precursor to
agency. Without a feeling of entitlement, one cannot take action. Language and
labels such as our antiquated use of the term minority can make those who are
central to a situation feel marginalized and less equipped to act.
At a
time when we are struggling to make sense of recent current events that remove
blinders from our eyes and for educators in particular who work in schools that
are microcosms of society— we need to consider different, long lasting forms of
protest that will change how we see the world. Reject false labels and challenge the language
of status in society. Refuse to label yourself or others a minority or try
seeing yourself as a minority if you are white and live in a city like New York.
Dare to change the conversation by engaging
in the real practice of equity.
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