 |
| Race relations are complicated even between groups of color. |
A
White former co-worker/friend and I presented on a theoretical framework I had
been developing on the disruption of the normalizing tendency of Whiteness in
traditional spaces of student leadership; in other words, a framework that
could be applied to leadership offices in universities and colleges that would
promote and sustain the desire for diversity and implement policy and practices
to install it. Every presentation in Utah was a success with counselors being
motivated to follow the framework according to their context and apply it with
local educational institutions. In other words, it was a success!
Here
we are in Chicago where the diversity of higher ed professionals is nothing
like Utah. NOTHING! We are surrounded by Black, Asian, and Latino professionals
everywhere. Our session was packed, over-packed! We began our presentation and
followed it smoothly. People laughed, people took notes, they nodded, they
smiled…etc. We broke our audience up into groups and had them dialogue using
the worksheet we gave them and that too was a success. Afterwards, a number of
people, Black, Brown, and White, came up to us and congratulated and thanked us
for the presentation. It was awesome, and our heads were in the clouds…but like
all powerful moments, a humbling is in order to bring balance—opposition in all
things is some real shit.
A
lady came afterwards later on and asked to speak with us for a minute. And
being the already lofty sprits we were, we decided to welcome yet another round
of compliments. Her demeanor was gentle but authoritative and she asked us, “I
wanted to know why you used that clip in the beginning?”
This
is where it hit me…
The
clip was from the beginning scenes of The Butler. A film about a young
African-American who served as a butler in the White House from the early years
of Jim Crow to the election of Barack Obama. The film tracks the journey of the
racial discourse through each era of race relations. The beginning scenes are
set in a sharecropping farm with a cruel White master and his slaves working.
The master grabs the mother of the
child-version of the butler and rapes her in a wooden shed where only the noise
is heard. He then walks out amongst his slaves where the father of the butler
protests and is shot in the head. No blood is shown, but the scene is still a
disturbing one—I get it, why would I show such a thing in a professional
conference?
Our
intention was to magnify the power of context and experiential learning in the
process of how one carries out their lives. The butler had always been hesitant
of the civil rights and Black power movements, but at the end—which we showed
as well—it depicted him joining his son at a protest for Nelson Mandela,
something quite powerful as the butler engaged a new form of resistance and
came to a much broader and radical consciousness. I shared with this woman—who
was also Black—and she said she understood, but did not appreciate the clip and
was upset that we showed it.
The
romantic idealization of me as an awesome trainer on diversity in education,
was broken…and my pride laid there in shambles—that’s what too much praise will
do to you—and with a humbled heart, I began to listen.
 |
| Sometimes I think this phrase is appropriate and other times I don't. It's problematic, that's for sure... |
She
said that we could not understand her feelings because we were not Black
ourselves, nor of the African American experience. She is completely right. She
mentioned that those kinds of images, that kind of tone and feeling that the
film presented, shares a dark moment in history, something not to be exploited
for a training on diversity where it will most likely not be truly understood
or talked about; it needed deconstruction and a libratory dialogue where
emotions could be dealt with and history contemplated, not overlooked. It’s
horror is sometimes too much, because in some places things like this have not
stopped. Nor has it’s racist attitude diminished, it has simply transformed
into another vehicle—i.e. the prison system.
She
ended her words with, “I hope you take this in the way that I’m telling this to
you,” which was an incredibly gentle and soft manner, not angry just
disappointed and somewhat sad. “Completely,” I responded, “and thank you, thank
you so much for saying this, for having the courage to approach us and offer
your words, thank you so much. I am learning, I think we all are, and your
words will never be forgotten.” She smiled and I could only be disgusted with
myself. Yes it was only her opinion, but I began to remember how a few of the
older Black audience members also left after the clip and I could only regret
showing the clip in the first place, regardless of my intention.
She
mentioned the age difference, because a lot of the younger, not all, just some,
Black professionals talked with us afterwards and applauded our presentation.
Sometimes generational experiences differ, and sometimes they don’t, but that
really isn’t important because I’m sure there were younger Black audience
members that felt the same way.
 |
| The perfect example of the contradiction and tension of race within the Latino umbrella. The young man is holding a sign that says "I am Dominican too" in protest of the D.R.'s new immigration policy on the deportation and stripping of citizenship of anyone with Haitian ancestry. Global critique has looked at this as a race-based issue against Black people in the Dominican Republic. |
She
also said that we COULDN’T show such a scene in this context because we weren’t
Black. Some people might get offended at this or become really defensive. I am
not one of those people and I didn’t feel that way at all. I agreed with her. It
is insanely problematic to show such images and continue with my presentation
as if it did not affect me. OF COURSE IT AFFECTED HER! THIS HAPPENED TO HER
PEOPLE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS! She wasn’t just seeing a fake scene of a Black
actor get shot in the head, she was RELIVING that same oppression and violence!
I
cannot speak to the African-American experience and because of that I do not
have a racialized knowledge about how to approach these things, and I typically
do not have the right (the Black experience in my opinion is different than the
African American experience because the term Black would include the Diaspora
at large which includes many Afro descended identities and the many contexts
that accompany them; the African American experience is a tragically unique
experience in the history of race relations, Dominicans and Afro Brazilians may
not be able to relate exactly but can adopt their racial politics). Because I
cannot speak to the Black or African American experience—and this is important now so read carefully—I have to notice their
racial realities are practically unknown to me and that I can pass through
society without ever acknowledging their truths, and be perfectly fine.
 |
| Another moment of tension. Many Latinos offered their voting power to President Obama in support of immigration reform that supported undocumented immigrants. Instead, his administration is accused of record-high deportations, the highest in decades. |
In
some ways, I can pass for White—an Eastern European White, Italian or Greek…etc.
This helps me and grants me a certain level of privilege in society—not a lot
but enough to get by. That privilege allows me to ignore any Black reality and
still get ahead in society; like completely disregard it, and be just fine in
the end. That’s the problem. I’ll go so far as to say that a lot of us Mesti@
Latinos ought to follow caution in this regard. We as a group, stand in danger of
homogenizing the hybrid in our racial nature and having that become a dominant
narrative, alienating both the Black and Indigenous experience—Rosa Clemente’s
One-Third argument. If you don’t believe
it? Look at how many college campuses would rather focus on engaging the “Latino”
population versus any of the other groups of color. This silences the
narratives of too many of our brothers and sisters of color; these are narratives
that may not have the population numbers to back them up in a board room
discussing outreach and cost effectiveness. But we are not an investment,
especially for or by any institution! This kind of discourse takes away from
any attempt at solidarity, coalition or decolonization. They pit us against
each other; divide us and leave the scraps for us to fight over them. These are
distractions, and they are deadly ones if we are ever to be honest with each
other about race relations in the U.S..
 |
| What many people don't realize is that there are many moments in U.S. history where Black and Brown communities resisted together in solidarity. As early as European contact, African and Indigenous peoples set up rebellions and even created their own communities. During the Black and Brown Power Movements, Brown Berets and Black Panthers often worked together. |
I
will never forget her words. They made me reflect my privilege in a very profound
way. I never like to say which group has it harder, but I think it’s important
for us to check and challenge the way EACH of us thinks about each other. If
she showed a film clip about violence perpetuated on a Latin American
immigrant, I would get upset as well. There are certain things that we ought to
think about before we act, and every process we encounter ought to be cognizant
of the many oppressed realities that exist within our context. To avoid or discount
them, is to participate in the erasure and exploitation of a group narrative.
Talking about race and ethnicity is a difficult and complex process. It is a
world filled with intersections across race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality.
There is no easy way. It wasn’t meant to be. It was meant to act as a dividing force
and to unlearn our colonization is hard, but doable. So continue challenging
yourself. Continue learning and unlearning. Continue to listen, and take
criticism when it’s given with love and with the intent to teach and share
knowledge. Continue to resist mainstream ways of thinking; they will enslave
you. Continue to make mistakes and continue to endure. The path to peace is a
complex one as well as ongoing, but it is truly worthwhile and beautiful in the
end.
Always Learning Truths,
TINO
No comments:
Post a Comment