(a good follow up to questions that aren’t being asked.)
I wonder often if the lack of conversations about race happening in the math twitter blogosphere is a function of teaching as a profession being blindingly white or a function of us white people being so afraid to say anything for fucking it up. Cause you know, we do, grandly and with large frequency. I wonder occasionally if it’s happening and I’m missing it (a possibility) but I really don’t think that’s it. I am reasonably aware of the going-ons in the #MTBoS and I feel like Michelle would alert me to real important stuff.
A little over two years ago I talked about my journey in to fucking up race stuff less. But there hasn’t been much since. Not because I suddenly felt like it was magically solved or I forgot about it but because as a nice white lady I had the privilege to step away for a while. I got to hunker down in my classroom. I got to hide from news stories of black children dying and brown children being turned away at borders twenty miles from me. I used my privilege to crawl in my classroom bubble and not leave.
This is not a manifesto about how I am going to do better and be better forever and ever. Instead it’s a slow wade back into the conversation. It’s a start with two small things you and I are going to do to be better
- We’re going to read everything Grace Chen writes. Start with this. Then follow with this . Lastly just keep up with her current stuff here. Comment on her stuff or come back here and we’ll chat. I am dying to talk about this.
- We’re gonna read all the responses to @multiahjussi‘s tweets on what multi-ethnical asian children wish their teacher’s would have done better. You should also just follow him if you don’t already.
I’m going to spend the week thinking about micro-aggressions. And hope to do better.
a brand new line. 