Today was the first chance I’ve gotten in several weeks to have some further conversations in class about Ferguson and students’ processing of the course material so far. Lately it’s been all topic sentences and midterms and whatnot. And, frankly, even some of the class sessions where I could have worked in Ferguson material, I just didn’t have time to revise the lecture.
But today I split the morning section of the class in half and sent half to meet with a guest lecturer--a professor from the criminal justice department who agreed to host a Q&A--and the other half I talked to for awhile about their thoughts and feelings about the course so far. I asked them how they were processing the material, whether it was leading to conversations with other people, and how they thought one should respond when confronted with injustice and oppression. I tried not to talk too much (though I was less successful at that with one group than the other) or give any kind of answer or judgment to their feelings (even when I heard a few that were a bit horrifying), but just listen.
The first group was quite reticent, and there were a few students in that group that remain very resistant to the project of the class overall. Those few mostly wanted to talk about how racism is not the issue or how “black people are blowing everything out of proportion.” But there were also a couple in that first group who spoke about becoming more aware of race issues, and one student of color talked a little bit about his own experiences, although he was very careful to couch his comments as broadly as possible--clearly aware of the other students’ opinions. But overall, the conversation was pretty stilted and didn’t seem too helpful.
The second group, who had met first with the other professor, were much more willing to talk, and they spoke overwhelmingly of their feelings of anger and sadness over what they had learned. One student, a former member of the military, talked about his feelings of disillusionment over what America is and means, given what he has learned about unjust policies and policing. Another student, who is biracial, talked about her experiences with different sides of her family and how differently they act in public and around law enforcement, in order to protect themselves and avoid harassment. It made me wish the other half of the class had been there to hear their stories--but they may not have shared them in a larger group...
My colleague reported later that the students were equally quiet with him and (with one exception) didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions. Disappointing.
Unfortunately, the second section of the class didn’t get the chance to be split and have the same kinds of conversations, but we did catch up on the news about the DOJ report and some of the reforms that are happening. Overall, I’m feeling a little frustrated--but it is the week before spring break, so... one day at a time, I guess.
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