Uncomfortable? Yes. But it needs to be talked about.
Kyle Spencer, from his NYT article, “At New York Private Schools, Challenging White Privilege From the Inside”:
During an exercise called “Who Are You?” Mr. Gay asked students to create their own “identity cards,” writing down terms they wanted to be associated with, in stark contrast to the other exercise, which focused on unwanted identities. One girl wrote “white,” “SoHo” and “Sag Harbor”; another wrote “a very nice person.” Then students paired up, with one responding to the question “Who are you?” The room erupted in noise, with students shouting, “black,” “white,” “straight,” “lesbian,” “Jewish,” “Spanish” and “smart.” “Everyone has a card,” Mr. Gay told the students. “It’s called an identity card. Society doesn’t value each of these identities equally.” Later he added: “It’s no one’s fault. But you should be aware of it.”
I’ve been involved in this incredibly important work as long as I’ve been at my school. The obvious reason is that it’s important work and I want to support the school in this endeavor. But also partially because I didn’t grow up having these conversations, we didn’t talk about whiteness or white privilege comfortably until far beyond college. I want and need this language to be a productive member of society. We started our “Race-Based Affinity Groups” this year after many years of conversation and planning, and we held our second meeting yesterday with a similar activity to what is mentioned above. Students left recognizing how much they had in common, but also that each person has something unique about them. And it was affirmed as a positive part of their identity. These conversations are often hard and need to be moderated delicately and with intention, but we need to lean in to the discomfort. Good things will come of it. (btw this is kind of a who’s who of NYSAIS diversity foundational reading, watching and networking, except that Mariama Richards, Laura Stewart and the rest of the amazing ECFS multicultural teams are absent)