Pretending Colorblindness

 

Colorblindness: 

The mere idea of having any tendencies towards racism evokes fear and shame among even the most socially conscious among us.  Isn’t it better, if we can just teach ourselves to see all people as equals, rather than seeing the difference that divides us?

Racism is morally wrong; we learn that from a young age.  Yet the messages we are sent subtly and even overtly reinforce the underlying tenets of racism.  From a young age, I believe, we begin to internalize these messages to the point where they are like the “water the fish is swimming in” – so pervasive in our world as to be imperceptible to us.

Kim Case and Annette Hemmings (2005) looked at the struggles of white, female pre-service teachers to deal with, express and process their uncertainties about racism and their role in maintaining a culture where racist attitudes and actions go unchecked. They found that strategies such as remaining silent, evading questions, and claiming to be “colorblind” were used to avoid talking about or dealing with these issues on any real or meaningful level.   This strategy of colorblindness is based on the idea that through conscious will, immersion, and association with people of color, we could learn not to see color as a defining feature.  To be, in essence, blind to color differences between people. 

Case and Hemmings also found that these strategies did not help to break down the barriers between races, bringing understanding and enabling true relationships.  Instead, they helped to perpetuate the status quo.

While these strategies of silence are certainly pervasive in our society, and not limited to white, pre-service teachers, what better place to start than within our classrooms.  According to James A. Banks ( 2006 ), we can only begin to create a true equity pedagogy and multicultural classrooms if we as educators set the example and begin to model this for our students.  By teaching and modeling critical thinking about social justice issues, our classrooms can become microcosms reflecting the changes we hope to see in the world.

Resources for learning about and teaching about social justice issues: 

EdChange:  This site has many useful resources and handouts about issues including multicultural and social justice education, and diversity, equity and social justice issues in society as a whole.

Rethinking Schools:   Rethinking Schools has been working for years to spread the word about bringing social justice into classrooms.  Rethinking schools is an activist organization, that is, it is written by and for teachers, parents and students, with the goal of being a catalyst for change.  The website and their longstanding publication, which can be accessed through their site, focuses on problems in urban schools, particularly problems of racial inequities. 

Teaching Tolerance:  while I do not prefer the word “tolerance” as it implies “putting up with” rather than true understanding and acceptance, I find this web site to be an excellent teaching tool.  There are many classroom materials, such as videos and links,  as well as lessons that can be used in classrooms for all ages.

Teaching Diverse Students Initiative:  The Teaching Diverse Students Initiative is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The goal of TDSI is to help educators enhance the learning opportunities, especially the quality of teaching, experienced by students of color.  TDSI aims to help educators improve their professional skills and understandings, particularly as these relate the race and ethnicity of their students.

Sample Classroom Exercise:  Arab Americans in the U.S.
http://www.tolerance.org/activity/who-are-arab-americans 
This exercise is from the Teaching Tolerance website, and it is designed to help increase knowledge about Arab Americans, while challenging the misperceptions students may have about Arabs and people of Arab descent.  This exercise, which can be adapted for use with students from 3rd-12th grades, teaches critical thinking, while helping to dissipate the prejudice and harassment that Arab Americans have been experiencing since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Mix-It Up Day Exercise

National Mix it Up at Lunch Day is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center designed to address racism in our schools through promoting cross-cultural understanding.  It’s a simple call to action: take a new seat in the cafeteria. By taking a risk, this one day, students can cross the lines of division in a safe, controlled environment, meet new people, and help build an inclusive and welcoming school community.  This websites provides information and opportunities for any school to participate.
This year, National Mix it Up at Lunch Day will be held on October 18, 2011.






Sources:

Banks, J. A. (2006). Cultural diversity and education:  foundations, curriculum, and teaching (5. ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Case, K. and Hemmings, A. (1995). Distancing Strategies:  White women pre-service teachers and antiracist curriculum. Urban Education,40 (6).  doi: 10.1177/0042085905281396