AUDIO RECORDING:
BREAKING DOWN THE HEART OF WHITENESS
CLASS PRESENTATION, ENGLISH 1A, LOCAL CITY COLLEGE
15 n o v e m b e r 2006
Robert Jensen's
The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism, and White Privilege
I work part-time as a tutor and teacher's aide in the English department at a local city college. The classes I work in are remedial English and first-semester college-level English (1A).
Recently, one of the professors with whom I work assigned his English 1A class a research group presentation project in which each group had to present on a chapter of essays from our class reader. Part of my job involves working with the groups as they develop projects like this.
Early on, while working with the group that was supposed to cover the chapter on "Racism," I noticed that all the members of the group were women of color. Three of the women were returning students, while one recently graduated high school. Two of the women were Chicanas, one was African-American, and the other had immigrated nine years ago from The People's Republic of China. As they began to discuss their topic of racism, the group initially gravitated toward a predictable multi-culti presentation format on ethnicity and race based on their own different backgrounds—something I'd heard many times in other class presentations on this same topic, with this same professor, in similar groups.
Gradually, however, discussion turned to the idea of white privilege, specifically, from the perspective of non-whites, since this group comprised four women of color. The concept was unfamiliar to the group participants, but as they asked me for more information and I explained it, it resonated strongly with them and they immediately responded in a positive way, noting that discussions of "racism" somehow never seem to mention white privilege, even though, as their own experience had revealed to them, white privilege was very real and something they dealt with on a daily basis. I explained that this is exactly what makes white privilege, like male privilege, so effective—the hidden, unacknowledged nature of it—and they decided that rather than do the same kind of multi-culti "racism" ethnicity discussion that previous classes had done on this chapter, they would instead focus on white privilege from their own experiences as women of color. I was more than thrilled to help them out.
Unfortunately, as a white man, the professor for this class had a reaction to their proposed topic that was just as immediate and strong as theirs had been—except, of course, in the opposite direction. He quickly tried to discourage them, to discredit the topic, and even discredited and disparaged Robert Jensen, the author of The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism, and White Privilege (note that although I am very familiar with this work, I did not introduce the group to this author; they found him on their own, and they were very excited in a later group meeting when I brought up his name after they had already discussed his ideas at length).
After the professor's initial reaction, the women in the group were not only disheartened, but shocked and more than a little angry. I spoke with them and, using humor and diplomacy ("WHAT? He didn't like your topic? Hmmm...gee, I wonder why..."), I expressed my own anger at having to face this oppression, while pointing out that this was a fantastic example of how white privilege functions structurally to neutralize and squash any potential challenge to its power and invisibility. They immediately recognized, and articulated the awareness, that their grades were in the balance, that they were being placed in a position of compromise, given that they were really excited to present on the topic of white privilege and yet were being implicitly pressured to abandon the topic by the (white) person responsibility for assigning their grades. I acknowledged this and told them it was up to them and that I would support and help them in whatever they decided to present on, and also, that I understood completely if they felt it was too dangerous to confront the professor on this.
Meanwhile, the professor attempted several times to "ally" himself with me, using sarcastic remarks to make slightly disparaging jokes about the topic. His attitude basically amounted to a tactic of discrediting the women's work through a faux-confused, condescending shake of the head at such a crazy topic ("Well...I just don't know what to do with that group...Quite a controversial, umm, explosive topic, wouldn't you say, hehe?...Did you talk to them about it yet?"). Again, I played dumb and diplomatic, noting that it was an interesting topic that I hadn't heard in other class presentations during previous semesters, and that I had asked them to just make sure to tie their topic in with the readings, but all the while, skirting around what he was really getting at, of course.
Despite all this pressure, the women in the group refused to abandon their topic. In fact, the more the professor reacted and pressured them, the more angry they became and the more insistent they were on presenting their work. By this point, they had done extensive research and clear, well-thought-out work at a much more sophisticated level than any other group presenters I had ever seen in any of this professor's same classes. It was inspiring and empowering to watch their group dynamic, as they bonded sharing stories of their own experiences, and united more strongly over their sense of common struggle and effort—which intensified, of course, with each power-laced interaction with the professor. I was especially impressed with how Teresa, a returning Chicana student who grew up in Boyle Heights, took younger student, Alex—also a Chicana from the LA-area—under her wing, calling her "mija" and exchanging a great deal of affection and support.
On the day of the presentation, I met with the group briefly out in the hall and they were nervous and excited, not just with the expected stress of presenting, but with the awareness that they were about to take a radical position and stance in the face of a hostile response. I did my best to validate, support, and encourage.
When they finally presented, they pulled it off fabulously. Drawing from extensive, well-researched notes, as well as their own experiences as women of color in the United States, Teresa, Alex, Tiffany, and Tamika laid it all out and broke it down with an intelligent, sophisticated, professional, and cool demeanor throughout.
Afterwards, as I congratulated them out in the hall and got permission to share the audio recording of their presentation, they reported how they had pushed on despite the dirty looks they got from some of the other students while presenting (Teresa's tactic included taking off her glasses at one point so that the faces would be a blur), and all of them noticed how, as soon as they started, the professor suddenly developed some problem with his throat that required repeated, uncomfortable clearing throughout the presentation. I shared with them how inspired and empowered I felt, and we all cheered together out in the hall.
Note especially the Q&A section at the end. The question, "What's the alternative?" (!!!), comes, of course, from the professor. I was so impressed at the badass response these women gave, as they broke down the heart of whiteness intelligently, humanely, and with sophistication, compassion, and class.
Much thanks and respect to my newest sheroes:
Teresa, Alex, Tiffany, and Tamika
(last names withheld)
To listen to the presentation, click below (right/ctrl-click to download):
AUDIO: BREAKING DOWN THE HEART OF WHITENESS
[full presentation; 47:37; 43.5 megabytes]
AUDIO: TERESA
[part 1; 19:44; 18 megabytes]
AUDIO: ALEX
[part 2; 6:18; 5.7 megabytes]
AUDIO: TIFFANY
[part 3; 8:18; 7.6 megabytes]
AUDIO: TAMIKA
[part 4; 7:44; 7 megabytes]
AUDIO: Q&A ("WHAT'S THE ALTERNATIVE?")
[part 5; 5:34; 5.1 megabytes]
Links to more information:
Robert Jensen:
The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism, and White Privilege
Peggy McIntosh:
"White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"