This semester, I must admit, I was actually nervous to have "non-white" people in my classes that I teach. I was not at all thinking that way last semester; I just knew that the students I was about to teach would all be very different from each other--in age, race, interests, background.
But now, after all I have been hearing and reading in various classes about the prevalence of racism (and that we are all guilty in some way), I guess I am worried.
I have students of various races in my current classes, and I feel as if I do not know how to treat them. I feel that they are fragile or likely to be offended . . . that I will unintentionally and ignorantly say something they think is wrong or ends up sounding objectionable. I also tend to wonder if these students are angry with me for some reason. I am afraid.
I am scared to write on their papers, too. I cannot relax; maybe something will be misinterpreted or I will ignorantly judge some part of a student's paper because I do not understand her background.
Of course I also have potential for offending my white students, but I am much more nervous about the others, possibly because of what we have been learning.
Love and fear are nearly incompatible. And all this fear is threatening to ruin (or prevent) a loving, open relationship with my students.
?
But now, after all I have been hearing and reading in various classes about the prevalence of racism (and that we are all guilty in some way), I guess I am worried.
I have students of various races in my current classes, and I feel as if I do not know how to treat them. I feel that they are fragile or likely to be offended . . . that I will unintentionally and ignorantly say something they think is wrong or ends up sounding objectionable. I also tend to wonder if these students are angry with me for some reason. I am afraid.
I am scared to write on their papers, too. I cannot relax; maybe something will be misinterpreted or I will ignorantly judge some part of a student's paper because I do not understand her background.
Of course I also have potential for offending my white students, but I am much more nervous about the others, possibly because of what we have been learning.
Love and fear are nearly incompatible. And all this fear is threatening to ruin (or prevent) a loving, open relationship with my students.
?
1 comment:
You asked me to respond and thus I am.
I have to agree with you. It is not necessarily on the particular issue of having minority students in class, but increasing our awareness of how easily it is to offend students has done nothing more than make much more cautious in approaching them. In the sense I am talking about, ENG 621 comes to mind. We spend so much time in that class worrying about how not to offend them; it in a way, it makes the student out to be this specimen versus a student. I just find raising our self-awareness of how infused racism is in society; it in a way creates a different type of racism. I always want to hear from the other side when we have the discussions about not offending students. I just want to know if it is so easy to offend them that the word “tutor” will reduce their confidence to zero or mentioning obvious social and fiscal lopsidedness in terms of race will further deepen the racial gap. I do feel we over-analyze in terms of comprehending our students insecurities to the point where we forget about our own.
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