YDEV 501 - White Supremacy Culture

 Whiteness and white supremacy culture in my workplace...

Working in a small, private, Montessori school in one of the most affluent towns in Rhode Island certainly invites a fair share of white supremacy culture, whether others would be willing or able to admit that or not. However, our school as a whole is quite diverse and we have several students that were born in other countries and/or speak several languages. Different cultures hold different values and have different expectations and roles of children and other family members. I believe it is important to hold space for all of these cultures and values in our space and avoid trying to “conform” children/families into a white, upper class, American outlook. First of all, the state curriculum does not account for these differences nor does it allow for flexibility when talking about abilities/identities. Writing progress reports for 3 year olds based on these guidelines has always felt frustrating to me. Hearing others that I work with dismiss ideas different than their own or reactions/actions they deem strange from children with a simple “oh it must be a ‘cultural thing’ “ is infuriating. What does that mean? If that’s “true” what are you doing about it? Ignoring it? Changing it? All of our teachers are white, have English as a first language, and were born in this country. White supremacy culture is something deeply ingrained in education as a whole and in an environment with little diversity in the leadership it is hard to fight these biases, assumptions, and learned patterns of thinking. Since starting the YDEV program, I have been able to reflect more on this issue and begin to understand my role within it. I’ve been thinking about why it might be hard for people in positions of power or education to not only see their own privilege, but to actively think about how they are moving in the world and what spaces they are creating for others.  

I think two of the reasons it is often hard to acknowledge our privilege is that we are worried that this somehow takes away the hardships we may have overcome or somehow diminishes the person that we see ourselves being. Another reason I think this is hard to do is because we don’t quite know what to do “about it”. I really enjoyed Roxanne Gay’s take on this where she stated:

“You don’t necessarily have to do anything once you acknowledge your privilege. You don’t have to apologize for it. You don’t need to diminish your privilege or your accomplishments because of that privilege. You need to understand the extent of your privilege, the consequences of your privilege, and remain aware that people who are different from you move through and experience the world in ways you might never know anything about.”

While I am still understanding and acknowledging my own privilege, I hope to bring perspective and education to my coworkers and the school community as a whole. In a space where so often marginalized groups are seen as strange or unable to conform, I hope that my students will feel empowered and prideful in all aspects of their identity. I will continue the work so that this is true.