Anti-Racist Scholarship: An Advocacy

Section 4: A Difficult, Confusing, Painful Problem That Requires Many Voices, Many Perspectives

46 Section 4 A Difficult, Confusing, Painful Problem That Requires Many Voices, Many Perspectives James Joseph Scheurich Racism is without question a most confusing, dif¤cult, and painful issue. It goes to the very heart of how we are to live together in what Toni Morrison (1992) has recently called “the wholly racialized society that is the United States” (p. xii). It goes to the very heart of that resurgent dream of both a truly democratic community that respects, appreciates, and cares equally for all of its individual members and an educational system that does the same for all of its students. Unfortunately, the distance between the confusion, dif¤culty, and pain, on the one hand, and the dream, on the other, is considerable. How to map the journey of a large, complicated, multiracial society or educational system from one side to the other is, in my opinion, beyond the capabilities of any one person, group, perspective, or political position. I would suggest, therefore, that this particular journey requires an openness that includes all voices. My chief response, consequently, to both W. B. Allen and Christine Sleeter is appreciation. We need multiple perspectives, no matter how much those perspectives might differ or con¶ict. This does not mean that I do not have disagreements or agreements with the respondents; it does mean that my rejoinder is meant to continue the conversation rather than to privilege my “voice” over others . In other words, Allen’s strong disagreements with my point of view are just as important for all of us as Sleeter’s agreements are. Christine Sleeter’s Response As she indicates, Sleeter is largely in agreement with my article, and, thus, she chooses to advance the white discourse on white racism. Her chief topics are how and why we whites avoid confronting our racism. The question that her response raises for me is the same one that I struggled with during the writing of my original article: How can I discuss or critique white racism so that the critique will be heard by white professors who are anti-racist but who have not tended to actively consider whether their professorial practices might unintentionally or unknowingly reproduce racial inequalities? Many Voices, Many Perspectives 47 Increasingly, my conclusion in this regard is that critique is not enough, even though this is the strongest feature, in my opinion, of both my original article and Sleeter’s response. For most of us to hear something about ourselves that is dif¤cult or painful or embarrassing usually requires that we feel that the critic is also supportive and caring. If what I hear from someone I do not personally know, as in a journal article, is heavy on criticism and light on compassion, I will tend to¤nd it more dif¤cult to be receptive to the message. If this is true, one problem for me, and I think for Sleeter also, is that our critiques are not suf¤ciently balanced with care and compassion. This is not to say, however, that the critiques of white racism should be diminished; rather, they should be deeply intertwined with a caring regard for our white colleagues that is strongly communicated within our writing . Otherwise, we may end up speaking only to the choir. While I was thinking about my rejoinder to Sleeter’s response, two serendipitous events helped me to become clearer on this balance of critique and compassion . The ¤rst occurred when one of my students stopped by my of¤ce to tell me about a course on racism that she had taken during this past summer. In the midst of the conversation she recommended an article to me, Beverly Daniel Tatum’s “Talking About Race, Learning About Racism: The Application of Racial Identity Development Theory in the Classroom” (1992). On the same day the most recent edition of the Phi Delta Kappan arrived in the mail. As I was lea¤ng through it, I noticed an article by Gary R. Howard, entitled “Whites in Multicultural Education: Rethinking Our Role” (1993). While neither of these articles directly addresses racism among white professors , they both discuss how whites can learn to understand our own racism. What struck me most about these two articles, though, was the remarkable balance of critique and compassion. Both Beverly Daniel Tatum, a black woman who teaches university classes on racism, primarily for white students, and Gary R. Howard, a white man who directs a national K–12 curriculum and staff development program...