As we prepare for the upcoming 2009 ECWCA Conference, we're considering a new approach to Antiracism activism.
So we have to ask:
What could racism look like in our writing centers?
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This blog will serve as a resource for Writing Centers that are devoted to antiracist activism. Tutors, directors and other writing center staff can discuss ways in which racism occurs in their writing centers/institutions, but more importantly, they will be able to discuss ways in which their writing center can combat such instances of racism. In other words, this is a blog that encourages the sharing of experiences, ideas, advice, and methods of dealing with racism and discrimination.
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4 comments:
I'm especially interested in this question, and I've been collaborating with Moira Ozias, Rasha Diab, Frankie Condon, and Eric Pritchard on recording scenarios -- incidents of racism -- that we have experienced or witnessed in our writing centers.
Could we post these scenarios here and invite others to share their scenarios as well? Perhaps we could extend the scenarios project and link it with your blog?
Excited. :-) Beth
Great question, and I can't wait for ECWCA 2009!
Some scenarios from my own WC experience:
1) A student whose prof told her that "her Black English isn't good" and marks up her paper, sending her to the WC to be "helped."
2) On a slow evening, a white tutor leans over and, in hushed tones, tells me how unfair it is to have a student group called Black United Students, because he probably couldn't start one called White United Students.
3) A white tutor asks a tutor of color for "The Black Opinion."
4) Our percentage of tutors of color approximately matches the percentage of students of color on campus - but this percentage does not accurately reflect the surrounding community (the Uni is skewed white).
My examples are pretty overt, so I'm interested to see more subtle reflection from others.
I think a topic just as important would be to record the way(s) in which these situations were handled, or alternative ways to handle them.
I think this is a great way to start our new dialogue for the upcoming conference. I think one of the most important questions for approaching racism through this question- will be the concentration on how we overlook the unintentional ways race is present in writing centers. I also think this will be a great jump start to address why the work is so hard to sustain.
Beth's comment about posting scenarios would be a beneficial exercise to promote "how" this works for us, and show how anti-racism can be a process of self reflection, as Sal has addressed before. look forward to responding to these soon. Thanks again.
Part of the approach would be overcoming unproductive tension between white students and teachers in antiracist teaching.
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