A Reflection on Racial Language in Peer Tutoring Practice.

As a transfer student, I came to my current writing center with one year’s worth of experience. To me, it was already apparent that I walked into an important conversation. And it was at my current institution that I first became aware of Antiracist Activism. That doesn’t mean that I was a bad tutor, but it did mean that I could be better.

One of the greatest hurdles I had learning to realize—not apply—Antiracist Activism was defining race. I confused race with culture and from there, it was easy to form assumptions of group behavior leading to me stereotyping my peers. While I may never know what is in a writer’s head or in their heart, I do know what I say to them. Given the established constraints of a typical tutoring session, I can not afford to alienate writers during our sessions. And so, I looked for racist assumptions or speech, and I first found them in me.

In particular, it was these three words: exotic, foreign, and ethnic. The problem was not so much the words put forth, but it was the meaning I pushed behind them. As a white male tutor, I casually used these terms to mean one thing: non-white experiences. Films, foods, people—it didn’t matter to me then, but I didn’t understand that either. I soon realized, by assuming that the peerness I share with writers is overarching and deep, I am actually projecting internal racism and I am potentially silencing writers. Without realizing it at first, I associated my peerness with my whiteness.

Through months of reflections in addition to these difficult—although worthy—conversations with everyone who would listen, I began to develop something useful—a sensitivity. But this awareness was only a first step. And dialogue was only a second step. This is a process of unlearning that will continue for the rest of my life.

In yesterday’s Special Interest Group on Antiracist Activism, we agreed that an action of no action is still an action. That was deep. It is useless to talk about topics like Antiracism if we do nothing with it. This is ongoing work for us, and we must not leave a single assumption unchallenged.

CFP: State convention on "English . . . for a Change!"

Check out this conference call for proposals (CFP):
http://orgs.uww.edu/wcte/convention.htm

I'm excited that the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English (WCTE) are organizing their 2009 conference around social change and asking for breakout sessions that "present techniques of anti-racist, anti-biased teaching practices."

The state convention is in Milwaukee, so if you're in the area (Wisconsin, Illinois), would you like to collaborate on one or more proposals about anti-racist peer tutoring practice?

Beth

Photos from the 2008 IWCA/NCPTW Conference

**Pictured Above**
Participants in the 2008 IWCA/NCPTW SIG on Antiracist Activism

More than 50 people attended the meeting of the SIG on Antiracist Activism in Las Vegas.

You may see more photos from the SIG meeting and other breakout sessions by clicking --
http://dandries.com/gallery/IWCALasVeges08

So excited about continuing the conversations from Las Vegas through this blog! -- Beth

Link to the CCCC's blog on diversity

Hi everyone,
I've really found reading this blog stimulating. Thanks to all for your contributions.

I wanted to be sure that you're all aware that the CCCC sponsors a blog on diversity. Here's a link to the most current post by Morris Young from the University of Wisconsin:

http://cccc-blog.blogspot.com/2008/11/literacies-and-identities-shifting.html

I think you'll particularly find his thoughts on the problematic nature of the term "diversity" interesting.

Anti-racism and Multiculturalism

I want to continue talking about resistance to anti-racist work, but in a broader context. In a fascinating ethnographic study, sociologist Amanda Lewis examines the dynamics of race in a predominantly white community. While many in the community subscribe to a color-blind ideology, in which people are seen “as individuals, not as races,” Lewis finds that racial formations continue to pervade social interactions. We need to stop thinking of race as a problem that only affects communities of color. As Hazel Carby notes, “We should be arguing that everyone in this social order has been constructed as a racialized subject.” Discussions of race need to move beyond a binary framework in which blackness and whiteness are diametrically opposed, where whiteness is neutral and blackness is other. Rather, we must work to uncover the ways in which whiteness, blackness, and other racial formations are constituted alongside and amongst each other.

One of the ways in which we can complicate our discussions of race to account for the interrelationality of racial formations is to distinguish between multiculturalism and anti-racism. While multiculturalism has taken on different forms in the past few decades, a basic tenant of multiculturalist discourse has centered on the issue of representation. For example, the inclusion of Toni Morrison and Amy Tan on literature syllabi, or the hiring of a handful of people of color in a workplace has come to signal the diversification of institutions. We are led to believe that race is no longer a barrier to success, and that America, this land of golden opportunity and infinite wealth, defines itself as a celebration of different cultures and viewpoints. Yet, simple inclusion does nothing to question why exclusion occurs in the first place. Race lines may be crossed, yes, but the walls of social and political institutions that continue to exclude people of color have not been dismantled. Let me be clear, I am not implying that multiculturalism is useless or misguided. What I want to suggest is that multiculturalism is not a means to an end, but rather one step in a continuous, ongoing struggle for social justice and political equality.

This is where anti-racism comes into the picture. It is here that we must move beyond a framework in which issues of race are relegated only to people of color. It is here that effective, goal-oriented dialogue can happen, not just with each other, but also with ourselves. Frankie Condon writes, “Anti-racism work necessitates both inward or private reflection aimed at personal transformation and an outward, public turn that is at once both humble and determined and is aimed at productive engagement in collective and institutional transformation.” Each one of us, regardless of our racial backgrounds, has something to offer this discussion, has something vital to share in this rewriting of social interactions.

Greetings from Oregon State University's Writing Center

Hi there,
I attended the powerful, thought-provoking session that the group of tutors who are sponsoring this blog presented at the recent IWCA conference. I was blown away by the thoughtfulness, sophistication, and passion of these presentations. At the end of the session, the first of the many thoughts that our discussion stimulated was this: "I feel new hope for the future." Thank goodness that hope was confirmed by the recent presidential election.

Those of you at the UIC writing center might like to know that I discussed your presentation at our staff meeting last Thursday. The issues you raised generated an intense conversation at our meeting, one that will continue for some time I'm sure.

One issue that came up--raised by my colleagues Robin Pappas and Dennis Bennett's summary of another related session at the conference--was how to deal with essays that the tutor or writing assistant feels crosses an ethical line. One example was a student who brought in an essay arguing that white privilege does not exist. Another was an essay advocating torture in certain circumstances.

One thing we noticed during our discussion was that the white writing assistants tended to feel that they could draw upon traditional academic norms of evidence and argument to work with student writers on these topics. After all, those making academic arguments needs to look at both sides of an issue, provide credible evidence, consider audience, etc.

However, many writing assistants of color felt that they would have to, as it were, check their identities at the door to work with writers making arguments like these. Our staff meeting is only an hour, so we were just beginning to discuss what significance these different responses might have.

Lots to think about.

In closing I want to thank you for powerful, stimulating presentations. I'm so glad that you are in the process of posting them to this blog. Thank you.

I also want to ask a question. A number of our writing assistants were excited to learn about your blog. Of course if they have a google account they can comment on your blog, but unless you invite them to join as authors they can't initiate a post.

Are you comfortable with my forwarding the email invitation that you sent to me to the listserv we host for our writing assistants? I'll check back on this blog to see if there's a response, or you could email me at lisa.ede@oregonstate.edu.

Thanks again for initiating this important work, which I know is a continuation of earlier efforts on the part of your writing center.

All best,
Lisa Ede
Director, Center for Writing and Learning
Oregon State University

A few questions raised from the SIG

I would like to open up the questions posed by Frankie, Beth, and Moira in their SIG last week:

Why are you committed to racial justice?

What stakes do you have in anti-racism?

Also, in response to the discussion, several questions came up:

Is everyone supposed to feel comfortable (I believe this is in reference to talking about anti-racism in writing centers), and does comfort equally care for all of us?

How does whiteness shape our professional organizations and writing centers?

How can we create mentoring spaces--for both directors and tutors--for anti-racist praxis?