1.1: Introduction
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- Susan Rahman, Prateek Sunder, and Dahmitra Jackson
- CC ECHO
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced”
- James Baldwin
Higher education is a place where many of us call home. It has opened our minds, given us valuable life lessons, led to pathways that have been transformative, and given us hope for a better tomorrow. It is truly a place where magic happens. It is also a product of the larger social structure and as such rife with a shameful past and problematic present that cannot go unnamed. Structural racism has shaped all social institutions in the creation of these United States. A legacy of disparity that has existed since its founding must be acknowledged in order to progress towards dismantling structures that have perpetuated ongoing discrimination and inequality. Decades of historical whitewashing and pretending lived opportunities are equal for everyone has led to a boiling point which has once again exposed the massive inequalities we face as a culture. Although the criminalization and targeting of young Black men are definitely not new, with the increase in social media, the ongoing police murders of unarmed Black people in the US, coupled with a global pandemic,have seemingly ignited a new flame of anger in some individuals and a resolve to create a more perfect union.
Higher Education was built to serve wealthy white men (The lin, et al. 2021). It was not originally intended to educate the masses nor to create a level playing field with upward social mobility for everyone. Structural racism in the form of Anti-literacy laws like the Alabama Slave Code of 1833 denied Black Americans access to reading and writing (Literacy as Freedom, n.d.).Despite this, enslaved Africans taught themselves to read and write in the dark of night, all the while knowing if they were caught by their white enslavers there would be violent repercussions including death and dismemberment (Cornelius, 1983).
This unfortunate truth is something we do not often discuss in the halls of higher education. Instead, we imagine that we have simply moved on from or are above issues surrounding racial and gender biases and that we are the good guys so to speak. While these efforts may be well intentioned, we are in desperate need of some truth telling. The goal of this Open Educational Resource (OER) is to briefly introduce the reader to the role structural racism plays in each of the academic disciplines discussed throughout it, with the caveat that there is much more to tell.The goal of this book is not to tell the whole story, merely to invite further investigation, as a primer is intended to do. It is also not meant to serve as an introduction to each discipline. There have been a multitude of books dedicated to that purpose and we imagine as subject area experts that would be the role of the reader. We will briefly define each discipline and move into a sampling of the impact structural racism has had on that specific area. We hope the reader will take it upon themselves in a true OER philosophical approach to build on, remix and reuse this content to serve their educational needs (Butcher, 2011). This is by no means meant to be all encompassing as we cannot claim that authority, nor is there space here to do so. While much of this book is historical, it also looks at present day effects and sadly, incidents of individual and structural racism that are still happening today. In some cases we also highlight great thinkers of color, LGBTQIA+, or women who were overlooked, or ways in which individual academic fields are confronting this historical legacy in hopes of changing it. Unfortunately, for now it seems that structural racism in academia will continue to occur long after this book is published. However, we hope that with this potentially new knowledge, a push for policy changes, and a recognition of the value of different perspectives and ways of thinking a truly inclusive higher educational system in the United States can soon be realized. As this is an Open Educational Resource (OER) it is available free of charge and the reader is welcome to reuse, retain, revise, remix and redistribute as they see fit. We hope this primer serves as an opportunity to take a deeper dive into various academic disciplines and explore how higher education excluded some groups and individuals who sought an opportunity to be included.
As the reader examines their respective sections, certain content and information may seem like common knowledge depending on each individual’s educational background.However, we believe that knowing the historical development of your chosen field and its failure to be inclusive matters. Placing ourselves as individuals into the field of study can also in your field of expertise dictates or informs the information and content you provide to your students. Do they understand the implications of an unlevel playing field? If the answer is no,we challenge you to reflect on why it is omitted from what is otherwise most likely an outstanding course. We believe that students might appreciate this level of transparency, and the opportunity for innovation within academic courses or classrooms is only strengthened by honest discourse. Great social change, technological discoveries, and policy shifts are often born in the classroom. “The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy” (hooks, 1994,12). The role of the teacher in the classroom and beyond can be one that excites and encourages critical thinking and a love of learning.
If it is hard to conceptualize how this information may be inserted into your course or if you are questioning whether or not you are capable of doing a good job teaching it, please reach out to people on your campus who are doing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work.There are various resources dedicated to helping faculty teach difficult topics that can help create an effective pedagogical model.
As previously mentioned, this reader is being put together during a time of great social upheaval. We are in the midst of a global pandemic the likes of which most people currently living have not experienced. We have been required to adjust much of our lives and the suffering and ever changing landscape has not left anyone untouched. However, people of color have been especially hit hard as the pandemic has further highlighted the structural racism in areas like healthcare, politics, and education (Maxwell, & Solomon, 2020). Structural racism goes beyond individual prejudice. As defined by the Aspen Institute, structural racism is:
a system in which public policies, institutional practices,cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with“whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Instead it has been a feature of the social,economic and political systems in which we all exist (The Aspen Institute, 2016).
As a feature of social structure, racism at the structural level reveals itself in a variety of ways. Recent police murders of Black men, women and children became highly visible to many White Americans who, for years, did not consider the ways in which law enforcement’s underlying racist procedures disproportionately killed Black and Brown people, and they were forced to examine the realities of the system. How is it that police can kill Black people so freely and not be held accountable? What is inherent in the system that allows for this genocide to go unchecked? How do systemic policies in policing permit such use of force? How does racism play a role? If we can answer questions like this with an eye to right what has been so devastatingly wrong, we can start to unpack and examine how we as a society got to this point and what, if anything can be done (Smelser, Wilson, & Mitchel, 2011).
Institutions of higher education can serve as a place for these types of dialogues to take place with actionable outcomes. First we must acknowledge and address our own hidden biases within the walls of the academy. Transgressing status quo conventions in academia is a foundational requisite of an effective, and equitable pedagogy. By uncovering the ways in which structural racism is deeply embedded in higher education and learning ways to create amore equitable institution, the potential for healing, innovation and change is possible. As educators, we are charged with teaching the next generation of thinkers, to help them become self-actualized members of society. What we have the potential to do goes far beyond the walls of the academy. “Professors who embrace the challenge of self-actualization will be better able to create pedagogical practices that engage students, providing them with ways of knowing that enhance their capacity to live fully and deeply” (hooks, 1994 p 22).