This can be a very impactful moment for
“MANY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD DON’T EXPERIENCE PRIVILEGE AND BECAUSE OF THAT WE MIGHT NOT HEAR ABOUT THEM.” – DANIAL
students. Sometimes they are disappointed in themselves and their classmates. Some- times they are shocked, because there aren’t any white students in the class. In one class James raised his hand, and asked if we could add the names of racialized women to the board. The whole class enthusiastically added racialized women to the board. I got a little choked up. It was one of those moments in teaching when it really seemed to be working. After this, students have a real interest in
pretty quick to fi gure it out, and it is usually a large percentage of the names we’ve writ- ten on the board. Then we refer back to the list of qualities that we think the best person in the world should have, and I ask, “Did we say that the best person in the world should be male? Then why did we choose so many men?” Students make suggestions and we discuss historical and current reasons why we think this might be. We talk about what women are valued for in society – usually how we look – and how those things are not on our list of qualities that the best person in the world should have. Maybe the women we hear about in the media aren’t being cel- ebrated as often as men for what we consider to be valuable reasons. Next, with a different colour marker, I un-
derline all the people on the board who are white. It usually takes them longer to fi gure out what this group has in common. This is not the fi rst time in the year that we discuss race. In an earlier class we talk about the dif- ference between racism and talking about race. We talk about how racism is hurtful and tears people apart, but how talking about race is inclusive and builds community. I have noticed among students that, if some- one mentions something that relates to race, a student will invariably yell out “Racist!” We discuss how, if we don’t talk about race, that makes parts of people’s identities invisible and unvalued. We talk about how we can dis- cuss race respectfully. Even so, when it comes time to raise one’s hand and suggest that all the underlined people are white, this can be a bit daunting, because of the position conver- sations about race have previously occupied. We discuss why so many white people were chosen. We talk about the stereotypes and portrayals in the media that might mean that we haven’t heard as much about racialized people who have the qualities we think the best person in the world should have. Often, by this point, almost all the names
on the board have been underlined. Very of- ten, there are no names of racialized women.
30 ETFO VOICE | SUMMER 2016
taking action, in doing something to change the world. This is good, because if we are to have any hope of achieving a fair and just so- ciety, we need young people to be on board. So, I assign them a task. I call it “Eclipsed by Privilege: Discovering the Best People in the World.” Their job is to fi nd someone who fi ts our best person in the world criteria, who they have never heard of before and who has not experienced privilege in their lives in some way, usually relating to ability, age, class, faith, gender, race or sexual orientation. They create posters celebrating these individ- uals and share them with the class. Each year I learn about some amazing people I have never heard of either.
WHAT ARE THE OUTCOMES?
As the year goes on, we continue talking about privilege and the role it plays in soci- ety. There is a natural tie-in to many of the conversations we have in class. Most discus- sions around “whose voice is missing” are really conversations about privilege, and it’s an important perspective to consider when talking about point of view and bias. Students even fi nd that having learned about privilege actually comes in handy in their own lives. These are the real situations that our stu- dents face, and many of these situations are ones that we might not be aware of because we haven’t faced them ourselves. The work of recognizing our own privilege is constant and ongoing. We must look at daily situa- tions from a different perspective; we must think critically to achieve awareness of what we have taken for granted; and we must speak out when we see injustices taking place. It’s the least we can do. n
Author’s Note: All the names of the students quoted in this article were fl agged by Spellcheck, except for the name of the one white student. This is a simple, yet profound, example of the way Euro-Western privilege is reinforced.
Mandi Hardy is a member of the Peel Elementary Teacher Local.
DEFINITIONS
cisgender - adjective denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity conforms with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex; not transgender.
intersectionality - noun the interconnected nature of social cat- egorizations such as race, class and gen- der as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimi- nation or disadvantage.
racialize - verb to differentiate or categorize according to race; to impose a racial character or context on.
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