young revolutionaries

4th wave feminism is way overdue


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why college is not for me but has to be for me

daniellemertina:

I went to dinner with the chairs of the English department at my school… and the black poet that was invited to speak for Black History Month (my school brings a black poet every year).

I was the only student invited. I guess because there’s no black faculty and they wanted to make the guest poet feel comfortable. So why not invite a black student who is an English major and editor of literary journal?

Anyway, we were talking or rather they were and I was listening and eating. When one of the chairs, and also the Professor of the (white) feminist class I’m currently taking, asked me to honestly tell her what I think of my English and Philosophy classes so far (I’m a double major).

So I said: They are white-centric. Exclusionary. And most of what I read offends me as a black woman.

Very blunt. But I’m a blunt person. But they like that. I make faculty feel good about themselves. Because I’m the only person who will be straight up like that. And then when they address what I say, they feel like Good White People TM even though like all Good White People TM they pretend to listen and care, when really, they just want it aired out so they can cover it up with white apologism and disregard. 

So she said, “Well, that’s a valid point to raise Danielle… really valid (she’s nodding vigorously and using comforting hand gestures and leaning towards me) BUT you have to understand that a lot of what you’re studying is from when… 80s and earlier. I know the survey classes focus on work from the 20th and 19th century. We didn’t understand race and gender and class then like we do now. But I understand your concern.”

So translated this means that I am complaining about nothing because lower class black women didn’t exist in academia prior to the 21st Century (apparently). “We didn’t understand”. Ya’ll (meaning white people) didn’t understand that I was a human too until practically now. And I seriously doubt that ya’ll even understand that today either.

Translated they’re saying… well yeah that must suck for you (I understand your concern!) but understand that we need to teach you the classics and the important shit and only white people were involved in alla dat.

College is a joke. It is inherently unfair to people who are not middle class white men. But really, the middle class white women (for all the noise they make) don’t have it that bad either.

Why the hell am I reading Freud? Honestly, if the man hadn’t been white, we wouldn’t know who he is today. I say this because there are plenty of black men (using patriarchal standards) that said real stuff and aren’t studied. But a stupid man that writes about penis envy is somehow relevant for all time. Practically everything he wrote has been debunked. But College feels like he is more important than trying to incorporate PoC that wrote things that actually make sense.

That’s just one example. But I learn tons of stuff that doesn’t matter. I know it doesn’t matter because I actually take the time to read it for the sake of my GPA. But they’re white … I mean “classic”… so of course, they’re important.

The other English dept. chair said that I should talk to my Professors about being more racially inclusive on their syllabus. If I ever take a class with him, I’ll take him up on that offer. But, yeah I’m really not going to walk into a class the first day and say “add more PoC to this”. Why is the onus placed on me? Besides, I’ll get laughed at if it’s a “historical” class. Only white men know anything about Philosophy and classic literature after all.

The black poet was the only person who said anything that made sense in response to my frustration. He said that you have to teach yourself everything that matters on your own time. Which is exactly what I’ve been doing.

I think that when black students bring up a lack of diversity in classes, white faculty buckles. Their first instinct is to apologize and then justify themselves, instead of realizing that there is no reason why any class needs to be encumbered with the thoughts and ideas of white men who were most likely racist and sexist.

This is the 21st Century. Why are we stuck on backwards stuff in the name of calling it a classic?

I mean sure they can shuffle me to the side. They always do. And they’re dumb if they think I’m the only person who thinks this way although I may be the only person in the position to say it. Every PoC I’ve spoken to in my various English & Philosophy classes say the same thing. Almost always it’s PoC’s number 1 frustration.

A lot of people are lazy by default when it comes to academics. But it is even harder to be invested in studying when what you’re studying is obviously not for you.

But I’m at the point in my life, where I no longer get stuck in a theoretical rut anymore. I just live with the idea that my school upholds white supremacy and I need to pretend to uphold it in order to get a degree and graduate with honors. And keep it moving.

24 notes

Notes

  1. tangotillsore reblogged this from daniellemertina
  2. lumieresnuitciel reblogged this from mxtori and added:
    Wow, I’m so grateful to be able to read such a great rant about the system and racial deprivation in the university...
  3. mxtori reblogged this from daniellemertina and added:
    Photography Major
  4. fellinlovewithagrrl reblogged this from daniellemertina
  5. calishi reblogged this from daniellemertina and added:
    YOU.ARE.AWESOME.
  6. kinkyturtle reblogged this from daniellemertina
  7. 23andchildfree said: I envy your brutal candor
  8. daniellemertina posted this
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