I am one of two faculty of color in a department of more than 35 people.
Recently my department was asked to create a statement in response to the ongoing civil rights actions nationwide. I made it abundantly clear that I wanted to participate, but the statement is being drafted without any input from me.
The other faculty of color is in an administrative position; they rarely teach organized courses in the department. They have openly told others they resent my presence in the department; they refer to themselves as the "token _______." I don't know whether they are participating in the statement but would assume so, given their efforts to make themselves highly visible in college activities.
I have been told by allies within the department that many white faculty are committed to upholding the status quo of a majority-white department.
Is it reasonable that only some faculty of color are involved in ongoing efforts to diversify the university? In a majority-white department, should faculty of color just keep quiet? If that is not the case, what recourses are available to junior faculty of color who do not yet have tenure? Or do I not have just cause of complaint?
From a cynical "optics" point alone, the administrative person organizing the group is an idiot (my opinion).
But (also my opinion) the intersect between racists, whether latent or "out"/self-declared, and idiots is about 100%.
So the first sentence may be a tautological one. (Transparency: I am not a person of color).
I can't speak to what you should do, I'm not in a position to be able to say.
I strongly suspect you do have a just cause of complaint, but the wisdom of the fora often suggests that junior, untenured TT faculty be careful in such situations.
Whether this case is egregious enough to ignore that dictum, I don't feel qualified to say.
I'd certainly think you've got a case to make; the question is the wisdom in making it, or determining if other strategies exist that might be less costly and more efficacious.
Most of all, I'm very sorry it even, ever, has to come to something like this.
Every time people come up with a way to exclude others from significant efforts, they lose the valuable input those others could have had.
Which is itself tautological, since that's the underlying stupidity in racism: in addition to its heinous social costs, it denies society the contributions of those being excluded.
At least, one can say this: good for you for getting where you have, since it was probably never easy.
Be of good courage.
M.
Quote from: Brego on June 17, 2020, 07:06:48 PM
I am one of two faculty of color in a department of more than 35 people.
Recently my department was asked to create a statement in response to the ongoing civil rights actions nationwide. I made it abundantly clear that I wanted to participate, but the statement is being drafted without any input from me.
(1) What would your input have been?
(2) only answer if you are comfortable, if not, it's fine: I am wondering what type of department?
QuoteI have been told by allies within the department that many white faculty are committed to upholding the status quo of a majority-white department.
Not sure what to make of this. If you get tenure that's still only two out of thirty-five.
I would let this go because it's not a good use of your time and energy.
Group statements change nothing ever.
As untenured faculty, your responsibility is to your career and your students.
If you must be an activist, then at least put your energy into something that matters--a group writing assignment is never something that matters.
As the advice columns say, when you have clear evidence through actions of who the group is, believe the evidence and then decide what your action is.
I agree with Polly. Group statements change nothing ever. If someone notices and asks, "Hey, did you contribute to the So-and-So Department Statement on Diversity?" you can say, "Why, no — no one ever consulted me about it." Which will say enormous amounts about the situation more clearly than any PR statement.
These statements, which everyone is falling over themselves to publish, are pretty much window dressing. I mean, better at least to give lip service to these causes than oppose them, but a lot of it is going to stop at lip service. Meanwhile I think it's only right that you, as a faculty member in a demographic that's already running a marathon, should reap some small benefit from this. In this case, the benefit is that you don't have to endure the tortuous pontificating and writing-a-statement-by-committee meetings that will go into this PR exercise. I'd vote for doing something good for yourself instead, like publishing up a storm, getting a better and higher-paying job, and leaving them in the dust.
Yes, and after now reading your other post, it sounds like you already have so much to do that it's a blessing in disguise that you weren't asked.
M.
When you say "faculty are committed to upholding the status quo of a majority white department" do you mean that they are actively seeking to thwart minority applications and/or apply an informal reverse quota or that they simply do not wish to achieve diversity by applying race based preferences in the decision making process?
Quote from: financeguy on June 18, 2020, 02:13:21 AM
When you say "faculty are committed to upholding the status quo of a majority white department" do you mean that they are actively seeking to thwart minority applications and/or apply an informal reverse quota or that they simply do not wish to achieve diversity by applying race based preferences in the decision making process?
That was my question too. I find it really hard to imagine a department "committed to" actively rejecting the best applicant for a position simply because the person wasn't white. That would be the definition of racism.
Quote from: marshwiggle on June 18, 2020, 04:16:29 AM
Quote from: financeguy on June 18, 2020, 02:13:21 AM
When you say "faculty are committed to upholding the status quo of a majority white department" do you mean that they are actively seeking to thwart minority applications and/or apply an informal reverse quota or that they simply do not wish to achieve diversity by applying race based preferences in the decision making process?
That was my question too. I find it really hard to imagine a department "committed to" actively rejecting the best applicant for a position simply because the person wasn't white. That would be the definition of racism.
This comes back to the idea of 'fit'.
Someone who really wants to make changes that matter like:
* bridge programs for entering students that support for a minimum of two years with support that is much more than tutoring
* consistent, sustained outreach to K-12 classrooms and individual students/families to ensure a pipeline to the bridge programs
* childcare, eldercare, and other dependent care to allow people of all types to participate fully as students and faculty
* changing timing of meetings and/or people at the meeting (e.g., having student representatives or requiring representatives for specific groups/views instead of tapping the same few individuals as tokens.)
* modifying curriculum to allow for planned part-time attendance for the entire degree and/or for what current students need prioritized over what faculty want to teach
will be deemed 'poor fits' instead of being the wrong protected group.
Diversity is great as long as it's a checkbox category instead of actually being different.
It is not reasonable and you are justifiably enfuriated. I think it is fine to let your opinion be known internally within your department and to anyone who asks. But filing a formal complaint on this particular matter does not seem worth the energy. I would consider another dept. Or if I really wanted to stay and shake things up, start organizing with your few faculty allies and the students over the broader issues.
Hello, PhD student here.
I understand exactly how you feel. I am also a WOC. However, I am very careful about what I say and do, because of the politics regarding academia and because I want a job after graduation. We're in minority in these universities, and that makes us vulnerable and I'm very well aware of that.
That being said, I am not saying 'don't talk', I am saying to do so strategically. Especially since you're not tenured (but even for tenured profs, I still think you need to be strategic in how to speak up about these things). For that, if I were you, I'd seek for mentorship from another tenured professor of your community either within or even outside your university.
Quote from: Hegemony on June 18, 2020, 12:05:13 AM
I agree with Polly. Group statements change nothing ever. If someone notices and asks, "Hey, did you contribute to the So-and-So Department Statement on Diversity?" you can say, "Why, no — no one ever consulted me about it." Which will say enormous amounts about the situation more clearly than any PR statement.
These statements, which everyone is falling over themselves to publish, are pretty much window dressing. I mean, better at least to give lip service to these causes than oppose them, but a lot of it is going to stop at lip service. Meanwhile I think it's only right that you, as a faculty member in a demographic that's already running a marathon, should reap some small benefit from this. In this case, the benefit is that you don't have to endure the tortuous pontificating and writing-a-statement-by-committee meetings that will go into this PR exercise. I'd vote for doing something good for yourself instead, like publishing up a storm, getting a better and higher-paying job, and leaving them in the dust.
I agree. Even all those companies who are making all these statements or even media industries....when you look at power positions within their organizations, there are little to no people of color. And they don't acknowledge it in their statements. It's mostly performative in my opinion. And thousands of testimonies from people of color, woman of color, working in academia, or in these companies or in the media proves so. A lot of them tried to speak up multiple times within their work environements and were shut down in various ways.
Quote from: polly_mer on June 17, 2020, 10:01:34 PM
I would let this go because it's not a good use of your time and energy.
Group statements change nothing ever.
As untenured faculty, your responsibility is to your career and your students.
If you must be an activist, then at least put your energy into something that matters--a group writing assignment is never something that matters.
As the advice columns say, when you have clear evidence through actions of who the group is, believe the evidence and then decide what your action is.
This. Such group statements are pretty much the equivalent of "thoughts and prayers" after a school shooting.
Cynical, late-middle-aged, white guy speaking though.
Quote from: adel9216 on June 18, 2020, 08:30:36 AM
Quote from: Hegemony on June 18, 2020, 12:05:13 AM
I agree with Polly. Group statements change nothing ever. If someone notices and asks, "Hey, did you contribute to the So-and-So Department Statement on Diversity?" you can say, "Why, no — no one ever consulted me about it." Which will say enormous amounts about the situation more clearly than any PR statement.
These statements, which everyone is falling over themselves to publish, are pretty much window dressing. I mean, better at least to give lip service to these causes than oppose them, but a lot of it is going to stop at lip service. Meanwhile I think it's only right that you, as a faculty member in a demographic that's already running a marathon, should reap some small benefit from this. In this case, the benefit is that you don't have to endure the tortuous pontificating and writing-a-statement-by-committee meetings that will go into this PR exercise. I'd vote for doing something good for yourself instead, like publishing up a storm, getting a better and higher-paying job, and leaving them in the dust.
I agree. Even all those companies who are making all these statements or even media industries....when you look at power positions within their organizations, there are little to no people of color. And they don't acknowledge it in their statements. It's mostly performative in my opinion.
I just read an article about how antibiotics given to children under a year old leads to a higher incidence of asthma later. How is this relevant? When a parent has a sick child, they want
something to be done
instantly. So doctors will try to satisfy them by prescribing something, even if the cause of the illness is unclear or viral, in which case the antibiotics won't help.
The more demand there is for
immediate results in demands for equality, the more "performative" the actions are going to be. If most executives in a company have 10 or more years of experience, (for instance), then a sane examination of their progress on equality among executives needs to be based on their workforce
10 years ago, rather than at present.
But in a world where instantaneous Twitter reaction is taken as the voice of God, there's no patience for the kind of careful analysis (and action) required. Quick token gestures will calm the mob more readily.
Where is your department chair in all this, and could someone please wake them up?
Quote from: fishbrains on June 18, 2020, 10:30:36 AM
Quote from: polly_mer on June 17, 2020, 10:01:34 PM
I would let this go because it's not a good use of your time and energy.
Group statements change nothing ever.
As untenured faculty, your responsibility is to your career and your students.
If you must be an activist, then at least put your energy into something that matters--a group writing assignment is never something that matters.
As the advice columns say, when you have clear evidence through actions of who the group is, believe the evidence and then decide what your action is.
This. Such group statements are pretty much the equivalent of "thoughts and prayers" after a school shooting.
Cynical, late-middle-aged, white guy speaking though.
Totally agree with you.
Quote from: marshwiggle on June 18, 2020, 11:13:07 AM
Quote from: adel9216 on June 18, 2020, 08:30:36 AM
Quote from: Hegemony on June 18, 2020, 12:05:13 AM
I agree with Polly. Group statements change nothing ever. If someone notices and asks, "Hey, did you contribute to the So-and-So Department Statement on Diversity?" you can say, "Why, no — no one ever consulted me about it." Which will say enormous amounts about the situation more clearly than any PR statement.
These statements, which everyone is falling over themselves to publish, are pretty much window dressing. I mean, better at least to give lip service to these causes than oppose them, but a lot of it is going to stop at lip service. Meanwhile I think it's only right that you, as a faculty member in a demographic that's already running a marathon, should reap some small benefit from this. In this case, the benefit is that you don't have to endure the tortuous pontificating and writing-a-statement-by-committee meetings that will go into this PR exercise. I'd vote for doing something good for yourself instead, like publishing up a storm, getting a better and higher-paying job, and leaving them in the dust.
I agree. Even all those companies who are making all these statements or even media industries....when you look at power positions within their organizations, there are little to no people of color. And they don't acknowledge it in their statements. It's mostly performative in my opinion.
I just read an article about how antibiotics given to children under a year old leads to a higher incidence of asthma later. How is this relevant? When a parent has a sick child, they want something to be done instantly. So doctors will try to satisfy them by prescribing something, even if the cause of the illness is unclear or viral, in which case the antibiotics won't help.
The more demand there is for immediate results in demands for equality, the more "performative" the actions are going to be. If most executives in a company have 10 or more years of experience, (for instance), then a sane examination of their progress on equality among executives needs to be based on their workforce 10 years ago, rather than at present.
But in a world where instantaneous Twitter reaction is taken as the voice of God, there's no patience for the kind of careful analysis (and action) required. Quick token gestures will calm the mob more readily.
I am not sure I understand your point.
There are plenty of POC within these powerful institutions who tried to raise the issue and to make things forward, and they were either dismissed, shut down, ridiculed, laughed out, fired or they had to quit their workplaces, etc. For years. I personally know some of my colleagues and friends who are very influencial in my community who tried to make changes for 12+ years, they were ridiculed and now the same people who were ridiculing them make these #BLM statements...while still not giving them a plateform at the same time. It's quite noticable.
They know the issue, they just don't want to share their power... It's performative. And I'm curious to see who will keep talking about this in a few weeks, months, etc, when none of this will be "trendy" anymore.
Quote from: adel9216 on June 18, 2020, 01:08:55 PM
And I'm curious to see who will keep talking about this in a few weeks, months, etc, when none of this will be "trendy" anymore.
We're already seeing the move to other issues in many quarters.
Any group still working on the statement next week will be well into irrelevant effort that isn't even useful as good PR because the world has moved on.
Some of us are old enough to remember other big protests that didn't change the world nearly as much as the organizers at the time insisted would happen while the news crews were covering the initial weeks.
This too shall pass for those who have other problems that more directly affect their daily lives.
Quote from: adel9216 on June 18, 2020, 01:08:55 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on June 18, 2020, 11:13:07 AM
Quote from: adel9216 on June 18, 2020, 08:30:36 AM
I agree. Even all those companies who are making all these statements or even media industries....when you look at power positions within their organizations, there are little to no people of color. And they don't acknowledge it in their statements. It's mostly performative in my opinion.
I just read an article about how antibiotics given to children under a year old leads to a higher incidence of asthma later. How is this relevant? When a parent has a sick child, they want something to be done instantly. So doctors will try to satisfy them by prescribing something, even if the cause of the illness is unclear or viral, in which case the antibiotics won't help.
The more demand there is for immediate results in demands for equality, the more "performative" the actions are going to be. If most executives in a company have 10 or more years of experience, (for instance), then a sane examination of their progress on equality among executives needs to be based on their workforce 10 years ago, rather than at present.
But in a world where instantaneous Twitter reaction is taken as the voice of God, there's no patience for the kind of careful analysis (and action) required. Quick token gestures will calm the mob more readily.
I am not sure I understand your point.
There are plenty of POC within these powerful institutions who tried to raise the issue and to make things forward, and they were either dismissed, shut down, ridiculed, laughed out, fired or they had to quit their workplaces, etc. For years. I personally know some of my colleagues and friends who are very influencial in my community who tried to make changes for 12+ years, they were ridiculed and now the same people who were ridiculing them make these #BLM statements...while still not giving them a plateform at the same time. It's quite noticable.
They know the issue, they just don't want to share their power... It's performative. And I'm curious to see who will keep talking about this in a few weeks, months, etc, when none of this will be "trendy" anymore.
That's the point. The people who have been trying to be more egalitarian (I'm purposely avoiding the trendy buzzwords like "inclusive" or "diverse")
since before it was so trendy will
continue to do it. Real change in anything requires a lot of not-very-sexy effort behind the scenes resulting in incremental not-individually-earth-shattering outcomes. However, the people who want to
look good, i.e. the virtue-signallers, will engage in grandiose largely symbolic gestures when the camera is on, but will forget about it as soon as it's not the trendy thing anymore.
In lots of institutions, you will probably find that there are people who are actually more interested in change than publicity. Those are the people to look for, because those are the people who will still be supportive when the spotlight is off. (Although they probably won't be trying to jump into the spotlight when it's on.)
Quote from: adel9216 on June 18, 2020, 08:30:36 AM
Quote from: Hegemony on June 18, 2020, 12:05:13 AM
I agree with Polly. Group statements change nothing ever. If someone notices and asks, "Hey, did you contribute to the So-and-So Department Statement on Diversity?" you can say, "Why, no — no one ever consulted me about it." Which will say enormous amounts about the situation more clearly than any PR statement.
These statements, which everyone is falling over themselves to publish, are pretty much window dressing. I mean, better at least to give lip service to these causes than oppose them, but a lot of it is going to stop at lip service. Meanwhile I think it's only right that you, as a faculty member in a demographic that's already running a marathon, should reap some small benefit from this. In this case, the benefit is that you don't have to endure the tortuous pontificating and writing-a-statement-by-committee meetings that will go into this PR exercise. I'd vote for doing something good for yourself instead, like publishing up a storm, getting a better and higher-paying job, and leaving them in the dust.
I agree. Even all those companies who are making all these statements or even media industries....when you look at power positions within their organizations, there are little to no people of color. And they don't acknowledge it in their statements. It's mostly performative in my opinion. And thousands of testimonies from people of color, woman of color, working in academia, or in these companies or in the media proves so. A lot of them tried to speak up multiple times within their work environements and were shut down in various ways.
Recent WOC PhD here. Can attest. My white cohort wrote all the "solidarity," "support," "ally" woke statements in grad school when I was one the few nonwhite students among them. One time I questioned their position. I was then never invited to anything again and my messages were no longer answered. Only my other nonwhite friends stayed befriending me. Diversity is a scam in my book.
Quote from: ScaredAdjunct on June 18, 2020, 05:05:47 PM
Diversity is a scam in my book.
Since it's
literally superficial, that shouldn't be a surpise.
On the old Chronicle site, there used to be a section for 'Diverse' faculty members. I am a WOC in a TT and when I interviewed for the position I mentioned to the Chair that I wanted to get involved with all diversity efforts. This has meant a lot of service and while I agree that we need to focus on our publications, for WOC, activism is sustaining. It allows me to survive in the sea of whiteness I find myself in.
To the original poster, I would recommend the following book as a 'must read':
Presumed Incompetent: he Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia
Academics are trained to cut everyone down to size. Once you've made a friend, he may even go to the end of the earth to help you, but as far as just being shot out of a cannon into some place, and then having to sink or swim, you may well get the feeling that people hope you'll fail and you're probably right. Look at the number of 'didn't make the cut' professional educators (adjuncts) they love to keep around and you know the story. And not just your scholarship but how you steer yourself through the political muck and mud is considered a valid test of your worth. Academia will be the last place where blacks get parity.
As a faculty member of color in a shockingly white R1 and department, I feel I should be left out of it. In fact, I told everyone who approached me that I don't need to be consulted about POC activities going forward. I feel my white colleagues are capable of working through race-related initiatives without my input.
As I have said (repeatedly), I am not a moral compass for anyone. I am just a professor who is also a POC. I do not want to speak for all POC nor should I do so. Furthermore, I've watched my non-POC colleagues work through deep ethical issues for years, in their own research and in university governance. They can, if they try hard enough, work through ethical ways to approach topics of race on campus.
I don't like being put in the position to instruct my colleagues on race matters. I don't want that relationship with them. And I don't believe that I have all the answers when it comes to race issues; in some ways, I am too close to the issue. But, more than that, I am not an expert on it. In this realm, it is my expertise that matters—that is my comfort zone. I cannot presume to represent all the black people, not even all the black people in my family.
So, I am fine with them forging ahead without me. Goodness knows I need the break. It feels as if I've been doing all the race-related work for years all on my own. This is the first time I've ever seen my non-POC colleagues care this much. It makes me like them again. Let it be. New times.
Quote from: Baldwinschild on June 22, 2020, 06:14:21 PM
As a faculty member of color in a shockingly white R1 and department, I feel I should be left out of it. In fact, I told everyone who approached me that I don't need to be consulted about POC activities going forward. I feel my white colleagues are capable of working through race-related initiatives without my input.
As I have said (repeatedly), I am not a moral compass for anyone. I am just a professor who is also a POC. I do not want to speak for all POC nor should I do so. Furthermore, I've watched my non-POC colleagues work through deep ethical issues for years, in their own research and in university governance. They can, if they try hard enough, work through ethical ways to approach topics of race on campus.
I don't like being put in the position to instruct my colleagues on race matters. I don't want that relationship with them. And I don't believe that I have all the answers when it comes to race issues; in some ways, I am too close to the issue. But, more than that, I am not an expert on it. In this realm, it is my expertise that matters—that is my comfort zone. I cannot presume to represent all the black people, not even all the black people in my family.
So, I am fine with them forging ahead without me. Goodness knows I need the break. It feels as if I've been doing all the race-related work for years all on my own. This is the first time I've ever seen my non-POC colleagues care this much. It makes me like them again. Let it be. New times.
Interesting candid stuff that I wouldn't have known about.
Quote from: mahagonny on June 22, 2020, 06:46:00 PM
Quote from: Baldwinschild on June 22, 2020, 06:14:21 PM
As a faculty member of color in a shockingly white R1 and department, I feel I should be left out of it. In fact, I told everyone who approached me that I don't need to be consulted about POC activities going forward. I feel my white colleagues are capable of working through race-related initiatives without my input.
As I have said (repeatedly), I am not a moral compass for anyone. I am just a professor who is also a POC. I do not want to speak for all POC nor should I do so. Furthermore, I've watched my non-POC colleagues work through deep ethical issues for years, in their own research and in university governance. They can, if they try hard enough, work through ethical ways to approach topics of race on campus.
I don't like being put in the position to instruct my colleagues on race matters. I don't want that relationship with them. And I don't believe that I have all the answers when it comes to race issues; in some ways, I am too close to the issue. But, more than that, I am not an expert on it. In this realm, it is my expertise that matters—that is my comfort zone. I cannot presume to represent all the black people, not even all the black people in my family.
So, I am fine with them forging ahead without me. Goodness knows I need the break. It feels as if I've been doing all the race-related work for years all on my own. This is the first time I've ever seen my non-POC colleagues care this much. It makes me like them again. Let it be. New times.
Interesting candid stuff that I wouldn't have known about.
I have so many blind spots. When I think back on how I handled racial issues in the classroom in early teaching years, I am ashamed. I had little tolerance for white students who stumbled around racial issues in texts. But I never thought about what it meant to be white and poor, transgender, Jewish, or for that matter, white and privileged. At the end of the day, I was just as narrow-minded as my white colleagues. And even though I knew then that blackness is complicated and race is so very hard to talk about, I still expected my white students to "get it."
It's no good. Power is power is power. If you are the one representative of a race, you have the power to control the narrative. This is not the same thing as representing, ethically, a race of people. It's just power.
Sorry for the clunky wording. I am
tired.
Quote from: Baldwinschild on June 22, 2020, 08:56:58 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on June 22, 2020, 06:46:00 PM
Quote from: Baldwinschild on June 22, 2020, 06:14:21 PM
As a faculty member of color in a shockingly white R1 and department, I feel I should be left out of it. In fact, I told everyone who approached me that I don't need to be consulted about POC activities going forward. I feel my white colleagues are capable of working through race-related initiatives without my input.
As I have said (repeatedly), I am not a moral compass for anyone. I am just a professor who is also a POC. I do not want to speak for all POC nor should I do so. Furthermore, I've watched my non-POC colleagues work through deep ethical issues for years, in their own research and in university governance. They can, if they try hard enough, work through ethical ways to approach topics of race on campus.
I don't like being put in the position to instruct my colleagues on race matters. I don't want that relationship with them. And I don't believe that I have all the answers when it comes to race issues; in some ways, I am too close to the issue. But, more than that, I am not an expert on it. In this realm, it is my expertise that matters—that is my comfort zone. I cannot presume to represent all the black people, not even all the black people in my family.
So, I am fine with them forging ahead without me. Goodness knows I need the break. It feels as if I've been doing all the race-related work for years all on my own. This is the first time I've ever seen my non-POC colleagues care this much. It makes me like them again. Let it be. New times.
Interesting candid stuff that I wouldn't have known about.
I have so many blind spots. When I think back on how I handled racial issues in the classroom in early teaching years, I am ashamed. I had little tolerance for white students who stumbled around racial issues in texts. But I never thought about what it meant to be white and poor, transgender, Jewish, or for that matter, white and privileged. At the end of the day, I was just as narrow-minded as my white colleagues. And even though I knew then that blackness is complicated and race is so very hard to talk about, I still expected my white students to "get it."
It's no good. Power is power is power. If you are the one representative of a race, you have the power to control the narrative. This is not the same thing as representing, ethically, a race of people. It's just power.
Sorry for the clunky wording. I am tired.
Thank you. What you've written here is incredibly generous (not quite the right word, I too am tired). Anyhow, beautiful. I hope I can be so ... anyhow I would like to be like you, thank you.