Dear White Academics …: Some microaggressions are obvious. But it can take a well-tuned ear to perceive the subtleties and nuances in others. The people delivering coded comments might actually intend them as compliments, not realizing that they are holding on to stereotypes that are invisible to them. Added over time, these slights and jabs—at scholars of color’s appearance, intelligence, scholarly work, and their mere presence on campus—can take an emotional and physical toll. Some underrepresented scholars have told me they’re exhausted from being battle-rammed in interactions with hiring committees, with students in the classroom, and in department meetings with fellow faculty members. The greatest microaggression, some say, is that they feel unable to express their displeasure. That’s because they don’t want to be perceived as “angry” people of color who constantly play “the race card.” A few others say they’ve learned not to get angry or paranoid: Microaggressions, they say, reflect the flaws of the people dishing them out. Better to invest their time and energy on working on things they can change. These issues are explored in a new film called Dear White People, out in wide release today, which takes a satirical look at how four black students at a fictitious Ivy League college navigate stereotypes and racial slights. The film comes with a companion book, Dear White People: A Guide to Inter-Racial Harmony in ‘Post-Racial’ America—a tongue-in-cheek guide designed to help white people learn what is and isn’t appropriate to say or do when interacting with black peers.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 19:47:10 +0000
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