Okay, so maybe this is part of the reason we can’t figure things out as a people: we are afraid to talk about anything sensitive. Today, when I opened a class discussion about clumsy comments, racism, and the use of the N-word, my students admitted that they were afraid to speak for fear of getting in trouble. I assured my students that the reason I open such discussions is because I think that a dialogue is one of the ways in which we can navigate and maybe begin to figure out the intracacies of and reasons behind sensitivities, or a lack thereof. Students did begin to open up after that, but the idea that they were afraid to speak up truly befuddles me. Why do students fear trouble in the face of a discussion regarding a sensitive topic? Even if they say something insensitive, I’d much rather it be in forum that is open for discussion over their words, thoughts, ideas, etc.
Now, I did not just bring up the topic out of the blue. We are reading A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest Gaines, which is about a black man who is falsely accused and convicted of a murder and then executed. The main character is a victim of racism, and the N-word comes up in the book as well. So, rather than gloss over the fact that there are some emotionally charged issues here, I choose to broach the topic of racism. Tomorrow, we are going to have a guest speaker in class who can give us a minority perspective, and that speaker (an administrator) has already made it clear that he will tell the students that they are free to speak without getting in trouble.
Open communication. I think that’s where we start, no?
