Respect Differences? Challenging the Common Guidelines in Social Justice Education

In social justice education, it is common to establish guidelines for classroom discussions. We examine the limits of these guidelines in achieving the goals of social justice education, arguing that they are not adequately responsive to power relations. Rather than creating a supportive space for dialogue, these guidelines can actually interfere with achieving social justice education goals. We also describe our efforts to engage alternative strategies for responding to power in the social justice classroom

Fragilidade branca

Os brancos da América do Norte vivem em um ambiente social que os protege e isola do estresse relacionado às questões raciais. Este ambiente isolado de proteção racial cria expectativas brancas de conforto racial ao mesmo tempo em que diminui a capacidade de lidar com o estresse racial, levando ao que eu chamo de “Fragilidade Branca”. A Fragilidade Branca é um estado em que até mesmo uma quantidade mínima de estresse racial se torna intolerável, desencadeando uma série de movimentos defensivos. Esses movimentos incluem a expressão de emoções como raiva, medo e culpa, e comportamentos como discussão, silêncio e abandono da situação criadora de estresse. Esses comportamentos, por sua vez, funcionam para restabelecer o equilíbrio racial branco. Este artigo explica a dinâmica da Fragilidade Branca

Glioma Mimics: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Characteristics of Granulomas in Dogs

Granulomas can “mimic” gliomas on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in human patients. The goal of this retrospective study was to report canine brain granulomas that were consistent with glioma based upon MRI, report their histologic diagnosis, and identify MRI criteria that might be useful to distinguish granuloma from glioma. Ten granulomas, initially suspected to be glioma based on MRI, were ultimately diagnosed as granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis (n = 5), infectious granulomas (n = 3) or other meningoencephalitis (n = 2). Age was 1.6–15.0 years and two dogs were brachycephalic breeds. MRI characteristics overlapping with glioma included intra-axial, heterogeneous, T2-weighted hyperintense, T1-weighted hypointense to isointense mass lesions with contrast-enhancement. Signals on fluid attenuation inversion recovery, gradient echo and diffusion weighted imaging also matched glioma. Peri-lesional edema and mass effect were toward the high end of findings reported for glioma. MRI characteristics that would be considered unusual for glioma included dural contact (n = 4), T2-hypointensity (n = 2), concomitant meningeal-enhancement (n = 9), and minor changes in the contralateral brain (n = 2). Cerebrospinal fluid analysis revealed albuminocytological dissociation or mild pleocytosis. These cases show that granulomas can “mimic” glioma on canine brain MRI. In individual cases, certain MRI findings may help increase the index of suspicion for granuloma. Lack of pronounced cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis does not exclude granuloma. Signalment is very useful in the suspicion of glioma, and many of these dogs with granuloma were of ages and breeds in which glioma is less commonly seen

White Habits, Anti‐Racism, and Philosophy as a Way of Life

This paper examines Pierre Hadot’s philosophy as a way of life in the context of race. I argue that a “way of life” approach to philosophy renders intelligible how anti-racist confrontation of racist ideas and institutionalized white complicity is a properly philosophical way of life requiring regulated reflection on habits – particularly, habits of whiteness. I first rehearse some of Hadot’s analysis of the “way of life” orientation in philosophy, in which philosophical wisdom is understood as cultivated by actions which result in the creation of wise habits. I analyze a phenomenological claim about the nature of habit implied by the “way of life” approach, namely, that habits can be both the cause and the effect of action. This point is central to the “way of life” philosophy, I claim, in that it makes possible the intelligent redirection of habits, in which wise habits are more the effect than simply the cause of action. Lastly, I illustrate the “way of life” approach in the context of anti-racism by turning to Linda Martín Alcoff’s whiteness anti-eliminativism, which outlines a morally defensible transformation of the habits of whiteness. I argue that anti-racism provides an intelligible context for modern day forms of what Hadot calls “spiritual exercises” insofar as the “way of life” philosophy is embodied in the practice of whites seeing themselves seeing as white and seeing themselves being seen as white

Discursive Exit

Some women did not participate in the Women’s March, rejecting its claims of unity and solidarity because white women mobilize only in their self-interest. This is a form of exit with three features: (1) rejecting a political claim; (2) providing reasons to the power-wielder and the broader public; (3) demanding accountability both as sanction and as deliberation, which requires a discussion about the claim – in this case, the meaning of the group and the terms on which it understands itself. This combination of exit, voice, and deliberative accountability might accurately be called ‘discursive exit.’ Discursive exit addresses conceptual and normative limitations of standard accounts of exit, voice, and loyalty, in particular, when exit and voice are imperfect — because exit can be seen as disapproval of an entire cause — and morally problematic — because voice ‘from within’ implies that cause trumps disagreement, leaving people morally complicit in an unwelcome exercise of power

Critical Racial and Social Justice Education

Robin DiAngelo, a lecturer at the University of Washington, will deliver the MLK keynote speech at 3:30 p.m. at Escher Auditorium, Benedicta Arts Center, CSB. DiAngelo, who received her doctorate from the University of Washington, has researched Whiteness Studies and Critical Discourse Analysis, explicating how whiteness is reproduced in everyday narratives. A former professor at Westfield State University, she has also served as a consultant and trainer for over 20 years on the issues of racial and social justice

Pursuing Racial Justice Together with Robin Diangelo

Sponsored by the Honors College Visiting Scholars program, Dr. Robin DiAngelo is an American author, consultant, and facilitator working in the fields of critical discourse analysis and whiteness studies. In 2011 she coined the term White Fragility in an academic article which has influenced the international dialogue on race. She has numerous publications and books. Her 2018 book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list upon its release and has remained there for over two years. To date, it is being translated into 10 languages.DiAngelo is an Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the University of Washington. She is a two-time winner of the Student’s Choice Award for Educator of the Year at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work. In addition to her academic work, DiAngelo has been a consultant and trainer for over 20 years on issues of racial and social justice.Additional support provided by the Black Cultural Center; Latino Cultural Center; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Center; and the Asian American and Asian Resource Cultural Center

Why Can’t We All Just Be Individuals?: Countering the Discourse of Individualism in Anti-racist Education

Over many years as a white person co-facilitating anti-racism courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels and in the workplace for majority white participants, I have come to believe that the Discourse of Individualism is one of the primary barriers preventing well-meaning (and other) white people from understanding racism. Individualism is so deeply held in dominant society that it is virtually immovable without sustained effort. This article challenges the Discourse of Individualism by addressing eight key dynamics of racism that it obscures. I posit that the Discourse of Individualism functions to: deny the significance of race and the advantages of being white; hide the accumulation of wealth over generations; deny social and historical context; prevent a macro analysis of the institutional and structural dimensions of social life; deny collective socialization and the power of dominant culture (media, education, religion, etc.) to shape our perspectives and ideology; function as neo-colorblindness and reproduce the myth of meritocracy; and make collective action difficult. Further, being viewed as an individual is a privilege only available to the dominant group. I explicate each of these discursive effects and argue that while we may be considered individuals in general, white insistence on Individualism in discussions of racism in particular functions to obscure and maintain racism

Whiteness in racial dialogue: a discourse analysis

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the discourses used by White preservice teachers in a dialogue about race with people of color. I used Whiteness theory to frame my observations, which defines Whiteness as a set of racialized relations that are historically, socially, politically and culturally produced. These relations result in White domination of people of color. Whiteness is a function of racism, and refers to the dimensions of racism that serve to elevate Whites.From the framework of Whiteness, I observed a series of facilitated interracial dialogues. Participants were seven White preservice teachers and five students of color. They participated in a series of four, two-hour sessions facilitated by an interracial team trained to lead dialogues on race. My analysis focused on describing the production of Whiteness in this context and the ways in which White preservice teachers discursively produced their racial positions in these conversations.I used discourse analysis to analyze my observations. Discourse analysis is the study of language use in social contexts, and is concerned with how ideologies are communicated (Evans, 2002; Gee, 1999). Discourse analysis allows for a nuanced explication of the socially and historically informed discourses that are available for negotiating racial positions, and can reveal processes of racism that would likely be formally denied by participants (Van Dijk, 1993).I document and analyze two master discourses of Whiteness in practice: individualism and universalism. Individualism posits that Whites are first and foremost individuals who have earned their place in society on their own merit. It works to deny that Whites benefit from their racial group memberships. Universalism posits that White interests and perspectives are objective and representative of all groups. An additional discourse that has not been highly visible in the Whiteness literature also surfaced: personal experience. This discourse represents racial perspectives as internal and private rather than as social or interrelational. All of these discourses serve to obscure White power and privilege and to reproduce Whiteness. I discuss the implications of these findings for teacher education, classroom teaching, and for White researchers conducting race related research