Privilege or Consistency?
by Tracey M. Downey MAH
October 2021
In 2021 the common theme heard in academia is the push to strengthen ideas on critical race theory in the classroom. This is causing a profound dilemma for history teachers trying to teach all aspects of U.S. history, both the good and the bad. A large part of this problem is what our students bring to class daily from the bits and pieces they have picked up from their discussions at home but, more importantly, from social media. USA Today’s Madeline Purdue discusses a study where 1,000 teens were polled which found that “60% of teens say they are getting their news from celebrities, influencers, and personalities.” Students are inundated with biased information daily, and in fact have a far different perception of what the whole conversation is about. The argument they make often is that they would believe someone famous before a news anchor or even some adults. Sadly, this must be met by some argument to bring the conversation back to the discussion at hand, and to direct them to see the Internet and more specifically social media for what they are- there is so much information on the Internet that it is always easy to find an article or story or meme that backs your arguments and personal beliefs.
In a class discussion about civil rights a sidebar came up about race and white privilege this past school year. Many students wanted to have the opportunity to openly discuss their ideas without feeling judged but were shocked by other students’ ideas of what constitutes privilege. The students came to realize that notions of privilege, fed to them their whole lives by the media and others, were mistaken. What they perceived as one race having better opportunities turned out, after discussion, to be better behavioral choices or a push to excel on the part of individuals of that race.
The conversation opened with a student simply saying, ‘I wish I were white like you so I could have privilege.’ I asked the student to clarify what they saw in me that made my life so much better. As the conversation progressed my kids gained a whole new insight as they saw with their own eyes assumptions and differences crashing down around them. Here I must digress to explain that I work in a Title 1 low-income school with a very diverse population, each class having a good mixture of all backgrounds and ethnicities, very much a melting pot of the minds.
One assertation of privileges stated to me was, “I bet you anything you were raised by both parents your whole life and they are probably still married.” This in fact would be a true assessment as my parents have been married fifty-two years, but as I nodded another student chimed in to say that couldn't be a white thing because their parents and grandparents were all still married and she was Hispanic. With that we took a classroom poll and it appeared that long standing marriage crossed all backgrounds and therefore could not be used in the student’s argument of how my life was better.
The next argument was that I probably never had to work more then one job to provide for myself because white people get paid more. Again not a true statement as I had to explain I have held multiple jobs my whole life because I have always wanted more and that “more” came with a larger price tag so I had to have an extra job to give me extra money. I also explained that when I was growing up my family did not have a ton of money but that my dad used to go out before everyone else started their days to deliver newspapers for extra money so that I could stay in dance classes. Was that “privilege” that my dad had to do this instead of just pulling me out of dance? When I explained that there was a time in my life that I lived off macaroni and cheese and only turned my AC on at night while I slept so I could keep costs down and afford rent, my students laughed as they all shared stories of funny things, they have seen their parents do to keep the household going. Once again debunking the idea that money privilege is color based.
The discussion took us through going to college, getting better jobs, not having to always watch your back, but the most shocking of all was the perception that all white people had trust funds as seen on T.V. With every topic the whole class with their myriad of ideas realized that no matter what your background most of us have had very similar experiences if not the same stories. What made the conversation most interesting was when a co -teacher came in to share in the discussion with her class and as she shared her stories the students were stunned to see that she in fact, as a black woman with a master’s degree- raised by both her parents- had more privilege than me growing up as she never had to work in high school.
One thing both of us shared with our students that shocked them was that our parents were very consistent in their rules for us. As much as my parents loved me and hers loved her, they were never our friends. They were our parents first and if they did that job well they would raise children who would become good parents themselves and then maybe have a friendship as equal parents. The students were floored to know that there were curfews that were not to be broken, restrictions on when phones could be used or television could be watched, an absolute law against being with anyone our parents didn't know or already had an amicable relationship with, and zero tolerance for lack of respect to adults and authority. My parents did not sway on punishments for not getting chores done or staying out ten minutes past curfew nor did they ever stand for mediocre grades, or average performance. The parents of both of us were firm that we would be better than they ever had the chance to be and that our best was all we should accept. This did not mean our parents were strict, it simply meant they were striving to make good responsible children who earned their place in life.
As I look at the students’ discussion on privilege, I can see perceptions that are bound to cause confusion among others. Our society makes privilege out to mean someone gets something better than the other because of his or her race or ethnicity. Instead, the students learned that what they saw as “better” equated to working harder or having people that pushed you to excel. This was not a naïve conversation and therefore it lent itself to far harder topics discussed later in the year, but this one ended on a positive with students seeing others around them in a more authentic way. “We accept the reality of the world with which we’ve been presented,” (The Truman Show) this in fact rings true for all my students who freely spoke that day. So many were shocked to see that what they had been told or presumed was not always reality.
by Tracey M. Downey MAH
October 2021
- A high school teacher has an eye-opening discussion on ‘white privilege’ with students
In 2021 the common theme heard in academia is the push to strengthen ideas on critical race theory in the classroom. This is causing a profound dilemma for history teachers trying to teach all aspects of U.S. history, both the good and the bad. A large part of this problem is what our students bring to class daily from the bits and pieces they have picked up from their discussions at home but, more importantly, from social media. USA Today’s Madeline Purdue discusses a study where 1,000 teens were polled which found that “60% of teens say they are getting their news from celebrities, influencers, and personalities.” Students are inundated with biased information daily, and in fact have a far different perception of what the whole conversation is about. The argument they make often is that they would believe someone famous before a news anchor or even some adults. Sadly, this must be met by some argument to bring the conversation back to the discussion at hand, and to direct them to see the Internet and more specifically social media for what they are- there is so much information on the Internet that it is always easy to find an article or story or meme that backs your arguments and personal beliefs.
In a class discussion about civil rights a sidebar came up about race and white privilege this past school year. Many students wanted to have the opportunity to openly discuss their ideas without feeling judged but were shocked by other students’ ideas of what constitutes privilege. The students came to realize that notions of privilege, fed to them their whole lives by the media and others, were mistaken. What they perceived as one race having better opportunities turned out, after discussion, to be better behavioral choices or a push to excel on the part of individuals of that race.
The conversation opened with a student simply saying, ‘I wish I were white like you so I could have privilege.’ I asked the student to clarify what they saw in me that made my life so much better. As the conversation progressed my kids gained a whole new insight as they saw with their own eyes assumptions and differences crashing down around them. Here I must digress to explain that I work in a Title 1 low-income school with a very diverse population, each class having a good mixture of all backgrounds and ethnicities, very much a melting pot of the minds.
One assertation of privileges stated to me was, “I bet you anything you were raised by both parents your whole life and they are probably still married.” This in fact would be a true assessment as my parents have been married fifty-two years, but as I nodded another student chimed in to say that couldn't be a white thing because their parents and grandparents were all still married and she was Hispanic. With that we took a classroom poll and it appeared that long standing marriage crossed all backgrounds and therefore could not be used in the student’s argument of how my life was better.
The next argument was that I probably never had to work more then one job to provide for myself because white people get paid more. Again not a true statement as I had to explain I have held multiple jobs my whole life because I have always wanted more and that “more” came with a larger price tag so I had to have an extra job to give me extra money. I also explained that when I was growing up my family did not have a ton of money but that my dad used to go out before everyone else started their days to deliver newspapers for extra money so that I could stay in dance classes. Was that “privilege” that my dad had to do this instead of just pulling me out of dance? When I explained that there was a time in my life that I lived off macaroni and cheese and only turned my AC on at night while I slept so I could keep costs down and afford rent, my students laughed as they all shared stories of funny things, they have seen their parents do to keep the household going. Once again debunking the idea that money privilege is color based.
The discussion took us through going to college, getting better jobs, not having to always watch your back, but the most shocking of all was the perception that all white people had trust funds as seen on T.V. With every topic the whole class with their myriad of ideas realized that no matter what your background most of us have had very similar experiences if not the same stories. What made the conversation most interesting was when a co -teacher came in to share in the discussion with her class and as she shared her stories the students were stunned to see that she in fact, as a black woman with a master’s degree- raised by both her parents- had more privilege than me growing up as she never had to work in high school.
One thing both of us shared with our students that shocked them was that our parents were very consistent in their rules for us. As much as my parents loved me and hers loved her, they were never our friends. They were our parents first and if they did that job well they would raise children who would become good parents themselves and then maybe have a friendship as equal parents. The students were floored to know that there were curfews that were not to be broken, restrictions on when phones could be used or television could be watched, an absolute law against being with anyone our parents didn't know or already had an amicable relationship with, and zero tolerance for lack of respect to adults and authority. My parents did not sway on punishments for not getting chores done or staying out ten minutes past curfew nor did they ever stand for mediocre grades, or average performance. The parents of both of us were firm that we would be better than they ever had the chance to be and that our best was all we should accept. This did not mean our parents were strict, it simply meant they were striving to make good responsible children who earned their place in life.
As I look at the students’ discussion on privilege, I can see perceptions that are bound to cause confusion among others. Our society makes privilege out to mean someone gets something better than the other because of his or her race or ethnicity. Instead, the students learned that what they saw as “better” equated to working harder or having people that pushed you to excel. This was not a naïve conversation and therefore it lent itself to far harder topics discussed later in the year, but this one ended on a positive with students seeing others around them in a more authentic way. “We accept the reality of the world with which we’ve been presented,” (The Truman Show) this in fact rings true for all my students who freely spoke that day. So many were shocked to see that what they had been told or presumed was not always reality.