THREAD: This has popped up in my feed a few times & I've held off on saying anything because I appreciate that people are trying, but I've also pledged to have difficult conversations on race with white people so POC don't have to. So here we go white Twitter academia:
1/
1/
We are in the midst of a significant moment in history in which we are being challenged to confront our role in structural racism. There are two ways in which we can respond to this moment in time: (1) perpetuate structures that privilege us at the expense of POC while
2/
2/
claiming to work against structural racism or (2) actually work against structural racism, which means we often have to take a back seat, hold off on our quick-fixes that will make us feel good but provide very little benefit to anyone.
3/
3/
Simply because you have an opportunity to teach on race doesn't mean you should. A topic like race and structural racism within public int'l law is a complex issue, but it's also a foundational issue for PIL. It should be in every PIL course in every University everywhere.
4/
4/
But if it hasn't been in your course to date, then you cannot compensate for your past participation in structural racism--which is the reality of any PIL course that doesn't address race & colonialism--by designing a course in short order.
5/
5/
It's simply too important a topic to sort out without significant study, and you cannot crowd-source that study without turning an earnest need into a performative piece that alleviates your guilt without providing any benefit to your students of colour.
6/
6/
When I say it's a complex issue, I mean it's a Gordian knot wrapped in tangled Christmas tree lights & covered with an invisibility cloak. It permeates every aspect of our modern int'l order in ways that are explicit & implicit, visible & invisible, tangible & intangible.
7/
7/
As race is, at its core, a social construct intended to create privileges, you must grapple not only with institutional biases but with your own lest you do irreparable harm to your students.
8/
8/
For the sake of your students of colour, you need to address your own biases long before you begin planning a course on race and racism. Without this work--work that examines your intellectual & emotional understanding of race & racism, those of your society and community, &
9/
9/
in the case of PIL, your understanding of how race impacts international structures & how those international structures impact your understanding of race & racism--you are putting a burden on the students of colour in your class to constantly correct & teach you.
10/
10/
Because your thinking on race & racism in your area of expertise may be new to you, but I *guarantee* your students of colour have been contemplating these issues since before you dreamed up your course. They will bring their lived experiences into the classroom &
11/
11/
if you've not done the emotional & intellectual work on your own, you are simply not prepared to help them wrestle with the content your class will now cover. It is simply unfair to them -- and bad pedagogy by you -- to come less prepared for these discussions than they are.
12/
12/
Their lived experiences are not your intellectual playground, but that's how you're treating them if you come less than 100% prepared for these conversations. And the worst part of that isn't the lost education opportunity for your students of colour--troubling enough--but
13/
13/
you are perpetrating the structures of bias that allow you to take from them without credit when you are supposed to be giving to them. You gain credibility from any positive outcomes of the course while the burden of the course's outcomes are borne by students of colour
14/
14/
who are asked not only to learn for themselves, but to teach their classmates and ultimately you. That's a burden no student should have to bear.
This is not intended as an attack on Helmut--his tweet & replies keep popping up so it presents an opportunity for discussion--
15/
This is not intended as an attack on Helmut--his tweet & replies keep popping up so it presents an opportunity for discussion--
15/
but it is a request for those like him who need to learn more before they begin to teach on these issues: Don't. Try. Teaching. This. Subject. Yet.
If you don't already have a mental reading list already, you've not read enough & you're not prepared for a '20-'21 course.
16/
If you don't already have a mental reading list already, you've not read enough & you're not prepared for a '20-'21 course.
16/
Instead, try these things that will help your students:
a) Ask a qualified person of colour who specialises on race & X to lead the course. First, representation matters. Representation. Matters. Your students of colour are better served by seeing someone of colour teach
17/
a) Ask a qualified person of colour who specialises on race & X to lead the course. First, representation matters. Representation. Matters. Your students of colour are better served by seeing someone of colour teach
17/
than they are by you fumbling your way through. Second,
as we wrestle with our white privileges (it's plural), we should have no hesitation holding up our hands at some point & saying 'on second thought, I'm not the best person for this.'
17/
as we wrestle with our white privileges (it's plural), we should have no hesitation holding up our hands at some point & saying 'on second thought, I'm not the best person for this.'
17/
That act alone is an act of rebellion against white supremacist thinking.
b) If you can't accomplish (a), don't try to run the course anyhow.
c) If this is your effort to decolonize the curriculum, choose a particular topic that you can develop in depth in the time you have.
18/
b) If you can't accomplish (a), don't try to run the course anyhow.
c) If this is your effort to decolonize the curriculum, choose a particular topic that you can develop in depth in the time you have.
18/
e) *Then* delve into issues of race in your area of expertise.
f) Read broadly from people of colour in your field. It's important to read the pieces that are on race & X, but it's equally important to include people of colour throughout your reading list.
20/
f) Read broadly from people of colour in your field. It's important to read the pieces that are on race & X, but it's equally important to include people of colour throughout your reading list.
20/
g) Now, I've used the umbrella 'people of colour' but once you've done the work, you'll realise that this is a rather large umbrella & you need to go further. Who are you actually reading from? Does your understanding of 'people of colour' = Black authors only?
21/
21/
Does it include indigenous peoples, too? Asians? Are all your Black authors from Western Europe? Did you miss the Caribbean? Are you reading only men or are women and trans authors included? Are you reading them across your curriculum or only for some topics?
22/
22/
This is not a check-box exercise. It's about understanding when, how & why you choose specific voices. What are you missing when you do that? And what would gain from broadening your reading list?
23/
23/
I'm not finished but these will be slower because I couldn't add any more tweets to that thread without sending them first....
h) Listen to people of colour when they tell you you're not ready. I was motivated to actually respond when I saw @CelineCLTan's reply & it seemed her efforts fell on deaf ears. Today, I was confronted by the notion of 'white sanction' in the #RaceEqualityHE seminar.
24/
24/
White sanction refers to the notion that within an area where white people wield power, a person of colour needs one of the white people with political clout to 'sanction' them, to identify them as worthy and acceptable.
25/
25/
When it comes to teaching race & equality, you should look to be POC-sanctioned. If POC are telling you you're not ready, you're not.
Now, this *does not* give you license to badger you Black, Asian, Indigenous colleagues about race & racism, seeking their sanction.
26/
Now, this *does not* give you license to badger you Black, Asian, Indigenous colleagues about race & racism, seeking their sanction.
26/
You're not entitled to their sanction. If you earn it, you'll know. How did I know I was POC-sanctioned? People in my life told me that while I'm not part of the family, I'm still invited to the picnic. I knew then that I'd done the right work *so far*--b/c it's constant work.
27
27
Now, a final plea to white twitter:
When you see these requests, don't honour them. If someone asks me for a reading list on race & racism in int'l law for their own benefit, I'll happily give them some help. But for teaching materials? No. That's enabling bad pedagogy.
27/
When you see these requests, don't honour them. If someone asks me for a reading list on race & racism in int'l law for their own benefit, I'll happily give them some help. But for teaching materials? No. That's enabling bad pedagogy.
27/
It's enabling structures of racism that allow white people who are not yet qualified or ready to teach this subject to be paid for expertise they don't have while people of colour with that expertise are excluded from academic jobs. That helps no one in the end.
28/
28/
If you've gotten this far, all I have left to say is thank you. Thank you for caring enough about this issue to get through 29 tweets.
Ugh! I did have something to add! I forgot to note that you should be reading disabled scholars of colour as well. Make sure that you're seeking out their voices and integrating their perspectives into your work too!
And because 30 tweets is crazy, @threadreaderapp unroll please.
