And You Wonder Why I Am Angry

• In Event: Assault in the Academy: Teacher Educators and the Struggle for Social Justice

Abstract

The first paper is titled And You Wonder Why I am Angry. The purpose of this paper is to consider the notion of academic lynching and to consider why it happens. Through the use of a composite story show, I was hired because of my expertise around social justice education and antiracist education. At the end of the day, however, when I began exposing the injustice and hypocrisy in my department I was subjected to processes of White racial domination and acts of domestic terrorism as those around me used their institutional power to silence, marginalize and alienate us within our respective work places. By using my composite/counter-narrative, I problematize, deconstruct and attack the legitimacy of Whiteness and highlight the lived experiences of those who find themselves on the short and violent end of Whiteness. For the purposes of this essay, the theoretical framework I employed was Critical Race Theory (CRT). The fundamental tenets of CRT help me illuminate the terror of Whiteness that inhibits the work of those engaged in the advocacy for people of color and social justice for all. My academic lynching served to protect the existing racial hierarchy in education and society because those deemed respectable and professional are the nice people who use their abilities to draw on institutional power to silence those deemed as disrespectful within the context of White supremacy. Importantly, Whiteness defines the normative standards of what is considered respectful. Therefore, being respectful within the context of White supremacy necessarily means collusion with and perpetuation of the historical privileging of Whiteness (Author, 2015; Author, 2015; Bell, 1992; Bergson, 2013; Dixson, & Dingus, 2007).

Author

• Cleveland Hayes, University of La Verne