Until Ya'll Get It There Will Be No Equitable Education Systems: An Open Letter to White Liberals

• In Event: Our Voices, Our Turn: Complexifying Critical Whiteness Studies With Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Scholarship

Abstract

Objectives
White liberals have a strong and longstanding commitment to ethnic integration. They believe in the general ideas of civil rights and justice for minorities. Many believe in general anti-discriminatory principles. Many of these same liberals take up Critical Whiteness Studies or Whiteness Studies as a way to critique “those whites.” However, the contradiction arises, when a White Critical Whiteness Scholars begin expressing racist thinking and acting in racist ways while extolling their own “helpfulness” and role as Friend of Race. Applying, Carol Camper’s (1994) style of incisive brevity to facilitate my efforts to spotlight the actions or lack thereof of Critical Whiteness Scholars continued lack of understanding, compassion and humanity because of their need to maintain connected to whiteness and white supremacy. Lastly, this paper argues for the democracy-racism connection to be interrupted these Critical Whiteness Studies Scholars require new ways of reasoning about race and equality. When Whiteness remains undisturbed, equality perpetuates inequality (Author, 2009).

Theoretical Perspective(s)
Following Dixson and Rousseau (2006), this theoretical paper framed within the unifying themes of CRT helps me explore why regardless of Critical Whiteness Studies or Whiteness Theory, White folx still do not get it where White is often chosen over right. The six unifying themes that define Critical Race Theory are: (1). Critical race theory recognizes that racism is endemic to American life; (2). Critical race theory expresses skepticism toward dominant legal claims of neutrality, objectivity, colorblindess and meritocracy; (3). Critical race challenges ahistoricism and adopts a stance that presumes that racism has contributed to all contemporary manifestations of group advantage and disadvantage; (4). Critical race theory insists on recognition of the experiential knowledge of people of color; (5). Critical race theory is interdisciplinary; and (6). Critical race theory works toward eliminating racial oppression as part of the broader goal of ending all forms of oppression.

Scholarly Significance and Connection to Theme
If as a society we are going to achieve equitable education systems for 21st Century, we have to take into consideration the immensity and depth of the physical and psychological violence continually committed against minoritized peoples. The majority of it by nice people, who don’t realize that the cost in suffering and lost lives as we continue to tiptoe around Whiteness and trying to appease and placate White people with velvet gloves. To achieve equitable education systems, we also must realize that “[w]hat societies ideally, want is a citizenry that will simply obey the rules of society. If education systems are to succeed, is to take on responsibility to examine society and try to change it and to fight it---at no matter what risk. This is the only hope society has. This is the only way societies change” (Baldwin, 1963, cited in Wise, 2005, p. 61). For democratic education systems to be realized, we must work together to abolish, rather than ignore, the Whiteness of teacher education. Ya’ll must get it!

Author

• Cleveland Hayes, Indiana University - Indianapolis