Students Make Themselves Heard: “The Central Park Five” (Part 1 of 4)

Whenever I teach a class, I feel it’s critically important to set the tone on the very first day we meet.  In part, this means going over the syllabus and my expectations for the course.  Equally important, I share a bit of my own diversity to begin the semester-long process of helping feel more comfortable talking about our differences and commonalities.  I emphasize the importance of raising questions in class and not necessarily taking what I say or what the author of our text says at face value.

About three decades ago.  I walked into my Introduction to Sociology class at Baltimore City Community College (BCCC).  Most of my students had read the first assignment from our text, Sociology The Basics by John Macionis.  It was the second day of class.

Initially, I proceeded to ask my students if they had any questions about the assigned reading in the text.  A few students asked about some of the language Macionis uses to describe the “sociological perspective.”  Then Andrea, her voice quivering, spoke up.   She took issue with the opening anecdote on page one of the first chapter.  It began, “On a spring evening in New York’s Central Park, in 1989, a twenty-eight -year-old woman was jogging after a day of work in the city’s financial district.”  Macionis then goes on to describe what happened to the jogger, who was repeatedly raped and left for dead.  This terrifying incident made national news at the time, and the teens who were alleged to have attacked her were referred to as “The Central Park Five.”

After describing the incident in some detail, Macionis poses the question, “What makes people do the things they do?”  He then contrasts how a psychiatrist, a police officer, and a sociologist might answer this question.  The sociologist, Macionis says, “might note that the offenders (all five of them), were males, that they were teenagers, and that they were members of an economically disadvantaged minority (four African Americans and one Latino).  All were charged and convicted.

Back to Andrea.  To her way of thinking, this was just one more example of Black males being stereotyped as criminals, rapists, and up to no good.  Her comment struck a nerve.  Many of my students, most of whom were African-American, agreed.  The students were raising tough questions and criticizing the author, just as I encouraged them to do.  I couldn’t ignore this issue so I pretty much threw my lesson plan for the day out the window.

Note:  I recently watched Ava DuVernay’s excellent television miniseries (Netflix), “When They See Us,” which got me thinking about this class.  DuVernay does an excellent job of humanizing the five boys (now men) who were referred to as The Central Park Five, and years later were exonerated.  I highly recommend it.

–to be continued

 

Check out:

Dr. Bucher’s Web site on Diversity Consciousness:  Opening Our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities 

Buy Dr. Bucher’s book – Diversity Consciousness

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness  Links to more from Dr. Bucher

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Responses to Gruden’s Emails:  Wait a Minute

Jon Gruden, former coach of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, made headlines during the last week for all the wrong reasons.  Recently made public emails sent by Gruden target individuals and groups, Blacks and whites, female referees, cheerleaders, gays, and players who protest racial injustices during the national anthem, and even those who suffer from concussions.  Gruden’s messages have been characterized and criticized as misogynistic, disgusting, hateful, racist, homophobic, hurtful, demeaning, and that’s only a sample of reactions.  Gruden was fired shortly after these emails surfaced.

Responses to the emails have come from Gruden himself, other current and former NFL players, NFL owners and coaches, sportscasters, The League, and journalists who cover sports and some who do not.  The responses reveal a great deal about what we know about bigotry, and what we don’t.  For example:

  1. When the emails were leaked, Jon countered the criticism by saying he doesn’t have an “ounce of racism.”  He also said he didn’t mean to hurt anyone by his comments.  For many, Gruden’s comments are hard-to-believe.  Carl Nassib, a gay football player who is currently a member of the Raiders, recently took a personal day to try to process all this stuff.  And Gruden, who is white, uses the same old “I don’t have a racist bone in my body” line that we’ve heard time and time again.  Whether he’s totally clueless or knowingly lying is anyone’s guess.
  2. Does Gruden reflect the larger culture? Clearly the answer is yes.  That’s not to say the NFL and our society hasn’t made progress; they have.  But what Gruden did is by no means isolated.  Players, owners, and coaches have repeatedly shown similar behavior.  Contrary to what some of us want to believe, racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry are systemic throughout society, including the NFL.
  3. Once one of Gruden’s racist emails became public, two well-known football broadcasters, Tony Dungee and Mike Tirico, came to Gruden’s defense. They knew Gruden personally and agreed the emails were wrong.  However, they vouched for him as someone who was being misjudged.  As much as we think we know someone, we can be wrong.  People compartmentalize bigotry and show it to some and not others.  Gruden evidently was a pro at doing this.
  4. Nancy Armor, journalist for USA Today, wrote an opinion piece titled, “Getting rid of Jon Gruden was easy. How will NFL root out other bigots?”  First, if the NFL got rid of bigots, the League would cease to exist.  We all repeatedly show bigotry in some form or another.  Googling bigotry, I found this definition: “noun…obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction; in particular, prejudices (or prejudgments) against a person or group on the basis of their membership in a particular group.”  We like to think of bigots as the Grudens of the world, and we’re the choir.  Bigotry refers to behavior, our behavior.  When the NFL embraces slogans such as “Inspire Change,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Stop Hate,” and “End Racism,” we might want to start with ourselves.
  5. Aaron Rodgers, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, responded by saying things in the NFL are getting better, especially among the players. Referring to Gruden’s behavior, Rodgers continues, “I can say with real honesty and pride that I don’t feel like those are opinions that are shared by players.  I feel like, in the locker room, it’s a close-knit group of guys.  And we don’t treat people differently based on the way they talk, where they’re from, what they’re into, what they look like.”  Perhaps if Aaron was gay or Black or different in some other way, he might feel differently.
  6. Players show various forms of bigotry like anyone else. A recent headline in The Washington Post read, “Gruden’s email were jarring-but maybe not surprising.”  Sports can bring people together, but it doesn’t eliminate bigotry by any means.  It is no more surprising when a coach or athlete writes hate-filled emails than when the average Joe does this.

It’s worth noting that other NFL players are aware that coaches, owners and players have significant work to do in terms of the way they treat people.  But then again, we all do.  It’s important to be open, honest, and committed to holding ourselves and others responsible.  That includes the NFL and the wide world of sports.

Dr. Bucher’s Web site on Diversity Consciousness:  Opening Our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities 

Buy Dr. Bucher’s book – Diversity Consciousness

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness  Links to more from Dr. Bucher

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Learning About Race and Racism:  Is Discomfort Always Bad?

Leonard Moore, author of Teaching Black History to White People, due out this month, is currently a Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin.  For more than two decades, he’s taught white students in the south about Black history.  In his book, he makes it clear we need to embrace feelings of discomfort when we talk about race, racism, and social injustice.

“If I were teaching (race and racism), I probably would stand up and read out of a textbook, I wouldn’t have any class discussions or have an essay exam.”  Based on his experiences.  Moore went on to say, “This might be handing the opposition a victory, but professors have to worry about their livelihoods.”  Personally, I’ve had professors who spent most of their time in class reading and lecturing.  If you had a question, forget it.  I avoided these classes because I got nothing out of them.  Why then would a professor with a stellar background make this ludicrous statement?

At Colgate University, I picked sociology as a major for two reasons.  One, it was a subject that helped my grade point average 😊  But more importantly, sociology challenged me.  Prior to Colgate, I lived in a cultural bubble.  That bubble didn’t burst at Colgate, but the campus environment, Dr. King’s assassination my freshman year, and the student protests that followed began to make me aware of my racial naivete and cultural isolation.

The readings and discussions, particularly in my sociology classes, forced me to try to make sense of the firestorm that was the 60s.  For example, the first four books I remember reading at Colgate were Black Like Me, Black Power, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and Soul on Ice.  All four books, and the class discussions that revolved around them, made me uncomfortable and yes, guilty and embarrassed to some degree.   And yet I was drawn to sociology; it challenged my thinking, my pre-existing beliefs and made me want to know more.  It was all so very new to me.

If I was attending college in certain parts of the country today, readings and open-ended dialogues might very well be banned or at the very least, sanitized or criticized in some ways due to “divisive content.”  This is exactly what Professor Moore had in mind when he described what it’s like to teach a course in which discussion of certain historical events, people, or concepts is restricted or banned.  Given that he teaches in the state of Texas, he should know.

As a white professor who spent more than four decades teaching primarily African-American students, I’d like to think that even today “academic freedom” in higher education would insulate me from politics and the controversy surrounding “critical race theory.”  But what if I was just out of graduate school and the sole financial support for my family and disabled son; a situation I found myself in when I started teaching?  Moreover, how would this affect the learning that took place in my classroom?  Teaching so-called “divisive concepts” has always been my passion and I think one of my strengths.  Would I even enjoy or continue teaching if the curriculum got caught up in this controversy?  I’m not sure.

Dr. Bucher’s Web site on Diversity Consciousness:  Opening Our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities 

Buy Dr. Bucher’s book – Diversity Consciousness

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness  Links to more from Dr. Bucher

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is Life Fair?

Lots of times growing up, I can remember thinking life just isn’t fair.  For example, I remember my dad not allowing me to practice the day before my Pleasantville (NY) junior varsity basketball game against Pelham.  I was in the middle of final exams and he thought I should be studying, not practicing.  He shared this with my coach.  No matter, the next day, after I took my last final exam, my coach didn’t play me at all even though I was a starter.  My dad and coach made the rules.  I had no say in the matter, and that didn’t seem fair.

Pollsters at YouGov.com recently asked the question, “Do you think life is fair?”  They asked this question of people in the U.S. and throughout the world, in countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Australia.  Rather than clearly define fair in the survey, they let the respondents come up with their own definition.  Looking at the data, it seems respondents generally think life is fair if there’s a level playing field, meaning everyone has an equal opportunity to get ahead and move up or down the social ladder.  YouGov.com found people from “less developed” countries such as Hong Kong (74%) and Singapore (59%) were much more likely to agree that life isn’t fair.  They also found that women were less likely than men to agree that life is fair.

When I asked this question of my community college students in Introductory Sociology, most of whom are African Americans living in downtown Baltimore, a clear majority answered life is not fair.  They supported their responses by pointing to numerous situations in which their race worked against them in terms of upward mobility.  However, roughly one in five students (black and white) typically disagreed, arguing that life is fair and people just need to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there and work harder.

As a child, when I argued that a particular punishment wasn’t fair, I remember my mom pretty much ignoring me or telling me to plead my case with dad; and dad looking at me as if I was from another planet.  He would ask why on earth did I think life was fair, and he was in no mood to argue that point.  In so many words, he was the “king of his castle” and that was it.

As an adult, I see unequal playing fields all around; locally, nationally, and internationally.  The just concluded Olympic Games in Tokyo is just one example.  Take gender.  Many see the Olympic Games as gender-neutral, meaning the Olympics is one place where all genders have an equal or fair opportunity.  In 1896, founder Pierre de Coubertin barred women from the first Olympic Games.  A little more than one-half century later (1952), women still make up only about 10% of participants.  While significant progress has been made since then, training, media coverage, and funding for female athletes still often lag way behind males.

Do you think life is fair?  If you do, you’re in the minority in the U.S. but quite a few people share your opinion.  Data from the poll shows about one-third of Americans think life is fair.  But was the sample representative?  It seems to me that socioeconomic status, race, gender, religion, disability, education, and a slew of other variables probably factor in.  Regardless of who we are and our background, many of us are socialized to believe that anyone in the U.S. can become middle or upper class through hard work and perseverance, or for that matter, anyone can win a gold medal.  What about you?

Links to more from Dr. Bucher:

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

Buy A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES at Amazon.com

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Blindsided by the N-word

Ten years ago or so, a student of mine was blindsided by the “N-word,” and so was I.  I had just uttered this troublesome word in my Introduction to Sociology class at Baltimore City Community College, a college with a student body that was and is predominantly African-American.  You might assume I should have known better, considering I had taught there for more than three decades.

In my Intro Soc classes, I deliberately integrate race into the course early and often, and as seamlessly as possible.  I do this for a reason.  The Intro Soc text I used ghettoized any mention of race, in that the author discussed it in chapters on inequality and race/ethnicity but rarely elsewhere.  For instance, I addressed race in the chapter on scientific research, and the role it plays in what gets studied, how it’s studied, and findings.  I discussed it in the chapter on deviance, and how race ties in with what is considered a norm in society and how race factors in with who gets defined as deviant.

On this occasion, I was talking about socialization, another chapter devoid of any mention of race.  So I assigned an excerpt from a book that I read at Colgate University, a classic that has had a lifelong impact on the way I think and behave with regard to race.  The book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Alex Haley and Malcolm X, came out in 1965.

The piece I asked my students to read discusses Malcolm X’s experiences as a youth at a reform school in Michigan, a pivotal time in his life.  Malcolm X recalls what it means to be Black in our country.  One of the top students in his class, Malcolm X found himself talking with his English teacher, Mr. Ostrowski, one day after class.

After introducing the book, I read this quote from his autobiography.

He (Mr. Ostrowski) told me “Malcolm, you ought to be thinking about a career.  Have you been giving it thought?” 

Malcolm replied, “I’ve been thinking I’d like to be a lawyer.”

Mr. Ostrowski looked surprised, I remember, and leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head.  He kind of half-smiled and said, “Malcolm, one of life’s first needs is for us to be realistic.  Don’t misunderstand me, now, We all here like you, you know that.  But you’ve got to be realistic about being a nigger.  A lawyer – that’s no realistic goal for a nigger.  You need to think about something you can be.”

After I read this passage, my students and I discussed its relevance today.

A few days after this class, one of my African-American students came to see me in my office.  He sat down and got right to the point – I was a racist.  Needless to say my immediate reaction was shock.  I didn’t know where this was coming from so I asked, “Why do you think I’m a racist?”  His answer was terse and simple, “You used the word nigger in class.“  At that point, it began to make sense.  I explained that I was using Malcolm X’s own words and quoting directly from a book that I had asked the class to read.

We went on and on for some time.  But it didn’t seem to matter.  My student seemed convinced.  Also, it was pretty early in the semester so he didn’t really know me all that well.

What I found out that day was that as a White person, I should never use the N-word in any setting for whatever reason.  Context doesn’t matter; the N-word is so powerful it can and often does obliterate context.  All my student processed was the N-word coming out of the mouth of a White guy, nothing else.  That experience taught me there’s so much emotion, pain, and history attached to this word that it’s just not worth the risk.  Ever.

 

Links to more from Dr. Bucher:

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

Buy A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES at Amazon.com

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Public Promises About Race and Justice:  Time to Assess Our Progress

“We are committed to engage our community in dialogue and action to realize a world in which “Black lives matter.”

“Arrest Brionna Taylor’s killers.”

“We are creating an Inclusion Advisory Board to work on increasing diversity and inclusion in our company.”

“We will fill 30% of new positions with Black or Latino workers.”

About a year ago, I remember companies, schools, sports teams, and many other organizations came out with public statements about race, racial inequality, George Floyd, and the BLM movement.  At the time, I felt somewhat uneasy about the breadth, depth, and significance of the promises being made.  Did the statement represent a genuine push for change?  Were they crafted to respond to public pressure that seemed to convey we needed to say something meaningful?  Did these statements prioritize goals over profit?  Given the wording of the statements, could progress be measured?  Were statements promising so much that they might very well result in a whole lot more talk than action?  Were they promising too little?  Finally, what were the long-term prospects of these promises?

Interestingly, according to a Pew Research Center Survey conducted last summer, a good many people in our country didn’t think statements of this nature about political and social issues were a good idea or even necessary.  Roughly half of those surveyed thought these statements were very or somewhat important while a similar share felt that weren’t too important or weren’t at all important.  It’s worth noting Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians were significantly more likely to feel they were very important.  By the same token, less than a third of Black and Hispanics believed the statements showed “genuine concerns about the treatment of Black people in the country.”

Now it’s time to track progress.  One thing I’ve done in some of the diversity training I facilitate is to ask participants to specify perhaps one or two specific, measurable goals they plan to work on in the coming months.  Then, 6 months or a year down the road, I follow-up with each of them to see how they’re doing.  By now, most organizations that have put out public statements have had ample time to effect at least a modicum of change.  So it’s appropriate to ask; What institutional change, if any, has occurred and why?  What institutional assessments are in place?  Have expectations changed?  And are there sufficient resources to track sustainable change in the future?  What promises have been made and realized?

Follow-up, reevaluation, and re-commitment months and years down the road is the tough part, especially if we are to make a significant dent in improving opportunities for people of color.  And let’s not buy into excuses.  If an organization is committed to making something happen, they’ll make it a priority in spite of other social, political, and economic “crises” that will inevitably get in the way.

Links to more from Dr. Bucher:

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

Buy A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES at Amazon.com

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Learn ‘Til Our Head Swells

In 1955, Emmett Till was visiting family in Mississippi when he was brutally tortured and murdered because he supposedly grabbed Carolyn Bryant, a 21 year-old white woman, and then made sexually crude remarks.  The world would later find out from Bryant, after more than 60 years of silence, that Emmett did no such thing.  When his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, finally saw Emmett’s disfigured and barely recognizable body, she refused to be silenced by those who wanted her to grieve momentarily and then get on with her life.  She openly wept, made it possible for journalists to take pictures of his disfigured body, and before Emmett’s funeral, she allowed tens of thousands of mourners to visit the funeral home and see with their own eyes what racism did to her boy.

Jesse Jackson referred to Emmett Till’s murder as the “big bang” of the civil rights movement.  Till’s name was heard round the world.  Likewise, attorney Ben Crump referenced Emmitt Till when he said, “Never forget this injustice.”  Later, Crump would  describe George Floyd’s death, captured on TV with a knee on his neck, as an emerging “tipping point” for America and the world.

For almost five decades, Emmett’s mom pushed for change and resistance by going back to school, teaching, and sharing Emmett’s story time and time again; sensing that it would challenge the nation and transform the civil rights movement.  In the words of Momma Mobley, “My burning thing, the thing that comes out of Emmett’s death is to learn until your head swells.”

George’s Floyd’s murder and the searing video that implicated Derek Chauvin are challenging our nation at the present.  Some rightfully wonder, “What now?”  Years ago, Mama Mobley said, “The work is not done.”  “So many of our young people still need so much guidance.  There is much they don’t know and we must take responsibility for that…There is still much that needs to be done to educate white people, too.”

Relentless learning, whether it takes place at places of worship, at schools, on the job and at home, or in likely and unlikely settings in our community, can help us answer the question that is now being repeatedly asked after Derek Chauvin’s conviction.  The question is simply, where do we go from here?  While there’s no consensus in terms of our answer to this question, a good place to start is educating ourselves and each other ’til our head swells; to keep the horror that cut short two precious lives from happening again and again.

 

Links to more from Dr. Bucher:

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

Buy A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES at Amazon.com

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Combating Racial Ignorance: A Long and Winding Road

Throughout our nation’s history, people of different races have displayed just how much we don’t know about each other.  And our educational background and social standing don’t necessarily matter all that much.  In 1905, Alvin Borgquist, a Clark University graduate student, was conducting one of the first psychological studies on crying as a way to express one’s emotions.  Seeking to find more data for his study, he wrote W. E. B. DuBois, a scholar and the first African-American Ph.D. from Harvard University.  He asked DuBois “whether the Negro sheds tears, and if so, under what general conditions?”  Consider the question and who’s asking it.  Borgquist is a college-educated White person who lived such an isolated existence that he didn’t even know if Blacks were capable of crying.

More than twenty years ago, Phillip Milano and Larry Lane wrote a book about all those questions we want to ask people who aren’t like us, but we hesitate because we’re afraid.  Where did their material come from?  These two journalists created a web site called “Y:  The National Forum on People’s Differences.”  Interested people went to “Y” and asked questions anonymously.  Many revolved around race, such as this question from a Black person: “Why do White people smell like wet dogs when they come out of the rain?”  Another Black individual writes, “Why is it that Caucasians seem to spend so much time on lawn care?”  And Whites asked a bunch of hard-to-believe questions as well, including “Is it true that Black people have an extra muscle in their calves?” and another, “What would take place during a typical weeknight in a Black family?”

In many respects, the social distance separating races and particularly Blacks and Whites seems as wide today as ever.  For instance, once the video of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police became public, some Whites confessed they had no idea this kind of police brutality took place.  Other Whites assumed that police brutality toward Blacks was limited to a “few bad apples” rather than something more pervasive.

If we are to achieve real change, locally and beyond, we can’t simply read a book or two or keep up with current events.  Nor can we wait for others to educate us.  We need to be willing to get uncomfortable and start with our own “blind spots.  Recently, I reread parts of Race Matters, the classic by Cornel West that continues to shape my thinking about race.  In it, Professor West addresses the here today, gone tomorrow discussions of race that make it impossible for us to confront this “issue in a candid and critical manner.”

Regardless of our background, we need to repeatedly venture outside of our comfort zones and stay there for a while.  Often I’ve found I learn much more about race when I’m most uncomfortable.  Where this learning takes place doesn’t really matter.  For instance, during the pandemic some members of my church have had discussions each month with another church via zoom.  Even though participants come from two churches with a markedly different racial mix, our discussions on racial reconciliation have been refreshingly open, honest, and productive I think.

For too long, racial ignorance has kept us divided.  In this day and age, there’s no excuse for that.  Learning opportunities are there.  We just have to take advantage of them.

 

Links to more from Dr. Bucher:

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

Buy A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES at Amazon.com

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Returning in a week or so

For the last two months, I’ve taken a vacation from writing my blog.  Why?  Well, those of you who read my blog know something of my family background.  Jimmy, my middle-aged son who happens to have autism, recently moved to a new adult living unit.  There were a lot of reasons for this move in the midst of the pandemic, but the most important is that Jimmy wanted to.

This move has been a huge undertaking for Jimmy and the rest of our family.  He is now settling into his new home in Frederick, Md, not more than 15 minutes or so from us.  I know he loves being closer to us and his sisters and so do we.

I’m still playing catch-up but looking forward to continuing my blog and of course, seeing much more of my son.

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Anti-Racism Training:  Substance or Style?

“…a 35 minute interactive (online) course that explores the concepts of racial identity and racism, diversity, inclusion, sensitivity, unconscious bias, cultural competency, civility and respect.”  By taking this course, “employees will gain a deeper understanding of …diversity and inclusion, and practical ways to choose inclusive actions and be an ally to underrepresented groups.”

This course was created shortly after George Floyd was killed by police last May.  How can it even begin to meaningfully address all of these issues in just 35 minutes?  To be honest with you, I have no idea.  What I do know is that developing a working knowledge of each of these concepts is extremely difficult and would take considerable time and effort.  Take the concept of racism in the workplace.  Getting a handle on this complex and often misunderstood concept isn’t easy by any means.  For starters, it requires deep thought, reading,  research, and discussion.  Rather than a deeper understanding, I think the best participants in this online course might hope for is a quick overview.

As a white male who spent years earning his PH.D. studying race at a Historically Black College (Howard University), I know how cognitively and emotionally challenging this subject is.  As a professor with more than four decades of experience, race and racism were perhaps two of the most difficult subjects for students to discuss.  And as an author of one of the best-selling college texts on diversity, one of my most difficult tasks was breaking down racism, and especially systemic racism, so readers of diverse educational, social class, and cultural backgrounds could understand and relate.

Recently, anti-racism training has become all the rage.  A feature story in The Washington Post on the proliferation of this kind of training states, “It’s a good time to be in the anti-racism training business.”  Indeed it is.  Police brutality has triggered what’s described as newfound awareness that race is still a significant issue in the U.S., an issue we need to talk and do something about.  The buzz around anti-racism training has also been fueled by recent racist comments from CEOs and others in high profile positions, institutional statements that yes, black lives do indeed matter, and a flood of media coverage on the subject of race and racism (both individual and systemic).

People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Traliant Diversity Training, Catharsis Productions, Overcoming Racism, Race Forward, Crossroads, and the Center for Racial Justice in Education are just a few of the burgeoning programs targeting racism.  But I wonder if quality is being sacrificed for quantity.

To borrow from NIKE, are training programs more about just doing it?  Is substance being sacrificed for style, especially with the explosion of online training in this area during the pandemic?

For example, how many of the organizations that signed up for the 35-minute course described above are looking for something to add to their PR statement?  How many encourage their employees to take this course so they can check this box and move on?  How many see online training as something quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive?  Lastly, how many felt pressured to do this?

It’s been roughly six months since many corporations got on the anti-racism training bandwagon and made public their support for the sanctity of Black lives and the need to combat racism and racial inequality.  It’s time to look at what was promised, what’s been done, and whether training has made a difference.  If it has, what difference has it made?  If it hasn’t, why not?  And what’s next?

 

Links to more from Dr. Bucher:

Dr. Bucher’s Website for his book A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES

Buy A MOMMY, A DADDY, TWO SISTERS AND A JIMMY:  AUTISM AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES at Amazon.com

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Autism

Dr. Bucher’s Facebook page on Diversity Consciousness

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment