Eracism

ERACISM

That was the lettering that went along with a cool design on t-shirts my school sold in the 1990s, and a creative way of getting across the message of ending racism.  In a place where students and staff alike are as likely to be black, brown, Asian or “all of the above” as they are to be white, Eracism was a pretty important concept.  I bought one of those shirts and wore it for many years before it finally gave out and got recycled. 

“Discrimination encouraged here!”  That, written large on my whiteboard, was what greeted students one morning, and it sure got their attention.  "Why would you want us to discriminate, Mr. Strebler; I thought you didn’t like racism?”  But discrimination, just like racism, is a word that is very often misunderstood and misused, and that was the point of the slogan on the board.

When you look up discriminate in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (this is what we used in the dark days before Wikipedia), you see that, just like most words, it is defined in a number of ways.  It is only the fourth definition that refers to “make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit; against a certain nationality.”  The earlier, more generally correct definitions have to do with telling the difference between one thing and another.  For instance, a wise voter can discriminate between a qualified candidate and one not so qualified, while a discriminating diner can tell the difference between a good meal and a so-so meal.  Similarly, only the last definition given for discrimination has to do with prejudice against someone or some group. 

And that was the point of what was on my board.  Students should make judgments – they should discriminate – about the various things they hear on the news, from friends, family, and teachers, and about what they read in school books.  They should differentiate between credible and not believable, make good decisions more so than bad ones, etc.  The other point, of course, was to get the kids thinking about what the word itself means, and how they so commonly misuse it.  Discrimination – as properly defined – is mostly a good thing. 

It’s kind of the same idea with racism and racist.  Students have been programmed to believe that virtually any mention of a person’s ethnicity, nationality, or color is “racist”.  But that’s just not true.  Webster’s defines racism as “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capabilities, and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.”  The excessive insistence on political correctness in our society has had the unfortunate side-effect of making people, especially youngsters, see “racism” in lots of places where in reality it does not exist. 

Saying something about “that black dude” or “a Mexican girl” or “this Jewish guy” is no more racist than referring to “that skinny white kid” or that “tall blonde chick”.  Those terms (Mexican, skinny, etc.) are simply adjectives that help identify someone.  Unless there’s some additional comment or intimation that the black guy or Jewish gal or white dude is inferior or superior to anyone else, there’s no racism going on.  Nor does saying that Mexicans tend to eat a lot of tortillas, Jews eat matzo on Passover, Chinese-Americans generally put a lot of pressure on their kids to do well in school, blacks experience higher rates of MS, or white folks generally have finer (thinner) hair.  These are verifiable facts, not judgments, and by themselves imply nothing about inferiority or superiority.  As such, these kinds of comments don't constitute racism.

Anyone who knows me knows how close I am to the Mexican people and their culture, that my best friend at school is a black guy, that I love my Jewish heritage, etc.  So when I refer to those groups of people, racism is hardly what's on my mind.  Yet I freely use those kinds of descriptors, or claims, knowing that they might shock and even offend some people.  Why?

Well, part of it is my mischievous nature; a willingness to push people's buttons and stir things up a bit.  But much more importantly, as a teacher, I’d like students to be more realistic in their attitudes about racism and discrimination.  I want to present another model, a more correct understanding if you will, of political correctness to counter the message they’re getting in our liberally-skewed educational system. 

It’s just plain wrong that Mexican, Jew, black, Asian, and similar terms are viewed as being negative. 

I’m proud of being (ethnically) Jewish, and I think Mexicans and blacks and whatnot are proud of who they are.  There’s nothing wrong with being “a Jew”, and I don’t like people implying that it’s an insult.  The same goes for the rest of them; Mexican isn’t a bad word, nor is black or Asian or whatever.  I consciously use those terms to try to help students get past the idea that they are negative, that they are insults. 

Those who think they are bad words, insults, examples of racism – the problem is on their end and how they perceive those terms.  

Then there’s the story of YiQiu, a student of mine several years ago who had just moved here from China.  Now part of my goofy nature is that I’ll sometimes use a British or French or other accent when talking about people from those countries.  And mostly the kids love it - YiQiu especially.  One day as we were reading from the history book he said “Mr. Strebler, do the accents!”  And so I started reading with a German accent, then Russian, then Irish, and YiQiu was cracking up; “that’s so funny, Mr. Strebler!”  Then I did a bit of a Chinese accent and all of a sudden “That’s not funny, Mr. Strebler; that’s racist”, YiQiu said in all seriousness.  He was very offended.  So what’s going on there?

Why is it OK to have some fun with an Australian or Italian or Southern accent, but it’s not OK to do an Asian accent?  Well, part of it goes back to the idea of perception.  If he, or someone else, perceives that they’re being put down, then they’re going to see an accent or a comment as being racist – even when it’s not.  And of course there is the fact that Asians (and Latinos, and blacks, etc.) have been discriminated against in the past, and it’s still sort of a sore subject with many of those folks. So the issue can be a bit tricky and one may unintentionally cross a line of sorts....  That's probably why most people shy away from dealing with the issue, I suppose. 

But it’s OK - even healthy - I would suggest, to talk about one another’s ethnicity and whatnot, and even to have a bit of fun with it all.  This doesn't promote racism, it helps us get past it, in my opinion.  So I’ll keep up with my silly accents, and keep making fun of myself and the stereotypes of old white guys as much as I sometimes make fun of the stereotypes of other groups.  That may be irreverent; it may be seen as insensitive at times (and I am sorry when that happens); some may see it as inappropriate for a classroom teacher – we can have a spirited debate over those claims.  But what it is not is racism, at least not racism as that word is properly defined.