Fomenting Revolution

I feel as though I have so much to say. This sentiment fed from a recent thought-provoking New York Times article, a few enlightening NPR episodes, and some remembrances from a college literature discussion on post-modernism and institutional racism.

However, my internal discourse got k.o.’d on the way back from lunch today. I saw a little chubby white kid in grey sweatpants in a Mexican wrestling mask. I reverted back to elementary school when one of your friends has something cool and you want something immediately. I’m assuming this kid was white behind his mask because his mom, sans mask, was following him with an empty stroller and didn’t seem even slightly perturbed that her son was pretending to be a luchador. Cool mom. Hot mom.

To the Last Drop Like It was Maxwell, Part 1

In Junior High and High School¹, I used to do this thing that made me chuckle. It was something I’d do because I thought it was funny to me, personally. I didn’t share it at campfires or in other social settings because I thought it was peculiar to me.

On forms or surveys, whenever possible, I would write next to dislikes—“white people’s sense of entitlement”—or next to comments—“I dislike white people’s sense of entitlement.”

I still find this funny but, now, there’s a bit of repressed poignancy there that’s becoming more exposed as the years advance.

When I read “The Class-Consciousness Raiser,” a recent NY Times article, I told myself, “Crappy title.” I’m glad I gave it a chance. The awkward sounding title, in a way, mimes the description of the job of the woman it profiles.

Ruby Payne gives presentations to teachers² and other professionals to get them to understand class distinctions more, making them more self-aware, more empathetic, and in some ways, make white people realize that they even have a sense of entitlement because of the class in which they were brought up.

What do you call a professional whose job it is to make white people realize how white they are? “Class-consciousness Raiser” as title probably works the best.

¹ I attended a predominantly upper middle class high school.
² Teaching teachers, ones who are altruistic and have high regard for book learning and have experience with underperforming students, might be the best context to open awareness to class barriers and distinctions.