The Importance of Being Present

We’ve discussed reacting to inappropriate comments in class, but I think this topic is important to revisit because of the mental impact this can have on us as students of color. The reality is that for those students who are in more conservative environments or placed in sections that have little diversity the idea of having to sit through class and decide whether or not to speak up against ignorance is exhausting.

So many students decide to not participate for their own mental health—because being labeled as the angry student, the agitator, the contrarian, etc. also impacts you beyond that specific classroom. So I get not wanting to be the spokesperson for your race and not feeling the need to get into it with everyone all the time.

But, I’ll admit I’m bias and think there’s a benefit to speaking up when you can because it emphasizes your presence as a woman of color. For those that do decide to speak up and call out racist/sexist/privileged comments here is what I have found:

1. The more you do this type of exempt classroom advocacy, the more experienced you’ll be in quickly pointing out flaws in other people’s argument (which is actually very practical when you’re a litigator).
2. You learn to manage your reputation. When I was a Junior in college, a student in my social theory class made a mockery of Feminist Theory and no one said a damn word.  But me. I made a huge flipping deal out of it. Of course some fellow classmates thought I was acting “crazy” for calling out this other student, but in the end after some follow-up meetings, the trajectory of the program shifted and this subject was handled seriously like all other social theories in the course.  And even though some classmates probably thought I was the type of woman who “can’t take a joke,” they also soon realized that by speaking up, my advocacy created change, which was more than what they had/could do.
3. There are many silent supporters. Speaking up against the grain (even when the grain is crazy offensive) is tough, but once one person speaks up it makes it easier for others to get involved. I’ll be honest that by my 3L year I was really checked out of school. During one lecture in Advanced Evidence there was a discussion about using social science to help with your case. I was hardly listening because, again, I was a 3L weeks away from graduation, but little comments kept being made by men who were totally dismissing sociology/psychology. Of course, they didn’t know/care that most of the women in their class had studied these topics and earned degrees in them.  Further, they didn’t understand that systemic sexism had made it almost impossible for most of the women to pursue degrees in STEM like so many of the men had—degrees that the men were passionately describing as real and valid forms of science. So I raised my hand and said something—because I’m petty and can’t let anything go—and that was enough because suddenly other students, mostly women, started participating in the discussion in support of social science.  This is a minor example, but my point is that often the loudest person in the room is full of shit, but people are too detached or fearful to say anything.  But once someone speaks up, the levee breaks and others feel freer in knowing they’re not the only ones.

FYI, that’s also the great thing because then you don’t have to be the only one that keeps arguing—after I made my comment, I went back to surfing on the internet because I wasn’t interested in convincing the guys that they were being semi-sexist, I just wanted them to know that they were wrong (I told you I am petty).