Normalmente a língua desse espaço aqui é português, mas não tenho tempo de traduzir essas notas que fiz para um encontro na universidade sobre as tensões raciais que nos atormentam desde sempre. Éramos parte de um grupo que leu e discutiu o livro Race Talk durante o primeiro semestre, motivado justamente por acontecimentos lamentáveis aqui na universidade e depois na cidade.
Notes for the
Panel in OUt on April 19, 2019
1.
I think that getting together and discussing Race Talk has first of all helped us meet
like-minded colleagues. We found out about similar classroom situations and
discussed strategies to deal with them. From now on we can count on each other
for emotional support and for critical reflection.
2.
Together we have strengthened our conviction
that we should treat moments when the subject of racial inequality unexpectedly
appears in the classroom as opportunities to be embraced rather than as a trap
we should get out of as quickly as possible. There is a conspiracy of silence
we must help dismantle.
3.
Together we have understood that one of the
fundamental tools for sustaining white supremacy is dismissing voices of
dissent as paranoid exaggerations or opportunistic attempts to “take advantage
of the system.” Embedded in this dismissive attitude is the absurd notion that white
experience of racial relations is the
objective truth. Thus, whenever students from minorities speak out, we should
support them rather than hush their voices as inconvenient disruptors of
civility in the classroom. And if these students are met with skepticism (condescending
or contemptuous) from their classmates, we should let everyone in class know that
the voice of the oppressed is more than just one valid voice; the voice of the
oppressed is knowledge (painful, first-hand knowledge) that holds the key to freeing
us all from a situation of fundamental injustice.
4.
As a foreigner, I always make sure people here understand
that my interest in the culture of the United States is premised upon the vital
presence of Native American and African American cultures here. I can say the same
about every other culture in the Americas as a whole. Rather than a “problem”
to be solved, these cultures are vital to finding solutions to the problems we
face at a point when capitalism seems to be on the brink to destroying the whole
planet.
5.
As a Latin American, I always remind myself and
everyone else that we, as nations in the Americas, owe an enormous debt to our
Native American and African-American sisters and brothers. Our nations were
built out of the cowardly destitution and exploitation of Native Americans and
African-Americans over centuries of colonization and slavery. Instead of
reparations, we, as nations, have permitted the exploitation and the
discrimination of Native-Americans and African-Americans to continue to exist.
This is a continental shame. It is a debt that we must confront NOW.
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