Understanding my White Privilege: 10 Lessons Learned and A More Productive View of Assessment

 

Understanding my white privilege:  10 lessons learned 

I am a white male who explores racial issues from an intellectual perspective. For me understanding racism and whiteness is often something I examine for a period of time--when discussing anti-racism, for example--and then I move on. It is not central to my day-to-day life or my survival. My whiteness is often invisible. To grow up and exist as a white person, race is usually about somebody else. Each us is always a member of a race or races and we are often granted or denied opportunities because we belong to one of the favored groups. My whiteness has come--and will continue to afford--me advantages that are not shared by many people of color.

For most of my life--and I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood--I did not see race; I saw racism as an individual act by one person or group against another person or group. I was blind to the invisible systems that ensure racial dominance.

 

This is not to say I haven’t suffered, or had to work to overcome struggles. I have. I believe people are rewarded opportunities because they deserve them. I  am not suggesting that white people have never struggled. Indeed, many white people do not enjoy the privileges that come with affluence. But being White is a built-in advantage. It affords more opportunities than being a person of color.  Francis E. Kendall, author of Diversity in the Classroom and Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race, gives us the following definition of White privilege: “having greater access to power and resources than people of color [in the same situation] do.”

 

Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned about white privilege from my experiences:

1. Whites can be sure of renting and buying houses in an area that they can afford and choose to live in. My first job took me to Bridgeville, Delaware. Along with two roommates we found a nice house to rent in the town of Blades. Our real estate agent told us that there were several others interested in the property but that the landlords chose us. Several months later one of my roommates met a Black couple who had also wanted to rent the property. One of the things they liked about the house was that it was in a relatively diverse neighborhood. That hadn’t even crossed our minds as we selected the house. It also left us wondering, Did we get the property because we were White? Were 3 just-out-of-college renters “better” in the eyes of the landlord than a young Black couple?
2. Whites can go shopping without worry of being followed or harassed. Traveling with a Black friend, we entered a convenience store in the Shenandoah Valley. He entered the store first while I finished pumping the gas. When he went to get a soda from the refrigerated case, a clerk followed him. When I entered the store, I was not followed.
3. Whites do not have to educate themselves/their children about racism for their own well-being and protection. I have bi-racial grandchildren and have heard their parents explain to them how to respond to racial taunts or “when a police officer interacts with you…” Never did my parents need to have that conversation (Nor, did they share with me what to do when I was a bystander in such a situation.)
4. Whites are not asked to speak for all persons of their racial group. Never have I been asked to represent an entire race of people. This is not to say that we shouldn’t seek out the opinions and perspectives of People of Color, but it is unfair to suggest that one person’s perspective represents the entire race. Whites have the privilege of not having to think before they speak. If a White person says something that is upsetting or thoughtless, most times it is attributed to them as an individual rather than attributed to the race. “Reed was so rude when he dismissed what Laura said.” Oppositely, if it was a LatinX person, “Hispanics people are so emotional. They don’t think before they speak.”
5. Whites rarely feel out-of-place, outnumbered or isolated in meetings or gatherings. At Monticello, I remember a student approaching me and her school counselor, “I can’t join that class. There’s going to be a lot of discussion about race in that class and I don’t want to be the only black person in that class.”
6. Whites can accept a job without ever having their co-workers suspect they got the job because of their race.
7. Whites rarely need to ask if a negative interaction or episode occurred because they were White. A Black student enrolled midway through a semester. On his first day a teacher told him his assigned seat would be next to her desk. A couple of days later, he and the teacher had a negative interaction. In discussing that situation with him, he recalled, “On the first day she made me sit right next to her desk. Would she have done that if I was a White student?” (To everyone's credit, all 3 of us participated in a series of meetings and conversations to ensure a better understanding of each other and the role of race. Included as part of this conversation was that it was the only seat that was not assigned. The teacher and I also learned much more.)
8. Whites have the privilege of being favored by teachers and school authorities. In my first assistant principal job, a school official identified a Black student for being disruptive and acting suspiciously during a class change. After watching the video and interviewing witnesses, the claim was found to be outlandishly false. To this day I remain mystified as to the school official’s claim.  (The adult was a temporary employee and based on our investigation, he was told not to return.)
9. Whites can worry about and act on racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking. Often the opposite actually occurs as people see the “good” for advocating for others.
10. Whites say or imply they know what a person of color is going through, “I know how you feel because…” I am of Jewish heritage and I have experienced anti-Semitism, discimination and pain. In attempting to be empathetic I have shared with People of Color statements like, “I’ve experienced racism too. I remember when…” While I’m not suggesting that race is the only cause of discimination, I now realize that statements like these devalue a person of color’s experiences by suggesting similarities or that their experience can’t be any worse than what I have experienced.

White people must recognize that we enjoy special privileges. People of Color are at a disadvantage in our society. We can no longer ignore these truths.  Denial and silence about white privilege perpetuates the advantages Whites have. No matter how non-racist a white person’s beliefs are, being an anti-racist means going further and acknowledging white privilege. We must seek to understand other’s histories and the life experiences of all groups to truly understand and address others’ lives.

A More Productive View of Assessment

According to David Sousa and Carol Ann Tomlinson and their most recent book Differentiation and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-Friendly Classroom assessment practices should reflect the following:

1. Targets of effective classroom assessments are absolutely clear to the teacher. They are aligned with the learning targets of a high-quality curriculum and reflect a clear sense of the teacher's expectations for quality performance.
2. Targets of effective classroom  assessment are absolutely clear to the students. Students are working towards well-defined targets that they know will be the focus of assessments
3. Effective classroom assessments are appropriate for their intended use. Effective classroom assessments maximize the opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know, understand, and can do. they measure what needs to be measured in a fair manner.
4. Effective classroom assessments employee clear communication. Assessment targets are clear throughout the instruction of a unit and clear feedback after the assessment is provided.
5. Effective classroom assessment practices lead to improved instruction. Assessments provide teachers with information they will use to improve their teaching.
6. Students are key beneficiaries of effective classroom assessment practices. Effective assessment practices prepare students to be successful, help them understand throughout the learning cycle where they are and how they can get better,  contribute to their growth mindset, and increase their ownership of learning and independence.

To help you reflect on your assessment practices, they have developed the following 9 questions:

1. Does the assessment clearly measure the learning objectives the students need to achieve?
2. Is the assessment measuring something the students expect to be measured, or will it come as a  surprise?
3. Is this the right type of assessment to measure this learning objective?
4. Does the assessment measure a fair representation of the components of a learning objective rather than your own favorite components?
5. Does the assessment measure the most important components of the learning objective rather than immaterial or tangential components?
6. Is the assessment appropriate for all students who will use it? (Does it maximize the likelihood the student  can show you what he or she knows, understands, and can do as a result of the segment of study?) When that's not the case, do you provide options for ways students can express what they know, understand, and can do?
7. Does the assessment make clear what students must do to provide a high-quality response?
8. Will the assessment results provide the information you need to determine how to refine and revise your instructional plans for the near-term?
9. Will the assessment results provide students with the information they need to see where they are proficient and where they need to improve?

Tasks and Information

1. Please complete your timecard.
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3. Faculty meeting: https://share.nearpod.com/qyyNWotPlab 
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5. Due Monday at 9am

• Please complete the SAT proctoring form
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• Please complete the ACPS Summer Programming form
• Grades due

April 23: Senior Portraits

April 27: School Day SAT

April 29, 30: Retake Pictures

 

END OF YEAR INFO

June 2-3-4. SOL Testing; These will be asynchronous days for our students.

June 7-10 will be exam/project days classes will continue with a normal bell schedule. Monday/Tuesday: 1 and 3; Wednesday/Thursday: 2 and 4.

June 14-15 will be make-up exams.

May 24-25: Last in person days for seniors with exams on 26-27 of May.

Links

https://bit.ly/WAHSannounce to request an announcement, publication in newsletter, etc

https://bit.ly/TWCStuRec TWC student recognition

http://bit.ly/MeetStudentWA  Meeting with student

bit.ly/WAlunch Lunch order

Birthdays

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