This content was published: April 15, 2016. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Togetherness is the key at Cascade’s Whiteness History Month session
Photos and story by Abe Proctor
鈥淲e鈥檙e all on this journey together,鈥 Bryan Hull said.
Hull, a composition and literature instructor at the Sylvania Campus, was co-presenting a Whiteness History Month session at the Cascade Campus with not one, but two weighty titles. The presentations were 鈥淪tandard American English: A Racist Standard or Liberating Tool?” and “Parting of the Waves: How White Progressives Imagine Themselves in Relation to Race.鈥
Hull was responsible for the 鈥淧arting of the Waves鈥 portion of the presentation. His statement of inclusiveness was in reference to an illustration from 鈥淐onference of the Birds,鈥 an ancient Sufi text. This sense of togetherness, he said, was an intrinsic component that must be embraced by any white person with a real interest in bringing about a truly equitable world. It鈥檚 not enough, he said, for well-meaning white people to set themselves apart or above others who might be less inclined to seek such equity. Like the birds in the Sufi tale, it鈥檚 someplace we must all go together.
Writers presenting from the forthcoming 2Leaf Press 鈥淲hite in America鈥 anthology during Whiteness History Month. It was a staged reading where the authors read jointly, interspersing excerpts from their writings theatrically.
At first blush, this might seem to have nothing at all in common with the second section of the presentation. But more on that in a moment.
Hull鈥檚 co-presenter, Cascade-based composition and literature instructor Jane Zunkel, spoke on the existence of a strict 鈥 and mythical 鈥 standard form of English as an extension of colonialism. How closely someone can adhere to this 鈥減ure鈥 form of English, Zunkel said, is a means by which members of more privileged social strata 鈥 i.e., those who possess whiteness 鈥 can evaluate that person鈥檚 relative level of 鈥渃ivilization鈥 compared to the dominant culture and, by extension, how much that person will be accepted by the dominant culture.
Put another way, someone who speaks or writes in a 鈥渟treet鈥 or 鈥渇oreign鈥 sort of way is likely to be viewed critically by those with the linguistic keys to the club of whiteness. A less-sophisticated use of English can be viewed, quite literally, as evidence of less sophistication, of a lower level of civilization, of an unfitness to travel in the circles of power and influence.
Perhaps, Zunkel suggested, it is more important to teach students how to communicate clearly and effectively than it is to adhere strictly to the guidelines of Standard American English. Perhaps it is a better idea for educators to equip students to hone their own distinctive voices than it is to serve as the linguistic gatekeepers of civilization and whiteness. Perhaps, no one dialect or mode of speech is inherently better than another.
鈥淪tudents have a right to their own language, their own voice,鈥 Zunkel said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our job to help them find it.鈥