Wrong Table
I was out to eat dinner on Main St. and when my food came, it was taken to another table. Sure, mistakes happen. But the embarrassing microaggression occurred because my food was taken to the table of the… Read More
Category: uncategorized
Toxic Waste Dump
If one more person talks about how “beautiful” and “great” the Town of Davidson is, I’m going to come unglued. It’s a white flight suburb that actively excludes and marginalizes people of color. We get pulled over, our children… Read More
Angry, Uncivil, and Unreasonable
If I raise my voice or speak passionately about an issue, I am framed as angry, uncivil, unreasonable, as someone who “clearly has some problem(s),” and who is not interested in getting along with or seeing the perspectives… Read More
Fellow White Students
I’m a white first generation student from a working class family. I am often frustrated with the assumption that whiteness equals socioeconomic privilege (which sometimes simply means middle class stability, certainly a privilege). I am included among other white people as… Read More
The Future of White Men
I once overheard a conversation in which a white man wondered aloud about the role and place of white men in academia as the future unfolds. I thought to myself, Seriously? You are not a minority or an… Read More
Diversity & Social Justice
A colleague once mocked #BlackLivesMatter by jokingly referring to #BlueLivesMatter (referring to police) and #RedLivesMatter (referring to firefighters) because #AllLivesMatter. This took place in the tone of *nudge, nudge, chuckle chuckle* ‘what’s all this diversity and social justice stuff about… Read More
Legitimacy
I use my long-term heterosexual relationship to gain legitimacy.
“Something he felt, but couldn’t quite place”
A student of color once came to my office to talk about something he felt but couldn’t quite place. He told me he had gone to the tutor center for clarification on class content. The center personnel seemed… Read More
Transfers
In my first two years teaching at Davidson, I got to know two students who eventually transferred out. Completely separately and unrelated to one another, each student told me that they gave others common excuses to transfer. But behind… Read More
