☆ Diverse perspectives: How should we talk to kids about inequality and oppression?
In the last of a three-part exclusive Opp Now series, Bay Area DEI education org rEVOLution's Natalie Thoreson (along with educational commentators Larry Sand and Kevin McGary) confab the question of the hour about inequality: How should teachers go about leading these hard, complex conversations? Starkly different viewpoints below, all unified under the aim of individuals' flourishing.
On Facilitating Difficult Conversations:
Natalie Thoreson of the Oakland-based nonprofit rEVOLution says they're committed to open, authentic conversation where different perspectives are encouraged in love. Is it possible for instructors to facilitate tough conversations about inequality without resorting to reductive name-calling?
Larry Sand: I would emphasize that there's always going to be inequality because inequality is part of the human race. I'd say, “Some of you are tall, some of you are medium height, and some of you are short. That's just the way it is. Now, do some people discriminate? Sure, but they tend to be few and far between.”
What's more, I would stress this to students: If there are differences between you and someone else, or you aren't who you want to be, the first place to look is inside yourself. You need to ask: What can I do to bring myself up?
It's almost satirical that rEVOLution is talking about oppressors and the oppressed, and they're talking about tribalism and colonization, and then they're saying they promote love as the ultimate social solution. I'm skeptical that love is at the heart of what rEVOLution does because it is incongruous with everything else they say.
Kevin McGary: There is a right way to have these conversations. Inequality is mostly due to the fact that we're all born with different God-given skills, talents, and abilities. We can hone these and become highly competent. We also have different backgrounds and life experiences that feed into who we are as individuals.
Inequality is only a bad thing if it causes people to not get equal opportunities. It's not possible, and is even a bit ridiculous, to have equal or similarly situated outcomes. We can't all be born with talents, competencies, and skills of, for instance, the NFL greats or a nuclear engineer. Instead, we can all apply whatever innate raw material we have to work with.
We should applaud equal opportunity at all levels, but not applaud the misnomer of equal outcomes. That's antithetical to what we're about as Americans.
Natalie Thoreson: I encourage parents to educate themselves on how to have these dialogues at home. I read a study in which it was found that many white families were so uncomfortable having formal race-related conversations that they either dropped out or said they had talks but didn't document anything. People are willing to have many kinds of conversations with their youth. As a culture, we need to be talking more about oppression in general.
I’d love for white folks to take time to consider: What might be so scary about having a conversation about racism with your child? People of color are often forced by the system to have these talks all the time, so it's important that white folks unpack their guilt and shame. And really, we shouldn't focus just on race. Most of us, including myself, have identities in which we're oppressed, and also identities where we hold privilege. We should be doing work around all our identities, including those that might feel hard.
At the end of the day, young people want to have these conversations. Because of this, all of us, including educators, need to do our own work in order to be prepared to support open, honest conversations about inequality. When children are around three years old, they develop a strong sense of justice. They want to make change—not from a place of guilt or shame, but desiring the good of those around them. What's more, young folks haven't experienced socialization to the same extent as adults and aren't perpetuating oppressive systems yet. If we can change these social systems through difficult conversations and organic spaces of love, young folks can thrive.
This article is part of an exclusive Opp Now series, in which three educational experts also analyze oppression-based instruction and an anti-colonization curricular focus from varied perspectives.
Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity
Image by Ketut Subiyanto