Thought for the Day

[bcholmes]

If the individual remains engaged, he or she can turn the discomfort into action. Once they have an awareness of the cycle of racism, many people are angered by it and want to interrupt it. Often action comes in the form of educating others -- pointing out the stereotypes as they watch television, interrupting the racial jokes, writing letters to the editor, sharing articles with friends and family. Like new converts, people experiencing disintegration can be quite zealous in their efforts. A White woman in her forties who participated in an antiracist professional development course for educators described herself at this stage:

What it was like for me when I was taking the course [one year ago] and just afterwards, hell, because this dissonance stuff doesn't feel all that great. And trying to put it in a perspective and figure out what to do with it is very hard... I was on the band wagon so I'm not going to be quiet about it. So there was dissonance everywhere. Personally, I remember going home for Thanksgiving, the first Thanksgiving [while taking the course], back to our families... and turning to my brother-in-law and saying, "I really don't want you to say that in front of me -- I don't want to hear that joke -- I am not interested." ... At every turn it seemed like there, I was responsible for saying something... My husband, who I think is a very good, a very liberal person, but who really hasn't been through [this], saying "You know I think you're taking yourself too seriously here and where is your sense of humour? You have lost your sense of humour." And my saying, "It isn't funny; you don't understand, it just isn't funny to me." Not that he would ever tell a racial joke, but there were these things that would come up and he would just sort of look back and say, "I don't understand where you're coming from now." So there was a lot of dissonance... I don't think anybody was too comfortable with me for a while.

My college students have similar experiences with family members and friends. Though they want to step off the cycle of racism, the message from the surrounding White community seems to be, "Get back on!"

— Beverly Daniel Tatum, "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?"