Category Archives: Education Resources

Salary Transparency and Antiracism Talk

Action Opportunity, Education Resources, Lunchtime Discussions

The Anti-Racism, Equity and Justice (AREJ) Organizing Team invites you to our next event this January 11th at noon via Zoom!

We are honored to have Sharon Parkinson come speak with the group about salary transparency, a topic that is important for all of us whether we work in higher education at Vassar or for non-profit or private businesses in the Hudson Valley.  Please see the following readings that can provide you with some background information.

Vu Le is the former Executive Director of Rainier Valley Corps, a non-profit organization in Seattle that promotes social justice by developing leaders of color, strengthens organizations led by communities of color, and fosters collaboration between diverse communities.

Blog posts written by Vu Le:

Sharon Parkinson will also talk about the new salary disclosure bill that was approved by the New York City Council:

We look forward to seeing you! If you have any questions about these events and how we run them, please contact vcantiracismequityandjustice@gmail.com.

Closer Look – Equity Detours

Education Resources, Lunchtime Discussions

Pacing for privilege happens when the pace of change for an equity approach coddles the comfort and hesitancy of people with the least racial equity investment or interest. It punishes and ignores the people who most need and desire change  (students, families, educators or any individuals or groups experiencing racism).

Examples of pacing to privilege:

  • A cultural competence approach that talks about cultural differences without naming or confront racism
  • An administrative response that emphasizes the importance of staff buy-in, or “meeting people where they are at,” before implementing equity or taking a stance on an issue

Brainstorm of spaces we inhabit. Is racial equity alive in those spaces? How or how not?

  • When do we participate in avoiding or rearranging inequities?
  • How does that detour work? 
  • How was I disrupting or enabling that detour?

Literacy Moment – April 2021

Action Opportunity, Education Resources, Lunchtime Discussions

From our Lunchtime Discussions – What are racial equity detours?

  • The detours that white people follow to protect their privilege and avoid the messy work of racial justice 
  • Detours create an illusion of progress toward equity while cementing or even exacerbating inequity
  • Detours can be initiatives and strategies that pose little threat to structural racism yet they can consume extensive resources, including those marked for racial equity
  • Detours relieve us of the responsibility to name and illuminate the ways that racism operates in our workplaces, schools, institutions and communities

Read, Listen, and Watch – April 2021

Education Resources, Upcoming Community Events

The Mellon Research Initiative in Racial Capitalism Presents:
Wan-Chuan Kao, “In the Lap of Whiteness”

What did the premodern hold look like? What cargoes and feelings did it traffic? If the hold, in Fred Moten and Stefano Harney’s formulation, is a periodizing and racializing technology of modern logistics, the two imbricated vectors do not necessarily coincide. Instead of approaching the premodern hold from a modern biologization of race or from a cultural-political mode of historiography, Kao proposes a method grounded in empathy studies. Kao takes as a litmus test “The Squire’s Tale” by Chaucer, in particular its image of a feminine lap cradling a wounded talking falcon that signifies whiteness as racial capital in the guise of courtliness. An alternative to the extraction model of racial capitalism, Canacee’s empathic lap is one figuration of the premodern hold that attempts to traffic whiteness as its terrible load. Next, Kao considers periodization as the historiographic equivalent to racial passing, arguing that the two phenomena share traits and tactics, and that classification and recognition do not always align. In fact, the empathic scene is often marked by the non-coincidence of subjects—a certain wrongness inherent in a failed encounter—that demands willful interpellation. Kao then turns to the reception history of “The Squire’s Tale” and contend that Spenser and Milton repurpose the text through a Foucauldian contre-move rooted in modernist, Orientalist strategies of differentiating texts, bodies, affects, and histories. Periodization is the racial logistics of time.

https://dhi.ucdavis.edu/events/kao-lap-whiteness

In Our Community – Poughkeepsie Healthy, Black and LatinX Coalition

Action Opportunity, Community Initiatives, Education Resources, Upcoming Community Events

Poughkeepsie Healthy Black and LatinX Coalition 

If you are interested in the Poughkeepsie Healthy Black and Latinx Coaction they meet every second Thursday from 9:30am-11am. You can register here:
https://ppaf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMqd-mqpzsrGNJsX02m66fnhJuTuwDWD5aO

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Read, Listen, and Watch – January 2021

Education Resources, , , , , ,

“With Zero Representation, You can See the Racism” 

Racism within the Arlington School District has come into light throughout the past few years. Firstly, the Center for Strategic Solutions at NYU Metro Center was hired by Arlington for the past several years to facilitate their District-wide equity initiative. After discovering Arlington’s racist tendencies and resistance to equity, NYU withdrew from the relationship. Arlington’s Board of Education shut down communication and transparency, while teachers and staff have been retaliated against for speaking out against racism. The black deputy superintendent was scapegoated, silenced, and terminated. Natalie states that she and her colleagues cannot be complicit in the maintenance of racism against the children and community members of Arlington. Remaining silent means being complicit with white supremacy, which is thriving in Arlington’s administration.

The Arlington School District has been neglecting the calls for drastic changes within their institution to combat the blatant racism that has been plaguing the district for years. With a refusal to acknowledge the issues and take accountability for what is occurring within the walls of their schools, many parents, teachers, and other individuals of color are coming together to uplift their voices and be heard. Throughout this podcast, you will hear the stories and work of two Black women fighting against racism in the district. The first is a mother of three children who all attend school in Arlington. She is currently working on memorializing the stories of parents who have been harmed by racism, ensuring that they are heard and forcing Arlington to listen. The second woman is a former teacher from a school within the district. She offers a unique perspective, sharing her experiences with racism at the administrative level, during daily life at the school, and with the overall neglect from the school district. Emma Klein, Vassar College.

Interviews and editing done by VC student in CLCS 121. Transcript by Curtis Dozier.

Interview #1 begins at 00:24.
Interview #2 begins at 27:38.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12XBH97muzIObc94Hbdgow8bdYqU7yHpD/view?usp=sharing