When I think of how to “help the world”, I think of educating children, and to be honest, when I think of educating children, I do not think of American children, so I already feeling shaky broaching this subject. For example, when I think of gender equality in, say, the Middle East, I do not imagine schools for just girls but also the boys who otherwise would grow into men that perpetuate the systems we must dismantle. No vision of a more humane world involves focusing on a singular slice of the population, no matter how much I love them.
As of 2018, 60% of America’s population is non-Hispanic white, and 41% of people below poverty are white. While that’s disproportionate, that’s still a lot: ~16 million people we’re talking. Beyond just the fact that poor white Americans are humans struggling and could use help and attention, they also are necessary for promoting the social, economic and political equality of people of color in America. Simply focusing on the latter populations burdens these very communities with the revolution. The impetus is on them to be stronger, smarter, resilient. That’s unjust.
While we strengthen communities of color, we must also rehabilitate white Americans. This does not mean teaching them of their privilege. This means acknowledging their pain. I know first hand how indigestible lectures of white privilege can be for a white person who’s struggled greatly. I’m grateful my instinct was to shut up and try to understand, but I don’t suspect that’s universally common or even correct.
And yet—
I don’t see too many of my benevolent white peers focusing on poor whites. I know of very few rural outreach programs (for the record: 78% of America’s rural population is white, whereas on average 35% of America’s urban population is white.) And I wonder why.
Firstly, I think it comes across as an “All Lives Matter” effort that may threaten to deter from the BLM movement. Secondly, I think the benevolent white people, like me, are afraid.
I am afraid to seem like an All Lives Matter person, even wondering about educating poor white children, yes, but there are deeper fears and wonderings within me. I didn’t even register at the time that my white peers who left college to teach ended up exclusively in urban schools. Deep in my unconscious, equity in education started in communities of color. Now, I believe unshakably equity begins everywhere. I can’t help it! Therefore, one of the things I wonder is why my first ideas (and those of many others) of equity in education do or did not expand to white children in poor areas. I wonder if this is reflected in the images of social upheaval we now see.
I see ignorance and subsequent miscommunication as causes, and I struggle to determine when to hold someone accountable for their ignorance. I’ve come to use Maya Angelou’s rule of thumb: “if you know better, do better.” People’s ignorance is not their fault. When encountered with illumination one reacts aggressively or rejects the opportunity to learn, then I see that as a hubristic reflex for which the actor is responsible. However, this is assuming the edifier also acted gracefully, which is not always the case. People in the position to education must also be open to being wrong in either their ideals or their execution. Grace and wisdom are refractions of one another.