I have recently begun a qualitative study on exploring how
to best develop positive social justice ally attitudes and behaviors in
heterosexual White college men (hereinafter abbreviated as STR8WCM). This blog post is about my thoughts and
reflexive comments as I begin analyzing the first of many focus groups with an
estimated 300 participants at 15 institutions around the country. I am a straight White male faculty member in
a student affairs preparation program. I
am not an American citizen, but outside my resident alien status I benefit from
unearned racial, gender, and sexual identity privilege. As the father of three young daughters and
the partner to my spouse, I am committed to reducing White male hegemony and
patriarchy in this society. I lean on
the work by Ellen Broido who defined social justice allies as members from
dominant groups who work to end the system of oppression that provides greater
privilege and power based on their membership in culturally dominant groups.
At a recent national conference, I attended a session on the
apparent alienation of heterosexual White men in higher education
administration. The main presenter was
an African American woman and recent Ph.D. graduate. Despite her best intentions and balanced
approach, the topic seemingly polarized the room and tension between attendees was
palpable. Her research findings
suggested that White men in higher education administration displayed
perspectives of powerlessness and disappointment in affirmative action
policies. The topic had divided the
room, not to the fault of the presenter but because the audience failed to see
alternative experiences and viewpoints.
On the one side, the polarizing comments stemmed from racial and gender
privilege, and speaking for rather
than to those perceived
oppressed. On the other side emerged deeply
felt pain and perceived oppression even in a session intended to tackle threats
to inequality and social justice. As I sat there, I became frustrated at many
of my White colleagues (men and women) for voicing their privileged
perspectives about “always being blamed for everyone else’s struggle” or for
displaying obviously colorblind points of view.
I was also saddened by comments from a few Colleagues of Color in the
room who indicated dismissively, “White men will never understand what we go through”
(that may be true but developing empathy for the experiences of
underrepresented individuals is an important outcome for which all Whites
should strive).
I too struggle with creating a balance with this clearly
difficult and potentially contentious topic, but I don’t think the discussion
on STR8WCM and social justice is a mutually exclusive one. Certainly, college educators must
appropriately challenge and instruct STR8WCM on their unearned gender and
racial privilege and the history of White supremacy, racism, homophobia, and
sexism. On the other hand, my training
as a qualitative researcher compels me to advocate for the continued exploration
and understanding of the lived experiences of STR8WCM with diversity, their
perceived benefits and barriers to engaging in diversity discussions, and their
sense of responsibility in advocating for social justice on campus and in
society. Contrary to popular beliefs of
many college educators, we do not yet know everything there is to know about
White college men and new research needs to challenge outdated androcentric
notions. Our target learning outcomes include
open and honest discussions among all students alongside social justice and
human difference; after all, over 60 years since Allport’s original Contact
Hypothesis, intergroup and cross-racial dialogue remain among the most significant
predictors of decreasing stereotypes, racial prejudice, and other forms of
discrimination. Judging by the
interactions among the attendees of the conference session, we are farther away
from that goal than we may think. White
men need to listen to colleagues from underrepresented backgrounds who have
experienced racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination. At the same time White men must not retreat
when issues of discrimination or hate speech surface on campus. Our colleagues rely on us to help put a stop
to these behaviors that are most often displayed by members of majority
groups. This forces us to speak openly and
honestly about topics in which we may not consider ourselves experts. Yet, muddling through to find a solution is
always better than remaining silent and standing idly by.
Along with the listening STR8WCM must do, they should also
be invited to share their own life experiences with diversity (we may be
surprised about many of these experiences).
Appropriately developing STR8WCM as social justice allies never means we
apply the deficit model as a lens and throw a pity party for White men at the
expense of others. Nor does it mean
stopping to serve members from underrepresented groups. Yet, when college educators utter the words inclusive excellence, we commit to serving all students all the time, regardless of their development along a
positive social justice ally continuum.
If STR8WCM display an unbending sense of privilege and seem to lack a
sense of empathy for the historical and current experiences of underrepresented
populations, we check them on that in the context of holistic learning and
development. Hitting them over the head
with education under the guise of political correctness the first chance we get
is not a recipe for success. I have had
several focus group participants who have perceived faculty to be biased
against STR8WCM from day one, likely due to their experiences with other White
men in the past. While we must never
justify discriminatory actions by Whites against people from underrepresented
groups, we should also hope that faculty can find more effective ways to reach
and teach White men in college than criticizing or blaming them. I guarantee the confrontational approach does
nothing to ignite learning about human differences. In a way, the blame game reinforces White
privilege as White men retreat away from the discussion to continue to live
unchallenged existences in the campus community. Because, as one of my participants noted, “As
a STR8WCM I have the advantage to slip into the background and not needing to
care about diversity.” We can no longer
afford to give White men reason not to care or to turn off being receptive to or
engaging in all things diversity.
In the context of social justice ally development of STR8WCM,
I have asked myself the following questions and invite others to do the same:
1)
Do STR8WCM have the capacity to develop empathy
for, appreciation and perhaps celebration of people who are different relative
to power and privilege? Further, do we
think STR8WCM can become positive social justice allies to women, LGBTQ
individuals, and people of color?
2)
Do we as educators have the capacity and the
will to invite STR8WCM to participate in critical discussions around race, equality,
and social justice? If so, are we
willing to engage men meaningfully without blaming or shaming them on their
perhaps under- or undeveloped viewpoints that likely display perspectives of
unearned privilege, intolerance, or racism?
If you answered yes to any or all questions, perhaps we can
begin to think about inclusive excellence as creating a space to hear and
engage STR8WCM on all matters of diversity and social justice while checking
their conceptualizations of privilege, power, and patriarchy. A relatively large body of research suggests
(along with some of my own) that many STR8WCM are indeed interested and
committed to playing a role in inclusive excellence discussions and initiatives. Further, researchers such as Linda Sax have
found that college men actually benefit more from diversity programming and
courses than women; however, men also express more discomfort about learning
about the topic because of the perceived work they have to do in
self-awareness, advocacy of underrepresented groups, and social justice ally
development. Yet, college educators
struggle mightily in getting men in the seats where learning can occur.
I close by paraphrasing a brilliant quote by Larry Roper,
Vice Provost for Student Affairs at Oregon State University, from an article
about perceptions White college students had about diversity programming on
campus: Can college educators and their institutions create space at the center
for all students they intend to serve? If the answer is yes, I am certain most
STR8WCM would love to share that space with all other students and in it engage
in critical questions and discussions about social justice. May men from majority groups already do. However,
we should be aware that STR8WCM will not likely flock to us with outstretched
arms ready to embrace learning about diversity unless we as educators show we
are open to them joining the space and the discussion.
Dr. Jörg Vianden is Assistant Professor of Student Affairs
Administration at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He has taught and
published on men and masculinities in higher education. Jörg invites others to follow him on twitter
(@jvianden) or to connect via e-mail (jvianden@uwlax.edu).
He would love to hear from readers challenging his assumptions and
perspectives.
Resources:
Allport, G. W.
(1954). The nature of prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Broido,
E. M. (2000). The development of social justice allies during college: A
phenomenological investigation. Journal
of College Student Development, 41(1), 3–18.
Roper, L. D. (2004). Do students
support diversity programs? Change, 36(6), 48–51.
Sax, L. J. (2009). Gender matters:
The variable effect of gender on the student experience. About
Campus,
14(2), 2–10.
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