Read on Twitter
THREAD: in light of the conversation about race in the classroom, I wanted to share a few ways that white professors can be allies to their colleagues of color in academia:
1. If it is the norm in your department or school for students to address professors as "Professor," put a sentence on your syllabus about it and say a few words out it on the first day of class.
Professors of color are disproportionately likely to be addressed as "Mr.," "Ms.," or their first name. Titles are often something a student hasn't thought about very much and it's (all of) our job to educate them.
Right now the burden of education falls on those of us who are more likely to be addressed as something other than "professor." Everyone can help to reinforce norms around titles, whether or not students are likely to call you something other than your title.
2. Talk about your colleagues of color as experts. If you subtly undermine a colleague ("it's her first time teaching this class" etc.) -- even if that's not what you're trying to do -- students will take a cue from you.
3. There's a whole Twitter conversation going on right now about whether/how professors should talk about race in subjects that are not necessarily focused on race. I'm not really weighing in on that big conversation here, but I'll say this --
If you and a colleague of color are teaching the same subject (let's say property or contracts) and you talk about race, you make it easier for your colleagues of color to talk about race without resistance from students. The message is that race is a normal part of this subject.
If you and a colleague of color *both* talk about redlining, it's easier for both of you to talk about redlining. Consider coordinating with colleagues of color about the materials they use (especially if this is part of their expertise).
4. When course evaluation time comes around, say a few words to your students about raced/gendered comments that are inappropriate but all-too-common, even if *you* never get those comments yourself.
For example, people of color (and especially women of color) get a disproportionate number of comments on their appearance. This is a professionalism issue, so it should be a concern of the whole faculty -- not just the people who are likely to be the target of comments.
5. Research shows that professors of color spend a disproportionate amount of time mentoring students of color, which takes away from the time we have for other work. I want to be really careful about how I talk about this, because I love mentoring students of color.
But cross-racial mentorship is also powerful and important. The mentor who influenced me the most is a white man.
I would just suggest being mindful of who you are mentoring and how and how much. It's very natural to be drawn to people who remind you of you -- I think that's true of almost everyone. Mentoring people who are different from you is challenging but also very rewarding.
If you made it to the end, thanks for reading! This isn't meant to be an exhaustive list, and I'm sure other folks have good ideas and amendments. I want to conclude by recommending @meeradeo's "Unequal Profession" for further reading related to the above. https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781503607842
P.S. I just wanted to add that a lot of this overlaps with issues relating to other identities, gender, LGBTQ, disability, etc., and I don't mean to diminish those identities or the intersections. This thread includes ideas that seem to me to have a racial dimension.
