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1/5 I’m a critical race scholar & an anthropologist. Yesterday I did my job and asked a white scholar how she interrogated her whiteness in her work in Mexico. She responded that race shouldn’t be a factor. Keep reading, it gets better.
2Her lack of critical self reflection meant that she repeatedly used ethnic slurs to “make a point” without any consideration of how that reproduced violence on the ppl listening. She argued that her rapport with her subjects gave her license to use these slurs “as critique”. No.
3 I told her it was offensive and would be to our majority MexAm/Latinx students. She kept using the slur.
There were many other offensive aspects of her work that she refused to even think through. spending 2.5 hours of my day engaging with this person was exhausting.
There were many other offensive aspects of her work that she refused to even think through. spending 2.5 hours of my day engaging with this person was exhausting.
4 But I gave her the benefit & engaged her intellectually even though she clearly didn’t respect me. Last night she emailed my entire department saying that my “misinterpretations of her work” constituted “verbal assault” & that I was unprofessional & a poor reflection on my dept
5 The lesson here is that #WhiteSupremacyIsTheWater and whiteness can never be critically questioned Bc just that is an attack. WOC are cute when we’re giving workshops on “racial justice” but “aggressive” & “unprofessional” when we legitimately call out racist practices.
I can’t believe the attention these tweets have received. It shows how pervasive these issues are. I knew my department would be complicit with white supremacy. I’m not surprised. I did my job and did it well and Bc of that I’m being reprimanded.
BIPOC we’re born guilty in a white supremacist state. We never get the benefit of the doubt Bc our very identity is a transgression. This woman is accusing me of “assault” all because I asked her difficult questions about the race politics of her work. It’s not ok.
