Some comments about the Teachers College Winter Roundtable
Yesterday and the day before were The Winter Roundtable at
Teachers College which, to quote their website, is “the longest running
continuing professional education program in the United States devoted solely
to cultural issues in psychology and education.” One of the highlights for me
was the plenary session which included speeches by and conversation between Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D, and Dr.
Joseph L. White. Dr. White shared his experience of being the first Black
PhD psychology student at The University of Michigan and among the first in the
US.
Dr. White's description of his
strategy process within the White dominated system was powerful to hear. His
ability to understand social networks and the impact of White supremacy on his
choices both early in his career and in the current times are great lessons for
me as a White practitioner, both to give me more insight into the added bandwidth that
people of color are forced to bring to their work compared to us Whites, the importance of applying strategy to my own work, especially in the context
of my racial awareness development work.
Drs White's and Parham’s
relationship was also a great pleasure to experience such as we were invited
into it during their interactions on the stage. I was left with a feeling of
admiration that would be akin to Mudita, from the Buddhist term meaning appreciative
joy at the success and good fortune of others.
Yesterday I presented my workshop,
“It’s On Me: Processing Our Microaggressions.” It was designed to create a
space for people from privileged groups, especially Whites, to discuss and
strategize how we deal with our own unconscious bias, especially when we have
committed a microaggression. In the context of The Roundtable, there were a
number of people of color, more than whites, so that the conversation naturally
turned to strategizing around being the recipient of MA’s at times, but it was
refreshing to see people of all groups consider and speak relatively freely
about their experiences, concerns, worries, and triumphs in dealing with their own
unconscious biases. It’s never an easy thing to keep people focused on things
that cause them discomfort, and what could be more uncomfortable than having
acted out unconscious bias?
I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to deliver this workshop.
