#hiddendores

[z4howard]

#Hiddendores

[hiddendores]

"Ignorance is NOT Bliss. Educate yourself about other cultures; you'll be surprised by how much fun it is!!!" #HiddenDores

[z4howard]

#Hiddendores Vanderbilt University

[hiddendores]

"Some people prefer to eat with fork and spoon, some people with chopsticks. Me with my HAND." #HiddenDores

[hiddendores]

One of my biggest pet peeves is when somebody posts the Morgan Freeman quote, "the only way to stop racism is to stop talking about it," as if it's some legitimate proof that racism is solely perpetuated in society through conversations about it. I feel like this is a reflection that conversations about minority oppression can make people (myself included) uncomfortable, and it becomes more about creating the illusion of a perfect world than actually understanding its realities. But WHAT THE HELL is wrong with feeling uncomfortable, especially when it's something that continues to plague society? If anything, it's my discomfort in confronting racist realities that alters my perspective. It forces me to to come to terms with my own prejudices, and change them so that I can become more open to beauty of diversity and its benefits to understanding what it truly means to be human. So really, the only way we can end racism is to CONTINUE to talk about it, let go of our selfish desires for comfort, and strive towards developing a full understanding of all who have been and continue to be held to unfair standards.

Submitted Anonymously

[hiddendores]

"I refuse to be uncomfortable to make you comfortable. My experience matters too..." #HiddenDores

[hiddendores]

"Diversity is a celebration - come join us!" #HiddenDores

[hiddendores]

"Just because I'm Black doesn't mean that I'm on an athletic scholarship. But I am an Ingram Scholar." #HiddenDores

[hiddendores]

"I DO NOT exist solely to prove every negative Black 'stereotype' wrong..." #HiddenDores

[hiddendores]

"'You are so lucky you can act white AND check black on applications.'" #HiddenDores

[hiddendores]

I am black and talking about the achievement gap in class makes me feel inferior. Don’t get me wrong—I think the conversation is worth having and it’s important to expose inequalities in society. Just, when we have these lectures in class, I have a huge urge to say, “This does not apply to me!” It seems like there should be a sharper line drawn between saying race correlates with achievement DUE TO EXTENUATING FACTORS and saying that being black inherently equals lower achievement (a racist view that has been propagated throughout history). Statistics about the achievement gap are fairly blasé in making this distinction, and sometimes at first glance seem to imply the latter. I’m fairly confident Vanderbilt students are smart enough to know the difference between correlation and causation in terms of race and achievement. And yet, I always feel antsy when we have this conversation, because I feel I must prove my achievement. Right or wrong, I don’t want to people to look at me and think, “she’s poor, she went to struggling schools, she scored lower than her white peers…” (none of which is true). Overall, I think we should all be more careful in how we phrase the issue. Rather than saying, how are blacks failing the educational system, why not ask how is the educational system failing blacks? That’s a much more honest look at the issue that doesn’t seem to suggest individual deficiency so strongly.

Submitted Anonymously

[hiddendores]

"Stating my opinion does not make me an ANGRY Black Woman " #HiddenDores

[hiddendores]

It is my hope that ‘We’ - as members of historically oppressed and underrepresented groups, and allies of those groups, come forward and demand change on this campus. A student movement which revolves around racial injustice and microaggressions on campus is a start - an excellent start - but it is not enough. Evidence of structural racism and classism is rampant on campus. We are home to the #2 school of education in the country, and we are home to published article(s) that claim that it isn’t the constraints of poverty, race, or minority status that is responsible for low test scores of American students, but rather an “impoverished spirit” and a “general lack of desire to learn.” Opportunities for exposure to critical theory and training in critical pedagogy - arguably the key components for establishing real change in society, equipping us with the intellectual tools to speak truth to power - are largely absent from campus. The failure to acknowledge structural barriers perpetuates the myth of American meritocracy, and establishes the legitimacy of a dangerous discourse that works in favor of the dominant, that encourages us to remain ‘neutral’ and to ‘do what we can do within the constraints of our system’. This, as opposed to directly challenging the status quo. This, as opposed to learning a new language that acknowledges how individual problems are set in larger social contexts and histories of injustice. Without a collective commitment to social justice and critical education, nothing changes. In the words of Paulo Freire, “Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” What will be the role of education at Vanderbilt, for ourselves and for future generations of educators? We decide.

Submitted Anonymously

[hiddendores]

"50% Chicago, 50% Nigeria, 100% Med School Bound."#HiddenDores

[hiddendores]

"NO you cannot touch my hair." #HiddenDores