Good gingers, magic carpet rides, and academic gossip

Snark for days, shade for white education “activists,” and delicious academic gossip.

I know I should be writing about how IT’S BEEN ONE YEAR, but tbh, I’m more interested in exploring whether or not Harry is a model of non-toxic white masculinity??? As I watched that bombshell interview, I found myself wanting to reach through the tv set, gently tussle Harry’s thinning ginger locks and then pat him on the head saying “Good ginger, good!” 

Dear friends and fam,

I know I should be writing about how IT’S BEEN ONE YEAR, but tbh, I’m more interested in exploring whether or not Harry is a model of non-toxic white masculinity??? As I watched that bombshell interview, I found myself wanting to reach through the tv set, gently tussle Harry’s thinning ginger locks and then pat him on the head saying “Good ginger, good!” 

Regardless of how you feel about these now pseudo-royals, you gotta admit, when Harry’s face flushed bright red as he speaks about the way his wife was treated, it was nothing short of adorable. And if you’ve been reading for a while, you know how rare it is for me to compliment a white man who is the literal embodiment of the brutal project of imperialism and exploitation. (Also-- why are we shocked that fam would be racist?? Lolz… their whole empire is justified and made profitable by racism!)

But I am rather serious about this non-toxic masculinity thing. Harry had an awakening and that’s no small feat to be dusted under the carpet (nor even a magic one). He admits he never would have left The Institution if it had not been for Meghan… illustrating yet again that when you facilitate the self-liberation of a Black woman, you liberate yourself! (s/o to the Hegelian master-slave dialectic-- but don’t worry, this email ends on a critique of simple binaries).

Now that I’ve cited two white men, let’s get down to critiquing some white ppl. Lately, I’ve been attending a lot of zoom events about The State of Education. And, damn, they’re not only bleak, but also somehow boring? Or maybe just banal and entirely besides the point? This could be my burnout that’s peeking over my horizon talking, but I don’t think so. At least not entirely. 

As I sat in on one such Very Official and Serious State of Education Event, I was initially fascinated by how many education powerhouses were in one zoom together… that is, until I realized they were speaking about the ills of charter schools and there was not one single BIPOC person on their panel. In fact, race and racism was mentioned exactly once: as an aside towards the end of the Q&A and only because you know ya girl was going ham in that zoom chat. I asked why there were no BIPOC people in this Very Important Conversation About Education. The literal answer I got? 

“Well, we don’t really know of any Black people willing to speak out against charter schools.” 

R U F-ing Kidding me? I was like I CAN SEND YOU A LIST RIGHT NOW, YOU RACIST MOTHER F-ERS*  (In fact, here is just one that I don’t think gets enough attention and should: @BlackNBrownatDP —> they’re speaking truth to power about the reality of what BIPOC students experience on the daily at charters. Here’s an op-ed about them by Ariel Poster. Led by student voices and former staff, it makes you excited for what else gen Z is gonna do).

Given the fact that the majority of charter schools are in majority-minority urban communities, which is even more evident in the reality that overall, Black students comprise only 15% of the total student population in the U.S. So, to say that charter schools are intentionally targeting racial minorities is not opinion or conjecture, but statistical fact. 

Student demographic breakdown of Public Schools in 2017 of BOTH traditional public and charters:

Do note that 56% of ALL charter school students are Black and brown:

These pie charts are just for 2017, if we look at the difference between charter school enrollment a decade ago versus now, almost all of the massive gains in enrollment size are in the hispanic and Black categories, with a significant decline in white student enrollment. That is intentional, because you see, if you invest in a low-income high needs community, you get a sweet sweet tax break thanks to the 2000 Community Renewal Relief Act. Not only that, if you’re a hedge fund or even private billionaire, you can bundle that deduction with others to make sure you never pay even your remotely fair share of taxes and therein exacerbating the problems in public education exponentially! Here’s looking at you Bill and Mark!

Which is to say, charter schools sure do love Black and brown kids…. Because it’s easier to cut corners and pretend you’re still giving them “something” all while riding your white savior magic carpet into the sweet sweet sunset of low taxes. (For more: Valerie Strauss’ “Why hedge funds love charter schools”)

So perhaps you can understand my righteous indignation as I sat through that particular zoom, even though I’m far too classy to say who led it other than it was sponsored by some very prominent and very white opponents of charters. Just when you think you know all the ways white ppl suck… we surprise even ourselves.

Nevertheless, as these old white liberal education cronies continued to self-congratulate each other on no longer believing in libertarian ‘ideals,’ all I could think was: jesus christ, if these people are in charge of the resistance we’re all already fucked. (pardon my French)

Their white blind spot is showing. This is how institutionalized and individual racism works: it is assumed that BIPOC people will not have the solutions to fighting discrimination and inequity against them… Or is it that we just don’t give enough of a shit about how racism operates in our education systems to address it, much less invite some experts on it in?

I can’t. Those tired old white people all need to retire. Go home boomers, you’ve ruined enough. It’s time for a change of guard. BIPOCs and LGBTQ+ to the front please, this revolution may not be televised, but it will be on insta: @BlackNBrownatDP

ACADEMIC GOSSIP:

Speaking of Very Important Black People Speaking about Racism, my friend Margo Aaron recently forwarded Glen Loury’s newsletter to me, asking for me to comment on the latest skirmish between Glen Loury, a Black professor at Brown University, and John McWhorter, a Black linguist at Columbia, and Ibrham X Kendi.

I eagerly oblige with relish:

Listen, I’m a petty B, I love me a good intellectual smackdown, and that is exactly what this conversation is between Glenn Loury and John McWhorter. To be fair, Kendi started it by calling John McWhorter a racist. Their charge against Kendi in response? That he’s an intellectual lightweight who leans too heavily on a simplistic and rigid dichotomy of you either being racist or anti-racist. In fact, to my churlish delight, McWhorter at one point comments, “to be honest, it surprises me that Kendi even has a PhD.”

Ohhhh shiiiiiit. What a burn. I’m here for it. Is Kendi relying on a heavily over-simplified narrative about racism in his book How to Be Anti-Racist? Yes, 100%. But does that mean his work isn’t useful? Not necessarily. 

Let’s take a wide angle view on this: Kendi’s audience is clearly different than Loury and McWhorter’s audience. Kendi is a popular intellectual, meaning that he writes in an easily digestible way that, at times, does indeed grossly over-simplify the complexity of this racist quagmire we find ourselves in.

Loury and McWhorter are just calling for nuance. And that’s more than fair. As McWhorter explains, “If [Kendi] really does think he’s come up with something that sacrosanct and that the only people who can oppose him are wrong, he has dumb ideas-- I don’t think he is the brightest bulb on the christmas tree.”

lolzzzzzz

Would I cite Kendi in my own writing? Maybe. He’s got some good Atlantic essays for sure. Like Di Angelo’s one hit wonder of the term “white fragility,” Kendi also oversimplifies it in similar (though far less problematic) ways.

BUT! we all need to start somewhere. 

Do I recommend Kendi’s book as an entry-level intro to anti-racism and racial bias? Yes. Because it’s written like a conversation, and because he makes some very valid and important (albeit, in a populist way) points about racism. (the same cannot be said of me and Robyn DiAngelo-- though I would like to borrow McWhorter’s observation that if Kendi is not “the brightest bulb” and say that if that’s true of Kendi, it’s triple true of DiAngelo). 

At the end of the day, Kendi is going to provide a helpful structure for many of us beginning our journey towards anti-racism. He’s not going to nourish you forever, soon you’ll yearn for a more nuanced and intelligent conversation about race, and that’s when you reach for Glenn Loury and John McWhorter et al. 

IMO, Kendi poked a bear, because he could not possibly have been prepared for an intelligent retort--bc, well, it’s true, he’s not rigorous enough of an intellectual. In addition to that, it’s just petty and insecure on Kendi’s part. Like, sorry not sorry, but Kendi would do well to stay in his lane. 

Nobody agrees with everything one person says or writes, but that doesn’t mean you should go picking on Blackacademia just because they don’t think you’re a good scholar... cuz the reality is, Kendi, you aren’t-- but that’s a good thing. Stay in your lane, do your work, and stay humble ffs.

The flipside:

Just as Loury and McWhorter critique Kendi for a lack of nuance, I argue that they would also do well to remember that it’s going to take all of us, and a shit ton of conflicting feelings and opinions, to begin to heal the racial divide. Academics are trained for an intense level of rhetorical analysis; they are absolutely needed in the revolution. But, academics must be cognizant that the most urgent task of anti-racism today is educating the masses-- something that, by design, academics are not trained to do (and don’t @ me, Loury and McWhorter are at prestigious ivies, *if* they even teach anymore, it ain’t to the average American).

See? There’s an example of nuance being applied to both sides. Nothing is ever black or white, and to risk reducing life down to a simple either/or structure is precisely what got us to this moment of post-Trumpism toxicity. 

In his latest newsletter  Loury notes: “durable racial inequality is ultimately a cultural phenomenon, implicating not only the transfer of financial resources, but more fundamentally, the decisions we make daily about with whom to associate and identify -- conceptions about identity embraced by people of all races.”

Yaaaaaas. My brain is trained to critique the cultural manifestations of racial inequality, and I am of the humble opinion that it is through that lens that the most learning about racism will happen. S/O to the dying field of the Humanities. 

What I’m Reading:

Well, Glenn Loury’s substack for starters. And John McWhorter’s. Actually, a ton of substack if I’m being honest. It’s just that all of my favorite writers are on here, and it’s one way you can support the contemporary authors you love. Most paid subscriptions are $6/mo -- that’s like, one and a half lattes. And as you all know, writing don’t pay shit, so I love the fact that I can financially support my favorite writers-- even though some of them are huge names, that doesn’t necessarily translate into financial reward. 

In particular, my idols Tressie McMillan Cottom, and her amazing essay on the glory of Dolly Parton, Roxane Gay, and Samantha Irby all have newsletters. Importantly, Samantha Ibry’s is literally just her live-tweeting Judge Mathis episodes and I’m here for this important cultural analysis. Voice of a generation? Absolutely. 

FOR MY WONDERFUL WRITERS AND FREELANCERS:

Here is a list of newsletters and sites that have been invaluable to me as I brave this new world of writers for hire: Studyhall.xyz, One More Question, What to Read If, Margo Aaron’s This Seems Important, and Neon Literary Agency’s Glow in the Dark.

What’s new with Post-PhD:

Someone get me an assistant and funds to pay them! I didn’t get to my next post this week, but at least I wrote something last week, that I still think is a pretty interesting read for all my nerd activists out there: 

And finally, let’s close this out with a quote from Glen Loury’s latest newsletter:

“I also conclude that, while cannot ignore the behavioral roots of racial disparity, we should discuss and react to them as if we were talking about our own children, neighbors, and friends. We Americans are all in this together.”

*(I in fact did follow up with an email with said list, only to get an even longer list of Black-run orgs they liked in response back and I was like… y’all know you just proved my point, right? That it’s even worse that you knew about all of them and didn’t call any of them in, ffs)

NSFS: Not Safe for School, your snark-filled antidote to racism and corruption in education. Follow @postphdtheblog on Twitter and @allisonharbin_postphd on Instagram

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