Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Fo Sho My N-Words!

I have made a pact with myself that I would never use the n-word for fear that my already radiant white skin will illuminate to a level which can be seen from orbit. However, in this strange alternate reality where I have become a lucky teacher of an American Literature Class I will face the inevitable challenge of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I recognize that I am a middle class white, cis, straight, male and therefore am the major cause of every problem in society due to the sheer amount of privilege that I am burdened to carry for all of my days. So for me to have the audacity to say the n-word in class and potentially offend a special little snowflake, would not be checking my privilege at all. I need to be sensitive to these gentle, majestic creatures because the last thing I want to be is "problematic". It's not as though these children in my class are real people who will have to go into the real world to face real problems and challenges, so what's the point in preparing them for something they realistically should never have to think about? We live in a culture where college campuses are gracious enough to offer safe zones so that these special little snowflakes can continue in their personal world without racism and bigotry. Whose to say that in 10 years time, every potentially triggering thing will have trigger warnings so that the snowflakes will never have to be unexpectedly offended by anything ever again. Could we not try to work through these racial issues with co-operation and the intent on building a strong relationship which bridges the races? That's not my decision to make at all! Remember all the privilege I have? Someone with my amount of privilege should never be allowed the opportunity to try to make a difference. That's crazy talk. So if I were to teach The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I would use the version with the n-word, but I would also strategically divide the entire class into teams and make reading the book an at home assignment. That way I'll never have to read aloud in class! Then when the time comes to talk about the n-word, I'll assign a series of articles to read and videos to watch (which use the n-word) so that the students will get an introduction at home and understand what I'm referring to when I say "n-word" instead of the actually n-word in class. Genius if I may say so myself. 

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