Images of “othering”

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I just reconnected with an amazing woman from my grad school days at the University of Maryland.  Avis Jones-Deweever is director of the Research, Public Policy, and Information Center at the National Council of Nego Women.  Please read her recent blog post on “Precious” and “The Blind Side” on the Race-Talk blog site!  Media portrayals of black women, men, children, families, and communities deeply impact choices we ultimately make about public policy, education, care, and trust.  Avis’ blog helps put current movie releases into relief.

At West Wind, we have been exploring the impact of othering on education…how our expectations and beliefs about children of color, their families, and their communities have been shaped by centuries of images of people of color designed to justify oppression and lack of care.  The conversations we had with folks at the Summit for Courageous Conversation and the Harvard Alumni of Color Conference have helped us to understand much of what we have seen in our work with schools, communities, researchers, and policy leaders.  If we don’t believe children can learn, we don’t teach them effectively.  If we believe they are dangerous, we discipline them at higher rates and we do what we can to protect others from them.  This is precisely what we are doing as a society.

Overcoming dominant narratives about children of color may be our greatest challenge as a nation and an education system.