Ignorance in the academy
As a graduate student in Pan-African Studies with an African and African American Studies undergraduate background, I’m sure you can imagine I’ve had my share of encounters with ignorance in the academy. We’ve all had experiences in the classroom where you think to yourself, “oh my God, did that just come out of his or her mouth.” In an effort to work through these problems, I though it best to introduce the issue here on Blackademcis for further debate.
A white colleague, in our predominantly African, African American and Afro-Caribbean department, described to me feelings of alienation. These descriptions of isolation quickly led to accusations of elitism, arrogance and close mindedness on part of various individuals (including myself) within the department. (S)he felt suffocated in a sea of black faces, intimidated and unable to articulate his/herself in the classroom and disillusioned by the entire experience. (S)he was reduced to tears, explaining how open-minded and tolerant, (s)he was and how (s)he couldn’t be racist.. why else would (s)he be studying the history of Africans and African Americans?
Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard anything like this before. Instead of revealing how this issue was “resolved”, I would rather stop the story here and open it up for debate. I will share the rest of the story in the comment section, as it applies to the reflections of the Blackademic community.
Published on September 12, 2006 at 1:39 pm.
15 Comments.
Filed under academia, ignorance.
