My friend Wedge has a theory. He believes that undoing racism and the stranglehold mythology has on American history or society comes down to reframing the talking points away from White Privilege and emphasizing oppression in the past, present, and future experiences of People of Color (he’s not ready for BIPOC).
I have to point out that Wedge has enjoyed instigating and provoking people with his views for some time (trolling since the early days of dial up?). We used to get into it on a regular basis. Sometimes our ideas overlapped but more often our conversations digressed and one of us would walk away. More recently when we do have a chance to hang out, we have more civil and productive conversations around his backyard fire pit. One night around the fire he dropped his notion of oppression versus privilege theory on me. A year or so later I keep thinking about it. As I begin my 12th grade history seminar (the History of the Other in America) I find myself dwelling on his talking points for changing how this country engages in some difficult conversations.
This year for our inaugural senior history seminar, we will examine a variety of questions or issues across racial and cultural groups as a means to reframe the narrative of America. The goal as we explore these questions or issues is twofold. First to create a more honest interpretation of US History we want to deconstruct the dominant historical narratives so that new, more accurate narratives can take their place. Second, we wish to rethink what we know about American history by exploring new topics and reexamine specific issues in greater depth. Thus far in our introductory discussions we have focused on the role of sovereignty, power, and control shape or have shaped these issues. As I prepare for each week I keep hearing Wedge’s voice telling me to focus on oppression not privilege.
In the Wedge Theory, activists and educators will not make much headway in undoing the sins of history unless they change how more of White America thinks about race. To do that, we need more people on the side of honest history and fewer people digging their heels in with defensive reactions. He pointed out that using terms such as privilege seems to alienate working and middle class White communities. His reasoning centered on how many people down the socioeconomic food chain struggle to comprehend that they have any privileges around race when they’ve struggled and continue to struggle to get by economically.. He suggested that focusing on oppression initially instead of privilege would pull more people into the conversation and create some cohesion that could then be used to dismantle the animosity between different racial and economic groups. While not a complete theory (and not without some blindspots) I found his ideas to be eye opening and intriguing.
Of course, two old White guys sitting around a fire discussing privilege oozes privilege. We own that and recognize that we have blind spots in our understanding on numerous levels. That said, we are insiders on the outside with ideas for infiltrating the system. So, as Wedge pointed out, we need more ways to build alliances, crank up the volume on multiple narratives, and engage in supportive conversations. This doesn’t mean we avoid dismantling White privilege, it just means that perhaps we lead with another topic to get the discussion going and build relationships instead triggering a defensive reaction right from the get go..
So as I built curriculum for this year, I kept his idea front and center and tried to merge it with something we talked about last year in school - that members of different communities aren’t victims of history but survivors of America’s history. That racial or ethnic groups have resisted and succeeded in spite of myriad efforts by those in power to break and bury them in the shadows of history. Regardless of where the seminar takes us, so far oppression has proven more accessible for my class than other approaches and access provides a good place to begin