During the summer I participated in a six-week African American Studies Program called TASS (Telluride Association Sophomore Seminars). The Telluride Association hosts four seminars per summer. The seminar I attended, held at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, was called In Search of Identity and dealt not only with African American Studies, but also with gender, sexuality and the nuances of blackness. We read excerpts of works by great minds such as Bell Hooks and W.E.B. Dubois. Through these readings, we were able to analyze the hegemonic patriarchal and racially discriminatory values embedded within today’s society. The program also demanded a lot of introspection, as we were asked to write about how said values have molded our sense of self.
Through the diversity of TASS, I learned a lot about the workings of these values in the others’ lives as well. Within the group of two factotums (counselors) and 18 TASSers, there was wide variation in ethnicity, gender, sexuality, geographic location and economic status. Before this summer, I never thought about the erasure of non-heterosexual individuals from Black History, nor had I ever been asked to use the pronoun “they” in reference to a gender nonconforming individual. Thanks to the TASSers, factotums, and professors, the Seminar proved to be a truly eye-opening experience.
I shed tears upon my departure from Ann Arbor, partially because I knew that I would miss my friends, and partially because I knew the world outside of TASS would not be as accepting and open-minded as the world within TASS. I went from a place where I could openly discuss racial profiling and intersectional feminism, to a place where people will go to great lengths to prove that racism and sexism do not exist.
I have returned to my school and community with a new understanding of the depth of micro-aggressions and social habits. Since TASS, it has been difficult for me to find a way to speak out about these issues.
Statements like “You’re (compliment) for a (race/ethnicity) (girl/boy/person),” show our society’s subconscious assumptions about certain groups of people and should really not be considered compliments. I have also taken greater notice of non-black usage of the n-word. Why people would want to use a word whose purpose was to condemn an entire race, a word among the last heard by blacks who were brutally lynched, is unknown to me. As a high schooler, I have often heard the words “gay” and “retarded” used as adjectives synonymous with “bad” and “inadequate.” There are so many words available to us with which we can express our dissatisfaction. There is no need to exploit a sexuality or mental state to do so. The discriminatory ideals of today’s society manifest themselves in these and other social practices.
TASS has influenced my thinking on a larger scale as well. In the context of everything going on in our country, what I learned from TASS has provided me with a very useful perspective. I have heard claims that the Black Lives Matter movement is composed of ungrateful black people who want special treatment because of injustice that is long past. These beliefs, characterized by the lack of acknowledgement of a very obvious problem, stem from both the inability of people to identify injustice which does not directly affect them and a misplaced sense of guilt. Equal treatment is very different from special treatment. There is also controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s decision not to stand for the national anthem. Many opponents of Kaepernick’s protest have twisted this issue into a matter of anti-Americanism. Others say he is trying to prove his point in the wrong way. To me, this “against the method” reasoning is just cover-up for being against the cause.
Whether individuals choose to protest injustice by marching in streets, boycotting a system, holding sit-ins, giving speeches, or even choosing to sit down during the national anthem, their forms of protest have never been the “right ways” to protest. There are always people who criticize forms of protest, but never seem to offer an alternative method to convey the same point. I see Kaepernick’s stand as a wise and successful use of platform to incite conversation and action about an issue.
TASS exposed me to many new ideas and ways of thinking, but I must learn to apply this new-found knowledge on my own. Sometimes, speaking up about issues in public spaces is difficult. It almost always entails the reception of criticism – constructive and otherwise – and the reform of previously held ideas. It is important to speak up because even if you cannot change someone’s mind, you may at least get them thinking.
