[Note--this is a blog post. These ideas can and will be further developed. These ideas are sketches of what I am thinking at the moment. Feedback is encouraged and welcome.]
US
schools and libraries serve as points of diffusion for Whiteness. Whiteness, as used in this post is defined as the concept that European people and European culture are more important than other people and other cultures.
Whiteness is purveyed uncritically in libraries. This shucking of Whiteness is done under the guise of objectivity, of adhering the the 'marketplace' of ideas. But this so-called neutrality is really an adherence and capitulation to the Whiteness paradigm.
Children
of color hear the message of Whiteness--"European people and European
culture are more important than other people and other cultures.
Children of color live in a world of discrimination and bias in US schools.
Some think US culture is not European.But US culture is derived from
European culture and is fundamentally White-supremacist.
I
don't say this lightly. Whiteness is embedded in our culture. From the shapes of the buildings, to the hierarchies of the library staff and administration. This is especially true in the American Library world.Ethnic categories, demeaning classifications, cataloging systems with names like the Anglo American Cataloging Rules, and staff who (too often) don't look like the people who live in the neighborhood. Microagressions, discrimination, hiring bias and collections centered around Whiteness all are outcomes of the ubiquitousness of this paradigm in our libraries.
Engravings on Multnomah Co. Library Central Building Photo by Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton.
Many
people will now be thinking that I am saying all White people are racist, or
that all White people are bad, or some such nonsense. That is not what
I intend to say.I'm saying that the idea of Whiteness, as defined above, is what our
country was founded upon.
European immigrants live on stolen indigenous land.
These immigrants and their descendants committed genocide against Indigenous peoples
throughout the Americas.
The
wealth of the Americas, in large part, was created by slave labor. This slave
labor was both African and Indigenous. Whiteness says that this is okay, that this is correct and that it is justified. Those who adhere to Whiteness also believe in these fundamental principles. Mostly, the information found in libraries says it is okay, natural and normal, or does not bother to address these issues...
Engravings on Multnomah Co. Library Central Building. Photo by Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton.
The
diffusion model works something like this:
Whiteness, brought from Europe has beenpart of US Educational system from the beginning.
Children
are inculcated with #Whiteness via books, lectures and the culture of US
schools.
Some
children become authors, scientists and other types of academics. They
produce information and knowledge in the form of books and other types of
media.
Racist mainstream 'Intellectual' book
The
knowledge, which too many authors, scientists and academics create is fundamentally flawed with Whiteness
embedded within. Even if the creators of this knowledge are
people of color. They are working with tainted information that has not been
fully analyzed from a cultural perspective. This lends itself to embedding
Whiteness in all new knowledge created from this information. This is
why we have seen no real advancements, even with the educated people of color.
They exist within and are heavily influenced by Whiteness. Libraries serve as key distribution points forculturally biased information.
One
example is historic documentationThomas Jefferson, as a land-owner and slaveholder, is understood to be a rapist. He took advantage of his position and raped his slaves, yet he is still hailed as a hero still. This is Whiteness.
Thomas Jefferson (Slave Rapist) bust in the Library of Congress
Technology in libraries needs to be reexamined with a critical eye. Embedded Whiteness prevails.Metadata, algorithms and other location tools are just as infected with Whiteness as the rest of the library world and largerAmerican Educational culture. This issueis particularly pertinent as we transition into a more digital information world.
These people are probably still in control of your library technology.
The
idea that White people, European Americans are more important, smarter, better,
stronger, more worthy, and that their culture is superior is embedded in most
of the books in US libraries. People check out these books and are then
influenced by these books. And since most of these books have the message of Whiteness uncritically embedded in them, the reader is most often influenced by Whiteness without giving it the critical eye it deserves.
This
is how libraries serve as points of diffusion for Whiteness paradigm.
This is your chance to be part of a unique publishing endeavor. Yago S. Cura and Max Macias are co-editing a book of essays written by specifically invited librarians who we feel have some of the best minds in the world. We need help with funds for publishing. Please consider giving what you can to help us create this one of a kind work. We plan on continuing with a series of unique, forward-thinking and courageous librarian works from outstanding minds in the Information world.
My name is Max Macias and my Co-editor is Yago Cura. We are seeking help publishing an invitational anthology of radical essays written by exceptional librarians, many of whom are also librarians of color. All funds will be used for publishing and promotional costs.
We are projecting to publish this anthology of essays by May, 2017.
Few books have been written about how information and culture impact the creation of knowledge. Even fewer books critique how oppression is bolstered and enhanced by cultural concepts that are embedded in our information. Since information is important to all of us as librarians and consumers of information, these essays will seek to fill the void described above.
One of the things we are trying to understand is the relationship between culture and information, and how this impacts the creation of knowledge.
These essays will range in theme from colonialism and whiteness in library science to representation in children’s literature. Going beyond what has been written in the past on this subject and bringing together a diverse group of great librarians is the goal of this endeavor. These essays will attempt to move LIS forward in the areas of culture, information and education.
You will not only be helping us publish this work, but you will be helping the field and profession of Library Science with your support. Please give anything you can to help us change the field of library related publishing.
Description:
Hinchas Press invites original chapters for a new volume.
This edited volume seeks to understand culture and its impact on information and knowledge in LIS and Education in general. We seek contributors involved in the ongoing critique of information and culture in the United States and Canada and the rest of the Americas--especially those who are interested in sharing and speaking candidly about their experiences with culture and information in libraries, authorship, books, films, comics, other media and in education.
This monograph will offer multiple views and insights from the greatest minds in LIS during the second decade of the 21st century.
These essays will cover major breakthroughs, barriers to progress, cultural innovation and information, and radical thinking in libraries and in education and other vital areas. What progress has LIS made regarding major problems concerning information and culture? What successes have individuals had creating change? What do great contemporary librarians think about colonialism, feminism, multiculturalism, religion and race, intersectionality and other social justice and equity issues? This compilation will be edited by two of today’s shakers and movers in information and culture: Max Macias and Yago
Topics to consider from a theoretical and/or practical perspective:
Information, culture and user needs
Computers and culture
Whiteness in Libraries and Education
Women and computers in libraries
Open educational resources and representation
Microaggressions in education, academia, in print
Cultural representation in children’s literature
Cultural representation in comics
Erotica and Information in libraries
Sexual identity and collection development
Classism in LIS education and librarian culture
Hip-Hop culture in libraries...
Below is the golden ticket we sent invited authors and a link to our GoFundMe drive. Please give what you can.
Libraries can and should be an important weapon against terrorism. "Librarians are soldiers in the war against ignorance!" Racism is fundamentally ignorance which leads to hate. This is a call out to all librarians to help end the ongoing terrorism against people of color in the US.
People of color in the US live under a state of domestic terrorism. This terrorism is conducted via many official channels. The education system, law enforcement, healthcare, judicial system and other aspects of the state have been and are used against people of color in the US.
The terrorism we experience on a daily basis meets ALL the criteria below:
"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:
Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and
Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.
For example, here is how law enforcement treats our children in school:
Spring Valley High School 'safety 'officer' and student
What kind of an education can on get while studying under these conditions? What kind of educational experience does this girl now have?
This terrorism is conducted by state officers from all levels of law enforcement in the US. As a person of color, I am more worried about being assaulted, or being shot by a police officer than I am of any sort of domestic terrorist. I have been the subject of humiliating questions like, "What gang are you in?" "When was the last time you were arrested?" and other non-question insults by the police.
Libraries Against Violence
Our libraries can help mitigate this situation by providing a broader viewpoint of the world to our patrons. We can do this by pooling our resources, sharing information, planning and implementing programming that addresses the ongoing terrorism of POC by law enforcement and other state agencies.
This is a country that relies on force as a first choice solution to almost ALL problems.
When force/violence is used as a tool like this, then it becomes part of the culture.
Once it becomes part of the culture individual citizens will begin to use force as a problem solving tool--just as we have seen with the increasing mass shootings in the US.
Violence and force are now normal and everyday. One turns on the television, visits a news web page, or turns on the radio, and one is confronted with a smorgasbord of violent offerings.
Librarians can help mitigate this situation by helping to educate people and offer alternative sources of information.
Contemporary lynching victim: Michael Brown
This violence/force is most often directed at people of color in the US It is used to create contemporary lynchings--in the form of killings of POC by police. These lynchings serve to reinforce POC's lack of respect in society, the lack of value placed on our lives, and the fact that our bodies can be violated and left dead in the street as some sort of macabre warning to everyone else.
The officer in the video at the high school is practicing this kind of intimidation. He is showing the other children what is in store for them if they don't immediately fully submit to someone who might harm them.
Library/Librarian Activism
Libraries can do much to help fight against this type of terrorism. They can sponsor programming, have cultural events, reading groups, conversation groups, maker spaces, lectures and collections that can help educate the public and academia (if you work in an academic library).
A symposium sponsored by the Boston Radical Reference Collection
As librarians we can curate collections that are well rounded and that address multiple perspectives on our culture--not just the standard viewpoints adhered to by conservative anti-intellectuals (I don't think all conservatives are anti-intellectual).
We can use our spaces to hold important discussions and debates and we can help facilitate these events. Our special skills at doing research and presenting the findings in an intelligible manner can be used to help in the fight against the terrorism that POC in the US face daily.
It is our duty to help fight against terrorism.
What are some other ways libraries, librarians and other information professionals can help fight against this kind of terrorism?
I read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates in one sitting. It was a decent book.
Get this book for your library!
So many people have already praised it for its great writing and incredible erudition. I felt really let down after reading his book because I was expecting so much more.
Mr. Coates is a good writer, but he is not a great writer. His prose flows and I believe he has found his own voice. However, the writing is not beautiful, nor is it creative or innovative in any manner.
In my opinion the most important aspects of this book are his insights on the black body. African Americans, after all, were considered products to be exploited for their value as slaves. Their (and latino) bodies are still used in such a way in the prison industry as explicated so brilliantly in Michelle Alexander's seminal work, The New Jim Crow.
He COMPLETELY neglects the fact that other ethnicities (besides black people) have race issues in the US as well. I wouldn't expect him to explicate on these issues, but to mention them at least would give his writing a much more well rounded analytic style.
I found Coates' story about his friend's death at the hands of the police to be distant and not too empathetic, except that the writer realized he was not safe. from the hands of the police either.
His article on Prince's death is a good piece of work:
He doesn't get into the fact that he was extremely lucky to have a family background that valued education. He has multiple generations of college graduates in his ancestry. This is a great thing, but not addressing educational disparities in the milieu that is the US today is a mistake and will lead to bad analysis.
He also makes France sound like an escape from colonialism--which it can't be--as it is and was one of the world's colonial powers.
Coates
I believe Coates is primarily a journalist, and that is good. This book is a good example of journalist non-fiction writing. However, I don't go looking for James Baldwin when I read nonfiction books by journalists.
I'm going to say that you should read this book and also buy it for your library though. It is an important book, and it is written in a journalistically accessible style.
The number one issue I encounter when dealing with racism on an organizational/institutional level is the lack of ability to put the organization's resources toward ending racism and the lack of diversity in the institution.
Many US Organizations state they value "diversity." What does that mean?
Diversity, inclusion and equity aren't seen as an issue of sustainability for our organizations and institutions. These issues are looked at like pinstriping on a sports car. It seems they are not as important to our organizations as the engine, or even the tires of the car...
Our nation will not survive if we do not deal with the issues of race that exist in our culture.
Unconscious bias is built into most education, entertainment and other forms of information.
We need teams of analysts to investigate these biases, analyze them, describe them for laypeople, and prescribe fixes for them. We need these teams within our organizations and in general society.
In the organization, these teams need autonomy in order to properly do the job of analyzing as objectively as possible. They also need power in order to properly execute the changes they find are needed within an organization.
Organizations need to create such teams and give them the full support of the instead of just giving this subject lip service and keeping actions at the "cultural petting zoo" level.
Educating a diverse workforce and attaining the mission of almost any organization will entail that the organization work to meet the needs of a diverse membership and makeup.
Is it about money, or is it about fixing a broken system?
Indeed, if diversity, equity and inclusion were desirable goals for institutions from the US government down to our local community colleges and school districts, then these organizations would allocate and use their resources at the same level as other "crucial" goals and 'outcomes' of these institutions.
The thing is--these organizations almost NEVER allocate proper resources, nor processes to achieve these goals.
These resources range in type from the will to create change (and deal with the consequences of those who are upset by said change), to spending money to train, and educate the members of the organization.
In the US our culture shows that it values something by how much money, or how much 'integrity' an issue, or thing has to us.
People are willing to stand up for their guns, but when it comes to POC--they don't seem to care.
This integrity, in the sense I am speaking about, is the will to deal with those of the dominant culture who might become upset by the appointment, or the recruitment of ethnic minority faculty, staff and membership.
I see people stand up firmly for their gun rights, for the right to fly their confederate flags, for the right to shoot someone if they feel their lives are in danger--yet when it comes to standing up for the lives of their fellow countrymen--all of the sudden--they are worried about offending people.
Denial is the current mental health state in the US.
"Why should I suffer! I never discriminated against anyone, I never owned slaves!"
"Some people might get mad if we were to appoint POC faculty, or staff members!"
I hear again and again.
However, they don't understand that POC are already upset. That we deal with microaggressions on a daily basis, that we deal with fear and the knowledge that discrimination exists in our culture.
"Will it be us this time? "
"Was that discrimination?"
"Did they really just say that?"
"Maybe they didn't mean it."
The hell POC live when it comes to race in this culture. The hell of sending your child out to school and not knowing if they will be judged according to what they do and who they are instead of the color of their skin, or by their accent is never acknowledged, nor is it even a reality to those with privilege.
Those in power don't care about the hell POC exist within when it comes to race and employment in the US.
They are more concerned with upsetting someone from the dominant culture.
They don't care one iota if we are upset...
That should send us ALL a really clear and strong message when it comes to rectifying the racial situation in the US today.
meth·od
ˈmeTHəd/
noun
plural noun: methods
a particular form of procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, especially a systematic or established one.
We need new methods and we need not be afraid of approaching our organizations with this knowledge in mind.
We need to stress that our organizations put their resources, both financial and spiritual toward ending racism in our organizations, toward achieving those lofty mission outcomes and toward achieving equity.
Our organizations and institutions will benefit from this and we will achieve a return on investment that will be staggering--if only we have the courage to make our organizations put their money where their mouths are.
We must create some change with direct action and stop repeating the same things we have been doing for the past 30 years.
I know and understand that diversity is more than race, but I submit that within race exists a rich diversity. That is to say, if one recruits a rich and large pool of faculty of color, then one will have a richly diverse pool in more than just race, but also of class, gender, abilities, and other measures of diversity that organizations use. We need to work on race at the moment.
Poetically, it stands almost alone as an example of relationships, alienation, microaggressions, and racism in the 21st century US.
Quote from Citizen
A friend recommended this book to me over the break--as we were all freshly cut wide open from the Ferguson coverage, revealing local discussions and ongoing murder of POC from any age and area in the US.
I finally got a hold of it via the library and read it in earnest.
The descriptions of racial microaggressions in 2nd person narrative poetry are so powerful I was shaking as I read them.
Quote from Citizen
Each page is condensed emotion, reaction and analysis of a lifetime of experiencing relationships that bite while smiling. Her poetry describes how inescapable it is to be a POC in the US at this time and place. The relentless assault upon our senses of 21st century lynchings and their impact the mental health, awareness and identity of POC is explicated in detail. This explication is via emotions, images and the powerful poetic voice of Ms. Rankine.
I don't read many books of poetry, nor do I often recommend them. However, this work should be standard reading for any HS senior, or 1st year college students. Anyone interested in Race in the US should read this book. It gets at the heart of what it feels like to live in the US at this time as a POC.
On a web site I frequent someone recently posted a photo from an article on the san Francisco police giving some books to children. Here is the link to the article: Article
I commented on the site that “I hope they gave the kids some books on how to survive a confrontation with the pigs.” I said this in all seriousness because the police routinely kill people of color in the US. In fact, citizen survival tactics during interactions with police should be programming in libraries. Using the term pig is English in origin and has also been used to describe police since 1851.
Apart from the police brutality based on race there was also some POC on POC bullying going on in this exchange on the board.
Immediately, the person who posted the article (a professional in the same profession as me) told me that I should act professional--”Aren’t you a professional Max--we should behave as professionals!”
I’m used to getting the “professional” ad hominem from discussions with White people who will attack me with this when I say something that challenges the established White-supremacist system. Most often, these White people are ‘liberals,’ who claim to be on my side and to not be prejudiced. #microaggressions
This comment was more insidious though. This comment made me realize that this person is a gatekeeper/driver. I use these terms because people who have benefited from Affirmative Action in the past--most of them older, mentors to the newer generations--are used as gate keepers and drivers.
Slave Driver
They discourage and actively fight against advancement of those who could create change that would challenge the White racist power structure. This is threatening to those who have achieved ‘professional’ positions, whose expertise would no longer be needed if the White-supremacist educational/professional system were dismantled and replaced with something civilized. .
These drivers I describe teach young people how to be successful in the current system that is dominated by outright racists and unconsciously biased people of all colors. They also chastise, blackball and otherwise condemn those who don’t conform to the racist system of education. #SlaveDrivers
Locked in a box of no opportunities
One reason there has not been any progress in education, economics and against the school to prison pipeline is insidious. It isn't because of White racists alone. It is because people who benefited from Affirmative Action are too scared and comfortable to create the needed change for those who were left behind in the barrio and ghettos. They are in denial about the system and their place in the system of oppression.
These gatekeepers will focus on ‘civility’ and ‘professionalism.’ They will say a POC is uncivil if they speak in a manner that challenges the White-racist power structure. Somewhere along the line, being civil and being professional became synonyms for servility, obedience, subservience and getting along within the status quo.
Rome
This is not the definition of civil. The English Word Civil comes from the Latin word civi--or city--being civil is the ability to get along and live with a variety of people, opinions, attitudes, etc...that come with living in the city. It is the set of skills that allows one to live among the diversity of characters in the city.
These gatekeepers are guilty of complicity and abetting the White racist power structure. They are also guilty or ruining good people’s chances at creating real change. I say this because these drivers cut people out of the mix when it comes to opportunity. They also help label good people as “angry,” “unprofessional,” and “uncivil.” This keeps them out of professional positions, where they could create some real change.
Not being angry, being professional and being civil are all requirements of a job in academia and anywhere else for that matter. This is a main reason why we have not had any change as a result of affirmative action. We are training people to be successful cogs in a system that despises us, is uncivil in a myriad of ways toward us, and murders us on a regular basis. We need to train them and educate them to be leaders for change NOT leaders within this pathological system.
Destroy the Ivory Tower!
Education should be liberating. It shouldn't just lead to a comfortable life, jet-setting around the country and the world to conferences for intellectual posturing that creates no real change. So, don’t lecture me about being professional--you all should be professional and challenge the system that oppresses your people so violently and so openly. But then again, you may live up in the hills somewhere where you don’t have to deal with harassment by the police, or worse--violence-- like most of your people do. When people work in the system of the status quo, they need to remember where they came from and that their attainment means much more than material success.
When you are a person of color and you speak about race, you are playing a game of Whack a Mole and you are the mole.
Ready for the next one!
Something I have seen recently jarred me into consciousness about how peer pressure bullying works in combination with Race in the US.
Often, when a person of color brings up Race, they are most often told to shut up in one way or another. If they don't or happen to bring up Race again, then they are most often attacked.
Once the initial attack happens, other bullies join in and reinforce the idea that non-White viewpoints on Race don't count and don't matter.
This has happened to me countless times and most often it happens with the bullies hiding behind the guise of paternal/maternal patronizing comments about the person of color being a racist.
This type of bullying has happened to me in forums, on Facebook, in person and in various other scenarios when speaking about Race.
Recently I was a witness to this on this kind of attack on FB. A person of color had said something to a White Group that they didn't like. That person was then ridiculed and chastised in such a powerful manner, one of my lifelong White friends tagged me into the conversation. She thought I should see an example of a person of color being 'oversensitive.' As she believes I am often oversensitive and could use some help seeing this in myself. The insidious thing about this thread was that White people were chastising this person and telling them they should be peaceful and that they should NEVER talk about violence. This thread was patronizing to the extreme and very mean.
Mike Brown murdered and displayed as an example for other POC
Obviously, the people in the thread live in a world where they feel safe from violence. As a person of color who holds a higher education degrees and who is a professional, I don't feel safe from violence. I feel I could be pulled over by the police at any time and shot. I feel I could even be killed in my own home by the police or some other form of 'law enforcement' -- as has happened often to POC in the US.
The main bully on this thread had the audacity to state that they were dedicated to peacefully helping people of color, but would not allow POC to speak out of line. Out of line in this case--being an alternative viewpoint that condoned self-defense and seemed angry.
While I do acknowledge the viewpoint was flawed, I won't stand by any longer and watch this kind of bully beatdown. I did my best to defend them and myself and then left the thread very bothered.
Protection From Dangerous Forces
We must not let these kinds of attacks happen to our people when we are witnesses.
I love my White friend, but she is so wrong. In a sense by bringing me into this bullying scenario she was bullying me (albeit unconsciously). You see--these scenarios serve to reinforce the idea that POC need to keep their mouths shut--that they are too angry and too ignorant to express themselves in a 'civil' manner. All the while ignoring the uncivil violence and bullying that is going on by the dominant culture. POC often jump on board and become 'overseers' during these scenarios. We cannot let this happen!
I won't be bullied and I won't stand by and let other people bully people of color when we speak about race any longer.
There
is relatively little literature on racism within the profession of
academic librarianship. To investigate academic librarians' experiences
of racism, this research project uses the framework of racial
microaggressions, which are subtle, denigrating messages directed toward
people of color. According to the results of an online survey, some
librarians of color have had racial microaggressions directed at them by
their colleagues. Non-minority librarians, however, are unlikely to
recognize these disparaging exchanges.
Link to Pew's article Code Dependent:Pros and Cons of Algorithm Age: http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/02/08/code-dependent-pros-and-cons-of-the-algorithm-age/
