As our students waited in line figuring out what they wanted to order, an NU student unapologetically cut them off, inserting himself to the front of the line. While buying lunch at Norris, a few of our female high school students encountered a very serious and negative experience with privilege. The goal of the conference was to provide high school students with tools for developing their racial consciousness and leadership for racial justice. The conference was held on NU’s campus and included over 110 students and staff members from five local high schools including ETHS. Last month I led a group of ETHS students who are part of the school’s SOAR (Students Organized Against Racism) organization to coordinate a conference focused on identity development, racial consciousness and privilege.
Even though these microaggressions did not deter me from accomplishing what I sought from my four years at NU - to become an educator - those oppressions never went unnoticed and have continued to inform my experiences, especially with respect to the work I currently do as an educator at Evanston Township High School. These interactions with individuals who appeared to represent socially advantaged groups (White, able-bodied, male) rendered me into a racial and gendered stereotype (“Are you an athlete?”) with limited finances and narrow possibilities (“You’re just going to be a teacher? Well, why didn’t you major in something that will actually make you rich or go someplace cheaper?”). During my years at Northwestern as a Black male SESP undergrad, I was confronted on numerous occasions with ongoing and pervasive microaggressions around campus that impacted me in very profound ways.
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