Aaron | Aaron Hood

I’m not Caucasian

“…conventional American racial categories are rooted in colonialism, slavery, and an elaborate ideology developed to justify a system of racial inequality. Given racial categories’ sociohistorical rather than biological roots, the notion that “races” describe human biological variation has been officially rejected by the American Anthropological Assoication. As we critique outmoded systems of racial classification, we must also question the labels we use for “races.”

-Carol C. Mukhopadhyay

Mukhopadhyay went on to explain in her essay that the word caucasian was developed in the eighteenth century by as anatomist who claimed that the people from the Caucasus mountain range were the most beautiful people in the world and then he decided to label all fair skinned people caucasian. This is why I’m do not identify as caucasian.

There is a lot power and privilege tied up into that particular word. The word is a relic of a now outdated concept that passed off the social construction of race as biological difference. The fact that we still use caucasian as a valid term when we have moved away from the other outdated labels represents the white supremacy still inherently present in the United States. As a society, other groups have changed their labels to more accurately reflect the social construction of race, but white folks are still clinging to this faux-biological label and the idea of superiority that is historically tied to it.

I was in the process of joining NASPA in November of 2010 and their registration form for membership only offered Caucasian as racial category for white people. I sent in an email to their membership committee, a representative replied to my email and said that he’d discuss the concern at their next meeting. I have yet to hear back, but the point is, I’m choosing not to identify as Caucasian because it historically represents ideas that are no longer relevant or even scientifically viable.

EDIT: As I thought about this post after it was published, I realized that this has more meaning in the context of what has happened with President Obama and Donald Trump this week (which I commented on yesterday). I think given the very public new context, examining the language we use and the ways in which we use it to wield power over people is important. Some may claim that Caucasian is just a label that we use, but given its historical context, it is more than that. Constantly evaluating our language and the historical context that it brings to us is an important part of moving forward to a socially just society.

Birthers Continue

President Obama recently released his long form birth certificate, which (unsurprisingly) matched the birth certificate that he released on his website during the 2008 campaign. The pressure had been mounting over the last several weeks with Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich weighing in with additional pressure. @baratunde from Twitter posted a YouTube video describing his feelings which is beautifully spoken, poignant, and strikes at the heart of the argument. President Obama was coerced into proving that he belongs. He was coerced into proving that he is “one of us.” So our President released his long form certificate of living birth and justly exclaimed that we have better things to pay attention to.

Once that happened, Trump decided it was appropriate to announce to the press how proud he was of himself. The subtext of Trump’s exclamation is how a white man without any knowledge or experience in politics is able to pressure a man of color (the President of the United States of America) into proving his worth and belonging.

Shortly after President Obama’s announcement, Trump declared his pride. Then he asked for President Obama to release his high school records to prove that he belonged at Columbia and Harvard. Trump wants Obama to prove that he didn’t push aside deserving white people to get a racially charged leg up on his peers. Trump is making this argument in order to divide. Trump wants people to believe that President Obama doesn’t belong and hasn’t ever belonged. When no one has to question Trump’s belonging due to his appearance.

It is disheartening that Trump now wants President Obama to release his academic records. Our past President, George W. Bush, who had sub par academic performance and was able to attend Yale and Harvard due to old school affirmative action, known now as legacy. Former President Bush never had to prove his belonging in the Ivy League to the voting public. But now, Trump wants President Obama to prove that he belonged and that he wasn’t given a pass to join prestigious institutions because of his complexion.

I, like @baratunde, am disheartened and saddened that Trump was able to wield his privilege as he has. He was able to assert that he belongs and that the President of the United States of America, does not belong. This birtherism nonsense is another example of how we need to stand together and fight for the rights of those who are marginalized and pushed aside as less than in our society. We have to stand together because if we don’t we’ll be pushed back into the past.

Acronyms and Accuracy

I’ve got a few pet peeves and this one developed last semester during a Gender Issues class. We were talking about (hyper)masculinity and its affects on students who are gay. We were talking about how that sense of masculinity was tied into the homophobia that we see on campus. The conversation diverged for a moment when someone used the GLBT acronym and we had a small conversation about how that particular acronym isn’t always the correct term to use. In this case we were talking specifically about homophobia of men which does not always apply people who identify as transgender.

LGBT and GLBT are both commonly used acronyms within higher education and student affairs. One of the things that I have noticed is that when people use the term GLBT, they are talking about people who identify as gay or lesbian. I recently saw a tweet asking about recent LGBT identity development, which doesn’t define much about what that person was looking for. Being Lesbian, Gay, and/or Bisexual is usually described as a sexual orientation (although there is research suggesting that might be a little different) whereas the term Transgender is an umbrella term that applies to many different gender expressions. The identity development of sexual orientation and gender expression are vastly different and I don’t think the two should be lumped in together.

The support for gay and lesbian students is very different than support for transgendered students. It’s even different for bisexual students (which in the Cass Identity Model, is a “stage” before synthesizing gay or lesbian identity into the whole person)

As student affairs educators, it’s obvious that we need to be aware of the language we use. I think we should expand this awareness to our acronyms. It’s important that we say what we mean. If we’re talking about sexual orientation we should do that. If we’re talking about gender expression and identity then we should do that. Being supportive of our students means being cognizant of the language we’re using and being accurate in using that language.

RA Training

I expect a lot out of RA Training. I want my RAs to be ready to perform at a high level and that means they already know that basics. Getting to that point means that the RAs are engaged in their own training as much the professional/graduate staff is to provide them with opportunities to get the training that they need. These opportunities are easy to visualize for new staff members, but what about returners? One of the struggles that I have had as I plan staff trainings is what the returning RAs will get out of the training. I want it to be meaningful for them just as much as it is for a new RA.

One of the ways that I have tried to engage returning RAs in the past is through their own participation. We’ve asked returning RAs to help present training sessions in which they were strong. While this has been a good way to engage a small number of returners, the vast majority of them don’t have the same opportunities simply because we don’t have enough training sessions for everyone to present something.

One of the things that we’re trying to do for next fall is to include an entirely separate track for returners that will focus on what it means to be a returning RA. We’re still in the planning phase on that so it’s taking shape slowly, but I have high hopes.

We’re also hoping to go through and edit our pre-made sessions so that we can include multicultural competencies throughout the training. We also want to think about different learning styles that people have so we’re looking into looking through the session with Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory in mind.

Is there anything that you do for your staff training that helps engage returning staff members? What topics do you set aside as ‘more advanced’ and appropriate for your returning student staff? What do you do to engage student staff holistically through their training? Have you established standard competencies for your staff members?

Readjusting to advising

I’m learning to advise again, but this is an entirely different experience than advising my hall council. I’m coming into an organization in the middle of the year so there is already a knowledge base that the students are operating on, which gives me the chance to catch up to their culture, policies, and rules rather than focusing on training them on what they need to do.

The biggest struggle that I’m having currently is knowing when to speak up. Trying to filter out the things I might say if I was a student in a group and add to the discussion as an adviser is probably the most difficult thing that I’m re-learning. The difference between voicing my own opinion and helping to put things into perspective is the struggle that I usually face. When my students are discussing how to approach an issue, rather than trying to answer it, it’s important to help them find their own answer.

For instance, my students were discussing how to approach the fact that they would not have quorum for their retreat in which they would be passing the budget for the semester and deciding on the programs for the semester. Earlier in the year, they had established that they would follow parliamentary procedure for any business that they would be passing and not having quorum on retreat but approving the budget conflicted with their established procedure. During that discussion, it wasn’t about what I thought they should do, but it was working to understand how they wanted to approach the situation and whether their solution was consistent with their established policy.

Advising a large student organization is an entirely different ball game from my advising experience with my hall councils in Metcalf. I’m really looking forward to working with my students.

Have you had any growing pains with a new advising group? What did you do to overcome those? What’s been the most important thing you’ve learned about advising students?

Discourse

Violence is prevalent through the entire english language. We’ve got words and phrases that are embedded in our culture that can prevent us from seeing extreme examples of embedded violence in language as a problem. As Student Affairs Educators, we have a responsibility to help our students learn how to communicate within their organizations, to their peers, and to university officials. Understanding how violence influences our communication can be an excellent first step to understanding how civil conversations can devolve into monstrous arguments.

In addition to violent rhetoric, there have been examples of public figures using unacceptable language while addressing the public. The activists and educators who respond to those inappropriate uses of language are often confronted with a response that challenges their right to make a response. The challengers seem to present evidence that by responding to inappropriate language we are encroach on peoples’ right to free speech. This kind of response is astonishing to me because it seems contradictory at it’s very nature. It is also surprising because it seems to completely miss the point that when we mis-speak or say something damaging, we should be made aware of that so that we can learn how to better communicate. This should be a high priority for public figures just as much as it is for me.

I also want to point out the following:

Xenophobia and racism are not free speech, they’re patently ignorant and hateful.
Being outraged at someone’s violent rhetoric is not suppressing free speech, it’s explaining how someone has been irresponsible with their right.

We all have a right to believe what we do. However, that right ends when we start to encroach upon another person. Spreading a message of violence is not appropriate for our public figures, and I hope we, as Student Affairs Educators, are teaching our students the differences between what they have a right to say and the responsibility they have to participate in our society civilly. There is a difference.

Portfolio, finally!

One of my goals when I repurposed this domain last year was to post some of my accomplishments over the course of my graduate program that reflect who my professional identity. I finally got that page to the point where I wanted to share it today.

I have some of my accomplishments with RA Training, three presentations, one activity, my resumé, and some academic posters that I created for my study lounge. I think they all reflect a part of my professional identity and I’m proud of them.

Recently, there have been lots of #sachat folks creating new blogs for themselves and adding their perspective to the web. I think the next logical progression is for people to begin sharing their work and have a digital footprint of their own professional identities to go along with their perspectives on different topics.

The Resolution Game

It’s 2011. This is going to be an very interesting year for me as I will graduate with my M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration and find a full time job. Given the circumstances, I think my resolutions could simply include making sure I graduate and find a job. But I like to challenge myself a little bit. 🙂

Read more – Over break I finished up a book I’d been reading for a couple of months, breezed through another in a day, and then read two of the books that I got for Christmas. There was something about it that was refreshing. I really enjoyed curling up on a couch with the book and losing myself in another world while surrounded by silence. That relaxation is something I want to continue through the year. (you can see all of these in the GoodReads widget on the right of the blog)
Yoga and more water – These are my obligatory health related resolutions. I’d like to do yoga because it keeps you limber but also strengthens. There is also an amount of calm and concentration associated with it that I’d like to keep going. As for the more water, it’s really about replacing the soda that I drink with water and trying to cut soda out as much as possible.
Find time to be inspired by new people and things – Over the break I discovered some new people that I’m inspired by. Jean Michel Basquiat is one of them. I want to make sure that I’m allowing myself to draw inspiration from a wide variety of people. Whether it be my supervisor, my peers, my students, or scholars and artists, I want to diversify my inspiration to incorporate music, literature, art, as well as scholarship in my work.
Take more photographs, write more music, write a story – This is where the diversity of my inspiration will really come into play. I love taking photographs and I want to create the time and the frame of mind to do it more. I’ve written a few songs and many more fragments. I’d like to continue to use music as a medium for self expression. As I was reading some of the books during winter break, I was inspired by what I was reading as well as the Hudson river (I was on a train right next to the river). These inspiration led me to write a few fragments of stories. They are really just character sketches, but I want to do more with it and create something complete.
Professional Identity – In addition to all of the goals above, I’d like to continue to define my own professional identity. My areas of passion drive my work and I want to define what it is about those passions that drives me to be the professional that I am.
Expand my work as an advocate. A professor that I had last semester truly inspired me to become an advocate and activist for the things that I believe in. I want to make sure that I focus on these beliefs and incorporate them into my work.

I have a varied list of goals/resolutions that I want to keep this year. Not all of them apply directly to my professional development, but they are part of my identity which defines me as a professional. So reading a novel or writing a song may not directly apply to my work as a Residence Director, but they all influence who I am as a person which influences my work as an RD. It’s all connected.

Now that I’ve written them, I just have to follow through with them all!