White and Brown Today

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I had been asked to give a presentation to the Cultural Awareness group on campus, co-sponsored by the Phi Theta Kappa chapter, an update on my study of the rhetorical ecology of Aldine and the effect of that ecology on (often) FTIC students at a community college. Attendance was strong, food was served (doesn't hurt attendance), faculty from various disciplines, some deans and administrators. Tech worked fine. My data are up to date. The discussion of public sphere is up to date with current theory, etc. Stumbled over the Heisenberg principle, but not important. Well received, applause, questions, one of which was in fact irrelevant to my presentation and I believe this was because literacy theory isn't discussed here much and I didn't think to define it strongly enough.

Ironically, a student afterwards and off to the side asked a question about street art that showed she understood current literacy theory than the faculty who had asked the question, and we had an engaging discussion of place, space, and the need for space for that public sphere of discourse to happen.

So far, so good.

I rushed to another responsibility, then rushed to my open time in the cafeteria where any student can come by to talk, consult, ask for writing help, etc. Alone for about 20 minutes, then a stranger showed up. She introduced me as the sister of one of my students -- she had sent her to me for writing help because she was confused with some assignment from her own class. Like yesterday's disappointing experience in the Writing Center where a student had no idea why she had received an "F" on a paper [that story redacted], this student was confused and frustrated. The instructions were poorly organized, the feedback mechanical and made the woman invisible, not worth anyone's time. We made plans to jump-start her next project.

Then one of my Latino students walked over. He had been in my earlier presentation and asked me to look over his current ethnography in my class. As I was reading over some paragraphs, he asked, "Professor, why are you interested in Hispanics so much? Why do you find us interesting?"

I wasn't in the mood for a discussion. I had woken up nearly an hour late this morning, rushing through the morning rituals to get to work on time. 90 minute class on visual rhetoric; another 90 minute class on visual rhetoric; a 90 minute class on hush harbor rhetoric. Students eat this stuff up and start to question everything around them. I've students come back to me a year after taking a class, saying, "I can't read a book, watch a movie, listen to a song without your damn rhetorical analysis questions coming into my head." I can answer these questions.

But this Latino was serious and I didn't have an answer for him. I tried humor: "Former girlfriend," but I felt that was almost insulting to say that. With my head still focused on the screen, I tried to give a quick history of multicultural rhetorics, of Chicano studies, of students who are engaged and engaging. But these were quick responses, space-fillers, and neither he nor I was satisfied.

I finally had to tell him that I'll just have to think about it more. His response: "It's ok. It's just unusual to have white people interested in what we have to say."

I gave feedback, suggested more codemeshing, paragraph structure, and he was gone.

Then this came across Twitter a while ago. Another Latino student asked an unrelated question and I asked him what feedback he had for me. His response:

And this, only a day after Jose-Antonio Orosco's presentation on Cesar Chavez. Serious disconnects here. The institution doesn't get it.

Be strong, and courageous.
Dixi et salvavi animam meam
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