Teaching Outside of Your Ethnicity--Minefield or Goldmine?

In Lucy's article, I found a particularly interesting answer to WHY teaching African American Literature IS NOT appropriate for the non-black: 

"some knowledge is inaccessible to those of us who have not lived the experience of being black"

--this is NOT Lucy's ideology, but a counterpart at the University level where she originally formulated her doctoral thesis and dissertation.

My thoughts:  In my research paper, I used Meyer's critiquing of authoritative voices in the classroom.  He argues that the "privileged" and "unprivileged" statuses in the classroom are hindrances to making greater strides forward in education. 

I think that this notion of "who is privileged?" does not just involve teacher and student, but when it comes to race, or any other human experience--let's say the Holocaust or the My Lai Massacre--for that matter, that ONLY those who have been THROUGH it or EXPERIENCED, or "know a lot about it" have the privileged voice on the topic.

It is true that race is a sensitive topic in our world--especially because of the loaded terms and ideologies that we've been exposed to regarding each race.  It seems to be a wonderful opportunity to explore those boundaries (because our aim as students and teachers should be to deconstruct prejudices and not fortify them).

Literature TEACHES me as well as it teaches my students.  I think that we can use literature as a voice in the classroom and treat IT as privileged and we are the participants in the literature.

In a very strict sense--no one is privileged in the classroom except the texts we teach.  We have our experiences that can help us UNDERSTAND the text and perhaps the historical context that they speak from.

"I also aim to create a space in which students can learn to theorize and talk about race: its construction and its effects, how and why it is constituted and shapes our everyday and individual experiences."

This quote from Lucy was very insightful.  Key words that jump out at me is SPACE; THEORIZE; SHAPES EVERYDAY/INDIVIDUAL experiences.

These are loaded words:  What kinds of space?  What does theorizing look like?  Will someone be criticized for theorizing something that may/may not be appropriate?  What parts of race or racial experiences shape our lives?  How can sharing those stories be helpful or enrage others?

I shared a poem last week that I KNOW was controversial (Paul Lawrence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask") and I thought that more of my classmates could have and might have shared ideas if my text was not so "racial."

Why is that so?  What's the harm in sharing texts?  Sometimes I think that bringing in sensitive material is taboo!  I've felt that way with my students and when discussions crop up, I am quick to segway if I'M NOT PREPARED for the dialogue.

-Travis