To continue our examination of
equity and cultural proficiency within the classroom, we will focus this month
on what has come to be known as the white savior complex. While an
examination of the white savior theme or narrative might be a bit disturbing for some people, it
is important to study, as it can have an impact on the way we see others, the
way we see ourselves, and the way we respond in certain situations.
To
paraphrase a definition offered by the Urban Dictionary, the white savior is a
term that refers to a white person who acts to help a non-white person for
reasons that might be self serving. It is a story type that has appeared
frequently throughout literature and film, and usually sends implicit messages
that both validate and honor the knowledge and culture of the dominant culture
and reduces (or in some cases patronizes) the knowledge and culture of
non-dominant cultures. At its root, it sends the message that people of
color need to be saved from themselves and the only people who can do that are
from the dominant culture. Examples of the white savior are relatively easy to
find in Hollywood stories: The Blind Side, Dances with Wolves, Django
Unchained, Freedom Writers, The Revenant, McFarland U.S.A., and The Help
to just name a few. Among the many problems with the cultural
messages that these stories send, there is the message that instead of
addressing the systemic or institutionalized forms of discrimination it is
better to act simply upon individual cases. So instead of tackling the
problem at its roots, white savior stories generally depict people trying to
aid people of color within communities that are inherently bias or racist.
We
can find these themes even in some of our most cherished texts. For as
much as it pains me to say this, To Kill a Mockingbird is at heart the
story of a white savior, Atticus Finch.
For as noble as his actions are, and as important as his story may have
been, it now reflects a model of intervention and help that we probably need to
move beyond. The truth is Atticus was immensely brave. His choice to defend a black man came at a
great sacrifice to his safety and position.
But like many other white savior stories, it doesn’t really address the
underlying problem of racism, just the immediate manifestation of it in the
case of Tom Robinson. Atticus doesn’t take up the banner of injustice,
using his privilege to bring awareness to the violence and terror done to
people of color. There is no rally or political
action, no protest against the system that allows this injustice to occur. Instead, his focus was on one individual case
of an innocent black man who was unjustly accused. And while that story needed to be told and
studied at the time of its writing, it is time to re-think it with a more
critical lens. At the very least, the
white savior theme should be addressed with our students as we read it today.
Within
the classroom, the white savior mindset can also be problematic. In his
book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood. . . and the Rest of Y’all Too:
Reality Pedagogy in Urban Schools, Christopher Emdin states that sometimes
white teachers take on students of color like they have to “save” them.
He explains, “The vision that kids need to be saved equates to thinking
something’s wrong with them. There’s no teacher who should go into a space
thinking that the students are inherently bad. If you are walking into a
classroom and see students as victims, you are seeing them as having an
inherent flaw that only you can fix. You [the teacher] are there to help them
learn and allow them to do fixing for themselves.”
Discussing
the concept of “white saviorism” with people is difficult. It can lead
some people down a rabbit hole where suddenly they feel stuck. To move
forward though, it will require, as Teju Cole writes in the Atlantic, “due diligence”. Due
Diligence means that when it comes to our choices-- specifically when it
relates to working with power differentials like those within classroom-- we
should be monitoring our intentions and motives. How might our cultural
lenses influence the way we see ourselves and our roles as educators? How might the news stories we read, the
movies we watch, and the books we consume perpetuate these white savior themes?
How might the materials I am using in class perpetuate these themes? And how can I counteract these messages
within my classroom?
In
the end, the question should not be about whether we should act or not.
It should be more about why are we acting and how can we take action. Our mission should balance two needs: our
need to help this specific individual to navigate the system of the dominant
culture and our need (as educators) to challenge and take-on some of these
systemic practices that discriminate and marginalize students in the first
place. Ultimately, it changes the focus from “saving” children to creating a
community that is more equitable and just.
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