"Shock Value" Is Overrated in Race Conversations

"I am a sexist!"

Whenever his college courses engage race, African American philosopher George Yancy leads with this explosive declaration. He explains, in a 2018 book chapter titled Guidelines for Whites Teaching About Whiteness, that this controversial admission is meant to engage all of his students. Still, he adds, "I specifically have in mind my white students. I want to communicate to them the importance of vulnerability and the importance of accepting how social and historical structures impact our lives in ways that we didn't ask for and yet in terms of which we help to sustain and therefore for which we must take responsibility" (p. 28). Yancy follows with a gutsy suggestion for white professors: "… risk vulnerability, engage in frank speech—offer a gesture of trust in advance. Say it. 'I am a racist!'"