See Part 1 here.
Outside of the academic bubble, there are so many more positions people take on social issues. 2016 was a year where finding neutral or middle-of-the-road sources was difficult. Of course, the election came up in my class. Trying to represent as many sides to views on systemic racism, inequality, patriarchy, and homophobia was hard. Academia in general, and my department in particular, just stuck with the usual talking points.
Now, don’t take this as me backing out, or a classic Trump whataboutism, or a “mistakes were made” type thing. I’m not trying to be neutral to avoid conflict or to maintain the status quo or any other “your silence is complicity” type argument. I’m a Pisces. We tend to agree with every body.
What really ruffled my feathers in the classroom was the strict adherence to the talking points. On all the sides. I know many people were constrained by having to choose a side. Or else. 2016 was very polarizing.
DEI training seems to be going the same way. So tell me, DEI trainers, are there key talking points? If I wanted to just be handed a syllabus and only allowed to teach what is on it, I would have stayed in academia.
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