"Black Feminist Thought"

Last semester, I read "Black Feminist Thought" by Patricia Hill Collins, and she addresses a lot of issues that we spoke about in class, especially in the chapter "Black Feminist Epistemology". She outlines two political criteria that influence knowledge validation processes:
1. Knowledge claims are evaluated by people who typically come from a heterosexual elite white male perspective.
2. Scholarly communities cannot stray from beliefs held in US culture without losing credibility.

So, because knowledge claims are influenced by our political environment, people in marginalized groups (such as Black women) may not trust them. In our reading for this week, the author claims that Black students may favor intuitive ways of learning. Collins says in her book "Knowledge without wisdom is adequate for the powerful, but wisdom is essential to the survival of the subordinate." Because subordinate groups have learned to distrust "knowledge", they may rely on intuition and lived experience for information. Collins also states that Black people develop knowledge through a dialogue with other community members, they expect people to be accountable for their knowledge claims, and they consider it essential for individuals to have definite opinions on issues. These are some more examples of how Black students may approach learning differently.
Question: Why do we favor logic, reasoning, and objectivity over intuition and lived experience?

Textbooks

Yesterday in class, we spoke about how textbooks can be biased. Although this seems like a problem that we should to fix, I think it is unavoidable. Everyone has their own perspective, so anyone who writes a textbook is biased. There is nothing wrong with this. I think it is interesting how textbooks from different regions sometimes contain different information. Maybe it should be that way. I don't think everything should have to be so standardized. I'm not saying that it's acceptable for textbooks to contain false information, but biases are natural. However, I do think students need to be more aware of the fact that a textbook represents one perspective. Teachers should emphasize that other textbooks may say different things because in the "real world", people will always disagree on things. Teachers should also encourage students to question, evaluate and challenge the content and authors of their textbooks. I don't think there can be an objective textbook, but I think you can teach students to think critically about what they are reading, which includes questioning the content of their textbooks.
Question: Should education strive for objectivity?

Black History Month

Regarding celebrating Black History Month in schools:

"At the end of 28 days, Whiteness walks away from this with a false confidence that comes from believing that one has confronted all racial privileges and that the world really is equal. Black history month soothes the senses, because it is easy and over quickly, thus allowing Whiteness to continue to fixate on the project of colonizing people of colour. Instead of settling for this false mission, I suggest that it is time that we demand that Black history become something that is part of the daily agenda. There is no reason to believe that we deserve any less, and I absolutely refuse to settle for being part of a side show."

http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/02/why-i-am-skipping-black-history-month.html#more

Repsonse to Bryan

Bryan asked, "Do you think that students who are not passionate about improving their intellectual abilities while in college should even be allowed to be in college?"

I think everyone should have access to higher education, and since it is unattainable for so many people as it is, I have trouble saying that I think that we shouldn't allow certain people in to college. However, I am frustrated by the people who go to college when they don't appreciate it, when there are so many people who would to do anything for those opportunities. I think that one reason why we see so many ungrateful college students is because it has become more and more necessary to have a college degree in order to get a job. I think this is a bad thing. Not all jobs should require a degree. I don't understand why certain people should have to go to college for something that they can just learn how to do on the job. Obviously, a college education can make someone a more well-rounded person, and if somebody wants to go to college just to become more well-rounded, then that is totally legitimate. But I think many people today feel like once they graduate high school, they have to go to college, because it is just the next step in life. This may be why a lot of college students may seem apathetic, or unappreciative.

Question: How can we make college for accessible to everyone, but still exclusive to people who want it?