Hello, and thank you for agreeing to this virtual interview! First off, how are you, and what have you been doing?
Pretty good, overall. I have been excited to get back to school and see our students again. I know it probably sounds weird, but I've missed you all! I've had a summer of trying unsuccessfully to grow a vegetable garden here at the school (which you will find covered in weeds), cuddling my cats, and reading books. We didn't do a lot of traveling this summer, although we did get out to the east coast for a couple of days. I think our pension on the beach and the trip to Haslla Art World in Gangneung were the highlights for sure. I hope that we'll be able to travel freely again soon so I can go back.
Sounds like fun! What are some books you've been reading that might relate to this month's theme, 'Nature'?
I've been reading a lot about human nature and phenomena. A group of faculty here at the school including Mr. Stevens, Ms. Duncan, Ms. Burnell in the Village school, and myself have been working on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion since the spring, and so I have been reading about different human identities, which are almost all naturally occurring. I read "How to Be an Anti-Racist" by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi at the beginning of the summer. He starts by outlining the history of Race, which is not natural at all, although it might seem that way since we've been living with it as a concept for the last 500 years or so. He moves on, then, to explain the title: that to be "not racist" is not actively against racism, and sits in a neutral space that doesn't require us to take action.
Instead, he implores us to be anti-racist, actively working to deconstruct this artificial distinction of race in our daily lives. This book reminds us that it's not so much people as behaviors that are racist, and we can choose to be anti-racist moment to moment and action to action. He calls us to acknowledge that humans, naturally, are not distinct by race, and provides examples that show us how to take action.
I've read 'How to Be an Anti-Racist' among other books on Race as well! It irks me to think that I'd not been contributing to anti-racism and that I'd somehow been perpetuating harmful racial normative standards and percepts. Aside from Race. are there any other topics you've been engaging with?
Another topic I've been reading and learning about has been neuro-atypicality: phenomena such as Asperger's / the Autism Spectrum and ADHD. Some recent diagnoses in my family have made it important for me to learn more about these topics and how they impact people, their lives, and their social relationships with other people. A lot of this has been reading through articles and some book samples, so I don't have any titles to recommend, but it's certainly an interesting topic. There are lots of good TED talks on these topics as well that are worth exploring.
That's fascinating. And how might the ideas you've just mentioned relate to this month's theme, 'Nature'?
While these are not "Nature" in its common everyday meaning, we humans are natural, and these variations are all natural, normal parts of the human experience. We have this incredible natural diversity that makes our lives and experiences interesting and phenomenal. We are awe-inspiring and wonderful (in the "fills with wonder" sense of the word). It's amazing how much we have learned, and how much we have yet to learn about being human - something we've been doing for more than a million years.
Sometimes we humans like to talk about Nature in a way that is othering - in a way that separates us from Nature. The consequences of this are things we see around us every day: what we choose to buy, eat, how we live, and on a large scale, how we're impacting the climate. To talk about climate change as though it's something that's happening in Nature furthers that othering; it keeps us from thinking about just how much of an impact it's having and will continue to have on us as one of many species in the biosphere.
This dualistic thinking also creates divisions between us as humans, too. If we thought more about how these variations of skin color, thinking, and understanding are all just variety rather than reason to cause division, how much we could see what we have to celebrate? Look at us! Aren't humans incredible? Amazing!
Yes! Now, just to wrap up, who would you recommend the book, 'How to be an Antiracist' to, and why?
If anyone is interested in where the idea of Race came from, how it has impacted the last 500 years of global history, and what we can do as individuals to work against racism, Dr. Kendi's book is highly readable and absolutely worth the time. In particular, I liked how he gave specific examples of behaviors, ways of thinking, speaking, and talking that are less overt so we don't think about them as racist behavior, helping us understand their impact. With this understanding, we can then make different choices, day by day, that will help make the world a better place, and hopefully help us see each other as the full and beautiful humans that we are. Just like Nature intended.
Thank you once again for such a luminating discussion. I had tons of fun!
Thanks for having me!