On Honest and Civil Conversation (Simmer Down Now)
The first audience reaction to my speech at the Network for Public Education came from a older, burly white man with big hands and a soft voice. Not that any of this scares me much since I’m from the hood, but context matters.
“Jose, I’m glad you’re here and I appreciate what you had to say today, but, when you referred to Tea Party people as subhuman …”
Whoa, what?
“No, that’s not what I said,” as I furled my eyebrows. “I said that Tea Partiers look at many of us [read: people of color, women, people who identify as LGBT ...] as subhuman, and that’s the thing …”
“OK, I get you. I just wanted to make sure because you need to be careful not to insult others. Once we start insulting people, then that becomes a problem …”
I tried to wrap up the conversation and say “Thank you” before getting smiles and hugs from the people of color in the audience, many of whom have had to deal firsthand with activists within the same supposed umbrella disavowing social justice in favor of alliance along single-issue lines like student privacy and Common Core State Standards. Before my comments on the panel, I thought it obvious that a group committed to social justice would include discussions on race, class, and gender, which would force those who sought allies within said group to have a better grounding on these issues, and their accompanying -isms.
My bad.
So when Peter Cunningham dropped this post on his new education website, I laughed, not because I disagreed with him. I don’t know much about him except that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan congratulated him on having a new website. Because vitriol seems to do well On Honest and Civil Conversation (Simmer Down Now) | The Jose Vilson:
This Is Not A Test
"Out of this cacophony rises a beautiful, lyrical voice—one that is uncompromisingly self-aware, reflective, and analytical. That transcendent voice belongs to “The” José Luis Vilson."
- Karen Lewis, President of the Chicago Teachers Union
My debut solo book, This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education already has endorsements from Karen Lewis, Pedro Noguera, Raquel Cepeda, Gregory Michie, Chris Lehmann, Randi Weingarten, Dennis van Roekel, Diane Ravitch, Barnett Berry, Renee Moore, Cindi Rigsbee, and many more ...
