White professor teaches black studies
JC
The Herald published a story on Eric Duke, a young professor in the Africana Studies department at the University of South Florida. I think it’s a good piece that really answers the question, “do you really have to be X in order to teach about X?” This article answers, no. As long as you have expertise on the subject, that’s the most important thing. I love this message, because it encourages us to think outside of the roles that have been set up for us. One of my pet peeves is the assumption that I will only care about mixed issues or issues that affect Asian Americans. Why? Well, merely because I am those things?! Let’s open up our minds a bit….there is no reason why any of us should only care about that which we are literally connected to. We fight similar struggles — no reason for all of the specificity. Our work and activism should not be confined to the communities to which we belong.
There’s no compulsion for universities to hire black faculty for African-American studies departments, said Adam Gussow, University of Mississippi assistant professor of English and Southern studies. He said USF hiring Duke was a step in the right direction. “There’s institutional pressure, for legitimate reasons, to hire African-Americans and to have them teach African subjects,” Gussow said. Universities should pursue diversity in all departments, he said.
Felicia Turner, 19, a freshman from West Palm Beach, chose Duke’s class so she could fulfill her black history requisite. “He’s very good, great at what he does,” Turner said. “It doesn’t matter who’s teaching the class, as long as they know the information. And he does.”
One problem that I had with the article is that it still seems to want to find reasons why Duke would attempt to teach black studies in the first place — it describes his “middle class” upbringing and mentions his black wife and mixed child. So these things are basically offered as explanations for how this white man came to the world of African-American studies. The article isn’t so ground-breaking after all. 
When people read this, I am sure that many will assume that he has a fetish with black culture and decided to study and marry accordingly…or that he fell in love with a black woman and then decided to devote his life to studying her culture. :| These connections slightly take something away from his choosing this work, but it doesn’t surprise me that there is an inclination to explain his connection to Africana studies — he couldn’t just want to do it for personal interest after all! 
Lyonside wrote:
By that logic then, only those of English descent could teach British History or Shakespeare, only native Spanish speakers should teach Spanish, etc.
The real measure of any teacher is to find out what the students know and practice. If the students are learning, then mission accomplished.
Posted 01 May 2006 at 1:06 pm ¶
eva wrote:
I agree with Lyonside, we cannot just assume that the reason why he devoted himself to this study was in correlation to his wife and her culture. And what matters is the expertise that you have acquired and how you put that to reasonable use.
Posted 01 May 2006 at 3:28 pm ¶
Sandra wrote:
Actually, the article specifically mentions that Duke developed an interest in the subject of race during his childhood. Given that the article is a profile on him, I think it’s relevant to mention that he also has a personal connection to his academic interest.
Posted 01 May 2006 at 7:03 pm ¶
charlotte wrote:
Black studies came under the name of multi cultural studies in the seventies and it was the white teachers studying African Americans then. what’s the dif?
Posted 01 May 2006 at 8:03 pm ¶
charlotte wrote:
I recently took a American Lit class at a University that included blackhistoryand sure enough only thetips of the ic e berg were studied, the nuances can not be understood or conveyed byother ethnicities. Idon’tbelieve just Asians who have become aculturated in the white world can givenuances to being white when they teach contemporary American History.
Posted 01 May 2006 at 8:05 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Charlotte, maybe that was because it was an American Lit class and those courses in general do not go into depth about black contributions or other ethnicities, except in an incidental fashion, no matter who is teaching it. A general course is not the place for “nuances” anyway.
I believe that someone teaching, say, the accomplishments of MLK and what it meant, or the role of Asians in helping to build 1800s US, needs to be taught solely by black people or Asian people, respectively.
Posted 01 May 2006 at 8:52 pm ¶
mtevc wrote:
Charlotte…your one experience is not enough to base your opinion on…I hate to tell you, but one of the foremost authorities on African-American history (slavery, post slavery/Civil War and Reconstruction period) is Eric Foner…a white man…and if you consulted with some of the best black historians/economists around, they would all name Foner as one of the top. He is a smart, learned man, who is angry about the revisionist history associated with the Reconstruction period especially. The detail and the info and the research he has done is amazing. There is no tip of the iceberg here dear. He is a man fascinated by American history and the formation of this country, and race is a very salient part of that history…hence his interest…but he is also a truth seeker.
http://www.ericfoner.com/lectures/index.html
And Lyonside, I hope you’re joking about only blacks being able to teach about Martin Luther King…he was a great American…everyone can teach that.
Posted 01 May 2006 at 9:17 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
OMIG!! TYPO!!!!
I meant (of course) DOESN’T need to be X and X, respectively.
Sheesh. Gawd. I’m blushing.
Posted 01 May 2006 at 9:52 pm ¶
the joy princess wrote:
I’m questioning why they felt the need to announce in the headline that he is middle class? It was enough to say white teacher stands out in black studies, why should his class stand out so sharply in the title when class comes up in the article where it should?
Posted 02 May 2006 at 11:04 am ¶
mtevc wrote:
for joy princess….because anything having to do with black folks means poor (lower class), even the white professor…gets the question asked…
Posted 02 May 2006 at 12:15 pm ¶
mtevc wrote:
i hope you realize i am being cynical
Posted 02 May 2006 at 12:16 pm ¶
the joy princess wrote:
Yes, mtevc, I did, LOL!!!
Posted 02 May 2006 at 5:35 pm ¶
black wrote:
to all people who call themselves “black”…….can you explain to me what it means to be BLACK?
Posted 14 Jul 2006 at 3:41 pm ¶