The Way We Are Taught About Racism Makes It Impossible To Truly Understand It

The open letter and signed petition to the teachers of KGV has sparked a lot of media attention to an issue that has been festering in the soil of the foundations of the ESF school system for decades and in colonialism for centuries. I applaud the brave souls who have spoken out. Growing up in colonial Hong Kong, female and Indian, I was always taught to keep my head down and be silent; to behave a certain way and not make any trouble for myself or others. 

So I did. 

Now that students are speaking up about it, I have become increasingly infuriated by the responses on social media, particularly one post from the KGV Alumni Association (official page) in which I was featured in a photo with my group of friends as some form of “proof” of diversity, which changes the narrative completely. Our photo and our friendship have nothing to do with the experiences being shared in the open letter and the subsequent accounts of students speaking out about racism.

The thread of responses that denied ever experiencing racism, being taught to treat everyone equally, or even claims of having friends of different races, are all classic responses known as “White Fragility,” a term coined by academic and sociologist Robin DiAngelo in her book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People To Talk About Racism. She writes:

“In fact, when we try to talk openly and honestly about race, white fragility quickly emerges as we are so often met with silence, defensiveness, argumentation, certitude, and other forms of push-back. These are not natural responses; they are social forces that prevent us from attaining the racial knowledge we need to engage more productively, and they function powerfully to hold the racial hierarchy in place.” 

Regardless of whether your skin is white, if your reactions to this whole event brings about defensiveness, or that racists are other people but not ourselves, consider whether those reactions shut down the conversation instead of productively engaging in it. Are your ears too sensitive or fragile to really hear the stories of what people of colour have to say? 

I want to be crystal clear. I had a wonderful experience at KGV. I had a diverse group of friends as the photo depicted, and many of my teachers were inspirational. Only a select few were blatantly racist, and the comments they said to many of my fellow Indians and Pakistanis made us all want to white wash ourselves to lift ourselves higher on the totem pole of this culture of white worshipping. I recognise this in myself and yes, that makes me a racist too, even with my brown skin. For being called a coconut was something I was proud of, not ashamed of. It makes me sick to my core to reflect on this, but so curious as to how we all got this way.

I have so many questions about why I was not allowed to study Cantonese, the language of my native town, at school. Our only options at the time were French or German. Even today, why is Cantonese not even an option at the school? Not even 10% of the leadership at ESF’s 22 schools are people of colour, despite the schools having a diverse student body. 

DiAngelo says, “Though white fragility is triggered by discomfort and anxiety, it is born of superiority and entitlement. White fragility is not weakness per se. In fact, it is a powerful means of white racial control and the protection of white advantage.” I am very curious to see how the leadership at KGV and ESF will handle this. I am hoping that the conversation stays open and not simply confined to a meeting behind closed doors where those who have spoken out are blamed for causing trouble or asked to settle. Will the offenders be held accountable or simply allowed to proceed with a slap on the wrist? 

If this is the beginning of a constructive conversation that will move the ESF forwards to reach its mission of nurturing global citizens of the future, then count me in. It will be deeply uncomfortable to shed light on the system of racism as a social construct that is the foundation of ESF, but it’s important for us to all reflect on how our societal conditioning makes us uphold this system, and we need to be ready to face it and deconstruct it for the sake of all the children who go there.