Analysis Of Spokesperson, Sameness, And Master Narratives

Spokesperson, Sameness, and Master Narratives Solórzano et al. (2001and Sue et al. (2008) highlight the issue of Black students being expected to be an expert on diversity issues and therefore are always expected to educate white people about said issues (Hubain et al. 2016). This “tiring role” (Solórzano et al. 2001) pressures Black students to play the role of spokesperson or native informant (hooks 1994) for their entire race. For students living on the margins, their confessional narratives (hooks 1994) or native insights are only used to benefit class discussions (hooks 1984). Otherwise, in discussions outside of race, their contributions go unacknowledged (Delpit 2012). This hints at the notion of tokenism where “students of color are
According to Harper (2009), Black male students can be niggered in multiple ways. Some examples are being told that they are unlikely going to accomplish much in life, that they are no good, or being treated as an anomaly when they are successful in school (Harper 2009). Another example is being encouraged to pursue a lesser skilled job because it is more “realistic”, which is demonstrated in the example given about Malcolm X and the response from his white teacher about pursuing a law degree (Harper 2009; Jenkins 2006; Kennedy 2002). Furthermore, niggering takes place when Black male students are perceived as all the same (Harper 2009; Harper and Nichols
On the topic of how Black male students refuse to be niggered, DeSean, one of the participants, explained how he got involved in the Student Government Association and the Residence Hall Council to present more positive views of Black men. Additionally, another student, Tyson, mentioned that he took a similar approach and started a magazine that “presented Black men as thoughtful, politically engaged, and socially conscious” (Harper 2009: 706).
However, another student, Khaseem, who did not like the approach that Tyson and DeSean described, explained how he used the “Black Student Union, the NAACP chapter on campus, and other activist groups to disrupt stereotypical views Whites held about Black men and other students of color at his institution” (Harper 2009; 707). His reasoning was
‘I was one of those dudes who called attention to racism whenever I saw, heard about, or experienced it firsthand on campus’, he said. ‘I wasn’t interested in trying to show them some differentiated representation of Blackness. Instead, I sought to awaken their consciousness regarding their own racist miscategorization of me’ (Harper 2009: