Recently, two Native American students were on a campus tour at Colorado State University, and the police were called on them by a mother. This is an abridged version of what the mother said:
I am with my son doing a campus tour…There are two young men that joined our tour that weren’t a part of our tour. They’re not, definitely not a part of the tour. And their behavior is just really odd…
If it’s nothing, I’m sorry, but they, it actually made me feel, like, sick, and I’ve never felt like that.
I think they’re Hispanic, I believe. One of them for sure. He said he’s from Mexico. When I asked what they were wanting to study I could tell they were making stuff up because one of them started to laugh about it.
Every time I review this transcript, I experience the stages of grief: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The stages of grief were first conceptualized by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kuber-Ross in On Death and Dying. While these stages were not necessarily intended to use in processing oppression. I find it the best tool in the classroom for students to name their pain.
Here I am, left to do the same as I process this racial incident.
Considering Mother’s Day was this month, this piece is dedicated to mothers of color who do not get the recognition they deserve. It is also dedicated to their children of color who are at risk of being murdered, imprisoned or told they are less than because they are rejected by a society that does not value or cultivate their potential.
