Unlikely Allies in the Academy: Women of Color and White Women in Conversation

by Dace; Karen L.

• ISBN13: 9780415809054
• ISBN10: 0415809053
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2012-04-03
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Unlikely Allies in the Academybrings the voices of women of Color and White women together for much-overdue conversations about race. These well-known contributors use narrative to expose their stories, which are at times messy and always candid. However, the contributors work through the discomfort, confusion, and frustration in order to have honest conversations about race and racism. The narratives from Chicanas, Indigenous, Asian American, African American, and White women academicians explore our past, present, and future, what separates us, and how to communicate honestly in an effort to become allies. Chapters discuss the need to interrupt and disrupt the norms of interaction and engagement by allowing for the messiness of discomfort in frank discussion. The dialogues model how to engage in difficult dialogues about race and begin to illuminate the unspoken misunderstandings about how White women and women of Color engage one another. This valuable book offers strategies, ideas, and the hope for moving toward true alliances in the academy and to improve race relations. This important resource is for Higher Education administrators and scholars grappling with the intersectionality of race and gender as they work to understand, study, and create more inclusive climates.

Author Biography

Karen L. Dace is Deputy Chancellor for Diversity, Access and Equity at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
Preface	p. x
Origins, Problems, and the Need for Conversation	p. 1
What Makes Cross-Race Alliances Unlikely?	p. 3
A White Woman Talks to White Women	p. 15
Women of Color Talk	p. 25
On Friendship, Kinship, and Skinship: Healing Relationships between Indigenous and White Women Scholars	p. 27
The Whiteness of Truth and the Presumption of Innocence	p. 42
On Becoming Allies: Opportunities and Challenges in Creating Alliances Between White Women and Women of Color in the Academy	p. 54
A Latina Testimonio: Challenges as an Academic, Issues of Difference, and a Call for Solidarity with White Female Academics	p. 65
What Do I Do With All of Your Tears?	p. 76
White Women Talk	p. 89
Too Much History Between Us	p. 91
Friends in Deed, Friendship Indeed?	p. 101
Moments of Suspension and Other Instances of Whiteness in the Academy	p. 112
Using Tenure as a White Woman: Speaking Truth to Power	p. 124
Women of Color and White Women in Conversation	p. 135
Are We There Yet? Trust, Faith, and the Power of a Common Goal	p. 137
Twins Separated at Birth? Critical Moments in Cross-Race Mentoring Relationships	p. 149
Play on White: The Intimate Politics of (Be)Longing	p. 160
What's Love Got to Do with It?	p. 171
Race at First Sight: The Funding of Racial Scripts Between Black and White Women	p. 181
Contributors	p. 192
Index	p. 194
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