When Race does not Matter: We are all English!
Here’s what happened to me at the College (Indian River State College) today (December 5, 2016). As I was making copies in the Copy Center, a white lady approached me and asked:
White lady: What do you teach at the College?
Me: I’m a Professor of English. I teach English Composition and
Literature.
White Lady: Where are you from?
Me: Haiti
White Lady: I thought you were a teacher of a foreign language.
It is interesting how some people easily equate the English language with whiteness, and the fluency in the English language with intelligence.
* Almost every semester, unfortunately, I have to remind some of my white students that I’m a real English Professor, and in fact, accentuate that my PhD is in English Literary Studies.
drcelucienjoseph, "Thinking and Meditating" 