Traveling as a Professor

Could one disagree with Professor Gasman — for instance, could one believe that the barriers to African-American achievement are mainly internal, the wounds self-inflicted, stemming from a self-destructive culture, and that in fact American society has made extraordinary efforts to bring African-Americans into the mainstream, giving them all sorts of racially-based privileges — without being labelled a “racist”?

If your students asked such questions (even the last offensive one) would you stop talking to them? You’re an educator, woman, so educate!! Not everyone in our society (even some people who are well off and can afford to travel) has had the advantage of an education and many people still live segregated lives where their knowledge of “the other” (whoever that may be) is limited. So instead of treating these people with respect and simply as uniformed, you judge them. Wow, that’ll work.I’m not a chatterer on planes, but when I am in a conversation with my seatmates, I try to remember that I likely live in a different world than they do. I’ve found that most people don’t know professors in their daily lives (and don’t know what we do or why they do it. Their “knowledge” is a load of popularly transmitted stereotypes and most of it is not charitable towards the academy). All travel is “foreign” travel if you are willing to admit difference and to think about both about how it might change you and how you might change the world around you. Even if one is right, there is no excuse for self-righteousness. You seem to think that handing someone a letter after a flight telling them how ignorant and racist they are is a better solution than engaging them in conversation and trying to use what you know to help change how they perceive things. I guess being a professor who was a first generation college student, I have more sympathy/empathy for those whose worldview is shaped & sustained differently than mine. One of the things I’ve come to loathe about the academy (and many of my colleagues) over the years is their self-righteousness and the ease with which they lecture to captive undergraduates but then can’t converse in the culture at large because they assume they are right and know best and can’t understand why no one else recognizes how right they are.

Here is the kind of thing that may have motivated the last question. We’ve all read that black women get AIDS at an alarmingly high rate. We’ve recently heard on the news that research shows this is not because of “down low” bisexual behavior on the part of their male partners, as widely believed. That leaves most people to conclude that black women get AIDS at a high rate because a significant group of black men are promiscuous and practice unsafe sex — with the full ability to know that their behavior leads to the suffering and death of alarming numbers of black women. How do you explain why some, so many, black men commit such sexually homicidal acts? And on black women? Perhaps your seatmate was trying to ask something like this but didn’t know how.

>>Perhaps your seatmate was trying to ask something like this but didn’t know how.

Maybe things aren’t as black and white as some on this thread want to believe. Maybe there are serious aspects to black culture that ARE very destructive, and the fact that white culture emulates it in the media of young people is a bad thing. Not every aspect of every culture is positive. When the differences between two cultures become great enough, one can start making generalities and conclude that one culture is “better” than another one. When the victimologists in our liberal elite schools have to go out and actually work for a living, they might learn this the way that most ordinary people do. Nah, probably not then either.

As an ethnic studies professor myself, I can relate!It’s too bad that it seems that no African American person has sat next to Professor Gasman. I bet these conversations were a lot more interesting.

warrennorredFor crying out loud! How are you defining “black culture”? First, you assume that all people of African descent share a common culture, then you say it’s a shame that “white culture emulates it (black culture) in the media. I can tell by your remarks that you define “black culture” as killing, rap music, doing drugs, and growing up to be a pimp/prostitute. Assuming that you can read, you might be interested to know that “black” is not a culture. There are blacks who are Somalian, blacks who are Guyanese, and blacks who are South African, to name just a few. This is why African blacks do NOT like to be called “African American.” An African and an “African American” are two different “things”! Do we call all white people “European Americans,” instead of Croation, Polish, German, or Scandinavian? So, yes, there are parts of “black culture” that are not so positive, e.g., the problem with obesity. But “blacks” don’t make your children overeat any more than they make your children go into “black” neighborhoods and buy the drugs that everyone knows white people gave to them, for free, to create an addiction and an infinite downward spiral. You know nothing of “black culture.”

To the question regarding Black male promiscuity, why not reply in the same manner as to ignorance about HBCUs, rather than getting indignantly huffy and dismissive? A fair response would be something like “And why do you say that young Black men are more promiscuous than other races?” (delivered with inquisitiveness rather than righteousness)? That could lead to an interesting conversation concerning facts and statistics, prejudices, cultural perspectives, popular culture’s portrayal of non-Caucasian ethnicities and gender roles, etc. I disagree with 1. klblk–of all the questions you mention, this one seems to be the most ideal for research. (Be nice to those with whom you disagree–there is much to learn.)

Marybeth, just reading about your plane experiences shows that there is still a lot of work to do, when it comes to educating our society about African American and their education. The misinformation and racist comments that you received does not even uncover all of the wrong and negative word of mouth publicity that is being spread about HBCUs and African American education. I wonder if because you are a white woman, that people feel more comfortable in asking you questions and making comments about African Americans and education, than if you were a Black professor?

A good column. I have to admit, I was expecting a different sort of reflection, based on the title: namely, what are the moral obligations governing faculty travel? And one question I have, increasingly, is: how will our professions respond to an era in which flying is both economically and environmentally unsustainable? I do research in Russian history, so this is not an idle question. Like most people, I go to a few conferences a year; would like to give a talk or two; would like to fly to Russia for research and more conversation; etc. And this does not include my private travel. And then I suspect I fly, actually, even less than many colleagues (this column seems to imply that the writer does an enormous amount of flying, almost as much as a business person). I guess price pressure could, of course, force us to do less, as will the elimination or curtailment of research budgets. And that will handle the environmental problem too, to a degree. But that raises the question of what work arounds will arise to answer this development. I also wonder whether we should, as responsible citizens, begin building ‘carbon offsets’ or some other economies into our research budgets, as part of the travel we nonetheless do. I guess, in brief, it seems to me we are under an increasing obligation to reduce travel; and to reconfigure our financial and professional lives to reduce its impacts. Perhaps a future ‘Faculty Traveler’ will talk about that?

As an African American (Black born in USA) this article can be taken more than one way. I chose to accept that maybe there are some people truly interested in our positions. It is painful to earn degrees from traditional white schools and end up teaching where you are treated less than. I would love to have an interview with the author of this article. There are more African Americans (BLACKS BORN IN USA)with education than people recognize. I have submitted an article to the Chronicle that will share the statistics. I would like to share that if someone comes from any country no matter how dark their skin, they are treated with more respect than African Americans. I have taught in higher education since 1983 and have never received any respect from whites no matter how much I achieved or how hard I worked. My classes were assigned after white adjuncts even though I had tenure with a doctorate degree. My pay was less than all in my department even though I had the time and education from accredited white schools. My student retention was excellent and I did things to help the school with scholarships, recruitment, research etc. RESPECT AND CONSIDERATION DID NOT COME MY WAY.

#23 studentsuccess10 You have hit the nail on the head. Ignorant “colleagues” (racists and possibly you included), simply choose to believe that Blacks of any nationality, when hired, are only hired because they’re “a minority,” thereby satisfying a diversity initiative. Since Blacks can no longer be denied an education, denying the value of the education they receive is the next best thing for people like you. I feel for gloriawalker(#22), the person to whom you gave your rude response. When African Americans express how they feel, the typical response by the “majority” is to ignore that person. Then, if there is a response, it’s a cowardly and thoughtless one like yours. When a white person gets a Ph.D., respect automatically comes with it. Contrarily, African Americans and every other type of Black people have to keep “proving,” over and over again, that they are worthy even of earning the respect that is given so thoughtlessly to others.

Thanks gloriawalker for your comments. I am a graduate student interested in Higher Education. I will like to get in touch with you. My email is kobod76@hotmail.com Thanks