Literature Breaks the Silence of Privilege

Silence.

It can be one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome during a discussion of racism. This time the silence in the room follows a difficult question.

Perhaps my students don’t feel like talking. Maybe they didn’t do their reading of Walter Dean Myers’ Monster. Or, maybe they just don’t see it.

So the silence sits, like a glacier, filling up the room. It’s the silence of white privilege.

Privilege (in a discussion of bias or prejudice) means not having to confront the bias directly or regularly. It leads students to think that race only matters when talking about the “other,” non-white races. Acknowledging that the privilege exists and that not everyone comes from that same experience is a critical first step to having honest discussions of race.

And that’s where literature helps.

Modern young adult literature is an excellent vehicle for facilitating these discussions. Many of these novels are written from engaging perspectives. The best young adult literature can act as a window allowing the reader to look into another person’s experience and fictional life.

The protagonist of Monster, Steve Harmon, is a 16-year-old African-American boy on trial for felony murder. Myers crafts the story as a screenplay and a diary (both written by the protagonist). The unusual format grabs the attention of my students who are so familiar with crime procedurals on television, but the honest subject matter is what causes the class discussion to freeze.

The moment that inspires silence on this particular day comes from a conversation between Steve and his lawyer, Ms. O’Brien. She’s just offered Steve her view of their case, saying, “Half of those jurors, no matter what they said… believed you were guilty the moment they laid eyes on you. You’re young, you’re black, and you’re on trial. What else do they need to know?”

I ask my students, “Have any of you ever witnessed or encountered prejudice like this? And if you haven’t seen it, does that mean it’s not real?”

My predominantly white students don’t quite know how to respond. Students in the minority may not feel comfortable responding.

I pivot from race to the one element they do share: age.

“Has anyone ever seen a store manager or salesperson look or treat someone differently because they’re a teenager?”
Heads begin to nod; students look up, more comfortably meeting my gaze.

“Anyone want to share what they’ve seen?”

Slowly the glacier begins to crack.

A couple of hands go up, and they begin to talk to each other about the curfew at the local mall, encounters with a clerk at a local hangout and “getting the eye” from different salespeople.

Sharing these experiences gives them a moment of empathy for the protagonist. When the discussion turns back to racism (both in Monster and in life), it becomes just a little easier to discuss that white privilege exists and not everyone’s experience with race is identical.

Elliott is a high school English teacher in Texas.