Will she also stop speaking English? If we beg her to?
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The Post Millennial reports that Jessica Bridges, currently working on her PhD at Oklahoma State, came to the revelation about dropping her Spanish gig after discovering — on Instagram, of all places — a course on white allyship.Bridges discussed her views at Southern Connecticut State University’s “Virtual Women’s and Gender Studies Conference” in April. Her comments came during the “White Women’s Work: Lessons from Engaging in Antiracist Work” sub-session, part of a larger “White Accountability & Anti-Racist Education” workshop.
“Learning Spanish from a white woman … I wish I could go back and tell my students not to learn power or correctness from this white woman. I would tell them to stand in their own power. White isn’t right,” Bridges told those in attendance.
“I’m holding myself accountable to this journey,” she continued. “Part of my accountability is to continue to struggle and grapple with my internalized white supremacy. Dismantling white supremacy in society looks like dismantling in my heart, first. It means I’m not going to teach Spanish. Accountability is ongoing because there is no end to the process.”
“Spain’s a European language? You mean white people are allowed to teach it?”, Ms. Bridge asked FWIW. “I didn’t know that, and it’s not what I’ve been told.
“But it’s too late anyway; I’ve already resigned and abandoned my thesis. I’m pretty sure that I saw something on Instagram that said England isn’t considered part of Europe”, the (now-former) Ph.D. candidate continued, “so I think I can switch over to that — or maybe not; I’ll have to check with my White Fragility instructor”.
