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A perspective on the role that whites have (or don't have) at POCC

By Emma Peat posted 02-10-2015 03:53 PM

  

It makes sense to start an article about white people’s role at POCC, or anything related to POCC, with an articulation of the true meaning and purpose of the conference. However, I am limited in my ability to truly understand POCC because the conference is not meant for me. I can say that the conference is a place for people of color in independent schools to gather every year. That I know. But beyond that, what it feels like to need POCC, to be at POCC, and to return to school life post POCC, that I don’t know. I don’t know because I am not a singleton or one of few of anything at my school. I am not subjected to daily microaggressions. And I don’t feel the burden of helping white folks at my school understand what it’s like to be me. So, how can I make meaning of my role at POCC if I can’t truly understand it? Maybe I can base it on what I do know POCC is not.  


POCC is not a place for me, and other white folks, to explore white identity and privilege. There are many conferences designed for me, and I should definitely check those out, but POCC is not my place to do that. Yes, there is a white affinity group at POCC, but the time allotted and structure of it are not intended to be a place to realize privilege and white identity. To do this well, a conference must be carefully designed to give white participants learning experiences paired with small-group, difficult conversations, where participants can explore, share, and extend their thinking to new places. White people absolutely have a crucial role in making schools inclusive communities and bringing forth equity and social justice, and realizing why we should not go to POCC might be a good first step in supporting those efforts.


POCC should not be a place that schools send participants to in order to demonstrate a commitment to diversity. Schools need to recognize that the choices of where to send participants must depend on the individual needs of the faculty and staff. School administrators have a responsibility to help faculty and staff make informed choices. If the school has no or very few people of color, then they have a lot of work to do to change that, a lot of work! And hopefully, someday, those schools will have a large delegation of people of color to send to POCC. Until then, those schools should look for support from other conferences and consultants.


I noticed that during the white affinity groups at the recent POCC in Indianapolis, most of the participants were attending the conference for the first time, and were seemingly unaware that: 1. a tension exists around their presence, 2. they were actually in the way of the conference reaching its goals, and 3. their choice to attend may have been misguided. My first year at POCC, back in 2005, I was equally unsuspecting of the complication of my presence. I loved the conference, blissfully ignorant and surrounded by hundreds of other white participants; and I returned the following year, to find even more folks who looked like me. When in 2006 the NAIS Board affirmed that POCC is designed for people of color, my eyes were opened, and I respectfully stopped going. I have been a leader in my school in issues related to equity and social justice, and have found many other places to gain perspectives and tools. I went again to POCC this year, feeling like I was desparate for some inspiration and new ideas, and I found that my presence was, again, an invasion.


My plea is for all of us to make a choice to go to POCC that is an informed choice, based on some knowledge of the conference’s history and purpose, and a clear picture of how our presence will be felt. This begs the question...should any white person ever go to POCC? There are myriad reasons for white people to go, such as bringing students to SDLC, presenting at a workshop, or having done a lot of work on white identity and feeling like at this particular time, POCC is a place to get inspiration and bring tools back to school. But know what it means, why are you going, and how to act appropriately when you are there. Know that it is very likely that the colleagues of color that would be going with you are going for very different reasons than you, and that they need the space, away from you, in order to get what they need. I will mostly likely not return to POCC again, or at least not for a while, for the best thing that I see that I can do now is to step aside.



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