Author: Houghton STAR

Last week’s STAR described recent mandates concerning the 1972 Federal law on gender equity known as “Title IX” to the problem of relationship violence on campuses.  Students at Houghton can celebrate that they live in an environment free of much of the outwardly destructive behavior that characterizes many schools.   What, then, does Title IX have to do with Houghton?   The goal of Title IX at Houghton is to promote the education of students, specifically as this relates to Houghton Goal #5:  “Ground students in a strong biblical worldview in the Wesleyan tradition that allows them to be deeply and thoughtfully Christian so as to transform culture through redeeming action.”    Much of the conversation I hear around campus falls short of the standard of being “deep” or “thoughtful” and much of our energy seems devoted to defending a particular stereotyped vision of gender roles rather than invested in “redeeming action”.   Houghton must do a better job of preparing its students to be leaders in the area of gender equity.

Former President Jimmy Carter’s A Call to Action:  Women, Religion, Violence, and Power states, “ . . . in my opinion, Jesus Christ was the greatest liberator of women in a society where they had been considered throughout biblical history to be inferior.”  If we are followers of Christ, we must be fearless in opening ourselves to the possibility that the privileges we enjoy hinder us from seeing the extent of the work yet to be done.   In calling us to be agents of redemption in the world, is Christ calling us to be “Human Rights’ Activists”?  If so, what does this look like?  Perhaps just as importantly, what are the distractions or petty disagreements that seem to draw us away from our calling?

My job as Title IX Coordinator is to encourage thoughtful consideration of questions such as, “In what ways are we influenced by the larger culture regarding gender in a way that is harmful to our understanding of what it means to be created in God’s image?   How do both women and men contribute to and sustain the difficulties we have in relating to one another in Christ-honoring ways?  How does language impact our views of women and men?  What implications are there for using the word ‘girls’ to describe females over 18 and using ‘men’ or ‘guys’ to describe males over 18?   Why don’t we have a universal policy of gender-friendly language for our course syllabi?”

If they are to follow Christ’s lead in gender justice, Houghton graduates must wrestle with questions, such as, Why does the self-confidence of girls decrease sharply just as they reach puberty?  Why is it okay to use disparaging comments when referring to girls and women (e.g. “You throw like a girl” – see SuperBowl 49 commercial)?  Why do women speak less in mixed groups, including during class discussions?  How much should it concern us that the phrase,” I totally raped you!”, is likely to refer to beating someone in a videogame?  Why is it that so many young women, including Christians, feel that they owe a man something if he compliments them and pays attention to them?  How can Christian women be empowered to have a voice and to assert themselves while nurturing the belief that Christians are to place service to others above self?   How does a culture of patriarchy within the church contribute to a climate of female restraint and male entitlement that hinders the full development of both men and women?    How do we respond to the complaint from a sister or brother that something we have said or done has negatively impacted her or him, regardless of any lack of intent to do harm?

Transformation needs to occur, but first we seek the truth with humility. Thankfully, Christ and scriptures such as Galatians 3:28, which states “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus”  give us direction.   As Emma Brittain noted in, How Houghton Handles Racism,  “. . . if we are not sensitive to race, we can’t be intentional about combating racism.”    We must open ourselves up to conversations that are difficult, that make us uncomfortable, and on which we disagree. This is the best way to hold ourselves and one another accountable.   There is work to be done at Houghton.

Racism is a problem in America, throughout the world, and yes in Houghton as well. Racism, as I want to simply define it here, is a systemic and sometimes very unintentional devaluing of the lives of people of color. It is not limited to rude remarks; it’s most damaging roots lie in institutions which destroy lives through  denying people of jobs, housing, and freedom. Houghton graduates will have the chance to fight against this sort of racism as they go out into their fields of work- but to do that they must first be educated on it.

Houghton has tried to be more intentional when talking about racism in organized discussions. As a student of color, attending these discussions has shown me that even my peers who truly care about racial issues do not know how to approach the discussion. I believe without education everyone is a racist. We are shaped by our society and human nature to believe certain stereotypes. Unless we educate ourselves and try to break harmful patterns of conduct, we will be ensnared by racism.

Frequently in regards to racial issues, I hear Houghton students say “There are no races, I don’t see race.” But if we are not sensitive to race we can’t be intentional about combating racism. Sensitivity is a huge problem for discussions about racism, particularly when the majority of the participants are white. When I was in high school multiple times everyday I was referred to as “Black Emma” or other things that made me constantly aware that as a mixed (Black and White) girl I was an unwanted minority. Not seeing color was a privilege I was unable to have. Both fortunately and unfortunately this isn’t true for the “average Houghton student”; it is good that not everyone experiences racism even though it makes it harder for them to understand the issue.

For Instance, when people at Houghton who lead discussions about race are not themselves people of color, discussion is, once again, difficult. These facilitators are incredibly gracious and  they truly care about people of color, yet they lack the experience of racism and thus lack the high sensitivity toward it. Sometimes as a student of color, I have wished that there was a person of color in administration that I could go talk to about racism. It is uncomfortable for me to go to a white male and try to explain my experiences. Also, when there are deep pains in the Black community at large, the white males in Houghton aren’t entirely tuned in to this. Last school year the student body was told that regular chapel discussions about race would take place. However, I was personally upset this past semester when no such discussion became a reality. I checked on the planning process a few times and I was told they were trying to find a better time to hold them, however, I felt that discussions still should have been held while the future plans were in the works. The lack of discussion makes racism seem like something we only talk about when racial incidents take place, rather than presenting racism in its true light as being a constant problem. When we finally had a campus event to talk about Ferguson I felt like this just furthered the idea that if we talk about these topics a few times, then they will disappear. In reality, these topics impact the daily lives of people across the nation and around the world. When I explained these thoughts to the discussion organizers, they were immediately regretful that their efforts had appeared that way to me. I hope that in the future, race can be a continued conversation at Houghton.

Houghton has done a good job opening these conversations so perhaps someday soon we can have a person of color lead them and white students listen. I say white students in particular because I know many white students feel uncomfortable going to talks about racism, especially with the fear of being called racists. This is something we as a community can easily get over to move forward in changing the world- one Houghton graduate at a time.