Even though I enjoy my English classes, I will spend hours upon hours in my Education course work. I'm fired up about students. I really am. So, I honestly wasn't sure why I felt such a pull for Medieval Literature in Oxford.
I didn't understand why I wanted to go right into the heart of privilege when I could've been spending my time with children who haven't been given access to education, power, or privilege in a Zambia opportunity. It's here, in Oxford, that I'm starting to understand how privilege even began, meaning white Western privilege. God knew I was struggling with the 'why.' He knew I wasn't going to be able to get past this gap without going back to the beginning of "The Standard." I knew oppression existed. I knew I was part of the privileged. But, I no longer could take anyone else's claims as to why this divide existed until I dove into it for myself. The thing is, it has landed in my lap. I thought, well I guess my heart is telling me to go to Oxford because it's a "me" journey. That has still held true. I also thought it was an opportunity to dig into my expertise to be an English teacher, for me to really become an expert in my field. That has also held true. However, time and time again, my readings about the history of English has come to life in how I understand oppression, how language has played into privileges since the beginning. We see it all the time. Black dialects impact privilege. People with dyslexia are impacted, those with a Spanish accent or someone with a speech impediment. The list goes on. We create a standard because it's easier for our brain, but yet we know it's harmful to those left on the outside of it. I knew my heart was drawn to the history of language for a reason. Language gives us access to power and it started from the dawn of Geoffrey Chaucer who decided what Standard English was going to sound like due to his literary piece, The Canterbury Tales, that served as a bridge between upper and lower classes. The narrative poems were a huge success and timing was everything; he was cited continuously by other writers, making his dialect the desirable one. People with other dialects didn't have a Chaucer to represent them. Thus, a standard is made... It would be completely unfair of me to make the leap from Chaucer to white privilege, but the concept is there. When only one type of dialect, race, religion, sexual orientation, body type, viewpoint is voiced, then oppression thrives. The importance of representation is often pushed to the wayside. "It's not my fault for what I was born with." That goes both ways. And it's not about fault. It's about accepting the fact that we don't understand what it's like to be in each other's shoes unless we listen to lots of different stories. We can't listen to only some. It's important to have representation of many and not just the fantastical ideal standard if we are truly going to be a nation committed to public interest.
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Greetings!I'm Kelly! I like to find beauty in what might seem mundane to us over time and bring to life what we experience each day. Check out the About Me tab for an additional look at who I am. Archives
July 2019
Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is. |