Box of delight

Twelve ways that white faculty members can better support Black academics in their department and across the campus.

Black academics find ourselves in an unexpected new reality. When white faculty members speak up about us, we’re used to hearing questions like, “Why are you always complaining?” and “And can’t you smile more?” But this year, we are finally at a point where many white professors are singing a different tune: “We see your pain. How can we help?” For me, as a Black faculty member at a historically white university, that’s music to my ears.

As educators doing antiracism work, we often focus extensively on the impact that white supremacy has on students. But even though we recognize that white supremacy shapes all of our lives and work, we spend little time talking about its impact on educators.

For the past three years, we’ve worked as colleagues in our Philadelphia high school’s humanities department and with teacher-led racial justice organizations. Clarice is a Black, biracial woman, and Charlie is a white man.

We know we all live in the same society of racism and white supremacy. We know white educators have the privilege to ignore these conditions and often do. And we know our collaboration is the exception, not the rule.