WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SOCIAL INEQUITY?
Inequality and identity are huge webs that can span the entire globe, or be as specific as one regional group, in one area of the world. We all have dramatically different experiences, even when we inhabit the same place, like Smith College.
It makes sense that we all often have blind spots to our community members experiences. One way to be better ally to your community members is to do some research on the experiences of your marginalized peers. And while it can be easy to ask them to teach you, your education is not their responsibility. Check out some of the links and articles below to learn about a few of the marginalized groups at Smith College.
This list is not exhaustive and includes readings on the history of marginalized groups at Smith College, and the social movements they are a part of across the globe.
INDIGENOUS LAND
Part of being the best ally or community member you can be is being informed on the history of the location you are in. A with all places, this should begin with the history of the native people of this area.
Smith College is on the land of the Nonotuck Nation, and we have many neighboring tribes, such as the Abenaki and Wabanaki neighbors to our north, to Mohegan, Pequot, Narragansett to our south, to Nipmuc and Wampanoag peoples to our east, and to Mahican, Stockbridge, and Mohawk neighbors to our west. This information was taken from an land acknowledgement from Professor Christen Mucher, in Smith's American studies department. When reading about Indigenous people, it is important to prioritize listening to Indigenous authors as experts on their own history and culture as white supremacy has a history of denying people of color expertise as creators of knowledge, not just objects of study.
RACE AND RACISM IN THE UNITED STATES
These sources are focused on the American racial context, which is informed by settler colonial genocide and colonization of Indigenous people, and Transcontinental Slavery. In other locations their are different historical events that shape their racial context, but anti-blackness and the history of chattel slavery in the United States makes up a large part of our racial context. And anti-black racism in the United States is deeply engrained in our educational systems so being aware of the history of racism in education and academia both at Smith and more broadly is important.
CLASS
Class is a huge element of students experience of both life and education. While Smith college admits students of all social classes, the college experience, especially those of private colleges like Smith were designed with upper class students in mind. This can mean that unintentionally she parts of Smith are inaccessible or stressful to low-income and first generation students.
DISABILITY
Disability and education have always had a tumultuous relationship which have excluded disabled students from higher education and continually implement ableist policies which penalize and ostracize disabled students. But disability justice also has the power to imagine a world where all of our access needs were met, and had no impact on our worth as people. Check out some of these thinkers below.