Several years ago, Lamara Warren, diversity expert and inventor of the Game of Oppression, delivered a talk to a standing room only crowd. During that conversation she noted that if you are not rocking the boat, then you must be rowing the boat. Her comment was in reference to how people tend to respond to unpopular or sensitive topics.
I revisited her comment recently. I thought about it in terms of how people in organizations navigate structural and institutionalized racism ― specifically within educational organizations. I quickly jotted down my historical observations.
The responses that I have observed and heard included a broad list of general characteristics that I would wager many of us have witnessed or experienced as members of any organization, and of course, as members of a racist society.
It came as no surprise when there seemed to be two responses. And if placed on a continuum, they seemed to be diametrically opposed. Of course, each of the responses has something to do with one’s disposition, consciousness, authenticity and concern for communities of color more so than for the “individuals” own need to feel affirmed.
I also know that folks may rock and or row depending on the situation and environmental push (see Khaula Murthada and Chris Leland’s work about how an “environmental push” plays a critical role in how one might respond in organizational settings). Nevertheless, what seemed clear was that most folks may be more likely to row the boat and some folks forever rock the boat.
Playing the game (rowing)
1. You are always the one person of color chosen to sit on every committee, even the ones out of your area of expertise. Most people seem to be comfortable around you and say and share things with you. You may have heard that you are different and articulate. (Most folks of color have heard this. It is not a compliment. It means that whomever is relaying this information has decided that some folks cannot speak in a certain vernacular. So you are really being dissed. It also suggests that your entire community has been unable to speak in a “suitable” tongue that resonates with the interpreter.) Get your paddle and get to rowing. Your organization has placed you in the boat and donned you with oars.
