Comments on: Spent

By: Hannah Weinstein

Hannah Weinstein — Fri, 13 May 2016 02:19:26 +0000

This post made me think about when I was working at my Aunt’s elementary school in Queens, NY. The elementary school was public, and it was in a neighborhood of mostly Latinex people who were part of the lower-middle class. One day while my Aunt was telling me stories of the hardships the parents and the children had to go through, I said something like, “But the woman who you were talking to had an iPhone, so she couldn’t be that poor.” I thought this was a logical statement because it costs money to pay for a phone plan, etc. Right after I said that my Aunt told me, “Hannah, everyone has an iPhone, that doesn’t mean anything.” That conversation made me think about what I said, coming to the conclusion that you cannot judge someone by the way they dress, or by what phone they have. Thinking about the conversation I had with my Aunt today makes me think about if there was some colorblind ideology being thrown around in my head or the belief that everyone is equal with equal opportunities. Interesting topic!

By: Joe Rorem

Joe Rorem — Thu, 12 May 2016 20:53:48 +0000

This is a great application of White comfort. When we played Spent in class, there certainly was a certain amount of veiled DIScomfort in the room, moderated by humor.

I don’t think spent does a good job of bringing everyone along for the ride it wants to take you on. It’s hard to take seriously unless you have been introduced to these concepts before, and not everyone in that room had taken a class on privilege or race before. It was a rough class period, I agree.

By: Brendan O'Hara

Brendan O'Hara — Thu, 12 May 2016 13:56:03 +0000

When I read this post, I immediately think of our class discussions of the “American Dream” and protestant work ethic that are so deeply ingrained in our master narrative. I think those beliefs that as long as you work hard and pull yourself up by your bootstraps you can rise through the ranks and be successful could be a big reason why these students had this reaction. That last statement you make is very powerful. Definitely a lot to think about!