An Argument for Humble Curiosity NOT Cultural Competence.
Right now I am at Columbia getting my master's in social work. In one of my classes called Advanced Generalist Practice and Programming, we read an article called, “The elephant is not pink!” talking about White, Black and Brown to achieve excellence in clinical practice. The article argues that white clinicians and therapists should work hard to educate themselves and be culturally aware of who they are serving. It is the responsibility of white folks to own their privilege and to find a way to bring race into the conversation, especially with clients of color.
DaKwan on his time at Stomping Ground
I was reading this article in the car while DaKwan drove us back to NYC after a weekend celebrating a camp wedding upstate. DaKwan is a long time Stomping Ground Staff member. He worked at camp from 2016 to 2018 for three summers. This past year DaKwan got his dream job working in the tech industry in the city.
I put the article down in my lap, and grabbed the bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos.
DaKwan asked what I was reading about and I told him. We had an engaging discussion about race, mental health, camp, and all of the intersecting identities that we hold. DaKwan is Black. I am white. His take was that sometimes there is no way for white people to truly understand what a Black person’s life is like. Sure, being non-judgmental and socially aware is critical, but the whole idea of cultural competence makes it seem like white people could just read some books, or have a few Black friends and then “get it” or be “competent” in another culture, upbringing or background. He emphasized that it’s important for everyone to realize that this is the case. Whites can’t be experts on Blacks the same way Black people can't be experts on white people and so on. I think DaKwan is right. That sounds like a recipe for making a whole lot of assumptions and potentially hindering any meaningful connection.
Humble curiosity is the opposite of cultural competence or cultural sensitivity. Humble curiosity starts from a place of wonder and then reminds us to check our thoughts, words, and actions. It is a sentiment that reminds us that dialogue is the most powerful tool for growth and connection, but only if people with different views or different perspectives feel respected and truly seen and heard. Humble curiosity invites people in and asks both parties to participate in learning about each other by asking thoughtful questions and remembering that whatever we know, or think we know from previous conversations, articles, ideas, people, classes, experiences, etc. probably does not apply to the conversation. It does not matter how many times you have read Ta-Nehisi Coates, if you are white, you cannot be an expert on a Black person’s experience. Humble curiosity reminds us that being a “know it all” about someone else, whether they are present or not, is often a barrier to understanding those around us.
We all have implicit bias. We all make pre-judgments and decisions about a person based on exposure, the media, our family values, and our past experiences. Humble curiosity can be the next evolution in our society’s fight to break free of harmful bias.
How do we teach Humble Curiosity?
Young people are exposed to all of the same stuff we hear about in the media. We hear about police brutality, mass incarceration, the school to prison pipeline, white supremacist rallies, yet where is it ok for kids to process and talk about this difficult stuff? As adults, we have a hard time doing it. I applaud teachers that are engaging their classrooms in discussions about race and privilege. However, most school districts are still racially segregated. According to a recent NYT article, “More than half of the nation’s schoolchildren are in racially concentrated districts, where over 75 percent of students are either white or nonwhite.” White students can have these discussions, and Black and Latino students can have these discussions, but rarely does it take place in the same place. There is an overwhelming amount of research that suggests that integration is the most powerful tool we have to fight inequality and achieve racial equity. Elise C. Boddie and Dennis D. Parker cite several of these studies in their 2018 op-ed in the Times. I am not arguing that we all sit around a campfire and force these conversations. I recognize that having conversations just with your own identity group is crucial as well. However, where is there space where we can dialogue together?
At Stomping Ground, while we are far from perfect, we are constantly pushing to have lots of different identities represented for a week of camp. Playing basketball, going swimming, sharing a cabin with or just simply laughing with someone of a different race, city, income level, or background builds radical empathy.
We need to push it further. Our kids deserve that. We can model having humbly curious conversations, we can hire a more diverse staff, and strive for more representation on our leadership staff. As a white camp director, I can start by listening, and then listen some more.
I know that the kids that come to Stomping Ground each summer are the future leaders of our schools, communities, cities, and our country. Being humbly curious together each summer allows us to learn more about the world we live in. Not just in a classroom, or from books or podcasts, but because we spend time together. Let’s break out of the siloed communities we grew up in and gather for a week or two together at camp. The goal is not to fix the world or become more culturally sensitive or competent. The goal is not to rescue anyone, but to learn more about ourselves and learn how to respect each other.
LAURA KRIEGEL
CAMP DIRECTOR/CHIEF HEART OFFICER
BEST BOSS
LAURA@CAMPSTOMPINGGROUND.ORG
(585) 489-8880
Greene, M. P., & Blitz, L. V. (2012). The elephant is not pink: Talking about White, Black, and Brown to achieve excellence in clinical practice. Clinical Social Work Journal, 40(2), 203-212. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10615-011-0357-y
Keith Meatto, (2019). Still Separate, Still Unequal: Teaching about School Segregation and Educational Inequality. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/learning/lesson-plans/still-separate-still-unequal-teaching-about-school-segregation-and-educational-inequality.html
Elise C. Boddie and Dennis D. Parker, (2018) Linda Brown and the Unfinished Work of School Integration. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/opinion/linda-brown-school-integration.html?module=inline
Atlantic article by TA-NEHISI COATES