When I was a little girl I didn't know how to pronounce my own name. Ridiculous but true.

The rolling "r" in Irene often proved so difficult for me to say in Spanish, that when asked my own name, I would either just say it in English in order to avoid the embarrassment, or just say my nickname, Cookie, (not the Spanish Cuqui, of course). I remember my mother drilling me, in Spanish, to repeat the refrain ​erre con erre cigarro (r and r, cigar) - in an effort to help me pronounce my own name. Although it did eventually help, I still to this day often feel that my tongue is often too large for my mouth, whenever I have to speak Spanish for any extended period of time.  As my mother would often report "ella se traga la lengua" - literally meaning  - (sigh) she swallows her tongue.

My problems with Spanish, however, not only centered on speaking but also on reading. For you see, I was never formally taught how to read in Spanish. As I have written about earlier, for a variety of reasons, my parents never signed me up for bilingual education, and so I received all of my classes in English. In all my years of schooling, I was only briefly enrolled in one Spanish class, which mostly involved signing songs. Later, when it was time to go to high school, I signed up to take French classes, because why would I want to sign up for Spanish, if I spoke that at home?  That clearly was a mistake which I still pay for. 

To this day, speaking and reading Spanish, while possible, don't come as naturally to me as English, which is a real source of frustration to me - although I do keep trying.

But sometimes that effort just feels pitiful and it makes me very m/sad. Today as I was writing a chapter on the status of psychology in Puerto Rico, I finally hit a wall,. I found a bunch of source documents and articles in Spanish but quickly realized that I needed some back up to decipher the material because my Spanish just wasn't all that sharp.

I felt so angry at how this all came to be.

I trained to become a psychologist because I wanted to do something useful with my life and to give back to my community, But nowhere, in all of my years of doctoral training, was I ever offered any course in Spanish. That is, while I was definitely exposed to multicultural counseling, I was never offered a course in Spanish medical and psychiatric terminology nor was I ever given the formal opportunity, while in training, to practice doing therapy in Spanish (perhaps because there was NO ONE who could actually supervise my sessions).  Instead, I was offered lots of courses in statistics and perception - and so now, I can accurately perceive how little, indeed, was offered to me and can now validly assess the wretched state of my own field.

Dislocated from the island, my parents came to the U.S. with the hopes that my life here would be somehow better than if I was raised there. But in some respects, they were wrong. Being a colonial subject, means that although I was exposed to, and earned more, education than either my mother or father combined, this very education has, in fact, contributed to my own alienation. And so indeed Lorde was correct  - the master's tools will not dismantle the master's house - because while I did speak English at school, I also spoke it at home, with my friends, and to my parents - in particular, I spoke English to my mother so she could translate it to my father who only really spoke Spanish  (the beginning of a very unhealthy triangulation in our home).

But what is a parent to do? Parents often face difficult choices when raising their children, struggling to make sure their children fit in while also wishing for their children to retain their own cultural identity.

But, apart from what parents should do, what should the state do? What are the best ways to help immigrant children function in a host country (or as in my own case, what would have been the best way for me, as a citizen, to function in my own country?). Should the state mandate language classes for immigrant children OR should the state institute bilingual, or even, trilingual classes for all?  (Before you think that this is not possible - I would like to state that the mean number of languages that my students in Budapest speak is THREE - but that is a post for another day).

Should we aim to integrate these children - or are they better served in "catch-up" classes? And catch- up to what? to what norm? to who's standard?

Such are some of the questions surrounding the (mis)education of Roma children in Hungary, a topic that I was exposed to when I did my Fulbright in Hungary.  I only learned about it because I decided to go for a walk on a rainy Sunday afternoon and walked right into a political protest outside of the Hungarian parliament. Although my Hungarian is quite basic (actually non-existent is more to the point) I was able to make out some key phrases - like antifascists and could also recognize the flag of Amnesty International (because it literally said Amnesty International), and with the help of google translate I quickly understood that this was a rally against the enforced segregation of Roma children in Hungary,.

As described in this article from Reuters

More than 2,000 Hungarians, including Roma families and civil groups, marched to parliament on Sunday to protest against the government’s refusal to pay compensation to Roma children who had been unlawfully segregated in a school in eastern Hungary.

Apparently, in the village of Gyongyospata (in Northern Hungary) there is an ongoing dispute on what should be done after the lower courts declared that the state should pay damages to the families of Roma children who were placed in segregated schools. For almost a decade this has been dragging on with PM Orban suggesting that the state should not pay damages but instead provide "customized education opportunities" instead (see here for further description of this proposal)

So what is the role of the state? what obligations does it have toward others? and more pertinently, what are the psychological consequences of pursuing polices that segregate  and refusing to compensate when damage has been done?

Certainly, there is no shortage of psychological literature pointing to the harmful effects of segregation as the research by Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark showed. In fact, it was their work that showed how racial segregation harmed the self-images of Black children and was formed the basis of decision to desegregate American schools (see here)

However, what I would argue, is that segregation does not only hurt immigrant children - but majority children as well. Because segregation prevents contact and limits exposure to others. Segregation also dehumanizes and this was a point I saw echoed in many of the signs at the protest. People also just seemed tired - like really fed up as evidenced by the signs I saw (Enough! Enough!)

Of most interest to me is that by the end of that Sunday approximately 500 Hungarian psychologists had signed a petition against this government policy.

See psychologists can have a role in shaping social policy.

Race Matters in Education Abroad Blog Series: “Colorblindness” Is Not the Answer
What is Colorblindness?
Race issues continue to be difficult for our country to address and we have found various ways to address this discomfort over time. As our country transitioned from widespread blatant racial discrimination and segregation, which clearly made evident that race should be taken into account when determining a person’s worth, to a more equal society. However, along the way, we also adopted the view that if we no longer acknowledged racial differences, then racial disadvantage would cease to exist and all would be fixed. This concept has been defined as colorblindness. The article, Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism, by Monnica T. Williams (2011) Ph.D., defines colorblindness as: “the racial ideology that posits the best way to end discrimination is by treating individuals as equally as possible, without regard to race, culture, or ethnicity”. 

This concept informs commonly heard comments: “I don’t see race” or “race doesn’t matter, we’re all the same”. Essentially, as Dr. Williams describes, we took Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideals of full equality regardless of the color of one’s skin -- which still should be our goal -- and ended up stating, before enough progress had been made, that we have already arrived in a post-racial society. However, clearly our minority students remain very aware that we have not.
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As a study abroad field one of our goals is for students to discover the commonalities between people, to see how we are all connected across the globe, and to recognize our collective humanity. However, being colorblind is not the way to achieve these goals. Indeed, color blindness, and the insistence that we are all the same, does not help unify us but only serves to erase our respective histories. Furthermore, all colorblindness does is relieve advisors and faculty from needing to actually address the discomfort and challenges related to racial difference, privilege, power and disadvantage. Instead, as echoed by Dr. Williams’, our goal should be fearless multiculturalism, which acknowledges the differences in identities and experiences of our students and prompts us to be: “not afraid to see how others have suffered as a result of racial conflict or difference” (Williams, 2011). Instead of ignoring conversations about race, we need to proactively discuss race issues before students go abroad and effectively advise diverse students ourselves or know the resources with which we can connect students to appropriately up-pack these experiences and get additional support. Instead of being dismissive, we need to validate our students’ experiences when they say that they have experienced discrimination abroad. In effect, fearless multiculturalism would involve anticipating and discussing race related issues throughout the study abroad process.

What Does “Colorblindness” Look Like in Study Abroad?
In education abroad practitioners emphasize global citizenship, increased leadership development, and an expanded worldview as the purpose and benefits of international education. However, there is relatively little discussion or research on diversity issues and how they affect the experiences of students, specifically students of color, who study abroad. This is unfortunate, and in fact startling, considering that race, and coping with racism, is an integral part of their identities. As such, it cannot be shelved during new cultural experiences such as studying abroad. Therefore, discussions around race and diversity abroad need to be incorporated into study abroad advising, pre-departure orientations, on-site support, as well as all re-entry programming. When we focus on preparing students for their host country’s culture without addressing the culture’s historical and current attitudes towards racial and ethnic minority populations, or how a minority identity fits into that cultural context, this perpetuates colorblindness and ignores the ethnoracial identities that students carry with them when they go abroad. In short, not talking about race can lead to feelings of invalidation and exclusion, which can hamper the growth experienced from study abroad. Thus, if we wish to create global citizens who are curious about the world, and eager to engage with others, we must first engage with our students and listen and take seriously their concerns, worries, and fears. Modeling such empathy, in turn, can help create more culturally sensitive and compassionate leaders.

Around the world the experiences of people of diverse ethnoracial identities, and the systems that perpetuate racial inequality, can look very different than they do in the U.S. As such, addressing these cultural differences becomes a necessary part of the study abroad experience for all students. Ideally, study abroad students immerse themselves in another culture, learn about the customs and practices of the host country, engage with locals and maybe even learn the language. A colorblind mindset affects the attitudes of U.S. students as they move in and out of different cultural spaces, preventing them from deeply considering and appreciating the impact of difference, power and privilege and fully understanding the role of their own identities in the host culture. Depending on a student’s background and the host country’s racial dynamics, students can be left feeling isolated, confused and disempowered as they grapple to make sense of this foreign cultural environment. That race and racism is not a common part of the study abroad conversation is indicative of the ideology that race does not matter. 

Implications of Colorblindness
For the 2013-2014 academic year the Open Doors Data from the Institute of International Education reported that 74% of U.S. students who studied abroad were White. Such low numbers of students of color participating in study abroad programs begs the question: Does the conversation about race matter? We think it does. The underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minority students is very telling. Could the current colorblind approach to study abroad be a reason why these numbers are so low? The impact of colorblindness on the student experience is worthy of further research as it could provide a more robust understanding of enrollment, retention and peer-to-peer promotion of study abroad programs. 

Additionally, as diverse ethnoracial identities are still not widely represented among study abroad professionals or faculty, many practitioners are often not comfortable with or prepared to critically discuss or manage issues of racism abroad, much less fully address the concepts of multiculturalism and global citizenship through an inclusive lens. With our current demographics, it is imperative that professionals from privileged racial backgrounds dedicate themselves to the professional and personal development that is needed to fully explore power and privilege and how their own identities may impact the support they provide students. Likewise, additional efforts and research need to be devoted to addressing the lack of diversity within the study abroad profession and how this dynamic may influence the race and ethnicity profiles of study abroad participants.
If we truly are committed to increasing the numbers and diversity of students who study abroad, there must be a shift away from our traditional approaches, marketing and support for these opportunities. In an article featured in USA Today, Why Are All of the Kids On My Study Abroad Trip White, the author quotes Gretchen Cook-Anderson from IES Abroad: “In the 1940s and ’50s, study abroad trips were mainly restricted to white, upper-class women, Cook-Anderson says. Year-long trips to France were the norm — a kind of finishing school before getting married.” Acknowledging that this type of educational program was not traditionally fitted for students of color, especially students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, the author goes on to describe the barriers students of color face in being the only one from their background to participate in study abroad. She notes that financial limitations and parental concern tend to be major factors, but what about the experiences students have, or fear they will have, once abroad? Relegating the dearth of students of color in study abroad programs to finances and a lack of knowledge is not enough. The lack of conversation around what it means to be a person of color studying abroad silences the very real experiences, thoughts and feelings these students have to live with everyday. 

Let us begin to have the difficult conversations about race so we, as professionals in cross cultural and global engagement, can truly embody what it means to be an effective global citizen and break away from the ineffective colorblind approach to study abroad.          

What’s Next?
Intrigued? Stay tuned! Our next post will address how encounters with racial discrimination abroad impact students' experiences and mental health issues. 

Resources for Further Reading
Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism, by Monnica T. Williams Ph.D.
Why Are All of the Kids On My Study Abroad Trip White, by Elise Schmelzer
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