By: Olivia Olsen
Dr. Tina M. Harris spoke about dismantling oppression through allyship and faith at Belmont University on March 4, 2021.
Harris is the endowed chair of race, media and cultural literacy at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and author or editor at three books, including the leading interracial communication textbook in the field. She has also written more than 70 journal articles and book chapters and delivered more than 150 presentations throughout her career. Harris will be the recipient of the esteemed Carol Arnold lecture at the National Communication Association this year.
In her virtual lecture titled “We Are Our Brothers’ and Sisters’ Keeper: A Christian Prism for Social Justice, ” Harris explored the intersections between her Christian faith and scholarly knowledge, and how relational dimensions are integral in dismantling racism.
“As I was working on this presentation, I was so excited because this is different from many presentations that I have done and will be doing,” said Harris about speaking on her Christian faith, “but it’s different in a good way.”
She discussed her background that shaped where she now stands in her career. Daughter of two preachers, Harris was raised in the church. Her father was also in the military which allowed her to live abroad as a child.
“When I was two and a half we moved to Spain [and] lived there for four and a half years,” said Harris, “and even though I was a toddler…I believe that even that was ordained by God because it really has impacted the way I view the world.”
“I never wanted to go to college. I wanted to graduate high school and go to cosmetology school and my mom was like, ‘No, you are not.’”
“I was so upset with her. I was mad with her, but here I am many years later, doing the very thing God used her to get me to.”
Now, as a well-known scholar in interracial communication, Harris discussed her deep concern with the way white nationalists, claiming Christianity, have carried out overt acts of racism in recent years. She discussed the need for people of faith to speak up and advocate for racial justice.
She introduced the audience to what it means to be an “advocate-mentor,” a new term she and her colleague Dr. Celeste Lee coined. It is similar to what most people know as an “ally.”
An advocate-mentor “speaks in support or defense of another person. An advocate is an intercessor, one who pleads for or on behalf of a less powerful person.”
They must have a genuine interest in supporting and have a willingness to addressing situations where a student of color has been put in an unfair position.
Advocate-mentors also have a societal privilege whether it be from race, gender and sexual orientation among others.
Harris made a note that she is a Black woman, but she also has high status in her organization and industry which provides an opportunity for advocacy.
In scholarly settings, advocate-mentors are able to guide students of color through unwritten rules of higher education.
As an advocate-mentor, two primary goals are having open communication and ensuring their protégé accepts the response to social injustice they’re facing.
Harris spoke on how open communication benefitted her classes last fall:
“At the beginning of class I asked how everyone was doing,” she said, “And for a while I’m going to stop asking this because…they’re sick of it, they’ve heard it ad nauseum, but at the end of the semester, for both of my classes, they said that they appreciated the fact that I was able to replicate an in-person class online.”
One must have an understanding of intentionality and emotionality as an advocate mentor. She noted that when deconstructing situations of social injustice, it matters both what was intended and what was experienced emotionally. Being attentive to both dynamics, but particularly to the emotional experiences of students of color, is integral to being an effective advocate.
Harris made a point to check in with her students and provide extensions and push back deadlines in her remote classes amidst the pandemic, for example.
Change agents should also have an honest, willing commitment to seeking social justice verbally and non-verbally on behalf of a student of color.
There are situations in which an advocate would want to respond that do not coincide with their protégé’s needs. Remember to make sure the student is comfortable with the next steps to take when addressing issues of social injustice.
Possessing a savior-complex when working with proteges must be avoided. It is important to acknowledge the student’s emotional safety and comfort comes first when advocating for them.
Oppression, however, is not always overt and can be implicitly expressed in social situations.
Harris spoke of her concept of Confronting Racial Microaggressions, also known as “CRAM.”
She relayed a study she conducted with her colleague where they read reflections from students on how they were able to confront racial microaggressions.
The guidelines students followed is called the Racial Microaggression Identification and Confrontation Process.
“This has been something that I’ve been integrating into some workshops I’ve been doing for a few organizations or companies,” said Harris, “One woman during one workshop said she wish she had this four-step process 20 years ago when she experienced a racial encounter.”
The process goes as follows:
“I wanted to make a connection to the classroom and how the students are applying what they’re learning to the real world, and this is, as a Christian standpoint, also evidence of ministry.”
Harris noted the intersection between her faith and activism throughout her presentation:
“As a Christian, I believe it is important for us to resist, or we can engage in resistance or efforts towards our resistance to public critiques and denunciations.”
“I definitely believe our ministry [as Christians] is also a form of social justice, and that we should be laying a foundation and be engaged in opportunities and initiatives toward inclusivity and just equality.”