White Student Identity Programming
By NATASHA ROY '19
Milton’s Transitions program often faces scrutiny because of the idea that it excludes white students. Many, including some trustees, have called for a removal of the program, or for an inclusion of white students. Transitions alumni, however, vehemently oppose these changes because of the profound impact the program has had on so many students of color, as well as on international students.
The Transitions program is a program which invites both students of color and international students to live on Milton’s campus for several days during summer. During their stay, Transitions students are asked to grapple with how their respective identities fit in as part of the larger institution. These incoming students receive advice from older Milton students about how to navigate this school while being a minority.
Given Transitions’ overwhelmingly positive legacy, abolishing it would be severely detrimental to Milton’s incoming minority students, as well as to white students. The Transitions program has the ability to create an empowering space where, over the course of those few days, minority students are, for once, the majority.
Yet, white students need to experience identity programming similar to that of Transitions, and this issue must be addressed. The Milton Paper, therefore, offers a solution: preserve Transitions as it is, and also design a back-to-school identity workshop for white students.
OMCD is concerned that Transitions, while allowing minority students to consider their identities in the context of Milton, excludes white students from the same sort of reflection. This concern is legitimate; our community would benefit from a space where white students get the space to think closely and critically about their identities, and white students could benefit tremendously from this form of self-reflection. Questions that could be asked include: what does it mean to be white at Milton? How can white students support their peers of color? How can white students stand up in unacceptable situations and avoid being passive observers? Each of these questions is as vital to the health of our community as the question “What does it mean to be a minority at Milton?”
We at Milton have an ugly culture of becoming vicious towards the peers we deem “problematic.” Of course, we need to hold each other accountable and make it clear when we find a situation or comment unacceptable. After a point, however, it’s hard to fault someone for ignorance when we’re each a product of our upbringing. A white student from a predominantly white neighborhood hasn’t chosen to grow up without exposure to people of color. It’s unreasonable to expect such a student to suddenly understand how to be an ally or how to be white at Milton in a positive manner, unless this student is given an opportunity to learn.
During this past year, we’ve had multiple speakers and workshops concerning constructive discourse, and one of the themes stressed was the importance of being an active ally. We expect white students to be sincere allies, and rightly so, but when we condemn them, we overlook the fact that they may they might not know how to be an ally.
To be an ally requires the same level of careful, identity-based self reflection and guidance for which Transitions is an opportunity. In order to create a supportive, cohesive community, Milton must offer its white students the same opportunities for identity training as it does its minority students.