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The discussion prompted by the student's Facebook post on Wednesday was perhaps one of the more interesting discussions for me this quarter. Not only did it break down a lot of walls, but it forced many to speak very candidly about their experiences in the class. More so, I think it forced everyone to solidify what they believe the purpose of the class to be. Or even, what the class should be to some. There are many different ways that Professor Marrow could have navigated the material of this course. What he did for me was give me a map of understanding of how deliberately the current system of inequality was created, and by understanding the creation, we have a chance to fight against it. 

           I took a Critical Race Theory course with Dr. Michelle Montgomery my first quarter at UWT in the fall. Three of the tenets that stood out to me in that course were:

                

(1) Critical Race Theory challenges ahistoricism and insists on historical/contextual analysis 

(2) Insists on the experiential knowledge of individuals of color. 

(3) CRT works toward eliminating racial oppression as part of a broader goal of ending all forms of oppression. 

            In attempt to challenge my own ahistoricism I decided to take this course. As mentioned in the discussion on June 1 there are a lot of pieces of American History, specifically African American History, that are left out of our education. As I have pieced together the purpose of this course, to me, it has been to fill all of those pieces 'conveniently' left behind. There are many examples of ways that Dr. Marrow utilized experiential voices through poetry, Anne Moody's text, film, music, etc.

            After gaining the knowledge from this course about the policy and people that created the current system manny of my own intellectual gaps have been bridged. In reference to the third tenant of CRT, I do think that the knowledge built in this course will not only help me understand oppression in all populations, but also how to create a path for those experiential voices to be heard above my own. 

-Ashley