September 16, 2016 - 12:09
Slipping is an (unintentional) violation of another’s beliefs/experiences without the understanding/lack of empathy of how that other(s) may be impacted before the misstep. Because we come from different experiences and beliefs we cannot calculate all the reactions of how others in the given space may react to what we say/do. The reason slippage, in my opinion, cannot mean just a simple, “slip of the tongue”, is because the violator does not/ or does not want to think of the impact it may have on others based on their own experiences with this thing/action. It is important to notice that I have also called out the fact that the violator may be aware of the impact it may have on some yet they do not want to think of its effects because it alter the way they once thought it. A person’s rejection of all other ideals of a concepts, can be a powerful thing because it affects a person’s empathy to understand other ways of life. Thus the violation of someone else’s beliefs is still unintentional because they saw their portrayal in a way that was experienced differently, that was not meant to cause harm. This idea of slipping was brought to a small discussion I had with a few classmates on how I could relate this concept to Bryn Mawr College’s history with black people with a particular focus on the reign of the college’s second president, M Carey Thomas. Through that discussion invoked seeing slippage applied to a time where racism was intentional so this may push against my definition a bit. Yet but it allowed me to see slippage differently when looking at the past.
M Carey Thomas, responsible for some of Bryn Mawr’s historical buildings today like Thomas Hall and the Deanery and Deanery Garden, was very opposed to the idea of having blacks be more than a servant at the school. Even the servants which serviced most of these white elite women were meant to not be seen and were forced into very unappealing and hidden rooms. Hidden corridors ran under classrooms and were meant for blacks to move about without being seen. Even the next president to come after Thomas “felt it would be ‘unwise’ to admit” Bryn Mawr’s first black female student because of the “inevitable discrimination she would face.” So slippage was committed because this statement lacks any real empathy with the goals the first African- American student had because of the time that was complacent with racial discrimination. Reverting back to M Carey Thomas and her students of the time whom had committed slippage because of the ideology of the time period. Blacks were seen as inferior, in general, nationwide and this made it somewhat easy for elite white women including M Carey Thomas to reject black women as suitable to be among them. An important aspect of history and slippage is that a widespread mindset that was supported by others allows for a strong grip on one’s own experiences and can more easily reject beliefs of others. One clear example that the racism that M Carey Thomas is portrayed in one of her speeches to the student body. She says, “If the supremacy of the white race is maintained, as I hope it will be…it is the only race to educate women…certain races have not intellect, government…” This speech was clearly intentional to further the cause of superiority to the white race but she is most likely speaking this truth because the student supported this mindset. Although the rejection of black women (or men) was intentional, there is still the aspect that these privileged white women lacked empathy or understanding of the impact they created on black women. White women were aware of AN impact that their ideals had on black women because what they said went but whether they knew THE full impact was not much of their concern. Allowing themselves to be challenged with the plight these African- American women faced was simply something not done. So they slipped because their actions were not meant to hurt any black woman specifically but were the actions/sayings/ beliefs of this racist superiority mentality which fail to empathize with African- American women and men.
Obviously the intention of a superiotistic group is to keep down all other groups because they are deemed as a threat. I understand that to say the privileged elite white women of Bryn Mawr “slipped” is a vast understatement of the racism that occurred. As a black and latina woman today, it is very hard to look back and simply say that white women didn’t share the black woman’s plight because that was clearly not it. Looking back on history makes us emotional because much of our modern day society is all about speaking out and fighting discrimination. When I look back and apply slippage to this time I speak of it in as the incapability of the white woman to fully comprehend their wrongdoings because of their nationwide support and the normality of blatant racism. Thus white women slipped because their day-to-day racism obviously violated African- American women and men not only in their day-to-day life but also had an impact on an entire lifetime. All an all Bryn Mawr’s history with slippage applies because it lacked empathy/ concern on how blacks would be impacted (and for generations to come) because it furthered/benefited whites own experience with segregation.