Last week, I was making calls to early education schools and programs to ask them to distribute our survey to their teachers. I was pretty bad at these “tele-marketer” phone calls and struggled with making a friendly impression with the administrators. When my supervisor listened in on one of my calls, she said my way of speaking makes me sound like I’m not from Detroit, which might cause some distance between me and the administrators.
She’s completely right. I’ve been trained to speak this “high elitist white academia” language because of 5 summers working at Oakland Hills Country Club, a white-dominant upper class private golf course, as well as two years at the elitist University of Michigan. So I quickly learned to switch my words around to fit a more friendly and approachable tone. Of course, it helped tremendously with making the pitch more genuine and relevant to everyone.
My supervisor’s comment made me conscious of how different I am from native-Detroiters. I’m an Asian-American in Detroit, a racial demographic that only makes up a meager 1% of the city. I started wondering about my place in Detroit as a summer intern, especially as an outsider Asian-American woman. What do teachers think when I first walk in the door asking them to take our survey? Is my credibility lowered when I speak to them about Detroit education? And do they believe that my actions and intentions for Detroit educational success are sincere? All of these questions make me wonder how I, an outsider, need to make sure that I’m balancing everything from respectfully entering the community, helping empower its people, and thoughtfully contributing to a project that will hopefully have positive impacts to the area?
I know I’m always going to be seen as an outsider in Detroit. But I know that the most I can do is to always be an active ally. I ask, listen, observe, and contribute when appropriate. I respect the culture and needs of the teachers and children I work with. My office has set a great example for me to follow. Their office culture circles around principles of respect, appreciation, and inclusivity. I’ve only had a brief taste of the cultures of downtown Detroit, its schools, and its citizens. I’m humbled to have an opportunity to work with E3 Talent Design and the schools of Detroit. I hope to continue being both active ally for all parts of Detroit’s culture for the rest of my life.
