There’s been a lot of talk about equity & justice for Classics and Classics-adjacent subjects in recent years. Good work is being done by allies & activists. But EVEN if all that works -- it won’t be enough. Here’s why.

THREAD /1

The biggest problem holding back diversity & equity in colleges & universities is educational INequity. Many issues of privilege saturate Classics as a field -- & I could SCREAM so many --racism--misogyny--ableism-- but this thread nails educational privilege & discrimination. /2

Look around your faculty and ask -- Why are these folks the ones who have jobs?
Because they are the best at Classics?
Nope. No.
Because they are the best TRAINED to be the best at Classics.
This difference is massive but NOBODY TALKS ABOUT IT. /3

The L word. Latin. Most people who know & teach Latin (& Greek!) went to a school their parent/s paid for. FINANCIAL PRIVILEGE bought EDUCATIONAL PRIVILEGE. When they say we NEED Latin & Greek for Classics they leverage their own privileged knowledge to discriminate against us./4

Money & wealth & opportunity are inextricably tied to whiteness. But how many of us activists give this brand of epistemic racism a free pass? Private schooling is the rotten ribbon tying this trash together. So we’ve GOT to learn Latin & Greek to be “Real Classicists”. /5

But if you couldn’t or WOULDN’T pay to learn them at high school, you’ve got to work TWICE+ as hard to catch up. 90%+ of kids go to public schools in US, Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, Switzerland, New Zealand. But most professors I know did not.
Go figure. /6

We need change. So what would this newly & truly equitable Classics look like?? We have a simple choice.

We burn down Latin, Greek, and ALL other elite knowledge bought by the wealthy and used to discriminate against & oppress the under-privileged.

Or ......
/7

We do everything we can to make Latin, Greek, and all other money-bought knowledge FREELY available in every school everywhere. And online. And in libraries (remember them??).

Either option will take time -- but we can do MANY things meanwhile. /8

Every classics professor now sat on a chair they paid for in advance at school, bought by privilege that came through $$$ not sweat & tears, must now ask what REAL equity looks like. Add up what you paid to be where you are & think about redistributing it to those who didn’t. /9

Scholarships. Bursaries. Books for students. Free summer Schools. Trips to suburbs of cities & towns where they don’t hear about Classics -- or can’t even if they want to. It’s not enough just to talk the talk: your time is worth the same as anyone else’s. So MORE is needed. /10

Please reply if you are a PROFESSIONAL CLASSICIST with TENURE and you did ***NOT*** pay a dime for education before you entered your Classics / Classics-adjacent degree. You are the voices that need to take the floor on this. /11

If you did pay, and you DO see the problem, please face & own your #educationalprivilege. You can’t just hide that ladder in your garage and put on your Yo Justice shirt. We see you. Instead LISTEN.. but DON’T stay silent. Which is it ?
Help us burn or help us learn ?? /12

I’m too exhausted to shout about this alone. I’ve been shouted down too much in my own dept, which has its problems but they're nothing compared to what I’ve seen elsewhere. /ENDS… for now.
#classicstwitter of #aiascs

DMs open.

(And YES -- private tutors count!! )