OPINION | The Problem With Professionalism

by Dr. Tracy Castro-Gill

I have earned four college degrees, including a Ph.D. I have been a teacher and district administrator. I founded and operate a nonprofit organization. I teach at a major university. I have been called upon to lead workshops and keynote speeches. My work has been used as exemplars by state institutions, yet I can't tell you how many times I've been accused of being "unprofessional" simply because I'm neurodivergent, Brown, too feminine, or [insert any non-white, non-cis, non-heteropatriarchal identity here]. The reason? The concept of "professionalism" is often weaponized.

Recently, education blogger Melissa Westbrook, who writes the Seattle Schools Community Forum blog, and The Seattle Times Editorial Board (STEB) used a loophole in the definition of "professional" to engage in anti-Black attacks on Seattle School Board Director Brandon Hersey. After the election of new school board candidates, Hersey shared an Instagram story containing an image with the victors using the hashtag "#Fuckaroundandfindout." Westbrook immediately went into attack mode, writing in her Seattle schools blog, "just wondering where decorum has gone." "Decorum" is often used as a synonym of "professionalism." Her Karen-esque dramatics then caught the attention of the STEB. The absurd navel-gazing of the STEB is new, but Westbrook has had issues with Hersey — and other Black Seattle leaders — for a long time.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "professional" is defined as "relating to work that needs special training or education; having the qualities that connect with trained and skilled people, such as effectiveness, skill, organization, and seriousness of manner; used to describe someone who does a job that people usually do as a hobby; used to describe having the type of job that is respected because it involves a high level of education." "Seriousness of manner" is the loophole that allows the dog whistles.

Westbrook consistently uses that loophole to weaponize so-called "professionalism" against Hersey for using the word "yo" during school board meetings. What makes this particularly interesting is the context. We are in a moment when more and more education leaders are pushing for culturally responsive and sustaining education. This includes rhetoric such as "teaching the whole child," "valuing cultural wealth," "letting kids bring their whole selves to school," etc. Guess what? That includes providing space for students to express themselves in culturally relevant and sustaining ways, including using terms like "yo" and "fuck around and find out."

Hersey isn't the first Black leader Westbrook has digitally assaulted, and he won't be the last. Westbrook has a record of attacking Black leaders in education. Each of her attacks drip with anti-Black tropes. She's gone after:

• Sebrena Burr — one of the most amazing education activists I've had the privilege to work with. Westbrook frequently weaponizes professionalism against Sebrena, who is a passionate orator. In a blog post, Westbrook refers to Burr as "an all-around loudmouth."

• Current school board director Michelle Sarju, whom Westbrook paints as lazy.

• Emijah Smith who ran for Seattle School Board in 2019. Westbrook made Smith out to be a violent criminal out for blood.

• Superintendent Brent Jones, whom she asserts is only superintendent because he's friends with board directors, implying he isn't qualified.

• Now Brandon Hersey for using African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and curse words. Oh my!

In the year 2023, I'm wildly confused about why "curse" words, AAVE, and slang are still being demonized, but I digress. I was also confused about it in 1993. If we return to the definition of "professional" from the Cambridge Dictionary, Hersey meets every single point. He holds degrees in political science, communications, and U.S. politics. He is a labor organizer and successful politician who is much loved by the communities he represents, so he's obviously a skilled communicator. Unlike Westbrook, he does his job professionally and not as a hobby. It seems to be mostly people like Westbrook and those on STEB who believe he doesn't meet the "seriousness of manner" criteria. So why are we more focused on his use of the hashtag than we are on the anti-Blackness of Westbrook and the STEB, the former of which meets zero of the definitions of professional?

Hersey is adored by his constituents and neighbors precisely because of the way he expresses himself. That's his cultural wealth. He is real and accessible. He doesn't pretend to be someone he's not, like many politicians do. I'd rather have a conversation with Hersey and have him speak his truth in the manner he chooses than have discussions with many politicians I engage with in my profession, who instead put up a front. Hersey is a mirror for his community that they're robbed of seeing in most other aspects of politics. If we can't value that and look at his actual work and impact, then we have no hope of providing the culturally relevant and sustaining educational experience for students of color the district claims it wants to provide.

In the training I provide for K—12 educators on ethnic studies, I include an analysis of "isms," or various types of oppression. I include professionalism. As an "ism," professionalism is defined as "systemic and systematic discrimination or prejudice based on the belief that there is one acceptable way (Whiteness) to behave and look to deserve respect and/or recognition for one's experiences and accomplishments." That's exactly what Westbrook and the STEB are doing to Hersey. Again and again, I see people say they want to dismantle racist systems or "decolonize" education — as long as we do it within the existing parameters of standards, civility, professionalism, or "decorum." These terms, and how they are used, are all rooted in white colonial frameworks! It is exactly those things that need to be dismantled in order to decolonize education.

Hersey doesn't owe anyone an apology. I would say that Wesbrook and the STEB owe him an apology, but given their record, I won't hold my breath.

Considering the originator of this contrived "professionalism" controversy, Westbrook, is literally the opposite of professional, it's time we have a come-to-Jesus moment in Seattle about what the real intent behind these calls for "professionalism" are: racist dog whistles. I think I may actually take this entire story and turn it into an ethnic studies lesson on systemic racism and dog whistles. I'll call it "The Problem with Professionalism: How people who aren't professionals hide behind their Whiteness to maintain it."

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📸 Featured Image: Photo via Hyejin Kang/Shutterstock.com