Notions of excellence and meritocracy can be regarded as defining features of Western culture. The idea that individuals have the power and ability to work for what they want in life and in turn if they work hard they can accomplish the highest forms of excellence. Excellence is the normative idea grounded in Eurocentric ways of knowing, which seeks to keep racial hierarchies in play as excellence is propagated upon White bodies. These idealizations mask racist tenancies, and portray post-racial societies while negating the intersections of class, gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, ability and race. Thus, as notions of excellence seeks to categorize individuals based on their levels of achievement, and meritocracy is used as an alibi
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Excellence thus deemed as a path for White bodies, spaces in which they can keep a monopoly over their power in turn subjugating all other races, while meritocracy is kept as a façade to claim that there are no intuitional disadvantages, as individuals are actors of their own futures. I will be employing an critical anti-racism approach to unpack these ideas, as it seeks to develop an understanding of the nature of differing power relations through which institutionalized, racialized disenfranchisement or marginalization takes place and persists (Dei, 1996). It see human differences as the direct consequences of unequal relationships, produced and maintained by differential power between dominant and subordinate groups (Dei, 1996). These will be the premises which this paper will discusses, first by addressing my personal subject location and individual connection to the topic at hand, next it will address the construct of race and ethnicity, the creation of normalcy and meritocracy and notions of excellence. Then, it will address how schooling systems are institutionally set up for the failure of racialized students, through programs like streaming. Next will it discuss forms of resistance to meritocracy and excellence, and finally the limitations and future questions in regards to this …show more content…
This is the line of analysis in which I chose to assess the ideas of meritocracy and excellence, specifically how as a women of colour I can succeed in a White world while constantly challenging constructed notions of excellence and myths of
Excellence thus deemed as a path for White bodies, spaces in which they can keep a monopoly over their power in turn subjugating all other races, while meritocracy is kept as a façade to claim that there are no intuitional disadvantages, as individuals are actors of their own futures. I will be employing an critical anti-racism approach to unpack these ideas, as it seeks to develop an understanding of the nature of differing power relations through which institutionalized, racialized disenfranchisement or marginalization takes place and persists (Dei, 1996). It see human differences as the direct consequences of unequal relationships, produced and maintained by differential power between dominant and subordinate groups (Dei, 1996). These will be the premises which this paper will discusses, first by addressing my personal subject location and individual connection to the topic at hand, next it will address the construct of race and ethnicity, the creation of normalcy and meritocracy and notions of excellence. Then, it will address how schooling systems are institutionally set up for the failure of racialized students, through programs like streaming. Next will it discuss forms of resistance to meritocracy and excellence, and finally the limitations and future questions in regards to this …show more content…
This is the line of analysis in which I chose to assess the ideas of meritocracy and excellence, specifically how as a women of colour I can succeed in a White world while constantly challenging constructed notions of excellence and myths of