All eyes turn to a student in the room, heads swiveling almost comically as the class waits to hear her response to the teacher’s prompt. She stares back at them in confusion, and more than a little discomfort, but attempts to provide a response befitting of the people she is now forced to represent, who’s legacy she’s now expected to carry.

Many aspects of a person’s identity, be it their personality, race, or religion, is visible at first glance; someone’s skin color, choice of clothing, and other physical characteristics often give them away before a conversation even occurs. This visibility of identity and the assumptions that come with it often carry into the classroom, especially during Harkness discussions in classes like English or History. Often, if race or religion is being discussed, the student who is known to have that particular race or religion is expected to step up and lead, or at least provide some sort of authority on the subject. More often than not, this student is not given much of a choice; it is simply expected by the class, and sometimes by the teacher.  Clearly, because the individual belongs to a particular religion or race, he or she will want to state their opinion or personal experiences during the discussion.

To put pressure on and to expect a minority student to act as a spokesperson is unfair and unreasonable, especially in a classroom setting.  Not every minority student wants to, or even feels capable of talking about aspects of their identity that are both very personal and  sensitive. For instance, a Muslim student may not want to talk about 9/11 and how that’s affected their community since then, or what exactly sharia law is, or how choosing to wear, or not choosing to wear the hijab has affected their daily lives.

It could be argued that no one in the classroom is really forcing any individual to speak, but anyone who’s been shoved under the limelight can attest to the intense pressure they encounter there that makes not answering the question or participating in the discussion feel like a personal failure, even a failure on the behalf of their people for failing to represent.

However valuable their insights may be, minority students should reserve the right to choose not to participate, or to be pressured into participating by the class – they should be treated like every other student, so an even wider variety of voices are heard and no discomfort is experienced.