Making Lemonade From the Lemon of Cultural Taxation

Abstract

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” is a common phrase used to inspire optimism despite facing adversity. The purpose of this chapter is to acknowledge the prevalence and burden of cultural taxation (the figurative lemon) in academia and to illustrate how faculty of color can design and teach race-related courses that help to develop global citizens who think critically and value reflexivity and diversity (make lemonade). In doing so, faculty can promote social justice while helping to erode the status quo related to this taxation. Based on the findings of a qualitative research study, the authors outline various perspectives from students who report experiencing personal transformations as a result of taking a graduate level class related to diversity and social justice. The chapter also focuses on the experiences of the faculty member who taught the class as part of the curriculum in an Adult Education doctoral program in the USA.