tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35362442579451974972024-03-12T21:19:11.950-07:00Urban RestorationLuluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-85226817625728101782013-12-15T08:54:00.000-08:002013-12-15T12:21:27.910-08:00Working it out in the neighborhood schoolMany people have asked me how things are going at my son’s school. I realized it's been a while since I have written an update about our initial adventure in the neighborhood school in SLPS. I have attempted several times to put into writing what our experience has been, and yet it’s has been hard to do considering we were in the middle of that experience.<br />
<br />
In taking time to reflect, I first have to look at what my son and I have brought to this school experience. First of all, this is the first time I have ever enrolled a child into any school. I don't know quite how to behave as a parent. I am constantly surprised at my "mama bear" reactions. This is a new facet of my identity that I am figuring out.<br />
<br />
Add to the mix my son, who is quite exceptional. Quirky, actually. We have gone through all kinds of testing to see if he qualifies for special education, both for disability and gifted services. While this is all part and parcel to the school experience, it certainly intensifies everything. On the other hand, I can’t forget that this is the first time that my son has gone to school. And he is only three years old. So of course we had tears for the first few weeks and even months. There are still days where he begs me not to go to school so he can stay home, watch TV, and play with his brother. Even though I know he and his brother would drive each other crazy at home, I still feel guilty.<br />
<br />
The only other experience I have had with school is when I was a student myself. Regardless of the school that I attended, the world is admittedly a very different place from when I was in school. My son will experience technology that I did not. He will be required to take tests that I was not required to take. But on the other hand, I intentionally enrolled him in a predominately Black school, while I went to school in a predominately White, segregated community. His experience is already vastly different from mine in that respect. So it has been hard for me to parse out what is the experience of being a new parent and a new kid at school, and the experience of what is "urban" and the neighborhood school.<br />
<br />
When I get really honest with myself, I also realize that I have been worried that people are secretly waiting for us to fail. I imagine that they will be relieved when we finally confess that actually the neighborhood school is full of "dangerous" Black children, that the quality of education is inferior to whatever school they have chosen for their children. This is compounded by my own secret fears that I am doing damage to my child. Perhaps it stems from the little comments from my family members about my choice. Comments from well-meaning friends about the psychological damage that can be done to a White child in an all-Black school.<br />
<br />
And yet, I have research to back up what I am doing. Evidence to show that explicitly teaching my child about "race" and racism will result in “race”-consciousness, anti-racism, and a healthy White identity. That getting involved in the school and maintaining a relationship with the teacher can add to the overall resources of the school. I have to reassure myself that I really do know what I'm doing. I just haven’t ever done it before.<br />
<br />
All of this reflection is similar to the work I do with my research. I have to constantly "separate out a sense of self" from my research activities. That is, as with everything, "me" gets mixed into anything that I'm doing. So even as I try to be objective about getting involved in the local school, "me" is bound to get tangled up in the issues that are already at hand. The activity of separating out what I contribute to the experience in the school is helpful, and only serves to show how much more complex the situation actually is. The value in this activity is that I do not resort to quick and easy answers. I have quoted Charles Payne before: If the problems are complex, then the answers cannot be simple.<br />
<br />
I have wanted to be able to write some kind of definitive statement about our experience, but it has seemed so messy and I have not been able to settle on what I want the public to know about this neighborhood school. I feel the need to protect it from the public’s tendency to call anything urban "bad.” But I also want to loudly proclaim that what we really need is more funding. That the education my son receives in the neighborhood school is inferior if for the mere fact that the teachers are paid less and there is no budget for preschool supplies.<br />
<br />
I think I have at least come to the conclusion that our school is a good school. And more to the point, it is not a "bad" school. In fact, it would seem that the teachers are all that much better if they can teach without all of the funding and resources that wealthy districts enjoy. So in the end it's a very complex picture. That is, I think, the very point I hope to encapsulate here. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>We are too accustomed to thinking about schools in absolute terms. </b><br />
<b> </b> <br />
We talk about which schools are "good" and which schools are "bad." We have no paradigm for anything in between. But the truth is, that's all we have. Apparently, there are problems that stem from opulent wealth (e.g. “affluenza”), as well as from abject poverty (e.g. hunger, homelessness).<br />
<br />
We have violence in all schools. We have children who are struggling to test "proficient" in all schools. There is racism and discrimination in all schools. There are very bad teachers in all schools. And there are wonderful, magical teachers who, despite all the odds, still teach and care for students. And let's not forget the parents, who pack up their children every morning to drive them or send them on the bus to school, including those parents who people say "don't care about education," and yet there they are at the bus stop, waiting in the freezing cold.<br />
<br />
The truth is we don't have any perfect schools. We don't have any perfect experiences because schools are made up of humans, who are fundamentally flawed. But we know that there are better experiences than others. And we know that when children have full bellies, they can learn better. We know that more money in education-terms always improves the overall experience. We know that a good teacher can make all the difference in the world, and that children need engaging instruction and curriculum. And we know deep down that not all children learn in the same way nor on the same day.<br />
<br />
That is not to say a "good" school does not have many good things about
it, or that a "bad" school doesn’t have many problems that the "good"
school never has to face. But this is another example of a "chicken or
the egg" scenario. Is the school "good" because people believe it is
good, and therefore send their children and their money there, which
causes "good" teachers to seek employment there? Is the "bad" school
really bad because people believe it is and then send the kids there
that nobody else wants? And then situation is compounded when the
teachers believe they are teaching the "worst" students, so the students
figure, "To hell with it. They already think I'm bad. I might as well
go all out.” I believe this is the case. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Because we construct our own reality, we can help to deconstruct it. </b><br />
<br />
We have encountered various issues that might be specific to an "urban" school, but I think they are also issues that all schools face. This means that my son has as much chance as anyone else. In fact, he is already privileged. He is getting a free, public education at the age of three years old. That puts him on track to be reading by kindergarten, which puts him on track to enter Harvard University, provided that we are making less than $60,000 a year so he can go there for free.<br />
<br />
So my messages is, the suburbs can keep their schools. We're doing just fine in the neighborhood school.<br />
<br />
<img class="irc_mut" height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/vd/school-sign-green-lg.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="156" />Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-89623592705886096412013-09-21T11:24:00.001-07:002013-09-22T05:54:49.430-07:00Keep calm and don't White flightI love positive affirmation. Who doesn't? But I also get that the design of social media allows us to present ourselves only in a positive light. Even when we write about our weaknesses, we are afforded the exact words, phrasing, and humor to make ourselves seem just slightly less than perfect. <br />
<br />
So in that spirit, I would like to invite all of you over to my house each weekend to see me cry, threaten to quit everything, and go back on all my principles. <br />
<br />
Can't make it? Okay, here's the next best thing:<br />
<br />
<b>That time I freaked out and applied to a magnet school.</b><br />
<br />
For those of you not from St. Louis, you should know that a magnet school, true to its name, is a school designed to attract White families to St. Louis Public School (SLPS) district and St. Louis City. Like a magnet. Get it? <br />
<br />
It's sounds kind of far-fetched now that we are all "post-racial" (or not), but it wasn't at the time of it's creation. Magnet schools were part of the desegregation program, the Voluntary Interdistrict Transfer Program (<a href="http://www.choicecorp.org/">VICC</a>), begun in the 1970s. The program had a few goals: 1) increase White student population in the city, 2) increase Black student population in the county, and 3) increase the number of Black teachers. Unfortunately, the last objective has failed miserably. But a limited number of White students did come to the city. However, the Black students who left the city to go to school in the county were the predominant participants of this program, and they continue to be. <br />
<br />
<i>*Read "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stepping-over-Color-Line-African-American/dp/0300081332">Stepping over the color line: African American Students in White suburban schools</a>" by Wells and Crain for an in-depth look at this phenomenon in St. Louis. </i><br />
<br />
At this point in time, very few White students come from the county into the city. Middle-class White people have been slowly moving back into the city, and magnet schools serve as their first choice for their children. Also, getting into a magnet school requires entering a complicated lottery system. The result is the resegregation of SLPS, as parents with high-status networks navigate the complicated system of magnet and charter schools. <br />
<br />
For example, in the Lafayette Square area (i.e. gentrified, upper-class neighborhood) word on the street (i.e. my mother-in-law) has it that a bunch of upper middle-class families (i.e. mostly White) were going to leave the city if they couldn't start a charter school for their kids. In the end, they were able to start a charter school, so we can enjoy their tax dollars for years to come. <br />
<br />
Do I sound cynical? Yes, that would be my principles talking. <br />
<br />
Because when reality meets my principles, apparently I freak out. Only a few weeks into sending my son to the neighborhood school, I panicked. He was having a really hard time adjusting to school. I felt that the school might not have all the resources that he needed. And so I applied to a magnet school. <br />
<br />
Now again, the lottery system is super complex, so to increase your odds of getting in there are a few tricks. Apply early. Select your top two choices carefully. Alter your racial identity if needed. No, seriously, that is the advice that White parents have suggested, only sort of jokingly. Because that last one is illegal. <br />
<br />
After I had carefully weighed my options, entered my choices, and maximized the possibility of getting selected, I submitted my application. And then I did some actual research about the magnet schools. <br />
<br />
<b>And oh, my gosh, I just replicated the research on school choice.</b><br />
<br />
As a middle-class, White parent, I relied primarily on the reputation of schools rather than concrete information. And what I found in terms of information was disheartening. <br />
<br />
While it is true that Metro and Kennard are at the top of the state in terms of test scores, there are quite a few magnet schools that are "failing" according to MSIP, the state accreditation organization. Additionally, the schools that have been labeled as "failing" are also the schools which White middle-class parents have mostly abandoned. Curiouser and curiouser. <br />
<br />
This realization shocked me back to my principles. It made me angry. Because while I know you can't tell the whole story from an MSIP score or MAP test results, you would be hard pressed to convince the general public of that. What they see in terms of statistics is what they believe. At the same time, it was a reminder that school quality is largely a social construction. And magnet schools have been perceived as yet another magic bullet, when in fact, they are not. <br />
<br />
It made me realize that my son is just a well off in a neighborhood school that actually has a passing MSIP score. And it reminded me that my school is what I put into it. As much as we have already invested in the school in terms of time and money, we will have to stick around for the long haul to see the pay off. Because school reform is a long, slow burn. Solidarity is a commitment. <br />
<br />
This leads me to my final point. I had a conversation with a friend recently who suggested that I am really advocating for gentrification. In other words, sustainable social justice requires some that people with resources to join arms with people who have fewer resources. At the time, I internally resisted but couldn't see the nuance for all rehabbers. Here is my delayed come-back. <br />
<br />
Absolutely, there is a place for privileged folks like me. However, I see gentrification as a move to replace the local population with privileged people. Solidarity, on the other hand, focuses on low turn-over rates and sustainable growth. It's a subtle, but important different. <br />
<br />
So to all my White and middle-class people working for social justice in marginalized spaces (and to myself): <br />
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and solidarity on.</div>
<br />Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-80218455783123389682013-07-06T10:03:00.001-07:002013-07-06T16:36:04.047-07:00How I learned compassion<i>Matthew 9:13 (NASB) But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.</i><br />
<br />
I started learning compassion when my life started going in a direction I hadn't anticipated. I hadn't anticipated it because I had tunnel vision. Most of my closest friends could have called it 10 years out. My family was not surprised. My professors were not shocked; in fact, they were pleased. I may have been the only one who somehow still clung to a vision of my life as a stay-at-home mom with tons of kids. Believing all the things I was taught as a child. Never questioning.<br />
<i> </i><br />
For the love, I was in denial. Because ever since I was able to talk I have been questioning, challenging, testing the limits. Not because I was going to cross the limits. Oh, no. I was a first-born and a people-pleaser. The reason I tested the limits was because the limits, as I saw them, were not entirely logical or well thought out. It seemed like the limits were somewhat arbitrary, actually, and I just wanted to know if anyone else was paying attention. Yes, I was sent here by God just to keep you on your toes. You're welcome, Mom.<br />
<br />
But here's the thing. I started on a path that involved saying "yes" to a lot of seemingly little choices. The choices were not so obviously correct at the time. In fact, I have spent a lot of time feeling regret over certain choices. In the end, I made choices that <i>seemed</i> like the right way to go. It made sense in a sort of "die to yourself, crucify the flesh" kind of way. In other words, they were often the choices that didn't make good financial sense, but somehow amounted to better character. Or something.<br />
<br />
Until here I am. One husband, two kids. Full-time doctoral student working on a Ph.D. and teacher certification. I may be in school for the rest of my life. Or the next 3 years, whichever comes first. My husband is now officially a stay-at-home dad. What's that? Yeah, you heard me right. He cooks, cleans, gardens, changes diapers, and generally manages the home. He also is the best arts-and-craft, fort-building, ukelele-playing, baby-snuggler I have ever met. <br />
<br />
One other thing you should know about me--my research focus involves the social construction of "race" and class in education, racial inequalities in education, and anti-bias curriculum. What, you say? Well, I couldn't find anything more controversial, so I settled on that topic. <br />
<br />
Actually, there's probably one more thing you should know. When I stumbled upon my new research topic--because I don't know a better way to described how I landed there--people in my church told me I was making crap up. Please stop talking about racism. Thank you. Except no "thank you." Which inevitably sent me into a crisis of faith, because if you seriously are in that much denial about our society, I obviously can't believe anything that you say about God or life or anything. <br />
<br />
All of this taught me compassion. Okay, so I wasn't so compassionate towards the naysayers initially. I'm working on that. But I take comfort in the fact that Jesus Christ experienced throughout his life what it was like to be on the "outs." Like he kept saying that he was God, so the religious leaders called him a heretic. Stuff like that.<br />
<br />
In the Bible in the book of Hebrews it says that Jesus Christ "learned obedience through the things that he suffered." That word for obedience actually means "attentive hearkening," which people take to mean just straight up submission. But really I think more than anything, <i>Jesus learned to listen. </i>He was the ultimate example of someone who learned to walk a mile in another person's shoes. He learned, taught and acted compassion.<br />
<br />
I know what it's like to have someone tell me I'm probably doing it wrong, and why don't you just stay home with your kids. I know what it's like for people to think my husband is a "man-fail." I know what it's like to have people tell me "I don't even know if you're a Christian anymore, what do you believe anyway."<br />
<br />
<b>And dear God, I have so much compassion now. </b><br />
<br />
For every person who has been labeled a heretic. For every person who was told "don't ask too many questions, that's a slippery slope." For every mom or dad that has people whispering behind their back about their parenting or life choices. For every person who the church has shunned, overtly or covertly. For every person who feels like no one "gets them" and everyone is judging them (because maybe they are). Single people. Single moms. Couples without children. Gay people. Black people. Democrats.<br />
<br />
<b>And I'm so sorry. </b><br />
<br />
To every person I have ever judged with my words or my thoughts. For every time I have argued instead of <i>listening</i>. For every time I have participated in the behind-the-back whispering. To every person I shunned because I was too scared of people's opinions.<br />
<br />
My message to others, but mostly to myself is this--it's okay to be "different." It's okay to have different opinions about life, God, the Bible, parenting, etc. It's okay to have disagreements, to make mistakes, and change your mind. It's okay to say, "I don't know." And above all, it's okay to <i>really not know</i>. Because we really don't. We just don't really know anything. <br />
<br />
And I'm not making excuses anymore for my lifestyle. We are happy, as a family, as a couple. This way of doing things <i>works for us</i>, at least for right now. I am not less of a woman or a mother, and my husband is not less of a man or a father. If anything, we are free to be <i>more ourselves. </i>I may have ended up here haphazardly, but I'm so glad I did.<br />
<br />Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-82439515786225907352013-06-14T13:56:00.003-07:002013-08-03T10:20:11.291-07:00White Privilege Is Not in the Bible...or...Why White Christians Need to Pay Attention to SociologyA few weeks ago, blogger and fellow Southsider, Kenneth Pruitt asked me to answer the question: <span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What form of
privilege do you personally feel is most urgent for the church to wrestle with
in order to be the community Christ calls it to be?</b><i> </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This was a great moment for me to stop and synthesize what I have been thinking and writing about for about a year now. </span>I wrote:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"<b>White Christians need to develop a “sociological
imagination.</b></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sociologists are able to see the world in ways that are
supremely helpful to understanding our experience. Along with anthropologists, they are the ones
who describe how “race” is not a biological or cultural reality, but is social
constructed. Going all the way back to
W.E.B. Dubois, they are the people who talk about a system of “White privilege,”
which is the other side of institutionalized racism. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">White Christians mostly don’t know about these concepts,
because to be brutally honest, White churches were helping to maintain Jim Crow
laws and racial segregation on Sunday morning and every other day of the week
for much of this time. We absolutely
have to listen to what sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists are saying
about "race," racial identity, privilege and oppression, because we
as White Christians have not been developing a capacity to think about these
topics. If we can listen with discernment,
we will begin to understand why it is so critical to be aware of the society in
which we live." </span><br />
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="http://voicilesmotsjustes.blogspot.com/2013/06/white-privilege-is-not-in-bibleorwhy.html" target="_blank">rest of the post</a> can be found on Kenneth's blog, which I recommend checking out at http://voicilesmotsjustes.blogspot.com/. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am still hoping for some dialogue around this topic, so maybe I can give another go at engaging people. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1) </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">What form of privilege do you think we most need to engage in the church? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2) Are the sociological concepts of "privilege" and "oppression" useful for Christians? If not, are there similar themes in the Bible that might help Christians theorize about "race" and racial inequality? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3) Other thoughts, opinions, or critiques? </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-78726440039611981192013-06-06T08:08:00.001-07:002013-09-20T16:08:28.810-07:00Urban Education: The messages, myths, and realities<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“[Urban
schools] tend to be places governed by an overarching sense of futility and
pessimism; where colleagues may distrust their supervisors and perhaps one
another; where there can be a certain harshness in the way children and parents
are dealt with; where many children seem to be disengage much of the time, but
not necessarily more so than the teachers; where the levels of human capital
are at their lowest; where instruction is uncoordinated and uninspiring; where
there are too few resources, and those few are often badly use; where the
curriculum is narrow, boring, and frequently changing; where teachers have
profound skepticism about “program”; where there is a general feeling of
instability—personnel come and go, students come and go, programs come and
go—all of it presided over by a dysfunctional bureaucracy” </i>(Payne, 2008,
p. 23)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
This quote comes from Charles Payne's (2008) book <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i>So much reform, so little
change: The persistence of failure in urban schools. </i>In no way is he blaming any one particular player in this scenario, least of all the students<i> </i>or their families, but his analysis is supremely useful in that it presents the complicated and complex situation that is "the urban school." </span><br />
<br />
This past semester, as I went through a course called "Foundations of Urban Education," I was struggling to put my finger on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the </i>solution for urban education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is not only slightly naïve, given that I have never taught in a
public school, but it also reveals that I have bought into the prevalent
ideology that there is <i>a</i> panacea for our educational system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
I held off posting anything from the course on my blog because I wanted to be able to offer <i>the</i> <i>answer. </i> But I’m starting to see that’s precisely the
point—there is no one-size-fits-all solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And typically, any attempt at <i>the</i> next big solution creates more issues than it resolved.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> As a society, we
have a long way to go before we have sufficiently delved into
understanding the problems before we start passing more legislation. </span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">If the problems are complex, then the answers
cannot be simplistic.</span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
This kind of post is fraught with other potential pitfalls. This “problem” of urban education, or education in “at risk” schools, is weighty and controversial at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Works like Payne's help to deconstruct some of the
biased messages that are promoted by the media and politicians regarding
students in urban schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we examine the factors that maintain socioeconomic and racial inequalities, it should become
more difficult to “blame the victim” or oversimplify the issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
However, Payne paints a fairly grim picture
of urban education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as he does, I
can’t help thinking about some of my friends who teach in various schools
around the metropolitan area who talk about the very kinds of problems that he
discusses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any case, it seems that I cannot
completely discredit what he says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
therein I see at least one very sticky problem—<b>how can I write about some of the realities
in some urban schools, without perpetuating stereotypes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b><br />
<br />
For example, I hear people complain about St. Louis Public School District, asking, "Where does all that money go?" implying that "those people" are just wasting time and money, that "they" are incompetent or corrupt. I now see, however, there
could be layers of bureaucracy, accompanied by flagging morale among faculty
and staff, which leads to institutional failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this kind of environment,
people with strong personalities can take over and contribute to a culture of
fear and mistrust. In this downward spin, efficient management goes out the window and the people inside just focus on day-to-day survival. In addition (and this is not frequently cited by the media)<b> schools that serve communities living in poverty <i>need</i> <i>more money</i> than schools in affluent areas to begin with. </b><br />
<br />
So, again, the situation is far more complicated that anyone knows.<br />
<br />
I am convinced that there is some
hope in the idea of creating authentic community in schools as a way of breaking the cycle
of social reproduction and truly caring for the needs of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I also believe that the more we find out what the real problems are--not the problems we <i>think </i>exist or the problems that the media emphasizes--the more we will be able to come up with real, grass-roots solutions.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Reference</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Payne, C. M. (2008). <i>So much reform, so little
change: The persistence of failure in urban schools</i>. Harvard Education
Press.<b> </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b>What are some of the messages you have heard about urban schools? Are these messages based in reality? How do you know? </b> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a_H3mtN3iEY/UbIAOrNvtAI/AAAAAAAACbw/IWw7VmaXReg/s1600/school_segregation_cartoon.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a_H3mtN3iEY/UbIAOrNvtAI/AAAAAAAACbw/IWw7VmaXReg/s1600/school_segregation_cartoon.gif" /></a></div>
</div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-61386619279752519972013-05-19T18:37:00.001-07:002013-05-19T18:38:34.835-07:00"Race" as a social construction"Race: The Power of an Illusion" is a PBS series and <a href="http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm" target="_blank">website</a> that tackles the tough questions about "race." This resource has helped me tremendously in clarifying my discussions and writing. Understanding the concept of a "social construction" takes time. Realizing that "race" is not genetically or culturally-based is sometimes a new idea for many folks. I can't explain it better than these folks have, so here is this resource again. Enjoy!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
References<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Herbes-Sommers,
C., Strain, T. H., & Smith, L. (2003). Race: The power of an illusion
[Television Series]. San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel & Independent
Television Service.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Race: The Power of an Illusion Website. (2003). <i>PBS</i>.
Retrieved August 14, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/race/</div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-26669040439425318742013-04-01T09:35:00.002-07:002013-05-19T08:29:33.953-07:00"Culture of povery" and achievement ideology<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">"The problem is not that lower-class children are
inferior in some way; the problem is that by the definitions and standards of
the school, they consistently are evaluated as deficient" (MacLeod, 2008,
p. 101)</span></i><br />
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><a href="http://www.necn.com/Boston/Arts-Entertainment/Jay-MacLeod-author-Aint-No-Makin-It-/1218157257.html" target="_blank">Jay MacLeod</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">(2008)</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> so brilliantly lands on this
conclusion more than 30 years ago in his epic ethnography "Ain't no makin' it: </span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span class="st">Aspirations and attainment in a low-<wbr></wbr>income neighborhood</span>."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">MacLeod
followed two groups of boys for a year, the "Hallway Hangers" (White
teenage boys) and the "Brothers" (Black teenage boys). He was then able to catch up with this same group of men 8 years later, then 20 years later, offering a rare longitudinal qualitative study in the realm of education and sociology. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="Body1">
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">MacLeod
offers a counter-narrative to the overly simplistic rationale of a
"culture of poverty" by analyzing the underlying logic of the two groups
of boys. From their perspective, it </span>seems that there are only two options for the youth in this
impoverished East Coast neighborhood: resist the achievement ideology put forth by the educational
institution and fail quickly, or accept the achievement ideology and fail
slowly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">For the
Hallway Hangers, "the possibility of upward social mobility is not worth
the price of obedience, conformity, and investment of substantial amounts of
time, energy, and work in school" (MacLeod, p. 106).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A loss of agency and self-esteem are at stake
for these boys, as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Brothers,
on the other hand, seem to have internalized their own oppression, what MacLeod
calls "anticipatory socialization."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Regardless, with one exception, at 20 years later neither the men who had "tried hard" nor the men who had "given up" had managed to escape their social class.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Simply put achievement ideology that says if you work hard, you will succeed. </span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">There are many stories of social mobility,
but people generally achieve relatively modest gains or losses in the grand scheme of the whole
social order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The true "rags to
riches" story rarely happens. MacLeod's narrative contributes
further to the idea that divisions between racial groups only serve to solidify
the position of all the lower class at the bottom of the economic
hierarchy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<![endif]--></span>MacLeod's
work does not downplay the devastating effects of poverty on families,
individuals and entire communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
anything, he gives a compelling and realistic picture of poverty. However, the
picture he paints is far from simplistic; the interaction between structures
and human agency is complex and profound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>Overall, he <i>argues against</i> the idea that young people in poverty fail to
achieve because of their inherited "culture," and instead contends
that the structures and ideology upholding a rigid class-system in this country
are the very same forces that inhibit social mobility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">This work
also forces me to remember that social construction of "race" through
laws and institutions was always about the preservation of the upper
class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While "race" has become
the most salient aspect of our identity, class is surely only a few steps
behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of a person's racial
identity, we are more or less bound to the class into which we were born,
although "race" certainly impacts the "more or less."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">It
seems that the larger community of educators was not truly listening to the
theoretical framework and powerful stories put forth by MacLeod because we are still having conversations surrounding the "culture of poverty" and its
impact on educational achievement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>The role
of the educational system should not be underestimated in how it promotes social reproduction by privileging one set of cultural values and
linguistic codes, while disadvantaging others. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><b>"Whereas force and
coercion often have ensured the cohesion of societies and the maintenance of
oppressive relationships, ideology is more important in fulfilling this
function in contemporary America"</b> (MacLeod, 2009, p. 113). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">So it seems
there are layers upon layers that reify the hierarchy that keeps the rich
getting richer and the poor, poorer. </span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">References
</span></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">MacLeod, J. (2008). <i>Ain’t no
makin’ It: Aspirations and attainment in a low-income neighborhood</i> (3rd
ed.). Westview Press.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-46265780418234184282013-03-29T08:08:00.001-07:002013-06-07T08:53:55.752-07:00White flight and school choice<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“These data counter choice advocates’ claims that school choice policies will give
less-affluent parents access to the same good schools that privileged parents
with resources currently seek out for their children, as the most coveted
schools are, from the most privileged parents’ perspective, those schools
without low-income students or students of color” (Holme, 2002, p. 203). </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The decision where to send one’s children to
school—whether to home-school, to enter a lottery for a charter or magnet
school, to seek out a scholarship to a private school, or to choose the
neighborhood school—is an intensely personal choice. Perhaps there is
nothing closer to a parent’s heart than the welfare and success of their
children. However, I have begun to come to a slow and grinding halt in my
way of thinking about where I want my White children to go to school. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I live in the city of St.
Louis, which means that I have all of the choices I listed above. My
husband and I seriously considered homeschooling first, since that was what his
mom did, as well as many of the people in our White community. After we
decided that we probably would go crazy staying home full-time, we started
looking at charter and magnet schools. Somewhere in the middle of reading
about the social construction of “race” and racial inequality in education, I
had an epiphany. I realized that, in my mind, my child was more valuable
than other children. For example, I believed that while it was okay for
other children to attend neighborhood schools, it was not right for <i>my </i>child.
After all, <i>my </i>child is “gifted,” above average, special.
</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In Holme’s (2002) study, most of the White participants
relied on the opinions and suggestions of high-status, White friends and
families to help decide where to move in order to have access to the best
schools. Although it was framed in terms of wanting the best for the
children, the parents’ discourse also revealed their underlying beliefs about
the superiority of high-status families and children. In essence, Holme
discovered that parents valued schools based on where other high-status parents
were sending <i>their </i>kids, not based on substantial factual
information. The perception of these schools was first socially
constructed, then as Holme concludes, “the facts that the parents did
obtain, which consisted primarily of test scores, confirmed what they had heard
about particular schools through their social networks—that schools serving
Whiter, wealthier students were, in fact, better” (p. 201). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It seems like this would be a natural response for any
parent. In fact, this kind of thinking is all I had been exposed to in my
White network of friends and family. A common conversation starter among
White people in the city might be, “Oh, you live here? So where are you going
to try to send your kids to school?” The expected answer is never “a
neighborhood school.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The results of this kind of conversation are very
real. In the St. Louis Public School District (SLPS), only 13% of students
are white; 80% of the students are Black. Even further, most of those
White students are in magnet schools, schools that were opened with the purpose
of drawing White students into the city. This leaves neighborhood schools
with upwards of 90% Black students, racial segregation almost on par with the <i>Jim
Crow</i> era. This is "White flight" without even having to leave the neighborhood.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The situation is further compounded when one considers
the free/reduced lunch (FTE) percentage, a common way to determine poverty
levels. Over 80% of children in SLPS qualify for free/reduced lunch.
Just as a reference, to qualify for free lunch, a family of four has to earn
less than $30,000 per year. Currently, my family would qualify for
reduced lunch, but most of my friends and family are safely within the range of
middle class. This means that when we have hard times, we have resources
in terms of money, food, transportation, and childcare. Our family and
friends are priceless, but their support has very real monetary value. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In fact, social networking is a way that many schools make ends meet, as well.
Charter schools are not the only ones who survive on fundraisers, as Jonathan Kozol
(2005) discusses in his writings on inequalities in education. Districts
which already boast high property taxes to support the local schools also have
constituents who are able to raise large amounts of money, set up non-profits
and charities, volunteer at the school, do pro bono work, or donate new or used
materials, such as computers or photography equipment. All of this money contributes to schools with more resources, which then </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">theoretically </span>should
help children to learn, thereby improving test scores. Again, this
money is over and above what the school district already pays per
student. Kozol (2005) reported huge disparities between wealthy school
districts and segregated urban districts in terms of per-student funding. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> It isn’t
natural to have racially segregated schools, but it is the byproduct of a long
history of systemic, institutionalized racism. All parents want what is
best for their children, and all children are equally deserving of a
well-funded school with good teachers. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Additionally, Kozol (2005) points out that we don’t even call
our current state “segregation,” but instead use words like “diverse” or
“urban” to talk about schools populated by children of color. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The idea that Whiteness is privileged does not mean that
White people are more important or more deserving, but it does mean that
Whiteness carries with it prestige and power. When all the White people
or more generally, all middle-class people leave a school district, the children left in those
schools are left without powerful advocates and a network for obtaining
resources. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How do I disrupt the patterns of racial segregation, use my
privilege to advantage others, but without coming in like a “White hero”? These
thoughts are still formulating in my mind, but these articles are so
appropriate for the decisions I need to make in the near future. Bottom
line—I want to find a way to pursue education for my children in a way that
does not socially reproduce racial segregation. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">References</span><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span>
</div>
<ul><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Holme, J. (2002). Buying homes, buying schools: School
choice and the social construction of school quality. <i>HARVARD EDUCATIONAL
REVIEW</i>, <i>72</i>(2), 177–205.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kozol, J. (2006). <i>The Shame of the Nation: The
Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America</i> (Reprint.). Broadway. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><i><b>What are your thoughts on school and neighborhood choice? How do your choices impact your neighborhood? </b></i></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m120ovknOCY/UbICDnp-2CI/AAAAAAAACcM/Kd1fMN5mKec/s1600/white+flight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m120ovknOCY/UbICDnp-2CI/AAAAAAAACcM/Kd1fMN5mKec/s320/white+flight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-72447915546486067062013-02-02T11:48:00.001-08:002013-03-28T12:40:14.580-07:00Autobiography Pt. 6: Education <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I recently
have been asked by a few people about how I became interested in
antiracism. In helping myself move forward, I realize that I need to look
back. Also, I hope to convey the sense that I too am on a journey; I am a
work in progress. This is part of my story.</span></i></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One day at the end of my first year as a graduate assistant, I found
myself herding a group of Black four year-olds across the campus of a local
university.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Preschool was one of those
things on my “never going to…” list, yet here I was, talking about shapes and
handing out juice cups and cookies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was one of the more adventurous tasks I had done so far in my volunteer work as
a graduate student.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since this local
university partners with an urban elementary school, our team was responsible
to host the annual “College for a Day” field trip for the Pre-K and
Kindergarten classes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The main emphasis of the field trip, as written in the objectives,
seemed to revolve around identification of shapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had sorted shapes for the shape scavenger
hunt, compiled a shapes book with a song to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell,”
and grouped the students by class with corresponding color-coded shape name tags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as evidenced by the
title, the overarching goal of the field trip was to familiarize children and
their parents to the university.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
was not included in the written objectives, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only became aware of the connection between
the title of the field trip and the location of the scavenger hunt when the team
leader commented as much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As I drove to university that morning, I had been thinking about the elementary
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had heard about the
partnership all year, but I only visited the elementary school at the end of
the year when I was asked to help with a parent night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They needed another pair of hands to scoop
ice cream for the banana splits given out at the end of a night of literacy
activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I showed up with my team
T-shirt and an ice scream scoop I had been instructed to bring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I walked in the door, I found my way to
the cafeteria, where the university students were congregating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of my night was spent splitting bananas,
so I really didn’t have time to think about the parent night until the parents
and the students made their way back to the cafeteria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All the university students also gathered around the ice cream to help
with distribution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was at this moment
that the whole scene hit me in Black and White:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>all the people standing in line were Black, and all the people behind
the counter handing out melting ice and browning bananas were White.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suddenly had a feeling similar to when I
had participated in mission trips to Mexico, except then we were a bunch of White
people handing out plates of rice and beans with a donut on top to a large
crowd of Brown people. I looked around at the other university students and
wondered if they noticed what I did, but the ice cream was melting fast so I
couldn’t ponder for long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The morning of the field trip as I waited in my car, I wondered how
White education students were prepared to work in an all-Black school. Did they
find it shocking that there was an all-Black school, as I did?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew I had only seen a few Black university
students on campus, so I was pretty sure most of the students were White and
from all-White schools and communities. Did they think about the fact that their
schools had been all-White?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that
I hadn’t. In fact, I would later find out that schools in our nation are almost as segregated now as they were in the "Jim Crow" era </span>(Kozol, 2006).<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Later in the day, as I helped guide the preschoolers and their parents
across the university’s campus in search of shapes, I was keenly aware of
“race” as we passed students, faculty and staff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started counting Black people that I saw,
feeling almost embarrassed in front of the Black parents and children at the
lack of people of color in the crowds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The parents asked questions about the different buildings on campus,
obviously more interested in the “College for a Day” emphasis than finding
elusive shapes in the architecture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The volunteer
student who was acting as the group leader was indefatigable, however, keeping
the group at a clipping pace in search of shapes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Eventually, the group passively instituted a scenic break, which was
facilitated by three Marines, two White and one Black, who were set up with a booth
and a sit-up bar stationed in the center of campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Marines were meant to recruit college
students, but the Black Marine started chatting with the parents, as the White
Marines stood back awkwardly. One parent attempted a few sit ups, and then the
children wanted to try.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Black Marine
patiently hoisted four year-olds one by one up to the sit-up bar for the next
twenty minutes, while the White Marines handed out the water bottles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered at myself
internally at being so focused on “race” suddenly.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We made our way back to regroup as a team, where I finally relaxed from
a long morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we debriefed, we
found out that one of the parents was mad because we hadn’t talked about going
to college with the children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One team
member suggested that it wasn’t really age appropriate anyway. Now, I have a
limited understanding of early childhood development and I don’t like to look
foolish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I thought about my own
small child and what I might say to him about college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ventured, “I don’t know… could you say
something about the ‘big kids’ school or something?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like, ‘This is college and one day you can go
here’?” Another person responded, “The children already know that!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The parents just don’t understand what we’re
doing in our partnership with this school.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I fell silent,<i> </i>feeling out of my league.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t have experience teaching kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had always said I didn’t want to teach
kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something about being a parent of
a toddler gave me new confidence, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was pretty sure someone could tell the children about attending a
university one day in an age appropriate way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also, I sensed that the parent had a legitimate complaint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked myself through the field trip again,
remembering how most of the Black faces I had seen on campus had been
maintenance workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intuitively, I
understood that if I were Black I would not receive an implicit message that
“one day you can go to college here.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
the children received any implicit message that day it was, “This is where the White
people go to college, but maybe someday you can be a janitor or a cafeteria
worker here.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I decided to try again, “I wonder if the parent would have liked to
hear that message, that ‘one day you can go here.’ Otherwise, do the kids
realize they could go here someday?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
team member responded, “Well, I do wonder if it isn’t a little bit cruel to
have them here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, most of them
won’t end up here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if they do, they
will probably be athletes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Again, I had no response, although I felt there was definitely some stereotyping going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it
cruel to bring the families?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought
about the parents I had met that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They seemed pleased to be on campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They spoke of how happy they were that their children were at this
elementary school, and how happy they were with the teacher this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From what I could tell, they had high
aspirations for their children’s education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is not a stretch to say that they may have perceived the field trip
to be the equivalent of a campus tour put on by the university's recruitment office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What had been communicated to them, I
wondered?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which goals and objectives had
they heard?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did the shape scavenger hunt
seem patronizing, while the university students failed to include information
about the campus and the university?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
did not seem to be satisfactory answers, but I suddenly knew my research focus
had to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to answer these
questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://urbanrestorationstl.blogspot.com/2013/01/autobiography-pt-7-antiracism.html" target="_blank">Autobiography Pt. 7: Anti-racism</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">References</span></span><br />
<ul>
<li>Kozol,
J. (2006). <i>The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling
in America</i> (Reprint.). Broadway<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>.</i></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
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<![endif]-->Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-79301106922320577962013-01-27T17:12:00.002-08:002013-03-28T12:39:56.381-07:00Autobiography Pt. 5: Protestants and Jesuits<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I recently
have been asked by a few people about how I became interested in
antiracism. In helping myself move forward, I realize that I need to look
back. Also, I hope to convey the sense that I too am on a journey; I am a
work in progress. This is part of my story.</i> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had barely finished my first
semester of teaching, when I found myself meeting with the director of
service-learning at the Jesuit university where I worked.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">I explained my idea for a service-learning
ESL class, trying to determine if it would be eligible for the grant that had
been advertised to faculty.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">During that meeting, I got the feeling that I actually knew quite a lot about
service-learning from my own experiences a volunteer.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I intuitively sensed what needed to
happen in order to make for a good experience.
I needed to go<i> with</i> my
students and convey the idea that we were not “saving” the neighborhood. In fact, volunteers often caused a mess for
the cooperating organization. Volunteers
needed to be trained, they were unfamiliar with the neighborhood, and
ultimately, they went back to their own neighborhoods at the end of the day,
leaving community folks in the same circumstances as before. Since the students were not the workers “on
the ground” on a daily basis, the focus had to be getting to know people in the
community, learning about the community’s needs, and then finding ways to
partner with the community. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I could see how much I had
assimilated from my friends at a local, urban Presbyterian church over the years.
I had begun work with them as a know-it-all twenty year-old, but slowly they had been getting through to me. Here I
was, years later, quoting them almost verbatim.
I had told the service-learning director how my understanding of service
was deeply shaped by my Christian faith.
For my friends at the urban Protestant church, faith was the driving force and
underlying framework for all that they did in the neighborhood where they lived
and worked. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unlike other Christians I had
encountered in my life, these folks talked about “race” and racial
inequality. They were a racially and
socioeconomically diverse congregation, and were committed to racial
reconciliation, relocation into urban areas, and redistribution of wealth and
resources. They drew from a long
tradition in the Christian church, including African American theology,
although I didn’t realize it at the time. I only knew that the way they
theorized about racial stratification and oppression was very different from
anything I had ever heard before, and it had direct practical and moral
implications. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had listened intently as the
service-learning director explained how Jesuits had a similar mission related
to service and education. In fact, the
grant was specifically targeted faculty who sought to connect their calling, or
vocation, and spirituality with their work in education. This was a new idea for me; up until that point, I had largely divided "career" and "ministry" into mutually exclusive categories. I applied for the grant and was one of four
recipients that summer, which opened the door to many other unforgettable experiences.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">That next semester, I found myself leading a team of two teachers in the
fall. I had ambitiously planned five service projects per class, and I participated in almost all of them. The next semester, and following semester,
the service-learning component of the ESL program exploded. There was a service-learning component on two
levels, then three, and finally all five levels. The program simultaneously experienced a
surge of new students from mainland China; over the course of three years, the program
went from thirty students to three hundred. Almost all of them ended up raking leaves and hearing the story of the good Samaritan on various Saturday mornings. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The dynamics of this Jesuit-Protestant partnership were complicated for some. For example, anyone who had grown up in St. Louis, a Catholic town, could have mixed feelings about Catholic institutions, the big business side of things, Popes, and scandals. Growing up as a Protestant, I had to shed my own bias about the Catholic church. On the other hand, it was sometimes a challenge to explain why we were working
with a Protestant non-profit organization.
The reason for me was pretty obvious—they were the only organization
that would take more than fifteen ESL students at a time during a service project. However, for some of my colleagues, evangelical Protestants were just as bad as Catholics, or worse. To them, Protestants and Catholics might all be hypocritical, but at least Catholics didn't try to "convert" people. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Over the years, these tensions have caused me to read and listen more widely in search of an authentic faith, a Christian identity that is not based on hostility towards others. And I think it’s fitting that my roots
can be traced back to two groups seemingly opposed groups, Protestants and Jesuits. I find great inspiration from the tradition
of the Jesuits, as they were kicked out of most countries in the world for
advocating for the poor and the oppressed.
I love hearing what different Protestant groups are doing around the
world in terms of reconciliation, relocation, and redistribution. These people are
following the footsteps of Jesus, the rabble-rouser and revolutionary. Jesus, who hung out with all the wrong people. Jesus, who’s mission was to find the lost and
uplift the poor. I’m grateful for my
Protestant and Jesuit friends who pointed me back to Jesus. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://urbanrestorationstl.blogspot.com/2013/02/autobiography-pt-6-education.html" target="_blank">Autobiography Pt. 6: Education </a></span> </span></span><br />
<br />Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-14933219055844681572013-01-27T17:10:00.000-08:002013-02-10T08:43:27.599-08:00Autobiography Pt. 7: Antiracism<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I recently have been asked by a few people about how I became
interested in antiracism. In helping myself move forward, I realize that
I need to look back. Also, I hope to convey the sense that I too am on a
journey; I am a work in progress. This is part of my story.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think I’ve always wanted a message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I was very young, perhaps five years old, maybe so young I only
remember because my mom told me the story, I told my mom, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I </i>want a burden.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
heard people in church say very solemnly to each other or from the pulpit that
God had given them a “burden” for this person or that cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sounded exciting and important, so I
decided that I wanted a “burden,” too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This would possibly explain my second ambition in life besides being
Mexican, which was to be the President of the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I eventually came to realize that not only
was it unlikely that I would become the President, but I also saw that perhaps
it wasn’t the only way to change the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I spent a few years in a non-profit prayer ministry, where I decided
that prayer was the only way to change the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When circumstances forced me to get a paying
job, I decided that I could <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do </i>something,
too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I eventually trained to be an ESL
teacher, and thought that it could be the mission I was looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teaching very privileged ESL students,
however, didn’t feel like changing the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My boss and I often commiserated about our move away from social
activism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this is why the
service-learning component became so important to both of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Only a few short months after deciding to change my research focus in
my Ph.D., I found myself standing in front of a small but attentive
audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could feel my face flush,
and I was consciously taking breaths of air, but I plunged ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I watched the audience respond as I spoke,
sometimes with amazement, sometimes nodding in agreement, sometimes shaking
their head with remorse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some ways,
this presentation was the culmination of many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mostly, I wondered how it could be that I was educating people about
“race” and racism, when I had only just begun this topic. To top it off, I was
presenting in the building where I attended church on Sunday mornings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I marveled at the turn of events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For years, I had wanted to be the one
teaching from the front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I
rarely saw women in this position, and if I did, they were much older than I
was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I was presenting as a doctoral
student, which apparently meant I possessed the necessary credentials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I gave a historical overview of the social construction of “Whiteness”
in the U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end, people asked
interested and concerned questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“My husband is a White teacher in an all-Black school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What can he do to be antiracist?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I go to an all-Black church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
people say they have to ‘act White’ all week and just want a place to let down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that contributing to segregation?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> “So if people of color understand that racism still exists, but White
people don’t, how can White people learn more about discrimination and
racism?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Everyone seemed to think I had answers, and to my amazement, I at least
had opinions about all the questions they raised.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>At the end, a Black man approached me, “Would you be interested in
giving this presentation at the school where I work?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if I would get away saying the things you
said.” He hesitated, “I mean, you can say it, but if <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> say it…” I interjected, “Then you're the ‘angry Black
person.’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He nodded in agreement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I would love to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just let me know,” I found myself
saying, feeling a mixture of excitement at the speaking opportunity and frustration at the dynamics of privilege and oppression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My friends who had organized the conference posted their encouragement
later on Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was really thanks
to their foresight and support that I had the chance to talk about what I had
learned over the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had shared
some of their own story at the conference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For my friends, an interracial couple, the antiracist message was very personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With the conference, I saw myself shift from insecurity to resolution as I was surrounded
by people who also felt strongly about racism and segregation in this
country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The criticisms I had received slowly faded into the background, no longer the dominant voices
in my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a message that
could sustain me over the long-haul, through a Ph.D., into a career and
beyond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my view, it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the </i>critical message for this
generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Racism has shaped our
society in ways that many of us are unable to see. This is a work I must undertake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span></b>
</span>Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-75821054469495748272013-01-15T18:02:00.000-08:002013-03-28T12:41:24.651-07:00Autobiography Pt. 4: Sociolinguistics<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I recently
have been asked by a few people about how I became interested in
antiracism. In helping myself move forward, I realize that I need to look
back. Also, I hope to convey the sense that I too am on a journey; I am a
work in progress. This is part of my story.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I somehow managed to not take a
linguistics class in my undergraduate or graduate studies. As I attempted to join the professional world
of ESL teachers, read scholarly journals, and discuss grammar with colleagues,
I was often aware of my lack of terminology.
So one year into a doctoral program in I decided it might be a good time
to fill in the gaps in my knowledge by taking an introductory linguistics
course. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first few weeks of the course
were mostly uneventful. I reveled in the
new terms revolving around morphology and phonology. I drilled myself on the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), something I always felt was missing over the years,
especially when my ESL students all knew it and I didn’t. But my favorite topic of them all is sociolinguistics. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think I should mention at this
point that while the professor was once at the top of her field, she was at
this time having some short-term memory issues.
So sometimes we got the same PowerPoint presentation three days in a
row, for example. By the time the
professor launched into the sociolinguistics portion of the course, I was a
little frustrated, to say the least. One
particular incident stands out in my mind that revealed my deep commitment to sociolinguistics,
as well as an underlying antiracist streak that surfaced with unexpected
passion. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During the second half of the
semester, we arrived at the part in the textbook which dealt with
dialects. There were several activities
that asked students to “translate” British English into American English; the
phrases were all Harry Potter excerpts.
On the next page, students were asked to “translate” similar phrases from
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) to Standard American English. These phrases were almost indistinguishable
from popular slang as seen on TV, with a few example of AAVE grammatical
structure thrown in. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I didn’t pay much attention to
these activities, but our instructor was fascinated. During one particular class
period, we spent the majority of the time going over the answers. She spent several minutes reveling over the
different idioms from British English, asking us if we were familiar with each
phrase. “Do people really say
this?” The students seemed a bit
confused by her questioning. “Um… Mrs.
Weasley does?” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After spending a few minutes
trying to explain to her the differences between the British phrase “to knock
something up” and the American phrase “to get knocked up,” we moved on the AAVE
phrases. Again, the instructor
repeatedly asked if we had heard these phrases and whether Black people really
talked like this. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After several rounds of this game,
I finally commented, “I don’t know if we are the best people to ask about this,
since we are all White. I mean, we have
heard these phrases, but…” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh, yes,” she replied, “You
probably don’t really hear this kind of language since you are at this
university and most people at this university are very educated.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I felt slightly ruffled. I should have known to take it easy on the
arguing, since the turns of conversation would soon get lost in her fading short-term
memory, but I went on, “Well, I don’t know if it has anything to do with
education. I mean, like the textbook
says, dialects have to do with group solidarity and identity. And every dialect is a fully comprehensive
language, capable of any thought possible to humans, right? It’s only that some
dialects are afforded more power than others<span style="font-size: small;">" </span></span></span>(Smitherman, 1985).<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh, yes, that’s true.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She didn’t seem very convincing,
so I kept going, “And someone who is educated could use this dialect. In fact,
most Black people who use this dialect code-switch to Standard American
English. That actually requires more mental
resources than just speaking one dialect. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh, yes, code-switching, that’s
right. But of course, it’s mostly less
educated people who speak this way.” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At this point, I was having a
hard time listening to what she was saying.
I was becoming agitated, mentally contemplating how to respond as the
words came out of my mouth, “You know, I am finding your comments to sound
really racist.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh, no, I<span style="font-size: small;">'m</span> not racist. You are misunderstanding me. I am just trying to explain… it’s just that <i>these people</i> don’t really make it to <i>this </i>university.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was now shaking. Almost in an out of body experience, I saw
myself packing up my books even as I thought, “Am I really going to walk out of
the class?” The instructor was still
talking, but I was no longer contained within myself. As if in a dream, I was up and walking across
the room, as I mumbled something like, “I’m sorry… I’ll come back when I calm
down.” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was across the lawn, walking
fast before I realized I had actually left the building. As I walked into the other building, the
adrenaline let down but I was still shaking, my teeth chattering slightly. I must have looked upset because the two
instructors in the copy room stopped talking and asked what had happened. I recounted the incident quickly, still
shaking. The instructor shook their heads, “Wow, she is really losing it. You know you don’t say those things.” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Right…” But there were questions
looming in my head. Wasn’t what she said
wrong to believe, too? And why wasn’t anyone else upset <i>at all</i>? Was I going
crazy? I felt crazy, but I also
remembered the feeling I had in class.
What if there had been a Black student sitting there listening to the
instructor go on and on? How would that
student feel? And why did I feel the
need to defend this hypothetical Black student? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A few days later, I sat in the department
chair’s office. I had met with the chair
a few times this semester to talk about how the class was going. This time, I explained to him that I had
walked out and why. I wasn’t officially
reporting this instructor, since I knew she wouldn’t remember what exactly had
happened; in fact, a week later she didn’t recall the details of the incident. As I finished the story, the professor leaned
back in his chair, folded his hands and looked pensive. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Well, now, let’s think about
what she actually said,” he intoned. “Nothing she said was factually wrong...
but you were upset, in any case. In my
experience, the African-American students who have come to this university have
been… well, deficient in their education.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“But that has to do with the
education system. There are fewer
opportunities in poorer neighborhoods and fewer schools to choose from… and
discrimination…” I was fumbling for arguments that weren’t formulating clearly
or quickly in my mind. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yes, but everything you just
said were reasons why they might be deficient. You haven’t disproved my initial
statement. Now, I know that that there
are physical differences between the races, like a wider nose and lips. I don’t know if there are mental
differences,” he paused and stared at me intently. “I don’t think you do
either.” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was painfully silent. I didn’t know. I couldn’t argue against him, even though his
logic felt instinctively wrong to me.
The arguments were elusive and slippery.
I was surprisingly calm this time, as I felt resignation wash over me. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Later someone congratulated me on
walking out. But I really felt
inadequate and helpless. I didn’t really
feel proud of verbally sparring with an aging professor who was really very
sweet and confused. At the same time, I
wondered why the other students in the class weren’t upset. I also felt that there had to be some way to
refute the argument that the department chair presented, but I just couldn’t
work it out. It wasn’t until much later,
after several courses on racial identity, discrimination, and the social
construction of racial difference that I started to put things together.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While I had a good foundation laid in sociolinguistics, I was <span style="font-size: small;">sadly <span style="font-size: small;">ign<span style="font-size: small;">orant <span style="font-size: small;">about the <span style="font-size: small;">way racial differen<span style="font-size: small;">ce is construct<span style="font-size: small;">ed<span style="font-size: small;"> socially.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;">O</span>ver the next summer, I saw <i>Race: The Power of an <span style="font-size: small;">Illusion</span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, which <span style="font-size: small;">documents</span> <span style="font-size: small;">how new genetic <span style="font-size: small;">evidence <span style="font-size: small;">has completely debunked the pre<span style="font-size: small;">mis<span style="font-size: small;">e of <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">essentialist</span> rac<span style="font-size: small;">i<span style="font-size: small;">sm, the idea that different "race" are biologically dis<span style="font-size: small;">t<span style="font-size: small;">in<span style="font-size: small;">ct and <span style="font-size: small;">hierarchical</span></span></span>. <span style="font-size: small;">As it turns out, <span style="font-size: small;">only about <span style="font-size: small;">2% of <span style="font-size: small;">our genetic make<span style="font-size: small;">-up account<span style="font-size: small;">s for <span style="font-size: small;">the<span style="font-size: small;"> way that we look<span style="font-size: small;">, or our phenotype. "Race" <span style="font-size: small;">h<span style="font-size: small;">as be<span style="font-size: small;">en and is socially constructed through daily interactions<span style="font-size: small;"> an<span style="font-size: small;">d l<span style="font-size: small;">aws that d<span style="font-size: small;">etermine who fits in<span style="font-size: small;">to which category. Those categories are <span style="font-size: small;">essentially a<span style="font-size: small;">rbitra<span style="font-size: small;">ry and have changed over the course of history, <span style="font-size: small;">affording pr<span style="font-size: small;">ivil<span style="font-size: small;">e<span style="font-size: small;">ges to W<span style="font-size: small;">h<span style="font-size: small;">ite p<span style="font-size: small;">eo<span style="font-size: small;">ple and den<span style="font-size: small;">ying privileg<span style="font-size: small;">es to everyone else</span></span></span>. So in this way, "race" has real conse<span style="font-size: small;">quences in terms of o<span style="font-size: small;">pportunities and life outcomes. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That day, I
was kind of like an untrained cannon firing wildly. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I didn’t have a plan of action to refute those <span style="font-size: small;">kinds of</span> comments in
a more effective, less accusatory way. </span></span>Sometimes it’s hard to anticipate those very
physical and emotional reactions, though.
Maybe it was good for the other students to see my reaction to those
comments, even though they didn’t seem to understand why I was upset. The biggest lesson, though, was that I needed to get
educate<span style="font-size: small;">d, so that next<span style="font-size: small;"> ti<span style="font-size: small;">me--because there will be a next<span style="font-size: small;"> time--I will have something to<span style="font-size: small;"> say<span style="font-size: small;"> whe<span style="font-size: small;">n it matters.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://urbanrestorationstl.blogspot.com/2013/01/autobiography-pt-5-protestants-and.html" target="_blank">Aut<span style="font-size: small;">obiography <span style="font-size: small;">Pt. 5: Protestants and Jesuits</span></span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">References</span></span></span><br />
<ul>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Herbes-Sommers, C., Strain, T. H.,
& Smith, L. (2003). Race: The power of an illusion [Television Series]. San
Francisco, CA: California Newsreel & Independent Television Service.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Race:
The Power of an Illusion Website. (2003). <i>PBS</i>. Retrieved August 14,
2012, from http://www.pbs.org/race/ </span> </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Smitherman, G. (1985). <i>Talkin and testifyin: The
language of Black America</i>. Wayne State University Press.<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-52268999630211351602013-01-13T09:54:00.001-08:002015-06-15T08:07:01.219-07:00Autobiography Pt. 3: English as a Second Language<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I recently
have been asked by a few people about how I became interested in
antiracism. In helping myself move forward, I realize that I need to look
back. Also, I hope to convey the sense that I too am on a journey; I am a
work in progress. This is part of my story.</i> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">Eight o’clock in
the morning is early on a Saturday and even more so if you are a college
student. And if on top of that, you are
getting ready for a day of yard work, it can seem daunting. I know from experience. I had dragged myself out of bed on many a
Saturday morning to go on volunteer work days over the years. Now an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, I was making sure my
students from mainland China spent a morning raking leaves and cleaning
gutters. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I came onto the ESL scene at a
time when “service-learning” was all the rage in higher education. It was working its way down to K-12, and had
only made a dent in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). However, I had taken an elective in my
master’s degree courses that required me to design a course syllabus. One of the options was to design a
service-learning course, and through a series of events, that course design
launched me into a full-time teaching position. The problem came when none of the literature
prepared me to teach disgruntled teenagers from China. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">As I have said
before, my interest has always been Mexico.
I speak Spanish. I found myself
repeating that mantra internally through the rocky first, second, and third
semesters I spent teaching classes comprised primarily of mainland Chinese
young adults. They resisted me at every
turn, and I pushed right back. I often
said that it was like I was teaching English as Foreign Language in China,
except I had skipped the “honeymoon stage” of culture shock, and skipped right
to “disorientation” and “aggression.” I
was annoyed by a group of people I didn’t understand and who I felt didn’t
understand me. We had different goals
and different worldviews. This discord
was only compounded in teacher workshops as we sat ar</span>ound “student bashing,”
commiserating about our shared “problem children.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I watched myself move from a progressive
stance on language learning I had acquired in graduate school, to a more
conservative, “Speak English!” approach. It wasn’t always that way,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
The glorious
moments with the Chinese students came as I continued to teach my class on
social justice with the service-learning component.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was invigorated as I planned lessons about
issues of social inequality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I
was getting an education right alongside my students, as we learned about
stereotypes, racism, global warming, and urban development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even invited my old friends from non-profit
organizations to give lectures about refugees, "White flight," and racial
inequality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had been the ones to
first teach me about the history of St. Louis in a different way than I had
grown up with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned how racism had
left an indelible mark on the landscape and people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friends introduced me to authors who wrote
about racial inequality, which led me to other books that I read in my free
time, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why Are All the Black
Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? </i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(Tatum, 2003)</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Souls of Black Folks </i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(Du Bois, 1973)</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>It
really came home to me that I had to move in the opposite direction of history
trends of White segregation, and I taught this to my students with a
passion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Again, the
practical application of this knowledge came slowly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember one semester I had a very honest
discussion with my students after we had reached a moment of impasse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were consistently failing to meet my
expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of them didn’t do the
homework I assigned, they tended to not participate in class, or they didn’t show
up at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point in my teaching
career, I didn’t think to ask them about their perception of the class or the
ESL program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was frustrated and I
could tell they were, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
“Don’t you want
to pass ESL and go to academic classes?” I asked in a bewildered tone. Silence.
Finally, someone ventured a response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“We don’t care about ESL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We just
care about business classes.” I retorted, “But you have to pass ESL if you want
to go to business classes!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, someone bravely attempted a reply,
“You are angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you hate Chinese
students?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I was dumbfounded. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Of course not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t hate you. I guess I’m just frustrated
because I thought Chinese students would be good students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a stereotype here in the U.S. that
Chinese students always work really hard, come to class every day, and get good
grades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they are good at math.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the students grinned broadly and a few
chuckled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Well, of course we are not
all good at math!” one student responded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“We are very lazy,” another added.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Well, I guess there are lazy people in every country,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Right,” they agreed and smiled
knowingly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seemed relieved that
they were not the only ones who experiences discomfort as they encountered the
“other,” especially if it was their teacher who was supposed to “know it all.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Interestingly,
at this very same time we were learning in the class about the dangers of “positive” stereotypes.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Specifically, there is a view held by
many Americans that Asians are the “model minority.” This is similar to belief
that Asians (i.e. Chinese, Japanese, and Asian Indians) are “almost White” <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(Bonilla-Silva,
2003)</span>,
which akin to saying they are “inferior, but better than the other people who
are more inferior.” This monolithic view of Asians is just as damaging as
negative stereotypes, since it reduces individuals to a caricature <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(Lee, 1994)</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, the
students who don’t fit the mold are treated as deviants, which is what I had unintentionally
done to my students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, it ignores
extreme diversity within the group we label “Asian.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My students had been born in mainland China,
which is very different from being of Asian descent born in the United
States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, certain groups of immigrants
from Asia tend to have high levels of education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other groups, especially refugees from Laos
and Cambodia, who do not have very high levels of education and tend to have dark
skin, experience more intense levels of discrimination when they come to this
country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
My biases
against speakers of other languages besides English, against Chinese people, and even
against Asians were thrown into sharp relief at this time in my life. I was a trained ESL teacher, who was supposed to value all languages, but I didn't value anything I couldn't understand. For the first time in my life, I was in a situation
where I could not speak the language of dominance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I had been to other countries, I had
been fluent in Spanish for a long time, and so I couldn’t remember a time when
I didn’t know what was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought of myself as very multicultural, but I really only liked Spanish and Mexico. I
was generally uninterested in Chinese culture, and what I did know, I
evaluated on the basis of my own cultural norms and values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I slowly learned to see my Chinese students’ culture
and language as beautiful and complex. While I mostly wince in pain as I recall
the damage I must have done to those poor students, I am grateful for the
lessons that they taught me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://urbanrestorationstl.blogspot.com/2013/01/autobiography-pt-4-sociolinguistics.html" target="_blank">Autobiography Pt. 4: Sociolinguistics </a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Refere<span style="font-family: inherit;">nces</span></span><br />
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<![endif]--></span>Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). <i>Racism
without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in
the United States</i>. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Du
Bois, W. E. B. (1973). <i>The souls of Black folk</i>. Millwood, N.Y:
Kraus-Thomson Organization Ltd.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lee,
S. J. (1994). Behind the model-minority stereotype: Voices of high- and
low-achieving Asian American students. <i>Anthropology & Education
Quarterly</i>, <i>25</i>, 413–429.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tatum,
B. D. (2003). <i>“Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the
cafeteria?”: And other conversations about race</i>. New York, NY: Basic Books.
</span></li>
</ul>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-76609388286680547692013-01-13T08:59:00.001-08:002013-03-28T12:42:14.416-07:00Autobiography Pt. 2: Cherokee Street<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I recently
have been asked by a few people about how I became interested in
antiracism. In helping myself move forward, I realize that I need to look
back. Also, I hope to convey the sense that I too am on a journey; I am a
work in progress. This is part of my story.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“We’ve found the
house we want to buy!” I excitedly told our real estate agent over the phone
one fall day in 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It’s on Cherokee
Street, and we know the people who are selling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s not even on the market yet, but this is the one.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Well, we’ll keep looking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have lots of houses that are coming out on
the market, and I’ll keep sending them your way,” she replied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“This is the fun part, where you really get
to shop around for what you want.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“No, really, you don’t have to
send any other houses… we really want <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this
</i>one.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Well, let’s see what it
appraises for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">on Cherokee Street.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we will be able to get the value down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you sure you want to buy in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that </i>ZIP code?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Right down to the point of
closing on our first house, I wasn’t sure our real estate agent was convinced
we had a good hold on reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She still
comments to my in-laws how “unique” my husband and I are, how much she admires
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think she means it as a
compliment, but it carries with it the same dubious tone that we get from other
friends and family when they question us about the safety of the neighborhood. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time my
husband and I got married, we were sure we should buy a house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We weren’t exactly sure where we wanted to
live in the city, but we knew we wanted to live in the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It wasn't just about saving money on property taxes, although that was a nice perk. We sincerely thought that the city would be the best place to live and raise children. We wanted to live simply. </span>We had no desire to shop around for houses, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was as if we were waiting for the right
house to appear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When some of our
friends on Cherokee Street told us their parents were going to sell their house,
we knew it was the one. It just felt right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I told my husband, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This</i> is
antiracism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are moving against ‘white
flight!’”<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(Tatum,
2003)</span>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My history with
Cherokee Street didn’t begin as an antiracist move, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, my first encounter with Cherokee
Street began with a search for the cultural “other” and ended in a traffic
ticket from a very angry cop, who yelled at me something about “clueless kids
who come to the city.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I was a
clueless city driver, and had unintentionally blown through a stop sign, not
suspecting that there might be one on every block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had come to Cherokee Street the very same
day I had interviewed the director of Hispanic Ministries with Catholic
Charities as part of my senior thesis on Latin American immigration to
Missouri.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had commented that it was
a “little Mexico” on Cherokee Street, and so as soon as I left her office, I
headed in that direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
disappointed to find that there were only a few Mexican markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know what I expected to find, but it
was admittedly smaller and less Mexican than I had hoped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A few years
later, my best friend bought a house on Cherokee Street in order to be close to
an urban ministry located on the same street.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend and I had worked with this ministry,
which focused on meeting the practical and spiritual needs of immigrants and
refugees in St. Louis City. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually
had been assigned to a different ministry to work with right out of college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was supposed to do office work in an
urban development company. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I
realized the job was little more than filing, however, I quickly reassigned
myself to the much more interesting job of accompanying my friend to visit
refugee families from Colombia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again,
my obsession with the cultural “other” obscured the systemic societal issues about
which my mentors were trying to inform me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I moved in with
my friend on Cherokee Street about a year later, and then when she got married,
I moved next door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend’s father
owned the four-family flat adjacent to her house, and so I enjoyed the next few
years with very low rent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also rode
the public bus to school because my roommate used my car to go to work very early in
the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I worked very close by, I was able to use public transportation easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I prided myself on my bravery for riding
public transportation, as well as walking home at night on Cherokee Street
occasionally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It felt like being back in
Mexico, where everything was an adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, I had the luxury of a car on the weekends, when I would go
out the county for church and other activities. On top of that, I didn’t
actually know anybody else in the area besides my friends next door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One incident stands out in my mind about my
lack of integration in the neighborhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I noticed racial
patterns riding the bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going up Grand
Avenue, the bus was filled with Black folks, except for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we went north towards the highways, more
and more White people got on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the
time we reached the MetroLink, the crowd was fairly diverse. I felt a sense of
pride that I was so culturally “diverse” in my experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day, a White man got on the bus somewhere
on Grand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He started talking to people
on the bus, cracking jokes, and pretty soon the whole bus was laughing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He mentioned he was from another city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he got off the bus, people were still
shaking their heads and laughing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I turned to the
young Black woman sitting beside me and said with a chuckle, “You can really
tell he wasn’t from around here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we </i>don’t talk to each other on the
bus.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She replied, “I don’t know… I
mean, I talk to people on the bus…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
suddenly knew what I meant by “we.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
quickly interjected, “No, you’re right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I </i>don’t talk to people
on the bus… now that I think about it, I don’t think White people really talk
to other people on the bus.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, White
people talked to other White people on the bus, but that fact eluded me at that
moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whiteness was completely
invisible to me, and Blackness seemed overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What followed was a mutually interesting
conversation as the young woman and I walked home in the same direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even exchanged phone numbers when we found
out that we were more or less neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I never called her, nor did I see the young woman again<i>, </i>a fact that still pains me to admit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">These select anecdotes are evidence of my pretense that I am a White person who "gets it." I have taken pride in my urban life, when I really hadn't done the work to enter into solidarity with my neighbors. I am not the only one. You can read other places about young White folks migrating back to cities, as they abandon the vestiges of what they consider to be the empty, segregated and unsustainable suburban lifestyles of their parents. However, the results in the city are not that much more integrated or fulfilling unless White folks make an effort to break out of their White social circles. I have to constantly reevaluate myself and the lifestyle I lead, who I hang out with, and where I want to end up. This is my journey. I may be off to a good start, but unless I'm intentional, I may end up standing still, or worse--going backwards. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://urbanrestorationstl.blogspot.com/2013/01/autobiography-pt-3-english-as-second.html" target="_blank">Autobiography Pt. 3: English as a Second Language</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">References</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Tatum, B. D. (2003). <i>“Why are all the Black kids sitting together
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Books.</span></i></span></div>
<i>
</i>Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-33469242348515745512013-01-13T08:42:00.002-08:002013-03-28T12:42:37.662-07:00Autobiography Pt. 1: Mexico<i>I recently have been asked by a few people about how I became interested in antiracism. In helping myself move forward, I realize that I need to look back. Also, I hope to convey the sense that I too am on a journey; I am a work in progress. This is part of my story.</i><br />
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<![endif]-->When I was a
little girl, I wanted to be Mexican.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, I wanted to be Mexican until I was in my twenties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During college, my obsession with speaking
Spanish and immersing myself in “culture” reached its pinnacle, and I traveled
to Mexico as often as I could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
arranged to study abroad during college in Guadalajara, Mexico, and then later
returned for a month on sabbatical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
spent two summers traveling with different groups to Tijuana, Mexico as an
interpreter on mission trips, and then returned for a few weeks on another
sabbatical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, I worked for a
summer with a government agency (that will remained nameless) as a translator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Basically, </span>I translated and transcribed wire-tapped
phone calls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
this same summer that I got into a relationship with a Mexican guy that
revealed once and for all the absurdity of my obsession with the “other." I didn't actually like him for what he had to offer as a person, but for his language and ethnicity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was over the weeks of ending this
relationship, accompanied by random nightmares from wire-tapped phone calls in Spanish,
that my illusion of a mythical Mexico slowly faded and died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
The obvious
explanation for my interest in Mexico and the Spanish language comes from my parents, who hold glorious memories of the years we lived in California, where
there were “lots of Hispanics,” and a few wealthy Portuguese dairy
farmers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not that we knew many Hispanics
or Portuguese dairy farmers personally, but the legend grew stronger in the
years we lived in exile back in Illinois.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The years in California were better times for my parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They represented a strong community, mission
trips to Mexico, church planting, and warm weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
would seem natural that I would be interested in Spanish and Mexican
culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
The strange part is, many
people in California would prefer that all the Mexicans would just go back to
Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why did my parents hold this
fascination, when in fact, we had mostly White friends, not Hispanic?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it possible that my parents were young
expats of Missouri who wanted to break ties with their family and a perceived lack
of culture they grew up with?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any
case, they passed down this perception to me, and I carried the desire with me
into my young adult years to break with what I perceived to be a “non-culture” and find a robust
cultural identity.<br />
<br />
In fact, the effects of racism on White people include a
sense of being “normal,” not ethnic or racialized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> In an attempt to assimilate and accrue the benefits of Whiteness, many
light skinned immigrants had to shed the remnants of their foods,
language and traditions. This has left many White people divorced from their ethnic roots. This can create an anxiety in some White folks to find culturally roots anywhere they can, whether by hanging out with Black people, learning to speak Spanish, or eating at "ethnic" restaurants. “Whiteness” is held as the norm, while other
racial groups are seen as having “culture” <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
The positive
side of my obsession with Spanish is that I did become fluent in a second language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to experience what it feels like to stumble over words and
concepts in another language, exhaust my mental resources in one hour of
conversation, navigate through cultural misinterpretations and experience the
stages of culture shock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I became aware
that certain groups of people in my own country, namely immigrants and
refugees, were pushed to the margins of society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my studies, I learned about cultural
pluralism, economic and social inequality, and the hegemonic powers of
colonialism and imperialism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned
there were different ways of viewing and understanding world events than from
the "official" perspective of the United States' government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
<br />
All this knowledge took a long time to seep into my understanding of the
context in St. Louis, Missouri, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I still had tunnel vision for the glorified cultural “otherness” of
immigrants and refugees. I sought out situations to help refugee families, although I didn't establish real relationships with them. I viewed immigrants and refugees, Hispanics particularly, as culturally, but not racially “other” <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(Bonilla-Silva, 2003)</span>. This is still a form of
racism. It is kind of like saying, "Hispanics are different, but not <i>as</i> different as Black people." And during this time, I still held many anti-Black biases. I believed that Black people were at least culturally different from me enough to inhibit any kind of intimate friendship. I had in me the seeds of something that would grow into my work now, but I had a long way to go.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://urbanrestorationstl.blogspot.com/2013/01/autobiography-pt-2-cherokee-street.html" target="_blank">Autobiography Pt. 2: Cherokee Street. </a><br />
<br />
References<br />
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<![endif]--><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). <i>Racism
without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in
the United States</i>. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.</span></li>
<li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Frankenberg, R. (1993). <i>White women,
race matters: The social construction of whiteness</i>. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press.</span></li>
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Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-42814670370730405282012-12-15T10:00:00.002-08:002012-12-16T07:42:55.920-08:00The Collateral Damage of RacismMy heart is so heavy today as I write. I have debated whether or not to write this because I know that to some, it might come off as insensitive, which is not my intent. This disclaimer is to say that I am crying about the babies and adults that were killed yesterday. They didn't deserve it. It was not God's will or judgement on America, as some theologians have already put forward. It was evil.<b> </b> Pure evil.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Having said all that, I think that there is an elephant in the room when it comes to these kinds of tragedies, and we need to talk about it</b>. Because I believe what happened yesterday was a consequence of racism in our nation. Allow me to explain what I mean. <br />
<br />
I listened to the news on NPR yesterday as soon as I saw the headline on social media. I scoured the articles on the Internet. I watched the news on television, which I don't normally do. I wanted to know, like many people, how and why such a thing could happen. I wanted to make sense of it. The host of the radio program was asking a psychologist if there was a psychological profile for these types of criminals who perpetrate these mass murders. The psychologist said that there was, but the tricky thing is that not all people who fit that description end up committing this type of crime. And most of the time, people don't realize the "red flags" until after the fact. As the conversation continued, I was listening for one other piece of information: the racial identity of the shooter.<br />
<br />
I have started to listen for "race" in the news, when it shows up in discourse and when it doesn't. For example, on the nightly news in St. Louis, I don't normally hear direct references to racial identifications, but there are certain "code words" that the newscasters use to let you know who they are talking about (e.g. neighborhood, street names, physical descriptions, names). Like most people, I have become accustomed to processing the news in racialized ways. In the case of the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, I listened and listened. Not one time did I hear the perpetrator described in racialized terms. I remember thinking, "They haven't said--I bet he was White." And so again yesterday, I listened and listened, but never heard once anything to indicate that 1) the perpetrator was White or 2) that the town affected was predominantly White. So when the radio program host kept pushing the psychologist for a "profile" of "these types" of mass killers, I wanted to shout, "White males! Look for White males!" as if they could hear me and start the hunt right away. <br />
<br />
Now hear me when I say, I am not hating on White males. I have many White men in my life, including a wonderful husband, sons, and brothers. What I am saying is that statistically, the majority of mass murderers, serial killers and sex offenders are White men. Are all White men criminals? Of course not. But when you go to check my facts (and I hope you do), it should become clear that there is a racial profile for "these types" of criminals. In a country where Black and Brown men, along with anyone who looks like they might be from the Middle East, are consistently racially profiled, it is indicative that the very profile we should be on the look-out for is the one we never admit or say out loud: White men. <br />
<br />
<b>The collateral damage of racism plays out like this:</b><br />
<br />
White folks have been socialized to fear Black men. White towns have fought long and hard to keep Black and Brown folks out (search the term "sundown towns" for more info). The result is that many small towns and municipalities are currently all White, while people of color are primarily forced into urban areas. And in these White spaces, there is a sense of security because the "undesirables," the people to be feared, have been kept out. On the other hand, if you talk about living in an urban area, you will hear White folks talk more about issues of safety.<br />
<br />
The governor of Connecticut attempted to give words of comfort to the town of Newtown yesterday. He said that this was not preventable. He said, "Today, evil had visited this town." My reply: Evil was already living in your town. He lived in a house in your town and had access to guns. Lots of guns. <br />
<br />
Initially, I wanted to avoid the issue of gun control, because I thought it was a side issue, although related. I leaned more towards increased school security, which I still advocate. <b>But we can't address one without the other, addressing the symptom without first analyzing the disease.</b><br />
<br />
You might think me a conspiracy theorist at this point, but the whole issue of "right to carry" is also deeply connected to a racist system. First, it is and has always been easier for White
people to obtain
gun permits than it is for people of color. Throughout most of our history, it was illegal for Black and Brown people to own guns, except during wartime. Even when it was legal, Black people were seriously prohibited from owning firearms. Secondly, much of our
current White "gun culture" has to do with White militias that were
historically allowed to form in order to either hunt Black slaves or
just parade around in order to keep the Black population "subdued." So the argument for the "right to carry" has everything to do with White privilege and the right to form a militia. <br />
<br />
That's why I'm saying this is a consequence of not talking about the effects of racism on White people. We can notice trends of who these criminals are--White males--and what kinds weapons they use--primarily obtained legally--<b>but we don't</b>.<br />
<br />
And while the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map" target="_blank">victims of these crimes</a> are diverse, when the shootings happen in schools, we can notice that they primarily happen at White schools. <b>But we don't. </b><br />
<br />
And by "we" I mean us White folk<b>. Because if a whole town feels secure because "it's just us White people," and everybody owns guns legally,
then there is no heightened sense of awareness of possible
predators. </b> <br />
<br />
I have been told that there is running line within the Black community that goes something like this: "When our kids bring a gun to school, they might kill somebody on accident. When a White kid bring guns to school, he kills everybody on purpose." I don't think this is said with a disregard for the lives of White children, but it does point to a skewed view of reality that White folks would fear a Black man more than a White man. And it highlights the fact that Black folks have always feared White men for very substantiated reasons. <br />
<br />
Let me say again that this news is devastating. Heartbreaking. I hugged my White babies a little closer to me last night and prayed for comfort for the town in Connecticut. I can't read the news updates without crying. But I was also angry. Angry that people would say that this is an "isolated" event, that schools are safe places, and that there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it. As a parent, I am not swallowing those answers. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Because if something happens to my child, I want to know how it could have been prevented. </b><br />
<br />
Mass killings are not isolated events--they happen frequently.<b> </b>The psychologist on NPR (and other sources) reported that mass killings have
not increased in recent years. The number of deaths has remained
steady, but certain events have been more high profile because of
the number of victims and the public nature of the crime scenes (e.g.
movie theater, school).<br />
<br />
Schools are not safe places--not in Black neighborhoods, not in White neighborhoods, not in integrated neighborhoods--unless we <i>make them safe</i>. In many urban neighborhoods, there are metal detectors installed at the front door with a taser-carrying security guard looking on. Police officers routinely patrol the area around the school. In some ways, this could be part of the impact of the stereotyping of Black and Brown youth. However, in hearing from Black administrators and teachers in the wake of this recent tragedy, I think the security measures are largely in place because Black communities, unlike the governor of Connecticut, are not surprised about evil. They know that there are people who would try to hurt them and their children. They don't live with a false sense of security because they have never been afforded that luxury. <br />
<br />
Finally, this type of tragedy must be preventable. To start, I believe White folks need to have the tough conversation about the false sense of security and entitlement that we feel in our White communities. We need to talk about gun control and question why White folks feel entitled to carry a concealed automatic weapon.<br />
<br />
If we continue to ignore the elephant in the room, ignore the collateral damage of racism, these types of incidents will continue to happen. But for today, I agree with the prayer that the President prayed, that God would heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-82406051003310596412012-08-04T10:44:00.000-07:002013-03-27T21:04:03.137-07:00Race wrestling and race talk dilemmasI feel that I have come full circle in my readings this summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started in schools, and now am ending in schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the beginning of the summer, I found myself shocked and amazed at a new understanding of “race,” how racial difference is socially reproduced in schools, and the fact that racist attitudes and behavior still “happen” in our society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
At this point, I am less shocked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colormute</i> by Mica Pollock <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(2004)</span>, I could see patterns already at the beginning of her story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She painstakingly laid out the details of a multi-year qualitative study of a multi-racial high school in California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, it seemed too slow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I had already immersed myself in theories about racialization and racial stratification, I wanted to point out the “problems” immediately and seek to redress them.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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I see great wisdom in the careful, longitudinal approach. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Already someone close to me had warned that people like me go<span class="commentbody"> “to graduate level classes where you learn racism or learn hate of people labeled racists” and eventually, “</span><span class="textexposedshow">after having become sensitized by reading all this material that you will see racism under every tree, bush, rock…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This accusation haunted me throughout the summer reading course, and apparently still has a sting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did </i>start seeing racism, seemingly everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each social interaction and news story took on new meanings and dimensions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My whole framework for understanding “race” and racial difference had been replaced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned new nuanced definitions for racism, as it manifests in both blatant and covert everyday attitudes and actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And sadly, I did react harshly with white folks I felt didn’t “get it,” as I unintentionally initiated conversations that confirmed the worst of what they already thought of me. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow">The brilliance of Pollock </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(2004)</span><span class="textexposedshow">, as with so many other scholars I have read over the summer, is that she goes to great lengths to give a thorough account of what happened on a daily basis at “Columbus High School.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a white woman who taught one year at this racially diverse school, so as she began to collect data about how students, faculty and staff talked (or didn’t talk) about “race,” she was also in process of working with all the stakeholders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, she goes out of her way not to paint participants as “racist” people, but simply as they appeared in the drama of the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also includes her own contributions, missteps, and omissions to the racial dialogue of the school, which essentially incriminates her along with anyone else who might be “blamed” in her unfolding story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially, she does uncover racism, although she rarely names it as such.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow">One might argue that is precisely because she was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">looking</i> for discussions that included or omitted racial terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, she has a few strange twists and turns in her study going for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first is that she initially started out with the question of how “race” affected the way that students “got along” with each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she began to collect data, she began to notice a predictable pattern of how people in the school did and did not talk about “race.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then changed her research question to examine when “race” did and did not appear in conversations. Secondly, half-way through her study the school was “reconstituted,” meaning that all the faculty and staff were replaced with new people in an effort to improve school outcomes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was able to continue her study with the same students, but all new adult participants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this time, she noticed the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">same</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">patterns </i>in the way that the adults talked or didn’t talk about “race” in the school, and this from a group of complete strangers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow">The general conclusion of Pollock’s study was that the adults at Columbus shared in a “colormute” discourse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, while they did talk about “race” in matter-of-fact ways in some instances, discussion of “race” and racial groups remained absent from faculty meetings and public communications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Predictably, adults spoke of racial groups for multicultural events (e.g. “The Samoans are going to do their traditional dance”) or in instances of violence in the school (e.g. “The Filipinos were fighting the blacks”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adults also commented in private conversations about “race,” such as the on-going debate about what do about the black students in the hallway and whether it was really only black students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But these private conversations never surfaced during meetings or discussions with students, and so in the case of the students in the hallway, nothing was actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">done </i>about the situation that so many faculty and students noticed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Likewise, while patterns student achievement could be analyzed in terms of racial groups, this was never explicitly done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was discussion from the predominantly white faculty of how to help <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> students, who were mostly “low-income minorities,” there were no explicit attempts to examine which racial groups in the school fared worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These statistics showed that blacks and Latinos were disproportionately disciplined, had lower achievement rates, and were more likely to drop out and not graduate than other groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, the Consent Decree that outlined the desegregation policy for the district contained language that focused on black and Latino students, and the focus of the reconstitution echoed this concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this focus was never directly communicated to faculty before or after the reconstitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And although certain faculty and administrators were aware of the language in the Consent Decree, the discussion of how to meet the reconstitution goals never took place in a public forum.</span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow">Pollock concludes with some observations about the difficulties in talking about “race” and racial inequality:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"></span></span></span></span><span class="textexposedshow">We don’t belong to simple race groups, but we do. (i.e. Individual identity is complex; however, students still identified with racial groups at different times, and faculty regularly categorized students into simplistic racial groups.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"></span></span></span></span><span class="textexposedshow">Race doesn’t matter, but it does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(i.e. “Race” is a social construction, not a biological reality; however, social interactions in schools create racial difference and inequality.) </span></li>
<li><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></span><span class="textexposedshow">The “de-raced” words we use when discussing plans for racial equality can actually keep ups from discussing ways to make opportunities more racially equal. </span></li>
<li><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"></span></span></span></span><span class="textexposedshow">The more complex inequality seems to get, the more simplistic inequality analysis seems to become. (i.e. Even though Columbus was racially and economically diverse, the students seemed to get lumped in to one category, that of “low-income minority.”)</span></li>
<li><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"></span></span></span></span><span class="textexposedshow">The questions we ask most about race are the very questions we most suppress.</span></li>
<li><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"></span></span></span></span><span class="textexposedshow">Although talking racial terms can make race matter, not talking in racial terms can make race matter, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span class="commentbody">Buehler </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(in press)</span><span class="commentbody">, in a similar study, found similar discourse patterns in a high school in Michigan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She, like Pollock, suggests that talking about “race” in strategic ways can actually help to remedy racial inequality in schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buehler begins with the premise that faculty and students are already engaged in “race wrestling,” that is, an internal struggle about how “race” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should matter </i>faced with how it <i>does matter. </i>She recommends thoughtful discussion about “race talk” within individual schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These initial discussions should shed light on the ways racial difference and inequalities are being socially reproduced in that particular institution, and hopefully inform antiracist strategies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talking honestly and judiciously about “race” is, perhaps ironically, the first step towards moving beyond “just talk” and into anti-racist action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="commentbody"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">References</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Buehler, J. (in press). “There’s a problem, and we’ve got to face it”: How staff members wrestled with race in an urban high school. <i>Race, Ethnicity & Education</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Pollock, M. (2004). <i>Colormute: Race talk dilemmas in an American school</i>. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.</span></div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-76021501295979963042012-07-12T13:12:00.000-07:002013-03-27T21:12:17.980-07:00Theorizing racial structures and racial stratificationI just
finished Feagin’s (2006) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Systemic
</i><i>Racism</i>. I feel that his work can
shed some light on the misunderstandings I have had in some recent conversations
with friends and family. As I stated
before, I don’t believe my friends and family, or most white folks for that
matter, are “racist people.” I know my
friends and family well enough to see that they have very good intentions and
want to love people as well as they can.
However, the recurrent theme in these conversations is the minimization of race and racism.
It is as if talking about race itself is seen as “racist." Conversely, the subject of “white privilege”
seems to elicit protestations of “reverse discrimination” or the
equivalent. I realized that in most
cases, we were not coming at the subject from the same understanding of racial
inequality. Feagin’s work is key for
theorizing about racial structure and stratification/hierarchy in the U.S. <br />
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First,
Feagin does not see a dichotomy between past and present. In other words, our society is not
fundamentally different from the period in history when we became a nation. Feagin documents the overarching trend of systemic
racism in the U.S. from the “founding fathers,” through slavery, the “Jim Crow”
era, the Civil Rights movement, until the present. Feagin extensively shows
how, over the history of the U.S., systemic racism has been foundational and
continuous, not just something tacked on to an otherwise healthy society or
something that has cropped up in different points in history. In general, the narratives of elite white
people that Feagin documents reveal denial, amnesia and alexithymia regarding the oppression of black people and
other people of color. As white people
have remained mostly segregated, they have socially reproducing racial
hierarchies. This elitist narrative has
been transmitted from one generation to the next relatively unaltered and
unchallenged by white people. There is a
cumulative effect in terms of oppression and privilege that has created and
sustained racial inequality to this day.
</div>
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The power of Feagin’s work, however, primarily lies
in the voice of African Americans throughout the work. In line with standpoint theory, he documents
how oppressed participants in history have a singular view of not only their
own experience, but the experience of their oppressors. They have grappled with these concepts,
struggled for their freedom, resisted and subverted the status quo. They have displayed greater moral integrity
than the men who are traditionally considered to be the heroes and “founding
fathers” of this nation. <br />
<br />
This book has
strong implications for education, given that this full view of history has
been omitted or suppressed in textbooks and curriculum. This would explain why most white
folks, along with some people of color, today have a hard time talking about racial
inequality. Without a view of systemic
racism, <span class="st">racism that has “spread throughout, system-wide,
affecting… society as a whole</span>,”
we are left with weak cultural arguments, or even resort to biological
explanations to try to explain inequality that is blatantly racialized. In the post-Civil Rights era, white people
instinctively feel that talking about race might get you labeled a “racist,” so
there is an effort to make it “anything but race,” further exacerbating
attempts to address societal inequity. </div>
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I just recently revisited
Tim Wise’s website (“Michelle
Alexander & Tim Wise on Racism and the New Jim Crow,” 2012) and listened to "On the Other Side
of the Myth: A Conversation with Michelle Alexander and Tim Wise." There were a few points that stood out to me,
and which I felt related to Feagin’s (2006) work.
Tim Wise commented that indifference, not overt hatred, is actually the
core of oppression, Feagin calls this indifference “social alexithymia,” a
general inability to empathize with the experience of others, especially those
we have made to be very “other” from ourselves.
This “otherizing” or
dehumanization, the rationalization of racial difference, is then accompanied
by a general amnesia about past oppression. This has been foundational to racial
stratification over the history of the U.S., and is the essence of the “new
racism.” <br />
<br />
Many scholars are pointing out
that while overt racism still exist, there is a
new "color-blind racism" that seems much milder, and yet is much more persistent
for the very fact that it is harder to address and dismantle than blatant
racist speech or acts. Tim Wise
mentioned that many black people are leaving the West Coast, for example, and
moving to the South. He speculated that
in some ways, it might be because the blatant racism of the South is easier to
identify and resist than the slippery, “now you see it, now you don’t,”
colorblind ideology. The bottom line, of
course, is that neither style of racism is just; both need to end. </div>
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<br />
Some of Tim Wise and Michelle Alexander’s conversation centered around how much
progress is to be hoped for in the anti-racist movement when many times
anti-racist activists are trying to convince white people of something white
folks don’t believe is there. Tim Wise mentioned
“interest convergence,” which is based on the premise that most progress in anti-slavery
and civil rights movements took place when there was a convergence of white
elites' interests with the goals of civil rights activists. For example,
at the time of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s, the U.S. had a strong
need to appear democratic in the face of worldwide Communism. This was actually documented in a brief prepared
for the legal counsel during the hearing of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brown
vs. the Board of Education. </i>Wise suggests
that one tactic is to convince white folks that racism and oppression actually
hurt them economically and psychologically. While Michelle Alexander agreed
that this approach could be useful at times to get in the door, she maintained
that there is a need to build a moral consensus to sustain momentum. She recommended a call to the “beloved
community” in terms of spiritual consequences as a way to build a lasting
anti-racist movement. </div>
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On a more positive note, I had a pleasant conversation recently with
the man who owns the building next door.
He is an African American minister who lives in another neighborhood but
comes by to work on his building occasionally.
I think we honestly didn’t know what to make of each other for the first
year or so that we knew each other. Slowly,
we have been getting to know each other, and the other day we had a quite
enjoyable conversation about what I have been reading. As I listened to the pastor, I found myself
amazed as he talked about history, white privilege, race relations, racial inequality,
etc. He used none of the terms that I
just mentioned, but he was talking about these concepts as I have been reading
about them in books. It was a moment of
self-reflection for me, because I realized that I should not be amazed. He, as an active participant in his own
struggle, has thought deeply about racial structures and racial
stratification. <br />
<br />
I am only just now
reading and thinking about these issues because of my privileged position
closer to the top. In my whitewashed
world, I never looked down to see the structure or those who have experienced
the systematic, interrelated barriers of the structure. Only later in life were there white people
who pointed out the racial stratification to me, and only now I am finally
listening to people of color talk about their perspectives. As I think about my own developing
understanding of systemic racism, this progression should inform my
interactions with other white folks. I
hope that I am better able to communicate information in way that can be well
received, with an understanding of the deficiencies in my own knowledge. </div>
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<b>References </b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Feagin, J. R. (2006). <i>Systemic racism:
A theory of oppression</i>. New York: Routledge.</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Michelle
Alexander & Tim Wise on Racism and the New Jim Crow. (2012, June 25). <i>Tim
Wise</i>. Retrieved July 12, 2012, from http://www.timwise.org/</div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-32251278397924838392012-07-12T11:30:00.000-07:002013-06-07T08:58:52.456-07:00Discourse and colorblind racism<br />
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I have
been getting into a lot of conversations lately. Friends ask, “How’s your summer going?” “Great,” I say with a wry smile, “I’ve been
spending the summer reading about systemic racism.” </div>
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I really
need to learn the art of chit-chat. </div>
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Of
course, these conversations inevitably end up being more difficult than I
intended. I am in a certain frame of
mind right now and I forget that all my friends haven’t been reading along with
me. I liken it to a study abroad
experience: I have been changing slowly in my way of thinking, and I expect
that everything will be the same with the people I have known for so long. My point is not to say my friends are not
also changing and growing, it’s just that we are having different
experiences. </div>
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The
latest book I read was called <i>Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and
the persistence of racial inequality in the United States</i> by Eduardo
Bonilla-Silva (2003). Again,
not a conversation starter in most circles, and if a conversation did get
started, I have a feeling it would get ugly rather quickly. But since you are reading this blog, I assume
you would like me to explain why this is an important, insightful work. </div>
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Bonilla-Silva
conducted two large studies, one with hundreds of white
university students, and the other in the city of Detroit with black and white
adult participants from diverse backgrounds.
He and his fellow researchers conducted hours and hours of interviews
with these participants. The interviews
centered on issues of race, racism and racial inequality. For example, most of the participants were
asked, “What is your opinion about affirmative action?” or “Interracial
marriage is a controversial subject.
What do you think about this topic?”
The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then analyzed. The goal was to look at the ways in which
people, black and white, talked about race.
This included body language, silence, tone, volume and rate of speech,
and other speech patterns, like stuttering or false starts. </div>
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I should
make clear at this point that the goal was NOT to analyze the speech of
well-meaning individuals and reveal, “Hah!
We knew it! You’re a racist!” In
fact, Bonilla-Silva makes it very clear he doesn’t believe that people are
either “good, non-racist” people or “bad racist” people. Bonilla-Silva also noted that participants,
regardless of age, mostly did NOT use racial slurs or other explicitly racist
language more typical of the “Jim Crow” era.
Instead, with the understanding that racism is both systemic and
institutionalized in the U.S., Bonilla-Silva wanted to see how people are
influenced by this dominant ideology, even if their language is not overtly
racist. Therefore, the interviewers were
very careful to ask questions in a way that would show the racial beliefs of
the participants. I might even describe
it in terms of “innocent until proven guilty”—the interviewers attempted to
help the participants clarify their views in ways that would show that they did
not hold racist beliefs if that was the case. </div>
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Bonilla-Silva
found that many white participants, who were mostly complete strangers from
across the state of Michigan, shared ways of talking about race, racism and
racial inequality. He calls these
“frames.” For example, one of the main
frames is that of “cultural racism,” which has been traditionally described in
terms of a “culture of poverty” (e.g. “Blacks don’t place much emphasis on
education.”) Ostensibly, it replaces
essentialist racism, but since it presents culture as monolithic and stable it
has been called the “biologization of culture.”
This was offered by many participants as a primary explanation for
racial inequality in society. While it
seems like a compassionate response, it ignores systemic racism and places the
responsibility on the victims.
Bonilla-Silva found that white participants used this frame, but that
this frame also seemed to indirectly affect the discourse of some black
participants, as well. </div>
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An
extension of the cultural racism frame is the narrative of the “exceptional
black,” that is, the belief that most black people are culturally deficient, but
there are a few exceptions (e.g. “I know a black guy who makes more money than
I do. He didn’t let discrimination get
him down.”) This is also similar to a
rhetorical move that many participants used: “If the Jews/Italians/Irish/Asians
can make it, why can’t the blacks?” This
is in line with the belief that if a person just works hard, they can succeed. Ultimately, this view minimizes institutionalized
racism against blacks specifically, but also against other people of color. It also can be yet another way to “talk
around” a belief that black people are culturally deficient. </div>
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Bonilla-Silva found with the participants in his study that the use of color-blind discourse
combined several frames and rhetorical moves.
Other frames were “minimization of racism” (e.g. I don’t think discrimination
really happens these days.”) and “naturalization” (e.g. “People like to stay
with their kind of people. It’s just the way it is.”) Rhetorical moves included projection (e.g. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They</i> are the racists ones.”) and claiming
interracial friendships (e.g. “Some of my best friends are black.”). </div>
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Again,
the use of these frames and rhetorical devices do not reveal that the
participants are inherently racist people; however, it does indicate
problematic and faulty beliefs about racial inequality, discrimination, and
privilege. Secondly, the evidence of the
“racial grammar” of color-blind racism in the discourse of many unrelated white
people, and even some black people, is further proof of a hegemonic racial
ideology in the U.S. (Frankenberg’s power- and color-evasive discourse, or
Feagin’s white racial frame). It is
possible for the participants to have been influenced by this color-blind
ideology and have incorporated it into their discourse without active
awareness, especially if they had been socialized in predominantly white environments.
My advisor suggested that one way to
think about discourses is that they speak “through us” in imperceptible ways. It is this color-blind discourse, however,
that allows people to navigate around issues of race so that a few pernicious
racist perceptions remain unrecognized and unchallenged. </div>
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It is important
to point out here that most black participants, and a handful of white
participants, did show a “race cognizance” (Frankenberg, 1993). In
other words, while they may have displayed some influence from color-blind
discourse, they recognized that racism still exists and that while race is merely
a social construct, it still <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">matters </i>in
terms of life outcomes in the U.S. This
shows, in line with other researchers, that it is possible to break out of the
cycle of socialization, recognize the dominant discourse, and reject it. </div>
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Most of
the conversations I have had recently with white folks have ended poorly and
left me feeling rather confused. It’s
like we are speaking different languages.
And it turns out, we almost are. As
I shift into “race cognizance,” I am finding more and more examples of color-blind
discourse in the conversations with friends, family, and even strangers. I also recognize that in the past I have been
guilty of buying into and using several of these frames and rhetorical
moves. As I moved from my white
segregated context to work with urban mercy ministries, I attempted to explain
the inequality that I encountered. Even
though I had excellent mentors who told me about institutionalized racism, I
still functioned from the whitewashed version of history that I had learned
from my family, friends, church and school.
It has been a huge shift for me to realize that systemic racism
currently, and over the course of the history of our nation, accounts for the
majority of racial inequality that exists within our society. Cultural explanations for racial inequality
are deceptively gentler versions of racism because at the heart is a view of
“black culture” as monolithic and essentially inferior. </div>
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My
understanding of solidarity has also been refined as I have realized the
fallacy of cultural racism. While it
purports to be compassionate, I realize that I cannot be truly empathetic if I
don’t recognize the systematic and institutionalized barriers that have been
set up to oppress different groups.
Joining with an oppressed group in solidarity had a shallow meaning for
me; I assumed I was mostly commiserating with “those people” and helping them
to better their situation. In reality,
solidarity means that I recognize our common humanity and abandon the idea of
“us and them.” I must recognize the
struggle of oppressed people against a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">system,</i>
acknowledge my role in that system, and as much as I am able, attempt to
disassociate myself from this system, which has ultimately damaged white folks,
as well. Then, as I fight against the
system alongside the oppressed, I must realize that they have been fighting
long before I came on the scene, and that ultimately the struggle will cost the
oppressed more. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
References </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). <i>Racism
without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in
the United States</i>. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Feagin, J.
R. (2006). <i>Systemic racism: A theory of oppression</i>. New York: Routledge.</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Frankenberg,
R. (1993). <i>White women, race matters: The social construction of whiteness</i>.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gQ4e_hdNzGU/UbIDJ3BuB6I/AAAAAAAACcY/9ZN5cwtJHq0/s1600/colorblind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gQ4e_hdNzGU/UbIDJ3BuB6I/AAAAAAAACcY/9ZN5cwtJHq0/s200/colorblind.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-71376345777829488062012-06-21T14:50:00.002-07:002013-01-13T08:01:03.786-08:00Christianity and Whiteness<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In
doing some reading this summer, I came across the works of antiracist activist Tim
Wise. I haven’t actually read his books
yet, but I have listened to a few of his lectures on YouTube. My first impression was pure awe. I totally agree with his antiracist message,
which he delivers with humor and selective profanity. I found him helpful in clarifying otherwise
muddied arguments regarding race and racism.
He inspired me to have the courage to speak out against racism. However,
two things coincided for me. </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">First,
many of the people in my sphere of influence seem to dislike liberals,
feminists, socialists, etc, a detail that has caused conflict between me and
these same people at times. These friends cannot reconcile their worldview with
these ideologies so as to even sympathize with the aforementioned groups.
This is supremely frustrating to me most of the time, and I have been known to
express said frustration. O<span style="font-size: small;">n the other hand</span>, as
Tim Wise pointed out, it's kind of like talking about "my
momma." I can do it, but don't you dare. So when Wise starts
"conservative bashing" on Twitter, it's not like I haven't done it
before, but it hits me the wrong way coming from him. And then he went
there—he started insulting Jesus and Christians. <br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I found myself slightly defensive, to say the least. I argued, “I
mean, I understand there is hypocrisy in the Christian church, I get that
there have been abuses, but for me, these have not been a correct
representation or interpretation of my faith<span style="font-size: small;">."</span> I find it supremely
intolerant and hypocritical for Tim Wise to defend Islam and denounce
stereotyping of Muslims for the acts of just a few, and then proceed to lambast
Christianity and stereotype Christians. Both religions have been
potentially misinterpreted by groups of extremists. Further, both
religions have historically and currently do maintain hegemony in various parts
of the world. According to his own moral code, if it's not okay for him
to stereotype Muslims or insult Islam, it should not be okay for him to do the
same towards Christians and Christianity.<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
However, as I reflected on my reaction I suddenly had an "aha" moment
regarding Christianity and its role in the U.S. I suddenly saw the
parallel between <span style="font-size: small;">W</span>hite privilege and "Christian privilege," between <span style="font-size: small;">W</span>hite supremacy and role of Christianity (or a distorted interpretation of it)
since the before colonies were established by <span style="font-size: small;">W</span>hite settlers. I'm not trying to gloss over the entire
history of Christianity<span style="font-size: small;">, and it's important to note that</span> I’m locating my discussion in the U.S. <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
All this to say, I realize there are reasons why Tim Wise and others would be
angry at Christians, and speci<span style="font-size: small;">fi<span style="font-size: small;">cally White Christ<span style="font-size: small;">ians</span></span></span>. I also realized
that I had used the same type of logic that I have heard other <span style="font-size: small;">W</span>hite people use when
talking about "race,<span style="font-size: small;">" </span>but this time applied it to religion. The argument
goes something like, "Well, there is racism in other countries. Look
at what [insert oppressive people group] did to [insert oppressed people
group]." At which point, I want to say, "Right, but we're in <i>this</i> country, and we have to deal with <i>our</i> mess, not theirs." So in
saying, "Islam maintains hegemony in other countries, oppresses people,
etc." I should follow my own logic, "Right, but it doesn't here,
whereas Christianity has and
does." </span></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
In this country, Christianity has a complex and problematic relationship with
"<span style="font-size: small;">W</span>hiteness." <i>(T</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>his first and for</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>emo</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>st</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i> evidence</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>d by the fact that w</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>hen I </i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>or other White </i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Ch</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>ristians </i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>talk about </i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Christianity, we are thinki</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>ng about White </i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>people.)</i> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>This dual identity, often seen as one and the same,
maintained institutionalized slavery based on a hierarchical racial order. This ideology continues to dictate life in
the U.S.<span style="font-size: small;"> and has real<span style="font-size: small;"> psychological and material consequences<span style="font-size: small;">. </span></span>White </span>Christians cannot separate themselves from this history, nor
from the present reality of segregation and racial inequality. It must be
acknowledged first before continuing in any public or community
relations. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
My new stance is that C<span style="font-size: small;">hristianity</span> may have earned a good number of the insults dealt <span style="font-size: small;">out <span style="font-size: small;">by Tim Wise<span style="font-size: small;">, although I can't fully <span style="font-size: small;">stand be<span style="font-size: small;">hind his type <span style="font-size: small;">of act<span style="font-size: small;">ivism</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>. We [W<span style="font-size: small;">hite <span style="font-size: small;">Christians] </span></span>have marginalized and oppressed people of
color, and we continue to maintain a segregated order (see Emerson's <span style="font-size: small;">s<span style="font-size: small;">tud<span style="font-size: small;">y, "Divided <span style="font-size: small;">by Faith")</span></span></span></span>. Secondly, as a Christian I am supposed to
follow Christ, who "while being reviled, did not revile in return,"
and he was blameless—I am not. Finally, I started to wonder how much of White Christian’s
outrage at being "persecuted" in the U.S. is really just masked rage
at losing privilege? Rage at being perceived as anything but the
norm? Fear at losing power? And anyway, how do Christians justify
fear and rage? Do we recognize it as such, or do we call it “righteous
indignation”? This is one of the reasons why we need truly diverse
churches. As Christians, we need the perspective of <span style="font-size: small;">people from </span>other racial
groups to reveal our pride, indignation, fear, privilege and oppression for the
purpose of repentance and reconciliation. </div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></h4>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-6800416991824280142012-06-21T14:18:00.001-07:002013-03-27T21:13:37.228-07:00Critical interrogations of whitenessI have been trekking through a book
for the past two weeks, "White women, race matters: The social
construction of whiteness" by Ruth Frankenberg (1993). Part
of the trek was due to my lack of familiarity with feminist theory. After I did some background reading, I was
able to better contextualize this work.
I also learned that feminist theory is quite useful for framing and
discussing oppression, privilege, inequality and racism. Standpoint theory, concepts of oppression (Frye, 1983)
and privilege (Bailey, 2004; McIntosh, 1990) are particularly helpful in understanding and
placing Frankenberg's work.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Standpoint theory is basically that a
person’s standpoint (i.e. gender, race, class, etc.) determines how s/he
views the world. The dominant people,
those at the top of society, do not clearly view those below them, while those
in subordinate positions are able to see both their own position, as well as
those in the dominant position. While
standpoint theory would suggest that those who are oppressed or subordinate in
some way could understand the oppression of
other people more easily, there are some limitations. For example, while it would seem that White women
should be able to empathize with the perspective of people of color, women of color were historically excluded from the feminist movement. While the White feminists had an understanding of oppression (i.e. "systematically related barriers
and forces not of one's own making"), the understanding of the opposite
side of the coin, that of White privilege (i.e. "unearned assets conferred
systematically"), was not at the forefront of the feminist dialogue at
that time. Frankenberg documents how White identity prevented White women from
seeing outside the hegemonic White Discourse. In other words, it was not obvious that racism did and does also shape the
experience of White women. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In her book, Frankenberg discusses how
many White women moved from anti-racist movements to the feminist movement. However, the second wave feminist movement
was dominated by White women's perspective, which marginalized and ignored the
experience of women of color. This is
the intervention Frankenberg makes with her study, a series of interviews with 30 White
women in the 1980s in California. The women came from a wide range of
backgrounds (i.e. ages, class, sexual orientation, place of origin, etc.);
however, her sample did provide a disproportionate number of women who had been
involved in the feminist movement and/or interracial relationships (i.e.
partners and/or children). Specifically, she uses interracial
relationships as a focal point for examining the dominant discourse (or
discursive repertoires) regarding race. </div>
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<br />
Frankenberg defines racial difference as social constructed and historically
located, which I see as related to the cycle of socialization (Harro, 2010).
We are socialized into ideologies by our families and institutions so we don’t
even recognize them; the ideologies are considered to be the norm. Whereas White people have often assumed that people
of color have a racial identity and that they are affected by racism, they have
largely been unaware of also being “racialized.” Frankenberg holds that “Whiteness” is also
socially constructed and has changed over time.
The very language that racializes the “other” (i.e. Native Americans,
Hispanic, blacks and Asians) also defines <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whiteness.</i> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Through critical discourse analysis,
Frankenberg found that the White women in her study adopted one predominant
discourse, a power- and color-evasive language (similar to Bonilla-Silva’s
“color-blind racism”). In other words, the women avoided or talked around issues of race, privilege, power and inequality. However,
Frankenberg notes that for most of the history of the U.S. the concept of race
has been defined in terms of biological difference or genetics. This “essentialist racism” maintained that
different phenotypical "races" were essentially different
and hierarchical. Therefore, the power-
and color evasive discourse was marked by undercurrents of this essentialist
racism. Some of the women had escaped the cycle of socialization; they realized that racism did affect their loved
ones and themselves and decided to move in an antiracist direction. Frankenberg marked this as a “race cognizant”
discourse. Again, the power- and
color-evasive discourse sometimes still subverted race cognizance in these
women’s narratives, displaying the power of this hegemonic discourse.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Haviland's (2008) study
also involves discourse analysis in an all-White setting. Her results parallels and corroborates with
the works of Frankenberg (1993) and
Bonilla-Silva (2002, 2003).
Her particular niche is examining <i>interactional</i> White discourse in a
setting that was intended to actually combat racism. She found that
"White educational discourse" prevented pre-service teachers in a
multicuturalism seminar from moving beyond their racist perceptions. Even
the instructors of the seminar seemed unable to escape this discourse.
Semantic moves such as avoiding certain words, false starts, claiming
uncertainty, and silence enabled participants to never confront each other
about racially biased attitudes. This discourse carried over into the
classroom where a seminar participant was a student teacher. She was
unsuccessful in combating racism in the elementary school classroom because of
her lack of awareness of the White educational discourse. <br />
<br />
The implications of this study are important for teacher educators, university
supervisors, and cooperating educators, but also for other activists who wish to help White people
overcome racist ideologies. Haviland suggests actually using the "White
educational discourse" against itself. By staying within the norms
of the students' culture, but still confronting racist perceptions, she hopes
that they might be more open to changing racist perceptions. Haviland's (2008) study, along with Frankenberg's
(1993) and Bonilla-Silva's (2003) studies, are indispensable for researchers
who wish to conduct qualitative research with regard to racism in all-White
settings. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
References </div>
<ol>
<li>Bailey, A. (2004). Privilege: Expanding on Marilyn Frye’s
“Oppression.” In L. M. Heldke & P. O’Connor (Eds.), <i>Oppression,
privilege, and resistance: Theoretical perspectives on racism, sexism, and
heterosexism</i> (pp. 301–316). Boston: McGraw-Hill.</li>
<li>Bonilla-Silva, E. (2002). The linguistics of color blind racism: How
to talk nasty about blacks without sounding “racist.” <i>Critical Sociology
(Brill Academic Publishers)</i>, <i>28</i>(1/2), 41.</li>
<li>Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). <i>Racism without racists: Color-blind
racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States</i>.
Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.</li>
<li>Frankenberg, R. (1993). <i>White women, race matters: The social
construction of whiteness</i>. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.</li>
<li>Frye, M. (1983). <i>The politics of reality: Essays in feminist theory</i>.
Crossing Press feminist series. Trumansburg, N.Y: Crossing Press.</li>
<li>Harro, B. (2010). The cycle of socialization. In M. Adams, W. J.
Blumenfeld, & H. W. Hackman (Eds.), <i>Readings for diversity and social
justice</i> (2nd ed., pp. 45–51). New York: Routledge.</li>
<li>Haviland, V. (2008). “Things get glossed over”: Rearticulating the
silencing power of whiteness in education. <i>Journal of Teacher Education</i>,
<i>59</i>(1), 40–54. doi:10.1177/0022487107310751</li>
<li>McIntosh, P. (1990). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible
knapsack. <i>Independent School</i>, <i>49</i>, 31.</li>
</ol>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-88363211545925662372012-06-21T11:24:00.000-07:002013-01-13T08:13:21.694-08:00Interracial Marriage<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My
husband and I finally made to Shakespeare in the Park to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Othello</i> last week. This was a tradition for us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> we were dating, but since child
#1 and #2 came, we hadn’t been in a few years.
For those of you, like me, who
haven’t thought about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Othello </i>since
high school (and I think we didn’t read the whole thing then, but watched the
movie instead)…</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Othello</i> is one of
Shakespeare’s tragedies, with possibly the worst villain in English
literature—Iago. Unfortunately, Iago is
Othello's best friend. Othello is one of
Shakespeare’s few <span style="font-size: small;">B</span>lack or “dark” principal characters. There seems to be some debate as to whether
Othello was truly Black in the modern sense of the term; nonetheless, it is
clear that Othello is perceived as racially “other” in the play. Othello marries Desdemona, who is described
as White, which enrages Desdemona’s father.
Prior to this, Othello had been in good favor with Desdemona’s father as
a Moorish prince and military officer. Through
a series of machinations, Iago manages to incense Othello by inventing a story
of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. He plays
on the idea that she will ultimately wish to be with someone who looks like
her. Othello ultimately kills his wife,
and then kills himself when he finds out Iago has deceived him. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This
plot is supremely depressing, however, I don’t remember being as disturbed by
the story as a high school student as I was this past week. As I
watched, I was horrified by the racial slurs, sexual innuendo, sexism and
misogyny. I looked around at the crowd and wondered what
they were thinking about these atrocities taking place on stage. As in previous years, I was aware that the
majority of the crowd was White. I think
I noticed more Black people this time, but I’m not sure if that was because I was looking
for them or if there were in fact more Black people present. I wondered if it was also hard to watch for
the Black folks. I wondered if the White
people were thinking, “Gee, I’m glad we don’t live in that time period. See how far we have come?” All I kept thinking was, “Nothing has
changed.” </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let
me repeat that. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing</i> has changed. There
are still White parents who refuse to attend their daughter’s wedding because
she married a Black man. There are still White families who treat interracial couples poorly. And conversely, there are Black men who won’t
date a White woman because of the Black family’s negative feelings about this
type of union, although admittedly this bias might be more defensible in light of our history. However, it all ends up adding up to the same thing--attitudes <i>against </i>interracial marriage. And these are only examples
from people I know. If you don’t want to
take my word for it, there are also studies that have been done that document
white people’s attitudes towards interracial marriages (Bonilla-Silva,
2002, 2003; Frankenberg, 1993).
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
focus on White people’s attitudes because the social construct of “Whiteness”
has historically shaped the dominant discourse about "race' and racial difference
in the U.S. In other words, “Whiteness”
is the concept by which all racial difference is measured and defined. Laws made by White people and based on “Whiteness,”
and backed by Christianity, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">forbid</i></b> interracial marriages (i.e. White marriage with black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American) until 1967 in
the U.S. The issue was and is also not
limited to Black/White, however, there is evidence that White people’s
attitudes towards people of color exist on a spectrum (i.e. Asian people are
considered to be closest to White, while Black people are considered to be the
most different, with everyone else falling somewhere in the middle). White people had the power to enforce these norms on everyone else.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One argument against interracial marriages has been that the interracial couple
will struggle because of cultural differences.
The second argument, and perhaps more prevalent, has typically been the kingpin:
“The children will suffer.” These
arguments are based on an understanding of White people as essentially different
(either culturally and/or biologically) from Black people. Second, the argument about the children acknowledges
that racism still exists in society (i.e. the children will be treated
differently because of their racial identity), but puts the onus on the
interracial couple, not the society at large.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Even
when White people spoke in favor of interracial marriage in the studies I mentioned, it was mostly in
ambivalent tones. In other words, while
there are stron<span style="font-size: small;">g arguments <i>against </i>interracial
marriage, there has been a dearth of arguments <i>for </i>interracial m<span style="font-family: inherit;">arriages. I recently had an e-mail conversation with a
friend who pointed out the number of interracial marriages or unions in the
Bible. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">(While I realize that the modern concept of race
based on phenotype is unique, I maintain that the concept of the “other” based
on ethnic origin resulted in systemic and institutional hierarchy and discrimination
from which we can draw many parallels.) </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> I quote my friend’s
list below: </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Judah and Tamar: scholars believe that Tamar is probably Canaanite
(Judah had already married a Canaanite wife Gen. 38:2); Tamar is “more
righteous” than Judah (his own words in Gen. 38:26).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Joseph and Asenath (daughter of Potiphera-priest of On) Gen.
41:45. Joseph and Asenath have two children—Manasseh and Ephraim (Gen.
41:51-52) who are adopted by Joseph’s father Jacob (Gen. 48:5) to become part
of the 12 tribes!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Moses (Jewish/adopted by Egyptians) and Zipporah (daughter of
Reuel/Jethro/priest of Midian) Ex. 2:15-22; Ex. 18 “Guess who’s coming to
Dinner?”; Family “dynamics” of inter-racial marriage Num 12:1-3,9-13. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Salmon and Rahab (Canaanite in Jericho) Josh. 2; “she lives among
the Israelites to this day” Josh. 6:25; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25 “considered
righteous”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Boaz and Ruth (Moabite) Ruth 1:4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">6.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">David and Bathsheba (debated if Bathsheba was Israelite or not)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">7.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Timothy’s parents (Acts 16:1,3) “a disciple named Timothy lived,
whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Christianity clearly has no basis for an argument <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">against </i>interracial
marriages. If anything, this would be a
strong argument <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for </i>interracial
marriages, if nothing else because many of the couples listed above are included in
the lineage of Jesus. I believe that it
is time we not only recognize that interracial marriages are not a problem, but
that they are an advantage and a blessing.
The problem has always been the racist ideology that still prevails in society. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
References</div>
<ol>
<li>Bonilla-Silva, E. (2002). The linguistics of color blind racism: How
to talk nasty about blacks without sounding “racist.” <i>Critical Sociology
(Brill Academic Publishers)</i>, <i>28</i>(1/2), 41.</li>
<li>Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). <i>Racism
without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in
the United States</i>. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.</li>
<li>Frankenberg, R. (1993). <i>White women,
race matters: The social construction of whiteness</i>. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press.</li>
</ol>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-42295679499675125802012-06-06T17:53:00.002-07:002013-03-27T21:21:45.073-07:00Social interaction and the construction of racial stereotypesRacial stereotypes
constitute more than just racial epithets and individual prejudice. Prior assumptions about people based on their
appearance, accents, possessions, or other racial markers are incorporated and
institutionalized into every arena of society.
Again, life outcomes can be determined not by an individual peoples’
performance, but by how their actions are perceived by society and the response
that this perception precipitates.<br />
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<br /></div>
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Perhaps there is no group that is as affected by this in the U.S. as
African American males. With higher
rates of high school dropouts, incarceration, and lower life expectancy, black
males have been stereotyped as criminals, dangerous, hypersexual, and even an
endangered species (Ferguson, 2000). My
friends who teach in schools with black children tell me that teachers often
can predict at a very early age which students will end up in jail. I have had well-intentioned friends explain
to me that the problem is the black culture, explained in terms of the matriarchy,
deadbeat/absent fathers, teen pregnancy, low value placed on education, no
support in the home, together with problematic family situations involving
violence, drugs, alcohol, and an overwhelming poverty/welfare mentality. With obstacles like these, my friends reason,
it’s no wonder these boys are running the streets by 4<sup>th</sup> grade. How
could they ever learn how to make choices like a man when they don’t have any
good role models? This explanation is
deceptively appealing in that it is overly simplistic and belies the crippling
effect of systemic, institutional racism on the victims of racial stereotypes.</div>
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As Ferguson (2000) explains, her critical incident occurred when she walked in as a volunteer to
after-school tutoring and recreation program for “at-risk” students and
realized that the students in the program were predominantly African American males (in a school with
approximately 50% black students). This
realization was accompanied by the growing awareness that the teachers and
staff seemed to take for granted the demographics of the “at-risk”
students. This launched her into a
three-year, in-depth qualitative study that encompassed not only the elementary
school environment, but the homes of several boys whom she came to know. She spent most of her time in the school
observing the comings and goings of a room she came to call the “Punishing
Room.” Through vignettes, powerful
narrative, interwoven with critical analysis, Ferguson shows that the black
boys she tracked were pegged as “troublemakers” before they walked in the door. Whether the boys ended up in the
“troublemaker” or “schoolboy” group involved a complicated series of choices
that were not so clearly right or wrong.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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While the boys did have
experience with poverty and hard knocks, Ferguson found that the families did
not fit into the stereotype of the drug-infested and violent home life. Instead, the patterns of inequitable
punishment and injustice enacted in school were echoed in the families’ interactions
in society with far-reaching consequences.
In this context, the choices of the boys actually seemed rather limited:
maintain a sense of self-worth through resistance or conform to systematic injustice, bullying
from teachers, and racial discrimination.
In contrast to the “troublemakers,” the “schoolboys” often made the
choice to do what was expected of them at the cost of an internalized
self-loathing. In order to succeed in
school, there is external pressure to “act white” and suppress the black part
of self, which is seen as problematic and deficient. For understanding these
dynamics, Bourdieu’s theories of a superior “cultural capital” and “symbolic
violence,” as well as Foucault’s theory of disciplinary power are useful. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Two other studies emphasize
the harmful effects of racial stereotypes as they are constructed and
reinforced through social interactions in school. Negative stereotypes like those described by
Rolón-Dow (2004)
in her study of Puerto Rican adolescent girls result in frustration and apathy
on the part of teachers. Because the
teachers perceived the girls as having competing interests (i.e. boys) that
precluding being good students, they were more likely to shift blame onto the
girls for academic failure. On the other
hand, it is important to recognize that even a seemingly positive stereotype is
not benign. Lee (1994)
studied the impact of the “model-minority” stereotype on different groups of
Asian students. While stereotypes are
sometimes minimized (i.e. humans need to make generalizations in order to
understand the world), they carry power to perpetuate prejudice and
discrimination. The “model-minority” is
not only harmful to other racial groups, but also to Asian people who are
treated differently because of a perceived racial difference. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Ferguson (2000),
Rolón-Dow (2004),
and Lee (1994)
would argue against a predisposition of certain groups to succeed or fail based
on their culture. Instead, the research
indicates that institutions serve as sites for social reproduction of hierarchy
and stratification that continue to benefit people with white skin. <br />
<br />
At one point in our conversations, my husband
argued, “You can’t just blame the institutions.” I asked him, “Why is it important for you to
not blame the institutions?” As he
thought about the question, I realized the implications of these studies. If
the institution is to blame, and not the individual student, then hard work and
“merit” don’t come into play.
Conversely, my success or my husband’s positive experiences in school
and society are not a result of a “Puritan work ethic,” pulling up the
proverbial boot straps, exceeding talent or intellect, but instead the
possession of the correct cultural capital and the right skin color to receive
preferential treatment in our social interactions. This is huge disturbance to the personal
narrative that we tell ourselves about our own experiences. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
References</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Ferguson, A. A. (2000). <i>Bad boys: Public schools in the making of
black masculinity</i>. Law, meaning, and violence. Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press.</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Lee, S. J. (1994). Behind the
model-minority stereotype: Voices of high- and low-achieving Asian American
students. <i>Anthropology & Education Quarterly</i>, <i>25</i>, 413–429. </div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br />
Rolón-Dow, R. (2004). Seduced by images:
Identity and schooling in the lives of Puerto Rican girls. <i>Anthropology
& Education Quarterly</i>, <i>35</i>(1), 8–29. </div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-37263073991012087342012-06-06T17:19:00.001-07:002013-03-27T21:23:56.382-07:00The construction of racial difference through social interaction<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together;">
In the U.S., there is a
widespread belief that those who work hard will be rewarded with success. This faith in “meritocracy” will also lead us
to the conclusion that those who do not succeed did not try hard enough. Many have made the claim that education can be
the “great equalizer” where all children are given an equal chance to be
anything they want to be. However, the
reality is that certain groups of children (i.e. poor, Black, Hispanic, American
Indian, etc.) are not succeeding at the same rate as other groups (i.e. middle to upper-class, Whites, some
groups of Asians) in school.<br />
<br />
In an effort to
explain this phenomenon, some have proposed the idea certain cultures place
more emphasis on hard work, education, or economic status than others. However, this conclusion has been
consistently refuted in recent research.
A more convincing argument, and one that bears out in numerous
qualitative studies, is that of “social capital,” a concept that Pierre
Bourdieu has used to describe the resources (i.e. finances, social networks,
cultural knowledge, and status) that children bring with them to school. From this framework, children enter school
with varying amounts of the social capital necessary to succeed in school, and
therefore end up with very different experiences and outcomes unless there is
significant effort to mitigate these inequities. Lewis (2001, 2003) examines how schools reproduce existing social hierarchies
and reinforce the construct of racial difference. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Amanda Lewis spent a year in
three different elementary schools in California: Foresthills, West City and
Metro2. Foresthills is a mostly white,
middle-class suburban school, while West City and Metro2 are both located in
the city. West City is described a
neighborhood school with mostly black and Hispanic students, but with
predominantly white teachers and administrators. Metro2 is a language immersion school that
mostly “non-white” in terms of the student population, as well as teachers and
administrators. The through-line of the
narrative is the understanding of racial differences that is implicit in
interactions in each school. Although
the schools are seemingly different, they each serve a foil to the others by
revealing commonalities in the way people give meaning to the concept of
race. For the students at West City and
Metro2, this has implications for their success or failure in school. At Foresthills, constructions of racial
differences serve to perpetuate a segregated white community that is left with
unexamined and unchallenged assumptions and biases. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I found myself most riveted by the description
of Foresthills. I could see so many
parallels to my own experience in a predominantly white school. Current statistics from my elementary school
indicate that it is much the same as it was over 20 years ago: 89% white, 17%
free/reduced lunch (“Glen Carbon Elem School,” 2010). My high school shows similar demographics,
with the exception that there are over 2,000 students instead of only 400 (“Edwardsville High School,” 2010). I never realized that I went to a “white”
school. The concept of race was muted in
my world, except for racial lines that clearly delineated what neighborhoods in
which we would not live and the kinds of people with whom we did not associate.
Sometime after college, I discovered the
book “Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” I actually
wondered how Dr. Tatum (2003)
knew about my high school. It was the
question that was always somewhere in my mind, but I had never asked. I was amazed to find that other people had
asked similar questions and was intrigued to find out the answer. I found that there was no simple answer, but that
the topic was so much more complex than I had ever imagined. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Lewis’ (2001)
radical assertion is that White middle- to upper-class schools need a critical
multicultural curriculum, not only for the small percentage of students of
color in these schools. This
multicultural education must go beyond a cursory treatment of “ethnic” history
and culture, such as confining black history to one month and hosting Cinco de
Mayo celebrations. White students need
to understand and unpack “white privilege,” as well as the segregated nature of
their schools, neighborhoods, churches, and social groups. Without this type of education, white schools
only serve to perpetuate a “color-blind” ideology that fails to challenge
institutional racism and social stratification. In turn, these students go one to be the
teachers of the next generation. In the
case of West City, it became evident that white, black or Latino teachers with
unexamined and unchallenged constructs of racial can actually act in ways that
harm the students they desire to help.
Differential treatment of black and Hispanic students played out in
daily interactions, enacting chain reactions with damaging results. Metro2 served as a school where teachers and
staff attempted to directly address race, but even this school was not immune
to the insidious assumptions about racial differences. It became evident that on-going, critical
multicultural professional development is also needed for teachers if the cycle
is to be broken. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
References</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Edwardsville High School. (2010).<i>National Center for Education
Statistics</i>. Retrieved June 4, 2012, from
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Glen Carbon Elem School. (2010).<i>National
Center for Education Statistics</i>. Retrieved June 4, 2012, from
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Lewis, A. E. (2001). There is no “race”
in the schoolyard: Color-blind ideology in an (almost) all-white school. <i>American
Educational Research Journal</i>, <i>38</i>(4), 781–811. </div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Lewis, A. E. (2003). <i>Race in the
schoolyard: Negotiating the color line in classrooms and communities</i>.
Rutgers series in childhood studies. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University
Press.</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Tatum, B. D. (2003). <i>“Why are all the
Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”: And other conversations about
race</i>. New York, NY: Basic Books.</div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3536244257945197497.post-84269722521758790162012-06-06T17:04:00.001-07:002013-03-27T21:24:27.247-07:00Introduction to Race<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It should not come as a surprise to me that race is not a biological
reality. It makes sense from what I know
about biology that humans are all part of the same species. There are no humanoid sub-species—those only
exist in science fiction. Having said
that, I found myself amazed at the idea that race has no genetic basis as I
watched a PBS series called “Race: The Power of an Illusion” (Herbes-Sommers, Strain, & Smith, 2003). Geneticists compared human DNA and found just
as many variations between two people from the same race as between two people
with different skin color and facial features.
In other words, race is only skin deep.
All human DNA examined up until now contains all the same components
with only variations on the same theme: blue or brown eyes, straight or curly
hair, long or short legs, a tongue that does or does not curl, etc. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So what is race? How have we
arrived at the concept of different group of people who are divided by the way
that they look instead of language and/or a shared culture? Why is it that a person of Chinese descent,
who speaks English and eats pizza on a regular basis, should select “Asian” on the
U.S. census survey? Or that someone
living the U.S. who has dark skin and is not Hispanic or Asian will be referred
to as “black” whether they have “white” ancestry or not? Why is “whiteness” viewed as a monolithic
racial category when the concept has changed over time (e.g. Irish immigrants
in the 1900s were not considered white)?
</div>
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<br /></div>
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If race is not “real,” then why are there a multitude of euphemisms we
to talk about other groups of people?
For example, in St. Louis the mention of geographic locations calls to
mind specific racialized contexts. If
someone mentions “South County” it is usually in reference to a specific group
of people, namely middle-class white people.
Conversely, the mention “Jefferson County” is often the punch line to
some comment about impoverished white people.
A reference to “the city” or “North County” generally translates to “the
area where black people live,” and more often than not signals recognition of
some level of poverty. Similarly, the
words “urban,” “inner city,” “diverse” and “multicultural” indicate the
presence of people of color. On the
other hand, why is it that obviously racialized comments (e.g. white church,
black neighborhood) elicit such perplexing responses accompanied with intense
feelings? </div>
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<br /></div>
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“It’s
not so much race as it is culture.” “Why
can’t we just be ‘race neutral’?” “I
prefer to be ‘color-blind.’” “I’m not
racist—I have black/Asian/Hispanic friends.”
“The U.S. isn’t the only country that has race problems, you know.” “Hey, black people can be racist, too.” “White people just don’t get it.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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Are we living in a “post-racial” society? Does race matter? And if so, how does it matter? One does not have to look very hard to find reports
of disparity with regards to race. For
example, the Washington Post recently reported that white people earned more
than three-fourths of the total income in the U.S. (Morello, 2012). The
article cites higher levels of education for non-Hispanic whites and Asians as
one of the primary reason for this inequity. Another example, and the topic of my friend’s
dissertation, is that black women are more likely to die from breast cancer
than white women in the U.S. (Pittman, 2012). It seems
that while race does not exist as a biological reality, it can make a
difference in terms of life outcomes, academic and economic achievement, as
well as health and well-being. Why is
this so? Does culture contribute to these inequalities? What about the role of education? The following series of blogs will examine the
social construction of race, racial inequality in urban education, white privilege, and
racism. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
References</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Herbes-Sommers, C., Strain, T. H., & Smith, L. (2003). Race: The
power of an illusion [Television Series]. San Francisco, CA: California
Newsreel & Independent Television Service.</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Morello, C. (2012, May 31). Whites earn
more than three-fourths of the nation’s income. <i>The Washington Post</i>.
Retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/whites-earn-more-than-34-of-the-nations-income/2012/05/31/gJQA1rrk4U_story.html</div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography">
Pittman, G. (2012, March 21). Black women
more likely to die of breast cancer. <i>Reuters</i>. New York. Retrieved from
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/21/us-black-women-breast-cancer-idUSBRE82K1CZ20120321</div>
Luluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451348036923164960noreply@blogger.com0