In this chapter, Taylor provides an overview of race and ethnicity, how they affect a student's identity, and how educators can play an important role in embracing ethnicity as change agents.
As Dr. Cantu noted in his lecture, the United States Census Bureau now lists 15 separate racial categories. Fifteen! While these categories are probably needed for accuracy in the count as they relate to the varied immigrants residing in our country, I believe it is also indicative of today's politically correct society. Instead of denoting oneself as white, black, or Asian, we now have a multitude of choices.
Of course this is affecting our students in various ways -- in my experience in rural settings, the students would ask why African Americans include "African" in front of American. "Does that mean I have to say I'm American American?" they would ask. I attempted to explain that technically, they could say they were Irish American or Italian American, or any other category that described from which their ancestors came. The inevitable response? "I'm from Delavan. My parents are from Delavan. My grandparents are from Delavan. My great-grandparents are from Delavan. Why can't I just say American?"
Naturally, this would evolve into a lively debate about immigration, ancestry, and cultural heritage. If I were still in the classroom, I would pounce on this opportunity to engage the students even further by encouraging them to research their ancestry and use the social action theory to advance their knowledge by partnering with an urban school and comparing our findings via websites and blog posts. By doing this, I believe I would be following Cornel West's advice to end the truncation of race discussions ... and emphasize how we're all Americans now.
My question for the class: how can we as educators take off the color-coded prism through which we view our students?
I feel this question speaks to me and my experiences very well. Having student taught at Manual, taught mostly black students at Richwoods, and now having almost all white students at Pekin High, I have definitely seen both ends of the spectrum. When I was working with mostly black students, I never thought I had a color-coded prism on. After all, I am not racist nor prejudice, and I really like black people and they usually like me. So, how could I even consider that I had a color-coded prism on? Well, when I got to Pekin and was introduced to a classroom with nearly all white students, I realized I had. I had not been judgmental of my black students, but I had unknowingly viewed them in the context of black culture and society. I feel guilty in stating that I would envision some students in context of poverty or a broken home with only the mother present and perhaps drug use or many children to care of. Of course, I didn't know if this was the case, and while I never used it to judge them, I used this prism to try to understand them and their actions. Getting to Pekin, i realized that there is absolutely no value in a color-coded prism, as I have white kids whom i know are living in the context of poverty, coming from poverty, broken homes, single-parent homes, drugs, imprisoned parents, alcohol abuse, many children to take care of, etc. This led me to conclude that the characteristics of poverty are not black and are not white and are nothing in between. They are just as they are, characteristics of poverty. I realized that it is not only about poverty as well. It is about our condition as humans and the contributions we are able to make and are willing to make to society, to each other, and to our self. That is what must be targeted and I cannot be done unless the students are seen in the context for who they are and where they are really coming from.
ReplyDeleteKelly, loved your statement about no value in a color-coded prism. You're right -- the characteristics of poverty are not always just a case of race. Targeting those conditions and characteristics is the key, but sometimes the best way to start the discussion is via the student's culture and racial background. Thank you for your thoughtful comment!
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