Blog Post #7

Between Barack and a Hard Place: Challenging Racism, Privilege, and Denial
By Tim Wise

REFLECTION

When I started this video, I honestly was not looking forward to watching the hour and forty minute long video at all.  However, once I started watching and speaker Tim Wise began his discussion/ lecture, I was thoroughly intrigued with what he had to say.  The way he presented his thoughts and opinions was entertaining as well as thought provoking.

In his lecture, he talks about how white people are so quick to judge and stereotype those who are not white, even before they know anything about them.  Tim told a story about his experience traveling on an airplane, and seeing that the two pilots were African American.  His immediate thoughts, even he an anti-racism activist, had the thought "I hope everything goes smoothly".  These are the types of unintentional racism that many people experience.  If asked if you are racist, odds are people are not going to admit that they are, or often don't think that they are.  However, it is experiences and thoughts like this that make us realize that most, if not all, of us have at some point or another in our lives had racist, stereotypical thoughts about one race or another.  We have become so accustomed to this way of thinking that we do not think about what it is we are actually being, and that is racist.

This video really connected in my mind to the privilege and power reading we discussed in class.  Tim's experience on the plane alone, is an exact example of this.  Had those two pilots been white, Tim would not have thought twice of the safety of the plane and the success of the trip.  These pilots would have the privilege of being white to stabilize the ideas of others.  The two African American pilot's although they might as well have been just as skilled and qualified, if not more so, than two white pilot's but because of the color of their skin they immediately get questioned and stereotyped.


Points to bring up in class:
Although a lot of us may not have realized it at the time, could there have been instances in the past week, month, 3 months where we had a racist or stereotypical thought.  Why do you think when nothing is said about being racist by an individual, it is automatically perceived by others as if they are racist?

Blog Post #6

"In Service of What"
by Kahne and Westheimer

REFLECTION

Reading this article really made me think about my experience with community service.  When I was younger and participated in CCD we were required to perform a certain amount of community service hours in order to make our confirmation.  To be completely truthful I did not enjoy any of the services I participated in, and sometimes even looked to try and find someone to sign off on my hours for me without doing any service.  I think a lot of the kids my age felt the same way, and in fact did the same thing.  At the time I did not see it as an opportunity for me to learn about someone or something else, but as a burden or requirement that I had to fulfill.

Similarly in order to graduate from my high school we also had to perform 30 hours of community service.  These hours could be over the course of all four years.  My freshman year I had the same attitude about community service that I did when I was trying to make my confirmation... " This is annoying", "why do I have to do this", etc.

It was not until my sophomore year of high school when, ironically, I participated in my church's mission trip group.  That April I traveled with 14 other students and adults to Nicaragua to help serve the Mustard Seed Community.  This was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had with community service.  We stayed for one week in the Mustard Seed Community, which took in disabled orphans, ranging in age from infants to 23 years of age.  Each individual had a different story of how they ended up in the Mustard Seed Community varying from being dropped off by adults, found on the streets, and even in one case being chained to a pole on the side of the road and left there.  For the full week we were there, we worked everyday from 7am until about 5pm to help build the community a chapel and dig a trench for proper plumbing.  This was some of the most vigorous work I had ever done, in some of the most hot days.  After completing our physical work for the day we then would take time to play with the children for about an hour.  The excitement the children had for this one hour a day to be played with, loved, receive attention was amazing.  The children were so happy from the smallest things.  I learned so much from not just the trip itself and the country itself, but those children especially.  They showed me you can be happy without material things. They taught me that all we really need in life is love and affection.  And lastly they taught me to truly appreciate everything I have, like running, hot water.  The entire week we were there we had no source of running or hot water.  We were each allowed one bucket of water to bathe ourselves in each day.  The very first day, when we found out we would have to take cold "bucket showers" I never would have thought I could have done it.  But by the very last day, it was like we had all forgotten what a real shower was.  We became so accustomed to living this way that realized we didn't need a full functioning shower to actually survive.

This experience taught me so much about not only the people in that country and community, but about myself.  I truly wish I could go back a second, third, or fourth time and have the same type of experience.  This experience showed me how a meaningful community service project can affect a person.  I think the problem that high school students are faced with when it comes to community service is that they see it as something they have to do, not something they want to do.  No one forced me to sign up for the mission trip, I just voluntarily signed up.  Students would benefit more from one meaningful community service event that they truly want to partake in rather than 30 hours of monotonous services that they have no interest in.  I think that is one of the major issues that is linked to community service being a requirement for high schools and incorporating it into the education system.  If the service is truly a meaningful one, then the students learn can learn so much.  However, if the service means nothing to the student, they may graduate high school but they will not have grown as a person.  And isn't that what teachers and educators look to achieve for their students?

This is one of the many homes that people live in within the local dump

This is a little girl named Lola, who I absolutely fell in love with

The building in the back is the house where we (the missionaries) stayed. In front is the Chapel we were helping them to build.  

Blog Post #5

Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us
Linda Christensen

EXTENDED COMMENTS
Response to Vicky's Blog

In her blog, Vicky, discusses how stereotypes are often thought of as television commercials and magazine photos.  After reading this article she was able to realize that she, like many others of us, was affected much earlier than before she was able to read magazines and pay attention to commercials.  Saturday morning cartoons and other "child-friendly" shows were imbedding the idea of common stereotypes.  I think she is very right about how stereotypes are imbedded in our minds at such a young age.  Most often parents try to screen their children from the common stereotypes, but fail to screen the cartoons and television shows they are exposed to.  Children are more likely to be influenced and form the basis for their thought processes from these types of shows and the images that are portrayed through them.

Vicky then discusses how our knowledge comes directly from the myths we learn as children.  This knowledge "binds" us as it becomes all the we know, and as a result in order to change this we have to "unlearn" these stereotypes.  What I found interesting about this is that we so easily "learned" this false information and these myths instead of what is the truth and realistic.  It really should be the other way around.  You would think it should be easy for us to learn the true and realistic ideas but because of television shows, magazines, and other forms of media we are conditioned for the opposite.

I found Vicky's comment for class to be very thought-provoking.  She discusses how her parents never worried about her being influenced by televisions shows because she was taught the difference between right and wrong and how to be herself.  She then goes on to say that if parents took the time to explain to their children the difference between fantasy and the truth Disney movies and cartoons would not be so "dangerous" to children.  This is a great point and idea to be considered.  Parents have a huge influence on their children and the way in which they perceive the images they are seeing.  Children can be taught to understand the difference between fictional ideas and real life experiences.


One thing I really liked from reading this article aside from the thoughts it provoked and ideas it brought up that I had never considered, was the project the teacher had her students complete.  The project was set in place to make an impact on the community or others.  In the reading it states that discussing it in class really is not provoking change.  In order to create change, these ideas and class discussions have to be put further than within the walls of the classroom.  I would be interested to know the reactions of those who received the pamphlets made by students and handed out at the PTA meetings.

Blog Post #4

Speaking the Unspeakable in Forbidden Places
Allan, Atkinson, Brace, DePalma, Hemingway

CONNECTIONS

One part of this piece that really stuck out to me was the few times the authors mentioned "protecting the students' innocence".  They were referring to the discussion and lack of discussion about sexuality within a classroom.  When I read this I was immediately able to make a connection to Why Can't She Remember That written by Terry Meier.  In this situation a young student turns to another adult in the room and asks why the teacher is unable to remember the answer to a question that she has asked several times before.  This, I thought, is a great example of how student's even at the younger levels are not as innocent as we may believe them to be.  Students understand, observe, and know a lot more than most people think and give them credit for... especially teachers.  Whether it is at the grocery store, on television shows, in a movie, or whatever else children and students, even those in preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade and so on, are exposed to both heterosexual and homosexual interactions and relationships.  Often times, if it is not something they are used to seeing (for example if they do not have family members or family friends who are LGBT) they are curious about it, and want to talk about it.  Young children are curious by nature, and asking questions is something they often do.  Sometimes the questions they ask (such as those referring to LGBT) get defused or ignored by adults, and many times that is because it is assumed they will not be able to understand the answers or "are too young to talk about it".

I also saw a big connection with this piece and The Silenced Dialogue by Lisa Delpit.  In this piece it mentioned LGBT teachers refrain from discussing their sexuality within the school setting. And why is that?  The authors mention that the possibility of losing credibility, privacy, and even sometimes the loss of their jobs.  As a result they don't speak of it at all, and these can negatively affect those students who might have benefitted from discussions such as these.  The school's have silenced many of these teachers and the topic itself in general in order to avoid bringing any attention (positive or negative) to the school and the topic.  This is a very difficult topic to address as individual families and parents have their own beliefs on such a sensitive topic however, the world we live in today makes discussions like these unavoidable.  I think that this is a topic that can no longer be silenced, whether you are for it or against it, it exists and it has become a part of most every day life.


In my high school I remember, I think it was my sophomore or junior year, there was a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club created as an after school club.  Many students at my high school, including myself, weren't really sure what to think of it.  My school never discussed the topic formally or within a specific class, but the topic did exist.  For those who joined the club this was a place for them to discuss their feelings and ideas in a comfortable space. Also while I was in high school I remember having a day each year where students could choose to participate in a "Day of Silence". This is not something just my school did but I believe it was a national event.  The purpose was to raise awareness for anti-LGBT bullying and harassment.
All teachers, at least in the classes I was in, respected the students choice (as those students who were participating wore a sticker to indicate they were silent for that day) and did not make an issue of the students choice. I could see however, how this could have caused issues between a teacher and student.

Blog Post #3

Richard Rodriguez
The Hunger of Memory

Connections

Midway through The Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez reflects on a memory of when three of his school nuns showed up at his home to discuss his classroom progress with his parents.  The nuns questioned whether he and his siblings only spoke Spanish while at home.  They questioned whether it was possible for them to try an encompass English while they are at home.  Reading this I immediately connected it to An Indian Father's Plea.  In both situations the school officials are insisting that the families change their practices in order to better fit in with school practices.  The parents of Richard Rodriguez believed this was the only way their children could receive a good education, and so they deserted their native language in order to be better accepted and understood in the school institution.  In this story, the parents are willing to give up a huge part of their culture and lives in order to succumb to the towns norms and culture.  It's hard to think that schools have the power and ability to influence families so much so that they are willing (and sometimes not so willing) to lose a part of themselves in order to receive an education.  In An  Indian Father's Plea however, the father and family were not willing to lose a part of them as easily.  They attempted to get the school to see how much their child has to offer to the school and not just the other way around.  Unfortunately, much like in An Indian Father's Plea, schools today always seem to point the finger at the families to see what it is the families can do to change their ways instead of the other way around.

Point to share:
I thought it was very interesting how in the beginning of his story, Richard Rodriguez had trouble being understood by those in his community when he tried to speak English.  He only knew very few words and when he was sent to the store around the block he spoke very little broken English.  By the end of his story, after being in school for two years he still had great difficulty speaking. However, now it was not English that he had trouble with, but Spanish! His native language, one which he was used to hearing almost every day in his home.  The language in which he felt at ease hearing was now one that he could barely articulate.  He struggled to speak with his grandmother when she came to visit.  The culture he was surrounded with and experienced everyday had now become his own.  His own father was seen as an outcast in his family because he could not speak the language which they all could not once speak.  It was amazing to me, how in such a short period of time the culture of a family could have been totally altered.
Rodriguez talks about the "public language" and how it is presumed to be English.  How can a country made up of immigrants, from all different nations, establish one, single public language?  I thought about how I would feel if me and my family were the minority.  How would my life and my educational experience have been different if I didn't know the language spoken by my teachers and peers?

The Power of Global Learning: Making the Foreign Familiar