EDU Prosetry

When I was in the second grade I remember being placed in the group known as the Blue Birds. The Blue Birds group was the reading group comprised of the students who were a little behind in their reading. We read thinner books with words that all the students in the Red Bird group knew. I remember being embarrassed during reading time because all of my friends were part of the Red Bird group and I was not. It was at that point I begin to think that I was not as smart as my friends.

Throughout my grade 2-12 years, and still today, I judged my success in comparison to that Red Bird group. I was determined to not remain in the group with all the blue birds. My best friend, Nikki, was a member of the Red Bird group. She does not know this, in fact only recently did I become aware of it, but I have always tried to stay one step ahead of her because I did not want to fall back behind.

Tracking, for the most part is detrimental to students. Had I not developed the desire within myself to excel, I question if I would have become the first person in my family to obtain a college degree. I understand that there needs to be a time set aside to assist students who may be struggling to catch up, but I wonder how this can occur without sacrificing the self esteem of students along the way.

In order to understand how we will deal with social justice issues in or classroom we must first understand how we feel about these issues first. It is important to understand the root of our own biases and how they affect the way we view the world. Here I have attached a link from tolerance.org website to a series of test developed to help individuals uncover some of their own hidden biases. I challenge all to take a couple of the tests as a tool to help aid in the understanding of self.

http://www.tolerance.org/hidden_bias/index.html

Often we fail to see how we are alike when we encounter those who are different. Instead of trying to figure out what similarities exist between those who are not like us we naturally jump to what makes them different. In discovering this difference we tend to look at it as abnormal or wrong. “They do this backwards,” “They seem to be primitive,” “They do not so these things the way we do them,” etc.

As educators, we will have to fight the urge to label students who are not like us as uneducated, bad students. We have to realize that each student brings into the classroom riches to be shared with those around us. It is like having your own talking passport to another culture. We must make an effort to show them, the “other,” that they are valuable and that we want them to share that worth with the class and the world around them. However, it is also important for us to know that as we encourage the students to value their culture, we must make it understandable that the dominant culture’s customs, language, and way of life is just as important to know.

What does it mean to be poor in America? Or more importantly what does it mean to be poor in the United States?

When one thinks of poverty there are images that immediately pop into one’s head. These are the people who are uneducated, crime consumed, lazy, dirty, deviants of society. The poor are all the things one aspires not to become. No one wakes up in the morning and says… “Today I want to become a poor man.” However, we live in a society where it’s principles of meritocracy say that this is the case. People are poor because they choose to be poor.

Today in class a question was posed asking who considered themselves poor. Several hands lifted, myself included, to show that at the present moment he or she considered themselves to be poor. But are we really?

Just like the different classes within one particular ethnic group based on skin complexion (light skinned Black people are treated better than dark skinned Black people) there are different classes among the poor. There are those who have it rougher than others based on the severity of their poverty.

According to the statistics on wealth in the United States, nearly 1% of the nation’s people control almost 50% of the nation’s wealth. This means that 99% of the people in the United States are left to survive on half of the nation’s wealth. In analyzing these facts it may be safe to assume that most people in United States are poor; more importantly is the statement that more people in the United States are poor and they don’t realize it. And according to the idea of meritocracy in the US these people are choosing to be there.

I remember when I was younger I often wondered why is it that all the slaves did not band together and take over the all White people and make them slaves. I thought as a child that this would better society because instead of the Black people being mistreated it would be the White people. However in doing so the same systemic problems that resulted from the enslavement of Africans would result only with a fair skinned victim. They would be the one’s needing a Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and civil rights movement.

Just as a child I find myself wondering why the 99% of people are not banding together to take over the wealth of the United States. In pondering this I struggle with the question of what type of difference would that make and would those differences all be positive?

by zondra

What would happen if all political correctness, taboo, and any other restrictions that govern public, professional conversation were dropped? What if there was a way to lay plainly out on a piece of white paper all the things that are said in the protection of private conversation for all those members of the “other” to see? How would an individual react once he or she is faced with the unspoken realities of the world?

Today in class we began to uncover the answers to this very question. It all started with two articles: “The Threat of Stereotype” by Joshua Aronson and “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” Peggy McIntosh. These two articles bring to the forefront some very real issues that affect society and will have an impact on the students we “wanna be’s” will soon teach.

While in class we did an interesting exercise on stereotypes. Placed around the classroom were a series of white pieces of paper each containing a different group of people, i.e. Gays, black women, Christians, etc. Each person was given a marker and then asked to silently go around to each group and write down a stereotype associated with each group. I think it is important to note the fact that part of the directions for this exercise was to do this silently. This I believe has extreme significance.

Later on in the day we did a very powerful exercise that kind of graphed out the effects of white privilege. Dr. Williams asked a series of questions pertaining to advantages and disadvantages in society and to respond to the question one would either step forward or backward. It was here that the class was able to see the affects that race and economical status have on the quality of one’s life in America. Again, with the exception of the questions being read, this exercise was done silently.

It is often in the quietness of actions that these stereotypes and privileges are fully manifested. It is rare that one hears “oh it is because you are black/poor/female/white/gay/Christian/etc that this happen.” These things are not normally up for open conversation. When one does try to bring this conversation up the labels of being stuck in the past, disgruntled, or some other term that implies unjustified discontent is used.

The conversation started today about stereotypes and privilege is one that needs to continue within our daily lives and interactions with our community and with ourselves. Until these topics are snatched from the quietness and brought to the lime light we as a people, a race of human beings cannot and will not progress.