(this post was supposed to post on October 21, Thursday... but it never went through. So here it is now...)
White privilige is something that I never thought about in great detail. The Peggy McIntish article states a lot of things that I take for granted, and probably don't want to give up! She says that whites are taught not to recognize white privilege. I guess that makes sense. I grew up in a predominantly white town, attended a mostly white school, and hung out with white friends. I never actually had to face the race issue until later in life. This isn't to say that I wasn't taught about it, however, I wasn't exposed to it in a physical sense. I've always been in classrooms comprised of white students...so how will I teach to those with different backgrounds than myself? Coming from a middle/upper class family, the values that I have and those that my students have will probably be different. Teaching here in NM is hugely different than my roots, and it will take a lot of thought, patience, emapthy, and overall understanding. A class I was in this past week had not one white child, which is completely different than any school I ever attended. These children come from families that aren't always two-parent families, they have learning problems, and don't receive a lot of help outside of the classroom. I want to help these children as best I can, but...what if their main goal in life is to quit school early to have a family or go to work? Their family values are likely much different than mine, so having cultural awareness is a necessity when teaching these children.
I'm not sure if white privilege will ever disappear. Racism/classism (or any "ism", I guess) has been around since humans came to live on this earth. It's practically a staple of our society, sadly. People define themselves as "white" or "black" or what have you. Yeah, lots of people want every one to be looked at as just HUMAN, but when and how will this change occur? It will take some sort of revolution to truly see change, and in my mind, there are too many selfish people in this world for that to happen.
Race is an interesting topic, something that will always exist and have an impact of the way people fit into society. When you start teaching you may feel a little culture shock depending on the school you will work at. You have to put the color aside (but not forget it) and teach each student as an indiviaul person. I think you can use your culutre as a positive aspect in your teaching, the children and families may look up to you for guidance. Do not hide who you are or where you come from, help children to become motivated to work hard and possibly to reach a middle to upper class status. Anything is possible :)
ReplyDeleteYou brought up a very interesting point about cultural differences. I can try to encourage someone to get an education to better themselves and their circumstances. What if the person wants to drop out? What if he or she is encouraged to drop out by his or her family? How do we convince students that education is a good thing? Are we supposed to encourage them about the positive aspects about education if they do not even care? It's complicated. I really do not have answers to these questions yet. Discrimination for any type of differences has been around from the dawn of time. How do we overcome it. I am not sure. If we are aware of discrimination and predjudice in our own lives, then we can be aware of how we treat other people.
ReplyDeleteI've been living in New Mexico for almost 28 years, and one of the things I've always truly loved is the diversity of the culture (hispanic, anglo, native american). It's somewhat backwards economically, and it's one of the places where if you've been gone for awhile and drive back into it, it appears to be a foreign country. But that's the joy. The people are just people ragardless of background, and the lack of pretentiousness is so refreshing. I think New Mexicans in general do a good job of accepting each other for who they are without prejudice.
ReplyDeleteWell if you can believe I am a coconut. Brown on the outside and white in the inside. My father was darker than me. He surfed, roller skated and had a job managing three gas stations. His color never stopped him from achieving great jobs. Of course he never wanted me to speak Spanish and often shouted “la migra” at farm workers in California. I on the other hand love Spanish, would rather speak it than English and have traveled through Iberia and Latin America in search of boleros, romances and mariachi music to study. In New Mexico I sing Flamenco for the University of New Mexico and often wonder if it is holding on to this culture that sets me apart. I, out to respect, do not approach issues directly. This is cause I follow my roots, the world of the Mediterranean and I feel that people view this as me keeping secrets or cheating.
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