This American Life--The Problem We All Live With--Part One, Nikole Hannah Jones

    

    This author argues that integration is the only thing that works to cut the achievement gap between black and white students.  This is evidenced in the conceptual framework.  Jones did not know if the gap would have been eliminated totally, but felt it would have been close to elimination.  Over the years many changes have taken place throughout school systems to balance or equalize the educational playing field between black and white students.  Some of these changes include:  improving literacy, designing charter and magnet schools, improving the quality of teachers, replacing the principals and superintendents and "The No Child Left Behind Act."  Despite these changes, an educational divide still exists.  Although desegregation programs are a blast from the past, Jones speaks of the Normandy School system that unintentionally started a school desegregation approximately six years ago. 

     Jones has personal experience with school desegregation since she was a product of this system.  Jones did not understand that she and her sister were part of a desegregation program until as an adult she started researching and writing about education as an investigative reporter for the New York Times.  She reflects how she was told to get on the bus and go to school and she passively went where the bus took her which was to a white school across town.  Jones speaks of how it was hard to be taken out of her very black working class community by a long bus ride for which she woke up early to a wealthy white community for school.  She speaks of the social difficulty of feeling like she never belonged despite having friends. She could go to their house but they couldn't come to hers.  Jones know from her own life that integration works and changes ones life.  It has effects that change ones whole life.  One is less likely to be poor and less likely to have health problems.  

     Listening to the interview between Jones, Nedra Martin and her daughter Mah Ria Martin was enjoyable.  It made the lack of quality education in the Normandy Schools and the concept of integration come to life.  The strength of both Nedra and her daughter Mah Ria was endless.  They faced many hurdles together, but overcame them much like the plight of Ruby Bridges.

     Listening to Leslie McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, grieve for her son aloud on the broadcast brought not only The Black Lives Matter Movement to life for me, but also how difficult it is for students of color to actually stay in school and graduate regardless of the quality of the education.  Ironically,  Michael Brown's mother was one of the student's who was bussed out of town for school when she was a kid while her son was in one of the most segregated school districts in the country.  A good quality education is a privilege as spoken by Johnson, Armstrong and Wildman that is enjoyed by only those of privilege in a segregated society.   

     The perspective of Rihanna Curtain was enlightening.  It showed the daily struggles of a student of color who was integrated.  She first handedly was exposed to Delpit's "culture of power" and truly had to learn Delpit's rules for participating in power.  She eloquently displayed that she had learned the rules and because she had learned these rules she was able to succeed and participate in the culture.  

The Silenced Dialogue:  Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People´s Children 

by:  Lisa Delpit

Talking Point #1
     Delpit speaks of what can be done ethnographically to conquer the divide, communication blocks, in teaching styles between progressive white educators and educators of color.  She has named her proposal "the culture of power" which contains five parts.  It explains the aspect of power and how it relates to the differences between liberal educators and those of non white, non middle class teachers and their communities.  Delpit does not want to maintain the status quo which is to teach to the liberal middle class.  She wants each classroom to incorporate strategies that will be appropriate for all students regardless of their culture.  This seems like a difficult yet creative concept to balance teaching styles with curriculum and the standards which have to be achieved. 

   

Talking Point #2
     Delpit's fifth premise stated that those with the most power fail to acknowledge its existence and are uncomfortable and unaware of it while those with the least power are well aware.  I compare this to privilege and that those with the most privilege are colorblind and oblivious to their advantages in society in comparison to people of color who are well aware of their disadvantages.  No person is purely powerful or privileged while no person is totally powerless or unprivileged. If a teacher in a classroom is all powerful or the only expert; it would disempower his students.
     
Talking Point #3

     Delpit believes:  "Children have the right to their own language, their own culture." She believes that schools must change not the children.  Children should be allowed to express themselves with their own style and in their own language.  If children are pushed to the common liberal middle class way of teaching it would be repressive and a cultural genocide.  We must take responsibility to teach and provide for students, those of color, who do not understand the realities of power.  She provides examples of teaching "Formal English" and "Informal English" in comparison to eating at a picnic versus  eating a formal dinner.  However, one must still be taught to speak and write for success in order to have access to today's competitive job market and be successful in the world of privilege.
     
     Lisa Delpit argues that those with the most power must initiate the process of changing how educators communicate among themselves and how to best educate children of color by incorporating cultural aspects.   

      

         

Colorblindness Is The New Racism 

by:  Armstrong and Wildman

    The authors, Armstrong and Wildman, argue as the title states:  that colorblindness is the new racism.  The medical definition of colorblind according to google is a reduced ability to distinguish between certain colors; a color vision deficiency in which treatment can help but it can not be cured. In social society today, colorblindness asserts that whites are living in a world where racial privilege no longer exists. Whites fail to see how the privileges and statuses that they enjoy are due to being white.  Whites do not think about race and fail to notice that they have a race, one of social status, therefore they do not discriminate.  The modern move towards colorblindness came to the forefront when government programs that recognized race (affirmative action) became a disadvantage for white people. The authors believe that the presence of colorblindness does not erase the effects of racism and the advantages of white privilege. They state that society is not post racial although a past president was a person of color. The authors stress that one must have color insight/treatment to combat racism/colorblindness.  Color insight is the opposite of color blindness.  If one has color insight he is aware of his race, the races around him and how racism and privilege affect peoples lives.

       Armstrong and Wildman make a connection to Jonson by stating that race must be named and talked about in order to do something about it.  It must be addressed.  Armstrong and Wildman quote Williams:  "race is the elephant in the room that everyone tiptoes around or claims we should avoid."  Johnson states:  "you can't deal with a problem if you don't name it....when you name something, the word draws your attention to it.....the bottom line is that a trouble we can't talk about is a trouble we can't do anything about."  Armstrong and Wildman state:  "Society cannot battle a phantom that it cannot recognize and name."  Both texts advocate for society to take note, name and speak of the everyday occurrences of racism and racial privilege in order to combat the harmful racial hierarchy experienced in the day to day lives of people of color.

     The authors, Johnson, Armstrong and Wildman speak of the existence, structure and idea of white privilege in society and culture.  Race discrimination involves being excluded from privileges.  Armstrong and Wildman state:  "The emphasis on discrimination alone, as if it existed in a vacuum, obscures the operation of privilege, thus aiding in perpetuation," meaning if one fails to acknowledge and does not notice the advantages of his privileged status, he will not be able to discuss racial discrimination, therefore it will continue to exist.  Johnson states privilege is:  "one of those loaded words we need to reclaim so that we can use it to name and illuminate the truth."  Johnson cites McIntosh's definition that:  "privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to rather than because of anything they've done or failed to do."  Privilege is a common thread throughout and between the texts of these authors.

     The "All Lives Matter" reading explains why changing the slogan from "Black Lives Matter" to "All Lives Matter" simply negates the purpose of the slogan.  It ignores the original problem of racial inequity in this country.  Before reading this brief explanation, I felt that all "All Lives Matter" was a catchy, inclusive and purposeful response; not realizing that it just swept the problem of racism back under the rug.  All lives do matter, but that message is abundant in our society.  This movement was designed to bring attention to the plight of racism and treat all lives as equals.

Privilege, Power and Difference
by: Allan G. Johnson 

Talking Point # 1

The question:  "Why can't we all just get along?",  reflects the long history of racism in the United States.  What seems to be a very simple question has an in depth answer that involves the differences in human nature and fear of the unfamiliar.  The way we think about the unknown is learned, it is not innate. The purpose of the theoretical framework that Johnson uses is to change the way that we think so we can change how we act. By changing how we participate in the world, the world will change. Issues of race, gender, sexual orientation and class shape our worlds in very different ways. It is up to all of us to take responsibility and be an active part of the solution. 

Talking Point # 2

The "diversity wheel" by Loden and Rosener is based on six main social characteristics:  age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, qualities and sexual orientation.  In terms of the wheel, I am a heterosexual, 53 year old, white, female of German, Irish and Italian descent. I am 5'8" tall, overweight with hazel eyes. The outer hub of the wheel includes:  religion, marital status, education, occupation and income. I am Roman Catholic, married and have two daughters.  I am a middle class professional with a BS in nursing pursuing a certification as a school nurse and a potential MS in public health or education.  I have been a nurse for 32 years. My life would be drastically changed if any of these characteristics shifted. For example:  a divorce or loss of job would have a profound impact on my life. 

Talking Point # 3

Privilege, according to McIntosh, exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the group they belong to, not because of anything they have done or failed to do. McIntosh defines two types of privileges:  unearned advantage and conferred dominance. An unearned advantage is described as something as simple as feeling safe in a public space while a conferred dominance gives power of one group over another. The flip side of privilege is oppression.

Argument Statement:

The author, Johnson, argues that although he is a white, middle class, straight male, he can bring his experiences to deal and write about the subjects of racism, sexism, differences and privilege. 

Hello,
 I am a school nurse at Winter's Elementary School In Pawtucket. I am presently working towards a school nurse certification.  I am hoping to obtain a MS in public health. This is my first blogging experience.