The first chapter of this reading focused mainly on racism among whites, and the privilege they have only because they are white. After reading this chapter, I agree that many white people do feel that they are better than others of color, and I also know that many white people are aware of it as well. This chapter did make me realize that there are a few things, that I do personally, that could be seen as racist, but I don’t believe I’m racist. Such as, if I were by myself at night, I know I would try to avoid bad neighborhoods. If I were to see a black man walking around down the street, I would definitely walk the other way or down the other side of the street for my protection. I also realize that I perceive people of a different color in certain ways, and associate them in different ways, but even though this can be seen as slight racism, because I am stereotyping them, it is not the same as full blown racism and hatred toward people of color.
Also, a few things I would use in my own classroom might be activities related to my student’s different skins colors. I might try to work on self portraits at the beginning of the year, and as a class figure out what our skin colors were for every peer. I also want to make sure that my classroom has multi-hued band-aids in order to make sure none of my students feel uncomfortable when needing a band-aid.
The next chapter talked a lot about culture, and being aware of others cultures. Whites often feel that they don’t have a culture because they don’t know much about themselves, their families, or where they come from. It is actually the exact opposite for those of color because their families are very close knit. Whites tend to not care so much about what they “are” or where they came from because our culture is seen everywhere and tends to become invisible. The culture iceberg was also a part of this chapter, and it shows us that if one is placed in an unfamiliar culture, we tend to miss cues such as eye contact, emotions, friendships, and courtesy. The only things one can directly see are food, dress, literature, language, and music.
5/5. I think it's great to be aware of the little everyday biases we have--this doesn't mean we are white supremacists. It just means we need to refine our thinking, change automatic responses, etc. Good for you for examining these things. I like the self portrait idea, too, because it invites all kids to share who they are--the same for when kids investigate their ancestry/culture.
ReplyDelete