Have We Learned Anything From The Past?

 

Well folks, it looks as if history may be on the verge of needlessly repeating itself.

If the Supreme Court and so called human rights organizations such as the Citizen’s Commission on Civil Rights get their way, the days of separate and certainly unequal education will return to the U.S.  Do we really want to go there again?

My parents attended segregated schools in the South and while their experiences were not completely negative, they had to contend with blantant racism and weren’t treated fairly.  My mother didn’t experience school integration until she was in high school.  She graduated in 1970 for crying out loud!  She once told me that the local ”black” school received the books that the “white” schools no longer wanted or the ones that were outdated.  Because the white kids were aware that their books were going to be passed down to the black kids, they often tore out pages and wrote all kinds of racial slurs on the pages that remained.  The white teachers weren’t any better.  They often refused to send along the teacher’s guides to many of the books.  Again, I ask, do we really want to go there?

If you have any doubts as to whether or not racism still exists in America, just check out the racism that is spewing forth on the AOL message boards and on this site regarding Tiger Woods, his wife Elin and their new baby.  Contrary to what many would like to believe, racism is alive and well in the good ol’ U.S.A.

I understand that many want to move on and “just get over” America’s deep rooted past (and present) issues with race and the treatment of not only African Americans, but American Indian, Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans as well.  I can’t even begin to count the number of times I heard white peers say, “well I’m not racist” or “I nor my family ever owned any slaves, so why should I apologize” and so forth.  But the truth is, America as a whole, with whites being the ones who have held the real power in this country, have never opened up and tried to have a serious dialogue about race and inequality.  Instead, laws have been passed in an effort to try to right past wrongs, but no one has ever truly sat down (e.g. G8 Summit style) and tried to come to an understanding.

As a person who attended predominantly white schools (high school was more diverse), who has white Godparents and has attended many sleepovers, parties, etc. with white friends, I can say that DIVERSITY DOES MATTER.  They got to see that me and my family were in more ways than not, just like them.  My mom was a college educated (she has a master’s degree) soccer mom, who carpooled to games and worked the concession stands, after working a full time job as a teacher too.  My dad proudly served in the Air Force and Army Reserves, is a college grad as well, who taught his kids to respect all, work hard, save money, to never expect handouts and how to fish.  Oh and he didn’t abandon us, even when he and my mother decided to part ways on fairly friendly terms. 

The article mentioned that kids tend to become segregated through being pushed into special education or ESL/ESOL classes and yes this does happen.  I’ve seen very bright kids placed in special education or lower level classes due to language barriers.  This only serves to highlight the bigotry and prejudice that still exists in this nation and the education system.  And I’ve even witnessed kids segregating themselves.  Being a so called minority myself and after having talked to kids of various ethnicities, I can say that like simply tends to gravitate towards like…….or those that they feel comfortable with.  But, one only needs to pay close attention to see that those same kids, who tend to gather with those with whom they have a lot in common, do play with and initiate conversation with kids outside of their own ethnic group quite often.

The bottom line is, if we keep kids of various races, ethnicities and social classes from coming into frequent contact with each other, we rob them of opportunity to dispel stereotypes, break down barriers and learn how to understand and get along with each other.

What do you all think?  Are we heading in the wrong direction or what?

Image: Google Images                                                                         AOL.com

Which Is Worse?

 

I’ve been amazed at some of things that my students have done and said over the years, but I can’t decide if what the kids have said and done is worse than what their parents have said and done.  So, you decide.  Which is worse? 

A boy who can’t read shows up to school wearing a blue “Got Crip?” shirt or the mother who yells, ”You wore that shirt to school?” when I called home to tell her that gang references of any kind are not tolerated by the school.

A boy shows up to school wearing red from head to toe to go on a school trip or the mother who states that she bought him the red tee shirt, red Dickies shorts and red Chuck Taylor All Star Converse shoes…..all brand new, because he told her that “all of his friends would be wearing the same thing and that is was o.k.”

A mother who blames the school system for her daughter’s failures in school, including her daughter’s inability to read, fondness of gossip and blatant disrespect of school staff or the fact that the mother didn’t raise the daughter or her sister and only took over her parental responsibilities when her own mother died, has known that her child can’t read, yet kept her out of school for weeks until placing her in yet another school (but not before cursing out me and the principal).

A girl is behaving so badly to the point that I have to call home to tell the mother that she needs to come and get her child or the mother (who has 5 other kids by various men and will end up having another) answers the phone in a groggy voice. Upon explaining the situation to her, the mother says five words to me, “I’m sleep.  Call her grandmother,” and then hangs up.

A 1o year old boy comes to school wearing dirty clothes, hair (un) styled in a way that makes him look like a cross between Don King and Buckwheat, has body odor that rivals two big, burly, grown, sweaty men (supposedly because he’s allergic to deodorant) and runs wild most mornings until the school secretary can give him the morning dose of his medication that his mother refuses to give him or the boy’s mother who shows up to her child’s school wearing a gold, sequined captain style hat, with a matching gold sequined vest, scuffed gold sandals, unshaven armpits (with hair bearing visible clumps of deodorant-it was just so obvious) as if she arrived straight from a night club……… or cheap, sleazy strip club and is loud as ever.  Did I mention that boy’s older sister ended up coming to my school and within weeks both the boy and his sister were kicked off the bus?

Oy Vey!