Printer-friendly versionThrough Big Brothers, Big Sisters, I’ve been working with a little girl from the neighborhood where I used to teach. I think very highly of this group and have only had good experiences with them. However, at a recent area-wide picnic, I noticed something disturbing. Most (not all, but the vast majority) of the children being mentored were African American or Latino. Most of the adult mentors were white or Asian. Again, this was not without exception, but was apparent.
In this area of California, there is still a considerable amount of segregation, and it comes mostly from socio-economic inequality. The expensive neighborhoods are predominantly Caucasian, with some Asian (although not Southeast Asian) people mixed in. The low-income areas that tend to be less desirable places to live and are almost all black and Hispanic. I, a white woman, get stares when I walk down the street because I’m so out of place. I’ve never been sure how to explain this phenomenon to the children that I work with. Californians often point to the Deep South as the example of negative effects of segregation, but there are also plenty of examples here in the progressive Bay Area.
In 2000, I was new to the area and new to teaching. I was young and naïve about the amount of racism and segregation still present. I struggled to get to know my students while keeping my head above water with the curriculum. The entire 1st grade was immersed in a project about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I stumbled through explaining the bus boycott and segregation. At one point, I oversimplified and said something like, “Dr. King helped make it so black kids and white kids could go to school together.”
The kids looked at me incredulously. “But teacher,” one little girl explained. “Black kids don’t go to school with white kids. Ain’t no white kids at our school.” All the other students started nodding. It slowly dawned on me that she was right. There was not one single white child at that school. In fact, in my eight years of teaching there, the only kids who looked white were two Bosnian refugees.
Another time, I heard my first-graders discussing race. The conversation went something like this:
First student: There are three kinds of kids: black, Chinese and Mexican.
Second student: What about white kids?
First student: Silly, there’s no white kids. There’s only white teachers.
I’ve been thinking about that conversation for 13 years now and I still wouldn’t know how to respond, just like I don’t know how to explain the demographics of the picnic. I think we (teachers and other adults) mostly pretend this inequity doesn’t exist—after all, we didn’t have Jim Crow here in California. But this approach is neither beneficial nor respectful of anybody. As for my mentee, she’s extremely observant and very analytical, but she hasn’t brought this up to me yet. Is that because she is so used to it or because she already understands the inequality and assumes that it’s here to stay? I really want to have an ending where I tell everyone what I learned and how to deal with this problem in the future but I just don't. I’d love to hear from others. What is the best way for me to address this in a hopeful but honest manner?
Editor’s Note: Teaching Tolerance offers the several resources to open the discussion about segregation in schools here and here.
Harris is a teacher, tutor and volunteer in California.
Comments
I think your right, tolerance
I think your right, tolerance needs to be taught. However, having grown up in the privileged upper white class environment, it has been my experience that in these classrooms there is much tolerance. The students from these areas are taught to care and respect others. Here is just a short example of the goals by one these "white" schools:
Social Goal: To guide students to become conscientious, successful members of a global community
By developing a respect for self and others
By understanding how actions impact the community
By communicating effectively and respectfully
Emotional Goal: To nurture respect, and celebrate each child’s individuality
By developing an appreciation for each individual’s gifts and uniqueness
By appreciating their own self worth
By growing in self-reliance
By accepting responsibility for their actions and the consequences of those actions
How many inner city schools or schools in the area you referred to, have these as goals?
So many wonderful caring, loving people come from the "privileged" school. My point is, tolerance needs to be taught in the inner city, less privileged schools among blacks, latinos..ext... I find that the children coming from these areas are taught to hate and express that as adults. I have been a social worker for many years and have worked with all types and I find the least tolerant, the least respectful and out right hateful people coming from these less privileged areas. They grow up blaming someone else for their failures, and have no self responsibility. Teach these children to appreciate all races and all people, even in different income brackets.
Jenny, I couldn't of said it
Jenny,
I couldn't of said it better.
Coming from the less fortunate areas doesn't negate you from
Treating everyone with decently as I do you. No matter what the
Forum,we can treat each other civilly . I grew up in the same area
Without the privileges also. I was taught I am responsible for my actions.
Believe it or not whites are poor too. No race is not subjected to intolerance.
If this is not being taught
If this is not being taught in the less privileged schools how does that change. I don't they are being taught to hate this hate is coming from their life experiences. The teacher and Administrators need to look at ways to incorporate goals similar to your into the less privileged schools.
I think much of your post is
I think much of your post is based on stereotypes.
Stereotypes are often based on misinformation, myths, and lies.
Stereotypes:
• Trigger the distorted thinking known as prejudice
• Cause us to pre-judge a person or an entire group of people without really knowing them
• Must be addressed in our attempts to prevent and reduce prejudice because they are rooted in the subconscious.
I think that you totally missed what she was saying in her article.
I would like to point out
I would like to point out that it is much easier to be tolerant when your demographic is the one in power. It is much more difficult to maintain tolerance and understanding when you belong to a group that is marginalized and/or at the end of the spectrum that gets the short end of the social justice stick. I really applaud the school you reference for setting those goals and acknowledge that, ideally, tolerance is a two way street. Still, it does seem a little tangential from the topic of the post.