Lawrence

Lawrence’s piece to me said one thing. Just undoing segregation wasn’t enough. He feels it bred other issues, like insecurity and “a feeling of inferiority” (283). He says that because we separated blacks and white in the first place because of there color, and no other reason, it created these feelings. He also says that it is “unlikely ever to be undone” (283). I think that it is harsh to say that, and it doesn’t give anyone any hope that we can change it. I think he is trying to sound harsh so we can learn from our mistakes and realize what we’ve done. But if we can’t change anything, no one will bother learning about it.

Carlson

Carlson starts his piece with saying we live in a normalizing community. I agree completely. If it isn’t normal to us, we don’t like it. But it doesn’t take long for us to get used to it, and start to like it, whatever it may be. I think we first have to do what Johnson said, and talk about it. As long as it is being talked about, it will start to become normalized. It cant be talked down upon, or just whispered about it secret, but openly talked about as if two people were talking about the weather.

Rodrigeuz, and Collier

I had a lot of trouble reading through Aria. I understand that Rodrigeuz is saying that in the process of gaining to become an English speaker, he feels he is losing part of his home culture. He says that when “English became my primary language, I no longer knew what words to use in addressing my parents” (37). I understand he felt he was losing a part of himself, But I don’t know how to fix that. I don’t want to sound mean, but in America, we speak English, and I don’t really know how to say, don’t lose your culture, but learn ours too.

In Colliers piece, one quote stuck out to me the most. She says that “Educators have tended to blame the language variety and/or home environment for a child’s lack of success in school” (226). I agree with her. It is not a child’s fault because they have another first language, or they have an accent, nor is it the write of the teacher to blame anyone for it. The job of the teacher is not to blame, but to educate. It really bothers me when teachers pull stuff like this, and just say, lets just make it to the end of the year, and then it’s not my problem. The only that does is tell multilingual children that their teachers don’t care about them or their culture, or education.

McIntosh and Muwakkil

I understand where McIntosh is coming from, but I think she is harsh in how she says it. She is taking blame for something she did not create. She is also blaming everyone else for oppressing anyone who isn’t white. I understand the invisible backpack and that only the privileged carry the rules and instructions on how to succeed. She makes it seem as though we, white people, should feel guilty for being born white, or any of the other SCWAAMP. I can honestly say that I am white and I do not feel guilty for being born that way, I shouldn’t have to bear that burden like minorities should have to bear racism.

In Muwakkil article, I found he part most troubling was when he says that white men with a criminal record are more likely to get hired than those who don’t. I know that there is still racism, but I didn’t think it would affect up like that. I keep saying to myself, maybe the white guy was better at the job, but I know I’m only fooling myself.

Kozol and Goldberg

Kozol to me did a great job advocating for the under privileged. He did not go off numbers from research or dig though other book and re-state what they had already said. He went to a place of the under privileged and had them tell him of there life. My favorite part of the piece was Cliffie, a young boy who Kozol walked and talk with. He acted very much like my idea of a seven year old boy, except that he seemed unnerved by death. He tells Kozol he saw a boy get shot in the head, and right afterwards ask “Would you like a chocolate chip cookie?” (6). I found this sad and disturbing. A seven year old boy talks like eating a cookie and watching a boy get shot are the kinds of things that are in the same sentence all the time. Every seven year old I know would not be thinking about cookies had the seen that.

I thought Goldberg was harsh when he talked about Kozol. He put blame on Kozol, and Kozol alone for making kids hate America. He say that “the once-outrageous idea that eachers should use their classrooms to espouse liberal/ radical political views- i.e., to propagandize- can be traced directly to Jonathan Kozol” (294). I do not find Kozol to write propaganda, though I have not read a lot of his work. It is a clear clash of two different ideologies.

Me and SCWAAMP

When I think of the culture of power I think of SCWAAMP. Straightness, Christianity, whiteness, American ness, able- bodied ness, maleness and property ownership. I would consider myself all but the maleness, and could be taken as not able- bodied in the fact that I am Dyslexic and ADHD. Physical I am in great shape and am pretty athletic. I was usually one of the students who out preformed other kids in gym classes and sports. But academics were harder for me than most students, and I was given an IEP. As far as having to deal with sexism, I never really had to until I went to school after being home schooled. My family is not very sexist at all, except for when dating started. When I entered high school, my brother and I both started to date. I had to bring home the guys to meet my parents before they would let me go out with him alone. My brother would go over a girl’s house when no one else was home with them, and my dad would just say that he was ‘the man’. What’s more is my dad would do the speech about how he would kill the kid if he touched me. My dad would give the girls a hug and welcome them. I just stopped bringing boy’s home and talking about them. I would say I was hanging out with a friend, and go do whatever. My parents wondered what was up, and I just said that there wasn’t anyone worth it. My brother said that I had decided to be a lesbian. All I wanted was to be treated like my brother, who is my equal sibling.

Delpit

I agree with Delpit completely. There is a culture of power. I focused on one of her aspect of the culture of power. It is that “Those with power are least aware of- or least willing to acknowledge- its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence” (24). I find this one the hardest to take in. It isn’t my fault it exists. She is able to back this up with many examples from people. One is a black graduate student talking about a class he has which is predominately white people. He says “I’m tired of arguing with those white people…now I’m just it is for the grade” (21). Other stories of other minorities discuss this issue. They all have the same message. They won’t listen, so I’ve given up. In those stories I realize it isn’t my fault there is a culture of power, but what is my fault is that I am doing nothing to help change it. I don’t have to be black to fight prejudices with them. It shouldn’t be you were born that way, so it’s your burden to bear. Nothing with change or it will change too slowly if that is the case.