Responding to Multicultural Literature

Rick Beach, CI5441, 9/22

Blatant bigotry: Rush Limbaugh Referring to an incident in which a white

student was beaten by black students on a bus, Limbaugh said: “I think the guy’s wrong. I think not only it was racism, it was justifiable racism. I mean, that’s the lesson we’re being taught here today. Kid shouldn’t have been on the bus anyway. We need segregated buses — it was invading space and stuff. This is Obama’s America.”

Robbinsdale: 281 CARE (Citizens Acting for Responsible Education) $9,000 in advertising on a billboard, lawn

signs and professional services "district problems are brought in with

nonresident students.” "all problems come from open enrollment" "$5.5 million could be saved by throwing out

1,000 students” Jason Lewis "Freedom Dogs" interview

Institutional racism: Housing policies: Segregation Sheryll Cashin,The Failures of Integration: How

Race and Class Are Undermining the American Dream

Racist real estate policies: “desirable neighborhoods”: higher housing prices

Segregation and schooling: Higher property tax support for suburban schools: advantage for suburban students

Institutional racism: Health care In Maryland, African American babies

die at a 2.5 times higher rate than white babies.

African Americans' life expectancy is six years shorter than whites at birth.

Institutional racism: Advertising and obesity

CDC: 36% of black Americans, 29% of Hispanics, and 24% of whites are obese.

Medical costs of obesity could have risen to $147 billion per year by 2008.

Children see 7600 food commercials a year; 35% and 45% of commercials are for food. Almost all advertised food is unhealthy.

“African Americans are consistently exposed to food promotion and distribution patterns with relatively greater potential adverse health effects than are Whites.” American Journal of Public Health

Institutional racism: Media representations of race Power of white hegemony in film/media

Predominating control/portrayal of whites

People of color not shown as subservient and not engaging in “human”/complex practices

Identity construction as mediated Cultural models

Reflects “common sense” assumptions Evident in perceptions of hierarchies and

discussion of what one values Discourses: ways of knowing/thinking

Uses of language: “accountability” = business discourse; “respect flag” = patriotism

McDermott: Meaning of white identity: context dependent Observations: white/black interactions in

convenience stores in similar working-class neighborhoods: different histories

Atlanta: no sense of working-class/ethnic solidarity Whites perceived as “failures”

Boston: privileged as working-class whites Strong positive identification with

neighborhood

White privilege White students in homogeneous, largely

white high school (Perry, 2001) Less aware of racial identity Perceive Whiteness as norm

Students in diverse high school More aware of racial identity Race as the “principle of social

organization”

My research: Different schools Suburban school: discourse of

individualism “We just need need to get along better” “Underneath, we’re all alike”

Urban school: “Diversity Club” Aware of the benefits of diversity More aware of institutional racism

Arguments Need to focus on institutional critiques

of forces shaping race, class, and gender differences

Employ a pedagogy of discomfort/hope based on grappling with dialogic tensions and perspective-taking

Racism as “Racialized Social Systems” Placement of people in social categories

Attaching meaning to groups Creation of hierarchies

Top group--economic, social, political power Conflict: maintain vs. challenge hierarchy Application of racial ideology to explain and

justify hierarchy “Blacks as lacking motivation to work”

Racial Ideologies as “Interpretive Repertoires” Common frames

Fear of the other; Token inclusionism “Racetalk”

Avoid being seen as “racist”/Archer Bunker Storylines used to justify hierarchy

“the past is part”/”my friend lost out on a job” Categorizing: whiteness as normalizing

“White lives” isolated in schools/suburbs/peer group Whites as “racial tourists”-- “others defined by what

whiteness is not”

Issue: Multicultural literature Token “add on” to high school canon

(largely white male authors) Authors perceived primarily in terms of

race, class, or gender identity

Multicultural literature: Role in a pedagogy of discomfort Not simply “exposure” to “the other” or

diversity just “in” the text Tensions due to institutional racism,

class conflict, and sexism Value lies in mixture of texts, teacher

activities/challenges, and student discussions of dialogic tensions

Students’ responses to multicultural literature Study: change in

high school students responses due to experiences with dialogic tensions in class discussions of multicultural literature.

Study: “Urban High School” 14 students obtaining college credit in a

multicultural literature course 8 Whites, 3 Asian-American, 1 Hispanic, 1

African descent Instruction in critical lenses

Focus on issues of “whiteness,” class, gender

Application of feminist, neo-Marxist, critical race theory perspectives

Texts read in the course House on Mango Street Bless me Ultima Kindred Their Eyes Were Watching God Obason Woman Warrior Love Medicine Bastard Out of Carolina Yellow Raft in Blue Water

Co-construction of lived and text worlds Lived worlds

Identities/.roles Objects/purposes Norms Beliefs Traditions/history Dialogic tensions

Text worlds Characters Objects/purposes Norms Beliefs Traditions/history Dialogic tensions

Characters’ hybrid identities Readers experience imaginative performances of

alternatives to their own fixed notions of identities. Kindred: African-American female main character,

Dana, moves between the contemporary world and the world of slavery

Dialogic tensions in her conflict allegiances to these different worlds

Heritage of slavery has a profound influence on her current identity as a contemporary African American

Shift from first-person to third-person reflection Perceiving a character as “subject” operating in

systems Perceiving a character as an “object” constructed

by status-quo systems Nora: The Doll’s House

“Subject:” subservient, childlike identity as wife

“Object” of the patriarchic system

Questions What were the dialogic tensions in the class

associated with allegiances to competing discourses in lived and text worlds?

In what ways did students change in voicing discourses?

Do students begin to reflect on institutional forces?

What were reasons for these changes or lack of change?

School culture School in a changing working-class

neighborhood Increasingly diverse populations Challenges to status-quo traditions

“Winter-Fest” celebration Discourse of “order/control”

Sports traditions Racial segregation

Tensions: School versus Classroom Cultures School culture

Discourse of control/order

Lack of discussion in other courses

Male status/power: sports

Hierarchical racial segregation

Classroom culture Dialogic exchange

and tensions Focus on discussion Challenges to male

status/power Discussion about

issues of race

Teaching methods Critical lenses (Appleman): Feminist,

Marxist, reader-response, psychological Discussion starters: quotes from

journals “White people as a group enjoy an easier

life than anybody else in this country.” Monologues: character voices:

“You think you know me, but you don’t.”

Institutional racism and class: Savage Inequalities Parks: example of $2,000 home in East

St. Louis Reasons for low value of housing

related to racism and housing policies

Students who adhered to status quo discourses Corey: white male

allegiances to a discourse of masculinity/individualism

competition and “hard work” being self-assured, authoritative, and “in control”

Michelle: white female content with allegiances to expected roles in her

family, marriage and work in a fast-food restaurant: familiar roles

Student attitudes towards affirmative action Student opposition to affirmative action

job hiring practices and college admissions framed in terms of race rather than class

conservative discourse individual as a “free” agent not constricted by institutional or

governmental forces pits Whites against people of color

Corey: job hiring I want to be a police officer, but supposedly now a day it is not easy

to be a cop if you are white. If you are white and you are better than the person next to you and he is black, the white person might not get that job. Just because that person is a different color. It is also that way for college, white people get no help at all because they think every white person is rich. Minorities get enrichment programs to get help with their scholarships, when most white people don’t get help with any money for college.

Students who interrogated status quo discourses Kayla: white female

operating in a future world of college perceived high school and community cultures

as limited not concerned about the social consequences of

challenging peers Adopted feminist perspectives in n challenging

some of the males

Students who interrogated status quo discourses Devin: white male

Involvement in youth church trips to Mexico and Native American reservations.

Classroom identity as provocateur and the “successful student”

Vacillated between progressive and traditional discourses

Devin: Response to McIntosh, “White Privilege” We just don’t see it because we have

unearned advantages of being white. We don’t see that because we are brought up this way…notice there isn’t a whole lot on how poorly we treated others. In a way we are dictators of other cultures. I say this because we enclaves a race for almost 200+ years.

Devin: Response to Savage Inequalities But what values lie in a city like this? The

school can hardly be considered an institute of learning. The sewage is backed up so bad it squishes underneath the one piece of decent land they have, they are poorly fed, and the crime rate is unbelievable.

Devin: Response to Yellow Raft in Blue Water We thought that life on a reservation itself

automatically puts you in a lower class…how being born into certain situations or lifestyles put you closer or further from the goal line in the game of success. Being born into life on a reservation puts you down at the bottom a ways.

Devin’s development Others’ worlds are different from his own Characters’ identities are shaped by worlds

that limit them Shift from model of individualism to one of

institutional critique They said if you work hard for it, you get what you

deserve, and that’s not necessarily true, because the racism in society is really strong when you try to get a job.”

Blog role-play and wiki writing: Montana 1948 Montana 1948

http://missboeser.googlepages.com/montana1948 Blog: Roleplay: "Fighting Sioux" mascot

http://roleplaymascots.blogspot.com/ Wiki site

http://jhscollegewritingmontana.pbwiki.com/

Dan Snidyr, owner of the Washington Redskins I believe that we should not change it. The

name the "Redskins" is not meant to affend anyone of any race. "It means wonderful things. It means success, it means pride, it means integrity, honor and winning tradition. All of those great things, plus many more, are what the Redskins are all about for Washington and all of the Washington Redkin fans throughout the nation." http://web.syr.edu/~ajhill/dan.html

Winona Yepa As a Native American women, I am also very

offended by the name "redskins". Perhaps your name should be changed to Washington ”Whitetrash" then perhaps you could see why I feel the way I do about the name. We are native American's, not redskins. I find it to be a very offensive name. At least NDSU has enough respect for Native americans to address us properly as "Sioux" the fighting part is debatable but they don't refer to us as "redskins". we have names.

Student: perspective-taking At first I was indifferent and wanted the NCAA

to leave them alone so the pinion of my character was the opposite. Felicia wanted it to be changed. After this role-play I think the Sioux should be the ones to decide if the mascot should stay of not. I feel that since I am more educated on the subject and look at the issue through another person’s point-of-view I can see more reason to have the mascot changed that to have it stay.

Summary Dialogic tensions serve to challenge status-

quo discourses Temporary “trying on” of alternative

discourses when presented with hypothetical situation

Shifts in perspectives possible to challenge the hegemonic

discourses constituting the students’ identities

Carol Lee (Culture, Literacy, & Learning): Cultural modeling Textbooks: little on knowing how to interpret

literature Model how-to interpretive strategies:

Rules of Notice: Titles, key events, ending Rules of signification: What’s significant: violation of

social norms in stories-- “point of a story” Draw on students’ “funds of knowledge”

Cultural “data sets”: rap/signifying --> understanding symbolic language use

Uses of mapping in studying identity construction Recognition of institutional forces shaping

events and spaces Discourses of race, class, and gender

Visually portray performances according to three units of analysis: Events

| Spaces

| Social worlds/systems

Teaching strategies Concrete examples and issues grounded in

their everyday experiences East St. Louis Affirmative Action

Recognize white students’ subjective defensiveness related to race

Avoid tokenism: “As an X minority, what has been your experience?”

Teaching strategies

define the different social worlds/systems operating in a text.

infer how characters switch from first to third person perspectives to perceive themselves as shaped/limited by these worlds/systems

determine how characters are supporting or resisting status quo practices/norms .

identify tensions and contradictions reflected in characters’ competing perspectives and discourses

Coping with own tensions/contradictions

identify issues/challenges related to status-quo discourse or practices in their school.

infer how these practices reflect competing institutional agendas.

draw on beliefs about teaching to determine the limitations of status-quo practices.

devise alternative, counter-narratives, curriculum and strategies to address these limitations.

Importance your own beliefs or theories about teaching

document the value of employing this curriculum/strategies in terms of student engagement and learning.

gain agency through being a change-agent; resist pressure to conform to the status-quo.

continually revise one’s beliefs about the nature of English and uses of literacy tools.

Preservice Teachers: Contradictions “Student teaching”--Who’s the “student”

versus who’s the “teacher” Schooling: teacher basic skills/prepare

for test versus students’ active uses of digital literacies

Adopt the status-quo curriculum but be innovative

Emily: 1st the school in located is a traditionally white,

working-class community that in recent years (about the last 10 years) has been more and more populated by students of color (mostly Latino, but also some black kids). All of these things converge to make my school a somewhat tense building. Never have I experienced that tension more than when I first arrived.

Emily: Student engagement in a wiki project My students said that they would rather do

a wiki project, even though it was more difficult, because they enjoyed writing for an audience besides myself. I also found that I got better quality of work and better engagement in the project from my students on the wiki projects than on the essays that I forced them to write

Emily: Criticism from colleagues I was also developing a reputation at my school.

Before people even really knew my name I was the "wiki teacher" who booked up all of the computer labs. While most teachers were admiring in their comments, I almost got the sense that there was a bit of jealousy or "Who does she think she is? She should be teaching in the classroom instead of futzing with the computers".

Emily: Tensions I felt the disconnect between what I had

been taught to do and what got me the approval of my peers, which, like it or not, is actually important when you teach in a school. When one decides to be an agent of change in his or her building, one is going to encounter not just professional pressure, but also social pressure.

Emily: Motivation for change I have pushed my media literacy agenda

perhaps to the detriment of my own personal/professional life because it is simply more fun to be a classroom full of kids who are really engaged than it is to fight them.

Emily: Need to take a stand If we are going to be agents of change, if we are going

to teach media literacy and defend it using scholastic, theoretical arguments, we will be doing so in an actual school, with actual teachers whose last education credit was received years ago, and who aren't as interested in what works for the students as they are in what works for them as teachers. We have to be ready to face that social opposition and figure out how to respond in such a way that we don't compromise ourselves as teachers and professionals or as social beings who need a relatively pleasant place to work.