Open thread and ARP link: Teachers talking race

Look for a quote from Carmen in this article from Teaching Tolerance:

Nuri Vargas knows how it feels to be silenced.

Not long ago, while working in a school near San Diego,  Calif., Vargas was talking with another teacher when the conversation randomly led to the topic of dental health.

“She said to me, ‘Have you noticed that the Latino kids’ teeth are all rotten? It’s cultural because Latino parents give their kids lots of candy and they don’t brush their teeth.’”

Vargas told her colleague that a lack of health insurance would be a more likely explanation. The other teacher brushed her off with “not all kids, but most of them.”

Although Vargas was concerned that her colleague’s beliefs would trickle over to her treatment of Latino students, she never expressed her concerns to the administration.

“I don’t think I was comfortable with talking to the principal — because what if the principal thought just like her?” she said.

In many classrooms across America, race and ethnicity are very much on the table. Teachers dream of seeing their students discuss difference in a constructive way. Some educators actively encourage their classes to get outside their comfort zones and confront the country’s racial history.

But in many faculty rooms, there’s little to no talk about race. Whether the topic is a racial disparity in students’ academic achievement, a teacher who feels victim to racial discrimination or even simply a question about a black student’s hair, teachers often elect to keep their mouths shut. If teachers can’t have the race talk with each other, how can schools effectively educate their students about difference?  Read more…

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Trackbacks & Pings

  1. Television Violence – deal with it | Parenting Help in New Hampshire on 15 Sep 2009 at 6:30 am

    [...] Open thread and ARP link: Teachers talking race at Anti-Racist … [...]

  2. Speak Softly – No stick needed | Parenting Help in Michigan on 17 Sep 2009 at 8:49 am

    [...] Open thread and ARP link: Teachers talking race at Anti-Racist … [...]

Comments

  1. Katarin wrote:

    When I worked at a school, I had a supervisory teacher who said lots of racially problematic things. I worried about getting fired if I pointed it out but eventually I couldn’t in good conscience not call her out. She hotly disagreed with me and even said “how dare you say that! I’m not a racist.”

    After that she made the work environment so hostile that I quit a few months later because I couldn’t handle spending my breaks crying in the bathroom because she made me so unhappy, condescended to me and constantly criticized me in front of our students and my colleagues.

    I don’t regret stepping up and telling her that she was wrong, but I understand why so many people keep their mouths shut.

    Posted 15 Sep 2009 at 10:30 am

  2. PPR_Scribe wrote:

    I have experienced this first hand–most recently in discussions following my children’s teachers’ decision no to air President Obama’s back-to-school address. I just posted clips from a long and frustrating email conversation I had with the principal about this.

    It truly is a never-ending battle. For me, it is an issue of leadership: Who will dare take leadership? Who will risk it? Parents of color who are in the minority in majority White schools? White parents who wish to be allies or just better informed? Individual teachers or principals?

    Posted 15 Sep 2009 at 12:00 pm

  3. Holly wrote:

    This is such a frustrating thing when dealing with educators. I am a social worker, and many times when I’ve worked with teachers, they have had an arrogance about even learning how to communicate effectively or have empathy for a child’s situation. They pass judgements and don’t want to learn about the child’s background. I’m not saying all teachers are like this, but unfortunately, I’ve run into too many.

    Posted 15 Sep 2009 at 1:55 pm

  4. Froggy wrote:

    “even simply a question about a black student’s hair, teachers often elect to keep their mouths shut.”

    Good, keep it shut!

    sadly, too many teachers are not particularly savvy when it comes to race. I’m talking about the entire US not just the liberal and diverse areas. having lived and gone to school in both poor rural and very wealthy California, you find ineptitude in reagrds to race and sociology nearly everywhere.

    Shasta County, Redding in California is a great example. Living there during the 80’s, there was so much racism , FROM TEACHERS , that I could write a book. Today, many would be out of a job. The only race talk these pigs were having with each other was exchanging new slurs.

    Parents need to prepare their children to be studious, polite but also aware that many of their teachers are racist.

    Posted 15 Sep 2009 at 2:12 pm

  5. dersk wrote:

    I’m curious about this whole ‘post-racial’ meme. I’ve only ever seen it referred to as a straw man, and usually in the negative: “some people say America is now post-racial” but I’ve never actually seen anyone making that claim. Has anyone actually been dumb enough to state that the election of Obama means that America’s now post-racial?

    It seems a little bit like PC, which has now essentially turned into justification for being a jerk (”I know it’s not PC, but…”).

    Posted 18 Sep 2009 at 10:09 am

  6. Mollie wrote:

    I hope every reader will recommend that their children’s teachers, administrators and district staff log on to Teaching Diverse Students Initiative. It’s interactive, makes one think and may be a catalyst for personal and professional changes for the betterment of all students.

    Posted 28 Sep 2009 at 6:29 pm

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