Talking Points #4

"Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us"

By: Linda Christensen

Christenson argues that we have to live our lives how we want to live them and not how society wants us to live them. Society tries to tell us what is acceptable and what isn't, but that is not how it goes.

1.) "Our students suckle the same pap. Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream."

Christensen means to say that children are getting taught the one way that society has accepted as the right way. In this situation there is no "right" way. If you think about it, America was built off of people breaking away from their "norms" in Europe.

2.) "After viewing a number of cartoons, Kenya scolded parents in an essay, 'A Black Cinderella, give me a break." black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon! Did they have a lead role or were they a servant? What do you think this is doing to your child's mind?" She ended her piece: "Women who aren't white begin to feel left OUt and ugly because they never get to play the princess." Kenya's piece brlsrlcd with anger at a society that rarely acknowledges the wit or beauty ofwomen of her race. And she wasn't alone in her feelings. Sabrina wrote."I'm not taking my kids to see any Walt Disney movies until they have a black woman playing the leading role."

Now, think about this for a minute. We have Pocahontas, a Native American Princess; and Aladdin, who has an Indian Princess; if you wanna throw in some more diversity, we have the little mermaid, who is not like any of us, and Snow White and Cinderella who were deprived, and worked hard. I think that we have alot of diversity here. There is no argument here. Walt Disney did not play any favorites, he probably just did not get around to a Black Princess yet.

3.) "For some the lesson doesn't end in the classroom. Many who watched cartoons before we start our study snv they call no longer enjoy them. Nnw instead or seeing ~ bunch or ducks in clothes, they see the racism, sexism, and violence rhat swim under the surface or the stories."

I think that because issues like racism, sexism, and sexual orientation are such big issues in our society today, people tend to look for it in everything. I mean come on, do you really think that author's of children's cartoons are trying to hide secret messages in their cartoons. I think that we are becoming too sensitive.

This was again, not too bad of a read. It dealt alot with the race issues as well. I think it was a good idea of where our society sees these topics. We do not like anything different, but if someone offends our differences, we get defensive about it. We cannot live like this. We need to have equal respect for each others backgrounds, cultures, and situations.

As a white, straight, male people might think that I do not have the right to say anything, but I have my small issues. I have been joked around about being short for my entire life, until the point where I just said, you know what, it's not going to bother me anymore. There are still times when I feel like lashing out, but then I ask myself if it's going to help. I am short, there is nothing I can do about it. People will always find someway to bring you down, and you just haveto find a reason to keep plugging along.

Talking Point #3

"Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community"

By: Dennis Carlson

In this article, Carlson argues that there should be more diversity within schools including sexual orientation, gender, and race. He also states that even though there is some respect for different cultures and genders, there i not so much respect for the gay community.

1.) "Finally, I want to distinguish between a homosexual orientation or preference, and gay identity. The former I take to refer to the more-or-less natural direction of one's sexual desires while the latter refers to the active construction of a gay self identity and visible gay presence within culture-what I am referring to as gayness. "

I do not understand what he is trying to say about gay identity. Is he talking about people acting like a "gay" person. Ex. wearing flamboyant clothes, talking with a lisp, etc.

2.) "In recent years, popular cultural representations of gayness have moved
beyondthe stereotypesembodied in La Cage aux Folies, much as representa
tions of blackness have moved beyond the stereotypes of Amos and Andy. Vet
in both cases we may legitimately question just how much progress has been
made. "

I really do not think that there has been much progress made. As Carlson says shortly after, we still have stereotypes, they are just different stereotypes. We joke about these issues, but they seem to show up in the media, and therefore is the reason why these issues are the blunt of our jokes.

3.) "Let me then identify some of these concerns and their implications for the study of gay identity. First, and at the most basic level, multicultural education is linked to
the protection and extension of certain democratic "virtues," including the
protection of minority rights and individual freedoms, equity, respect for difference, and (in its fullest form) the development of interlocking webs of caring, supportive relations among individuals. This implies at the very least that educators involve young people in a discussion of gay identity within the context of a discussion of human rights in a democratic community, and it may extend to a discussion of caring for others, including the gay Other, in community. Second, democratic multicultural education must challenge "essentialistic" worldviews that take categories such as gender. sexual identity, and race for granted as "natural" categories having fixed meaning, While our race, gender, and sexuality may, at least to a good degree, be fairly fixed or given, what we make of being gay or straight. man or woman, black or white, is very much cultural as well as personal."

We should include talks that are not opinionated in anyway about the gay community just as much as we should talk about race and gender. They are serious topics that young people may not know much about, but haveto be informed about because it is all around them.

This was a long, but fairly simple piece to read. It was a different topic, but a similar area as our other pieces. It talks about diversity in the sense of the gay community. The other pieces talked more about race and gender. I think that Carlson almost indirectly shares his opinion a little too much on this topic. He seems to put it into a point of view that feels bad for the gay community. I think that it is fine to have whatever opinion you want, but I also think that when you are dealing with any diverse subject, that you can not offer an opinion because people get offended.

As Americans, we tend to judge people when they are different. We like to point out what other people are doing wrong, but think that we are doing nothing wrong. EVERYONE has their own issue! In this respect I can see why Carlson seems to feel bad for the gay community, because, to excuse the phrase but, "there is no love" for the gay community. They are different than typical America. People do not like this. These are the facts, but I think that we definitely should inform the young community about this subject, because they do not understand yet.

Why is being "gay" such a big deal? Why is it bigger than being black, or white, or a man, or a woman? I think it is because it is a relatively new subject to us? What do other people think?

Talking Points #2

"Aria"

By: Richard Rodriguez

In this piece, Rodriguez states that all people come from different backgrounds and speak different languages. He argues that all people from different backgrounds should be assimilated in the public.

1.) "Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid. I would have trusted them and responded with ease."

Rodriguez, like many other children from different cultural backgrounds, feel overpowered when they go into class. Classes are obviously taught in English, but alot of kids speak a native language at home. This can play a roll in how they learn.

2.) "At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth: I was an American citizen."

After Richard's family had started talking to him in English at home, he started to feel more comfortable with speaking out in class. He felt confident. As in this quote, he finally felt like an American Citizen.

3.) "Today I hear bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of individuality' by becoming assimilated into public society. But the bilingualists simplistically scorn the value and necessity of assimilation."

This stands out to me because this was a boy from a bilingual, but strong spanish-speaking background, and after he changed to speaking English fluently, he strongly beleives that people should be publicly assimilated. It is for the best interest of the persons life. It opens job opportunities, and social benefits.

This is a very sensible piece for any teachers in inner city schools. It helps you relate to where alot of children are coming from. Sometimes it is hard for us to see where other people come from, and therefore hard to understand why they are the way they are in public. Again this article deals with race and ethnical backgrounds like our other articles. This was an easy read, and very informative to me as a student teacher. Although I come from an inner city school, I kind of live outside of the city part, so it is hard for me to relate to problems such as this. It intrigues me and makes me want to get more involved.

When I read or hear of problems like this, it motivates me to do something about this. If children are going to lear, we haveto try to get them as close to the same level as we can in the early stages like kindergarten. Right now I am student teaching a kindergarten class, and although it is not what I want to be teaching forever, this will allow me the opportunity to change some things in the classroom. I can pay more attention to pronounciation and tone. I can work with different kids at different rates, knowing that they all do not have the same grasp on things.

I would like to know if anybody in the class has had a similar situation growing up? If so did you have as much trouble as Rodriguez had at becoming assimilated?

Talking Points 1

"Data Show Racial Bias Persists in America"
BY: SALIM MUWAKKIL

Muwakkil argues that white society believes that there is still favoritism between races in the workforce. We are trying to hide reality, but these racial issues are still here.

1.) "A recent GaUup Poll asked. 'Do you feel that racial minorities in this country have equal job opportunities as whites, or not?' Fifty-five percent of whites polled said yes. Other polls have revealed similar numbers."

This quote shows that the majority of people still think that all races are treated equally.

2.) "The study found that applicants with white-sounding names were 50 percent more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with black-sounding ones."

This study was done by professionals, and is a legitimate, shocking fact. This is how important business people see potential employees.

3.) "The study found that when white and black job seekers had the appropriate qualifications and experience for the position, whites were far more likely to be called back than blacks."

President's and CEO's want to make their business have the best reputation as possible. A lot of decisions are mislead by a typical white or black name, and not by experience or potential.

This segment had some shocking facts to it. Everybody judges and gets judged by the world, but when a career is decided by the look of a name, it becomes outrageous. I myself have been known to judge on a first impression, but I try to judge them after I have talked to them. These issues are true and can not be fixed with a law or restriction. This is going to have to be fixed by one's personal decisions when hiring someone. It makes me aware of this situation, opens my eyes, and teaches me to know how to handle these decisions if I ever have to hire someone.

Has anyone ever encountered a situation similar to this?

Talking Points 1

"White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"

By: Peggy McIntosh

Peggy McIntosh's opinion on the topic of this article is the difference between the races and genders, and how they are recognized. McIntosh's viewpoint on the article favors the woman's privileges over the men's privileges and shows how the men are favored over the woman.

A quote in the article that means something to me is the number 7 topic that states, "I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race." This quote means a lot because of the Service Learning that we are doing in class currently. This quote shows how the education differs because of race. People believe that because of the race of the person, the education level should be lower, but this quote proves that there should be a standard level of education no matter what race, religion, or gender.

The second quote in this article that means something to me number 4 that states
"I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed." It has been proven that African American people get judged more when they go shopping than white people. This quote means something to me because it is not always true, and just because of the color of a person's skin makes assumptions for them. The third quote that means something to me that is stated in this article is number 22 that states "I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having coworkers on the job suspect that I got it because of race." In this day and age, it is much harder for African American people to find a job. Most white people get hired over African American people just because of their skin color. This means something to me because some of the most successful people are African American such as our current president Barack Obama.

I understood that this article makes a legitimate argument about the ways some races are favored over others, and how men are overprivledged over women. McIntosh made a good point on how she thinks that men are overprivledged over women and how hard it is for men to admit that they are overprivledged. This article was very easy to read because there are many problems in the world that have to do with racism and gender issues that we have heard of and the issues are very common. This article addresses many of the problems that we have read throughout other texts including gender issues and racism.

Johnson vs. Delpit

Although Johnson was very repetitive in his emphasis on privilege, I felt as though his messgae was much more effective than Delpit. Delpit's writing style was not easily understood for me, and seemed to confuse more people than just me. I feel as though when you are trying to make valid points to the public, you should make them easy to read and understand for all age groups and backgrounds. The message will be more effective and make a bigger impact. That is what Johnson did, and we seemed to have a more in depth conversation in class. Everyone was involved. Now imagine what that would be like if Delpit worded his message like that.