ELLEN
BERG
Diary #1
Some
thoughts on race,
prejudice and cultural relevance
On Sunday I had one of those "A-ha!" moments where the planets align and all the forces of nature come together to form a crystal clear understanding.
As we were touring the Incan ruins of Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley near Cusco, Peru, our tour guide, a woman of Incan descent, explained why the Incans built the way they built and a bit about Incan culture. The Incans understood quite a bit about science and the universe, developing methods of planting through experimentation, building terraces to stop soil erosion, storing seeds for the coming season in a place that took advantage of wind currents and thus, keeping the seeds in a "refrigerated" environment, and developing sundials to keep track of the seasons. Among Incans were astronomers who studied and mapped the constellations using pools of water that reflected the night sky. The Incans were a very learned group of people. What provoked the "A-ha!" moment for me was the idea that, although the Incans were warriors who conquered other people, they did not take their foes as slaves, and they did not attempt to wipe out their culture. They respected the differences of conquered nations, and furthermore, learned from, improved, and adapted the innovations of the cultures they conquered to improve their own society. The Spanish, however, attempted to raze Incan culture as it conquered site after site. When the Spaniards saw the writing, temples, and ways of the Incans, they believed they were engaged in Devil worship. The Spanish tore down Incan buildings (although they could not completely destroy the foundations because of the sturdiness of the structures), building their Catholic churches on top of the temple sites and taking the best stones for their own use. During the Spanish Inquisition, the Incans were persecuted for practicing their beliefs, for simply doing things they had done in their culture for hundreds of years. Incan culture was forced underground, and a good deal of knowledge was lost as they tried to avoid persecution. It was after learning about Incan persecution that I understood that what had happened in Peru had also happened -- is still happening -- today in America. I finally got a much clearer understanding of what minorities in America deal with, not just with one incident or a dozen, not one day but a lifetime. Minorities in America -- regardless of education, socioeconomic status, or ethnicity -- are oppressed on a daily basis. Even if no one spits insults at them, even if they aren't dragged and beaten to death, even if all the opportunities for advancement are lain at their feet, and even if they have attained monetary success, minorities in our culture are oppressed. Wow. There was a lot I just didn't understand Before, I knew the immediate effects of racism upon individuals, I knew that prejudice exists, and I knew that minorities are on the receiving end of a lot of unpleasantness on a daily basis. However, I believed that the acceptance of minorities in various occupations and social institutions as well as proactive measures to advance minorities such as active recruitment of and scholarships for minorities were making up for the sins of our fathers. As a white, middle class American, I did not understand the anger and quick emotion that seems to bubble up so quickly among my African-American friends. I did not understand why others would hold me accountable for acts I did not and would never commit. After all, I truly believe that we are all equal and should have the opportunity to participate equally in society. I just didn't get it. I still believe that anyone can succeed in America, though it is certainly more difficult for some population groups. However, for our minority populations, what must they sacrifice to take advantage of these new opportunities and become successful in white America? What does it cost? I'm not talking about a monetary sum. I am speaking of something much more valuable: one's culture. What does it cost when one shrugs off or suppresses one's own culture in order to fit in with another culture? Our cultures are a huge part of our identities, so much so that I have a difficult time identifying just what my culture is. I just am who I am. Minorities in America do not have that luxury if they want to participate and be successful in white, dominant society. They have to be conscious of those parts of themselves that don't fit in with the majority culture. Failure to do so results in lost opportunities and persecution in the physical, social, economic and emotional arenas in America. Afraid to stand up This summer Oprah Winfrey has been running classic programs from her long running show. On one recent program, Oprah ran the on-air experiment originally conducted by Jane Elliot in her elementary school classroom for brown eyed and blue eyed people. Essentially, blue eyed people who showed up for the Oprah broadcast were treated abominably and forced to wear green collars, and brown eyed people were treated nicely and given special privileges. Brown-eyed people began making comments about how stupid blue-eyed people were, even giving examples from their own lives outside the show. As the audience was debriefed and the conversation turned towards racism, brown-eyed people who came to the show with blue-eyed people stood up and said they knew what others were saying was wrong, but they were afraid to stand up for their friends and what they knew was right. Isn't that what a lot of us do everyday? How many of us have been witness to an off-color joke or comment and said nothing? It never ceases to amaze me that, because I am white, other white people believe I hold the same beliefs as they do, that as long as people of color are not around, it is okay to make these comments. Even in Peru, as I met seemingly intelligent people, I was disappointed time and again as people made comments about race and culture. And I said nothing. On the one hand, I am always so shocked that others believe other races are inferior, or that they would believe I felt the same way. But the real reason I and many others stand by and say nothing is fear. Oh, we might make some gentle comment that refutes the idea that we buy into what others are saying, but do we ever challenge them? Do we ever say, "Why would you say that to me? How can you possibly believe that trash?" Few of us do, because we're afraid of suffering the consequences. Because we stand by and say nothing, we quietly affirm these people's views and allow the culture of oppression to continue. And we are smaller for it. What it means to teach in a culturally relevant way Since my trip to Peru and my subsequent understanding of my role in the continued perpetuation of an oppressive atmosphere, I have vowed to myself that I will not stay silent when others express their racist or prejudiced views. I will challenge them, ask them questions about what makes them think the way they do, and hopefully they will take the time to think about what they are saying. In terms of my classroom, I see the need to teach in a more culturally relevant way as Gloria Ladson-Billings urges in her book, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children. Culturally relevant teaching is more than observing Black History Month or including studies about Africa, it is embedding African-American culture and its ties in everything we teach. It is a habit of mind, a belief system. Ladson-Billings states that culturally relevant teachers demonstrate the following social relations:1. Teacher-student relationship is fluid, humanely equitable, extends to interactions beyond the classroom and into the community.
2. Teacher demonstrates a connectedness with all students. 3. Teacher encourages a "community of learners." 4. Teacher encourages students to learn collaboratively. Students are expected to teach each other and be responsible for each other.
About a teacher's
conceptions of knowledge, she writes that culturally relevant teachers
believe:
1. Knowledge
is continuously recreated, recycled and shared by teachers and students.
It is not static or unchanging. 4. Teacher
helps students develop necessary skills. 5. Teacher
sees excellence as a complex standard that may involve some postulates
but takes student diversity and individual differences into account.
I cannot change the world, but I can change myself, one day at a time.
