How Structural Racism Works

Hyperlinks 

In the video How Structural Racism Works by Professor Tricia Rose, she discusses the five key areas where structural racism is present: housing, education, mass media, wealth/ jobs, and criminal justice.

    Housing: https://housingmatters.urban.org/articles/homelessness-housing-and-racism-problem 

"Another important factor in how cities were developed and operate is the depth of structural racism that has determined where and how people live and work." I will touch upon the work aspect further in the blog, but racial discrimination in housing is a HUGE issue. This specific article is discussing homelessness and how it ties into structural racism, but Rose touches upon the points of segregation within neighborhoods/ the term "ghetto" and how it is linked to black neighborhoods. Rose also talks about the racism in applying for loans/ mortgage/ housing.

    Education:

As we saw in the Precious Knowledge video in class, graduation rates for people of color/ Hispanic students are significantly lower than those of white students. Rose discusses how funding for education is dependent on taxes. Property taxes are dependent on the value of your house, while foreclosure levels and high-risk loans are increased. The affect of property taxes takes away from the resources that could be given to the schools.

    Mass Media:

Mass media portrayals of structural racism should not come as a surprise to any of us. There is so much information on this topic I couldn't even pick an article. However, Rose mentions media briefly while discussing journalism and how people often demonize the victim or community. The specific example given was "son of an uneducated heroin addict" while discussing the murder of Freddie Gray (quote by the media, not Rose).

    Jobs: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/african-americans-face-systematic-obstacles-getting-good-jobs/

Rose briefly talks about wealth and jobs, but I feel this article did a good job explaining the wage gaps and unemployment rates/ instability, while also acknowledging the obvious racism in giving people of color "worse" jobs.

      Criminal Justice: https://naacp.org/issues/race-justice

Another very self explanatory example of racism! Watch the news! Review peaceful protests for the Black Lives Matter movement! Google incarceration rates/ differences!

Video Analysis :)

 

Teach Us All:

Precious Knowledge:

Link to Classroom Tour: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_MUXxaLsnlJVFH2an_6XZYLr6_M37vqmPutPWsNOT00/edit?usp=sharing 

Kohn + Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

 Reflection:

During my K-12 education, I always felt like I had good classrooms. My teachers were always present and engaging, the rooms were always clean and decorated with educational posters and our work, and we sometimes had choices on differing assignments we could do. One of my favorite parts of my schools was that there were always murals painted on the walls, whether it be in the hallway, library, music room, or cafeteria. It isn't until you are exposed to a different setting that you realize how good you had it, or even what could've been improved on. Even though I felt like I was always in good classrooms, there are some critiques I could think of now after reading Kahn, or even just after experiencing a variety of classrooms during my college education. 

My classes mostly always prioritized teacher led instruction. We were rarely allowed to interact with our peers during work time, unless we were doing stations or groupwork. You would have to raise your hand before you could speak. Our desks were almost always in rows facing the front of the class, in fact it was like a treat when you walked in and saw they were in pods or a fishbowl set up. For the most part everyone would be doing the same assignment. It wasn't until middle/ high school where there would occasionally be a choice for your homework or project or in class assignment. Growing up, I would go to the middle or high school for band concerts and the halls would be lined with the band/ chorus/ sports trophies. By the time I got to school there was boxes dedicated to student artwork in every hallway and community bulletin boards/ TV's by the main doors.

Amazing Grace - Kozol

Reflection:

    The chapter from Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol was an a challenging but eye opening read. When I first started reading the text, I was expecting it to be focused on the children and what they endured while living in these neighborhoods (and expected it to tie into their education somehow) but was instead given a whole new perspective on something I had little prior knowledge about. Obviously I knew about poverty, but I was never shown/exposed to first hand accounts of it. It is something that is seldom talked about in schools, especially those in higher-class areas. I am very lucky and privileged to have grown up where I did and with what I had, and I can identify that a lot of that had to do with my race. We were by no means the wealthiest family (lower-middle class family that went through the 2008 recession and ended up with divorced parents) but I had secure shelter in a safe neighborhood. My parents didn't have to worry about me being exposed to drugs or prostitutes when I wanted to go play with the neighbors. I didn't have to worry about being exposed to harsh weather. 

The quote "'If poor people behaved rationally... they would seldom be poor for long in the first place'" (21) made me reflect on my younger self. There were definitely times where I had similar thoughts, or something along the lines of "oh there are plenty of jobs!" which is such a shallow, privileged way of thinking. I can recognize that now. This chapter gave me a new perspective on what I knew to be true; people in poverty are not always in poverty because they "gave up" or simply don't care. There are SO many outside factors that affect people everyday that can cause poverty, with one of the top reasons being inequality, as evident in the reading and all around the country. 

The Silenced Dialogue and Overview

 Argument

Lisa Delpit argues that every child learns different and has a right to an education that fits their needs. A teacher is responsible for teaching their students how to thrive in the "real world". Delpit is encouraging teachers to expand their views on almost what the rights and wrongs of teaching are. You are allowed to suggest to a student how they can improve on their work to fit a social standard, but you should do so in a way that does not diminish their true voice. Towards the middle of the article, Delpit even directly states, "...I believe in a diversity of style, and I believe the world will be diminished if cultural diversity is ever obliterated" (39). The best way to prepare your students to flourish in society is by teaching them the lay of the land so to speak. Suggest ways for them to improve their communication, but be sure to remind them that it is due to the social power levels and that they are not doing anything wrong when they speak/ act in a way that is culturally correct to them and their families. We live in a society that preaches pretend diversity, yet there are rarely any acceptance for diversity in education. In the beginning of the article, Delpit informs us of a reading program called Distar and compared it to a progressive program approach. After comparing the two Delpit writes "It would be... tragic to operate as if these children were incapable of critical and higher-order thinking and reasoning... provide these children the content that other families from a different cultural orientation provide at home" (30). You cannot go into a lesson assuming parents are working with their children at home on phonics and letters, or even that they have any prior knowledge on the topic. The same applies for how you can teach something. You have to be able to adapt and shift your lesson delivery to best fit all students and how they are going to be able to understand it.

Privilege Power and Difference Response

Privilege Power and Difference By Alan Johnson

Quotes:

"The real illusion connected to difference is the popular assumption that people are naturally afraid of what they don't know or understand. This supposedly makes it inevitable that you'll fear and distrust people who aren't like you and, in spite of your good intentions, you'll find it all but impossible to get along with them." (pg 16)

I thought this quote was relevant because it made me think of how mostly all white people can have a sense of internalized racism. It is usually generational and can (thankfully) be broken in younger generations if you surround yourself with the right people and follow the news. 

"There is nothing inherently frightening about what we don't know. If we feel afraid, it isn't what we don't know that frightens us, its what we think we do know." (pg 16)

This quote was stated in reference to ignoring privilege and how that just adds to the problem. As someone who has anxiety I can relate to the whole being scared of something you think you know. I make up a life story for almost everyone I see and, depending on my mood, that can either make me feel safe or terrified. You should never assume something about someone, especially not based off their differences from you.

"...unless you live in a culture that recognized those differences as significant and meaningful, they are socially irrelevant and therefore do not exist. A 'black woman' in Africa, therefore, who has not experienced white racism, does not think of herself as black or experience herself as black, nor do the people around her." (pg 21) 

     This was said by Alan Johnson in regards to a quote analysis of a James Baldwin quote. It stuck out to me because it reminded me of being in high school. I am a white straight woman who comes from a lower-middle class family. I was able to go through a good school system in a nice town, and I am able to identify that I was privileged in that way. However, the school I went to was filled with primarily white students, where most of them were middle/ upper-middle class. There were a lot of people who had "daddys money" and who had a negative point of view. I was constantly surrounded by people feeding me these racist or sexist or homophobic/ transphobic remarks that everyone else would laugh at. I had to remind myself and have my family remind me all the time that it doesn't matter if people are "different" than me. I had to stop myself from continuing down the cycle of believing that I am better than someone just because of my race and sexual orientation and gender.

Random thoughts for class:

Has anyone seen the Barbie movie or listened to The Man by Taylor Swift because that is all I could think about while reading this document!

Introduction

Hi! I am Samantha Wholey. I am 20 (about to turn 21!) and a sophomore studying Early Childhood Education. I have always dreamed of being a Kindergarten teacher and cannot wait to be done with college haha. I am the middle of 8 siblings; three biological older sisters, an older step sister, younger step brother, and a younger half brother and sister. I have two dogs and six cats between my two houses, but am definitely a cat person. I love the Bruins, the beach, bowling, and going to the movies.😋 I am always open to making new friends so don't be shy to reach out!