Can I aksk you a question?
I will preface this with the fact that I am concerned about posting this because I don't want to offend anyone. If you are offended by it, I am sorry. I might come off as a racist, but that's not what I want because I don't think of myself as racist.
I have probably mentioned before that I teach at a high school in a upper middle class community. In Illinois, if you teach in an upper middle class community, you more than likely teach at a school that has either lots of whites and Asians or lots of Jews and Asians. It's just a fact these days that, although that whole Brown v. The Board of Ed thing happened, Illinois schools are still quite segregated. In previous years, one could count on two hands the total number of black or Hispanic students in the entire school of nearly 3,500 kids. This year, however, is different. You can look in the halls and see an actual difference. There are a lot of black and Hispanic students now. They are spread out among the four grade levels, but it is mostly concentrated in the freshmen class for some reason. I have five black kids and one Hispanic kid in one class and two black kids and one Hispanic kid in another. I was even concerned at first that the administration had put all of them into my class to segregate them. But I asked three other teachers in my department and, as it turns out, they have similar numbers in their classroom.
Let me be clear; these are not kids that were born and raised in the community where I teach. All of them just moved to the suburbs from Chicago, and they do not live in the old stately homes of the community; they live in apartments next to the school. Nearly all of them are considerably "lower" academically than my kids that have been in the district since 1st grade. They come from the wretched Chicago Public School system, and now they are overwhelmed in our high achieving district. By the way, these are not assumptions. I know all of this to be fact because of a teacher letter assignment where they have to tell me a little about their past and how the year is going so far.
It's really nice to have a little diversity for once, and I am happy about it. But it hasn't come without complication. Just like the white and Asian kids always have, the black and Hispanic kids are segregating themselves into their groups. The lunchroom looks like a holding area for auditions for the new season of Survivor. You see "the black tables," "the Hispanic tables," "the white tables," and "the Asian tables." It's ridiculous. My editors always want to write about it in the school paper. However, once they start writing, they realize they have nothing new to contribute, no idea that doesn't sound like a weak attempt at solving the world's problems with an editorial. My biggest issue isn't with this self-segregation, which is human nature I suppose. I do have an issue with the way my black and Hispanic students seem to want their rich, spoiled classmates to see them as "ghetto", a word that is being tossed around far too often in our school these days. The new students seem to be doing everything they can to fulfill every negative stereotype these native suburbanites have about them. I see the Hispanic and black students in the hall doing every stereotypically black or Hispanic thing you can think of- from sucking on a pacifier to yelling obnoxiously across the halls to get their friend's attention. And I don't even know if that bothers me that much that they fulfill negative stereotypes in the halls because many teenagers want to fulfill a stereotype; they just want to fit in, and what better way to fit in than act like everyone you hang out with. And I know every teenager uses slang; but it bothers me when this behavior comes into my English classroom. Is it unfair to expect my black and Hispanic students to speak standard English during a speech? Or when they ask me a question, shouldn't I insist that they "What is this?" rather than "What this is?" Or that they say "ask" and not "aksk"? One kid, during his introduction speech, kept insisting that he was "ghetto."
I'm picturing their moms and dads working their tails off to pay rent in that community to give them an opportunity to go to a great school. Wouldn't they want their kids to take advantage of that opportunity? Is it racist for me even to say that? Isn't there a time and a place for everything- even the language you use? The worst part is that there have been more fights than ever already this year. And it is fights between the Hispanic students and the black students. Is that why their parents uprooted their life in Chicago, where their families probably lived for generations? So that their kids could move out to the suburbs and start a race war?
I have probably mentioned before that I teach at a high school in a upper middle class community. In Illinois, if you teach in an upper middle class community, you more than likely teach at a school that has either lots of whites and Asians or lots of Jews and Asians. It's just a fact these days that, although that whole Brown v. The Board of Ed thing happened, Illinois schools are still quite segregated. In previous years, one could count on two hands the total number of black or Hispanic students in the entire school of nearly 3,500 kids. This year, however, is different. You can look in the halls and see an actual difference. There are a lot of black and Hispanic students now. They are spread out among the four grade levels, but it is mostly concentrated in the freshmen class for some reason. I have five black kids and one Hispanic kid in one class and two black kids and one Hispanic kid in another. I was even concerned at first that the administration had put all of them into my class to segregate them. But I asked three other teachers in my department and, as it turns out, they have similar numbers in their classroom.
Let me be clear; these are not kids that were born and raised in the community where I teach. All of them just moved to the suburbs from Chicago, and they do not live in the old stately homes of the community; they live in apartments next to the school. Nearly all of them are considerably "lower" academically than my kids that have been in the district since 1st grade. They come from the wretched Chicago Public School system, and now they are overwhelmed in our high achieving district. By the way, these are not assumptions. I know all of this to be fact because of a teacher letter assignment where they have to tell me a little about their past and how the year is going so far.
It's really nice to have a little diversity for once, and I am happy about it. But it hasn't come without complication. Just like the white and Asian kids always have, the black and Hispanic kids are segregating themselves into their groups. The lunchroom looks like a holding area for auditions for the new season of Survivor. You see "the black tables," "the Hispanic tables," "the white tables," and "the Asian tables." It's ridiculous. My editors always want to write about it in the school paper. However, once they start writing, they realize they have nothing new to contribute, no idea that doesn't sound like a weak attempt at solving the world's problems with an editorial. My biggest issue isn't with this self-segregation, which is human nature I suppose. I do have an issue with the way my black and Hispanic students seem to want their rich, spoiled classmates to see them as "ghetto", a word that is being tossed around far too often in our school these days. The new students seem to be doing everything they can to fulfill every negative stereotype these native suburbanites have about them. I see the Hispanic and black students in the hall doing every stereotypically black or Hispanic thing you can think of- from sucking on a pacifier to yelling obnoxiously across the halls to get their friend's attention. And I don't even know if that bothers me that much that they fulfill negative stereotypes in the halls because many teenagers want to fulfill a stereotype; they just want to fit in, and what better way to fit in than act like everyone you hang out with. And I know every teenager uses slang; but it bothers me when this behavior comes into my English classroom. Is it unfair to expect my black and Hispanic students to speak standard English during a speech? Or when they ask me a question, shouldn't I insist that they "What is this?" rather than "What this is?" Or that they say "ask" and not "aksk"? One kid, during his introduction speech, kept insisting that he was "ghetto."
I'm picturing their moms and dads working their tails off to pay rent in that community to give them an opportunity to go to a great school. Wouldn't they want their kids to take advantage of that opportunity? Is it racist for me even to say that? Isn't there a time and a place for everything- even the language you use? The worst part is that there have been more fights than ever already this year. And it is fights between the Hispanic students and the black students. Is that why their parents uprooted their life in Chicago, where their families probably lived for generations? So that their kids could move out to the suburbs and start a race war?
posted by Sue Ellen Mischke at 6:18 AM
14 Comments:
Perhaps you just need to add an ebonics element to your curriculum.
We have the same problem here with Yankees.
You're not being racist, you're just keeping it rill, girl. (See how ghetto I am?) You're absolutely right to insist on correct English in an English class. But I've seen Dangerous Minds; I know it's tough to educate those who don't want to educated.
I think, as a white high school teacher, that these specific racial issues are particularly hard to sort out. I have a seemingly opposite issue. I'm in Virginia at a prep school with one or two black students per class of forty. I see these students becoming "whiter" (and yes, I understand the inherent racism in that comment) and wonder if someone should help them to embrace their own racial culture. Which is worse for a black student - to be "white" in a white school or "black" in a white school?
Wow! Look at all these new readers!
marc, I was expecting more comment from you on this one. I certainly wasn't expecting an ebonics joke!
E, no anti-yankee commentary here please sister.
*, I'm all about keeping it real.
Lux, I agree. I do think that kids love to fufill stereotypes. When they're adults, they'll be kicking themselves for acting so cliche.
cruser, I don't know. I mean, what is "black culture" anyway? If it's the gangster attitude I see from my new kids at my school, I don't blame your students for not embracing it. If it's something less destructive than that, then I think they should embrace it. I bet there are many black people who think black culture has nothing to do with speaking improperly. I have no fucking idea though.
Over here it's the parents. There's no control anymore. Some parents are as bad, or worse, than their kids. Asians stay with Asians n all that. The govt has even let them open their own schools. Don't think th politicos can spell integration. Knew a white guy years ago born in Feltham, West London, who had blond dreadlocks and spoke with a Carribean accent. Some weird peeps out there.
I agree that poor language skills are not "embracing culture." It's the other stuff that makes me wonder. Is sucking on a pacifier any worse than wearing your collar up? Is trying to exaggerate to what extent you're "ghetto" any more ridiculous than trying to exaggerate to what extent you're wealthy? To me the former stick out more because I'm not used to them.
I began to worry when one of my black students told me that she looked at Howard, but "the black people there were, like, really black." She finally chose a small, white, college to succeed her small, white high school. I hate feeling like my school played a role in the development of an educated black woman who has trouble relating to other black people.
cruser, and I hate feeling that simply because a black woman is educated, she cannot relate to other black people. Okay, I could go on for days about this topic, but I'll stop now. This is getting way to heavy for my blog.
You want a SERIOUS reponse?
Well... I don't think you're out of place asking students to speak proper English in an English class. I don't think I'm alone in abhorring the idea that somehow seeking an academic education is a "white" thing to do (Most African-American leaders in the US today have expressed similar sentiments).
I think much of the problem lies with perceptions fueled in large part by the media. Unhealthy expectations and bad role models are perpetuated as the ideal. Instead of seeking to become teachers, engineers or doctors, a lot of innercity kids dream only of making it to the NBA or becoming rappers.
Though he received a lot of criticism for his remarks, I think Bill Cosby was right in his "Poundcake" speech in 2004. The problems you've highlighted here Sue are emblematic of a larger problem... we need to figure out how to fix it.
Now that's the kind of response I was hoping for, marc.
It's a shame I had too much pinot grigio to make sense of it. ;)
NEW BLOG! NEW BLOG! NEW BLOG! NEW BLOG!
I think you should make them learn properly independenlty where they are from but separating them in "asian", jews or spanish, already show more a lot about your racism.
This show more then the follow phrase:
"I was even concerned at first that the administration had put all of them into my class to segregate them."
I know is difficutl to avoid prejudices but i cannot believe that all of them cannot speak a proper english. stereotype is used by "no brain"people and you as teacher should be able to think.
Yes, i know - my english is not the best too :-)
I wish you all luck with those kids
Ok, Anon, let's make one thing clear. Simply acknowledging the race of a person does not make one a racist. I don't believe we live in a color blind society, nor do I feel we should. I don't SEPARATE my students in any way. Many of the students separate themselves into their own social groups based on their race. I do not wish for things to be this way, yet they are. The point of my post is not that it is because these students are black or hispanic that they cannot speak standard English. Not at all. It is because these students were educated in a sub-par city school that they cannot speak standard English, which I believe is clear from the post. And NO, not ALL of the minority students in the school fail at speaking standard English; however, all of the students in MY particular classes THIS YEAR do, in fact, fail to speak standard English. There have been black students in my classes in the past that spoke English just fine. Likewise, I have had, and do have, white students who speak awful standard English. And I am not saying that these students are incapable of ever using standard Engilsh; if they spend enough time in my classroom and the classrooms of other good teachers, I think they can be as successful as any other student in the building who has had the privilege to attend quality schools their whole lives.
I take issue with you accusing me of having no brain and failing to "think" about this issue. I would think that the mere fact that I wrote a lengthy post about the topic would indicate that I put a great deal of thought into this, which I did.
I think the big problem here is that there is no grasp of linguistics. You expect a kid that walks into your classroom to speak perfect english without any teaching. What good are you as an english teacher then? Why do you even have a job? That's right, you teach "reading."
The problem is is that children grasp the language spoken by their immediate caregiver between the ages of 6 months and 4 years, before any formal schooling starts. In this country, we automatically assume that since we learned correct English, so must have everyone else. You cannot fault a child for using the linguistic structure that they have MASTERED. If you want those, "ghetto" kids to speak standard english, then teach them the rules that govern its discourse. Yes, I said teach, not just correct their mistakes. Teach them why it is important to speak standard english, and that you are not trying to eradicate their language, but add to it.
If you want to effect change and get these kids to learn, you need to understand that they are NOT deficient, they are different. They do not have cognitive shortcomings, but different linguistic competencies. On the process side, again, the goal should not be to eradicate the African-American Language, but to add to it. Asking a student to stop speaking his "ghetto" slang is asking him to throw his culture in the garbage can. You are telling him that his culture is worth less than yours and that he should adopt your language and cultural norms just because you say he should. That ma'am, is racist.
And by the way, I am a middle-aged, white, male that teaches middle school. I work with the same kids all day long, and you would be surprised how well they will work and behave for you if you just respect their culture.
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