Chapter 16 and 17

Chapter 16: The Great White North

Question 2: How does the framework of interlocking oppressions reframe issue of girls violence? How does this theoretical lens also challenge the saliency of class to explain the scenario between the groups of young women?

The framework of interlocking oppression reframes issues of girl violence because it acknowledges that race is not the only facet in initiating violence. Specifically, in this situation, the problem arose from class and gender issues. The assumption of race was made due to the fact that middle and upper class students tended to be white (a product of a white power structure) and the working class students tended to be black. Unfortunately, the black girls at this school felt unwelcome, as their position is at the bottom of the social hierarchy of white male power… they are women faced with the issue of male domination, they are of lower class backgrounds facing the issue of class discrimination, and they are black facing a white power structure. Unfortunately, all these facets are closely linked to one another. Class tends to reflect race in our society because of the racist nature of white privilege. It is important, however, not to allow ourselves to become single minded when dealing with situations like the one addressed in the chapter.

Question 5: What kinds of anti racist pedagogical interventions might emerge from a more critical reading of the incidents between these groups of young women?

Teachers need to make an effort to be more aware of the underlying issues behind violence and confrontations going on among the student body. Students need to be educated and placed in situations that promote mutual understanding and teach students to relate to one another. I feel that the best way to achieve that is to separate existing cliques and create close, smaller blended groups of students in the classroom rather than separating groups based on race, gender or class. In addition, teachers need to be educated in order to educate and students need to be made aware of the issues earlier rather than waiting until they are older and social racism has had a chance to engrain itself in their perceptions.

Chapter 17: The Great White North?

Question 1: How should Whiteness be broached within an institutional context by those who may not be in positions of power?

There are many more people who are not in official positions of power than those who are. As such, we a great deal more power than we believe. Most importantly, we need to be sure people are educated, and we need to focus on our own perception of whiteness and challenging ourselves to overcome racism by being culturally sensitive. In addition, by educating people at a young age about whiteness and racism, they will be more apt to share their knowledge and to challenge the status quo and change it when they enter into the workforce. I think it's important that people who are not in "power" do not let themselves be silenced or disempowered by those who are. The biggest cultural revolutions have taken place, historically, when the populace has risen up against the status quo and realized it's own power as a collective.

Question 2: How should Whites be made more aware of, and become engaged in the conceptualization and application for race and anti racism?

First and foremost, it is essential that people be educated about the existence of race and racism and it's prevailing nature in our society. It is all too easy for people (especially whites) to turn a blind eye to the reality of racism, which simply perpetuates the problem. Children need to be taught to think critically, not only about society but also about their own beliefs, preconceptions and cultural identity. Rather than talking about race as an issue faced by "other" groups in our society, we need to begin addressing the topic of whiteness as something other than the "norm" and we need to do that outside of academia. One of the issues, I believe, is that we have these courses in University to expand our understanding and challenge the status quo, which ignores a large part of the population that either cannot or chooses not to attend university. In addition, it is important to start educating people at a younger age and do it in a more universal way than flyers and multi-cultural day. There needs to be a complete shift in mindset, which will most likely start with us, as teachers. One of the beauties of this profession is the impact we can have on society for the better, we touch the lives of so many children, we need to take the initiative when it comes to issues of racism, sexism, classism, etc.

Question for Dr. Carr:
Considering the lofty and theoretical nature of whiteness and identity, and the academic language used to discuss it in books like The Great White North, how might we, as elementary teachers, address the issue of whiteness with our students in such a way as to make the knowledge accessible to them and age appropriate?

The Great White North - Ch. 10 Question 4

How is the Holocaust taken up in the curriculum? How does teaching about the Holocaust compare to teaching about Israel? About Palestinians and the Middle East? About other genocides? The Great White North Paul R. Carr, Darren E. Lund (Eds) p.44

My experience has been that the holocaust is a subject that is deeply engrained in education, especially when dealing with issues of human rights. While it is essential to teach about the holocaust, I feel that, in some ways, the intense focus we have on that moment in history blinds us in some ways to what is going on in the present. The subject is always approached with a “we must remember so we don’t repeat” mindset, which ignores the fact that we ARE repeating, that genocide is not simply an issue of the past. I remember in school we would have entire lesson plans dedicated to teaching about the holocaust – films, reports, lectures, speakers, and yet, I only remember once in junior high, hearing about the Rwandan Genocide. Virtually everything I know about Israel, Palestinians, the Rwandan Genocide, and other such issues I learned through sources outside the classroom until I reached university.

It is unnerving to me that we focus on one event to such an extent that we greatly overlook many issues facing us today. Yes, it is important to learn from the past, but in order to do that we need to remember to address the present. Our children need to be reminded that these issues are relevant to what is going on in their lifetime and are not only found in textbooks and films. I believe that our focus on the Holocaust has a lot to do with the fact that it took place in a white European nation. It is easy for us to look at the Middle East or Africa and feel distanced from the violence because we think of them as different from ourselves. We assume that certain places are predisposed to those sorts of problems, so it doesn’t jolt our sense of security quite as much. It is, however, easy for us to relate to Germany and, thus, to feel more personally effected by and threatened by what happened; it seems “unnatural” to us that such an event would take place there. It is unfortunate, but it really does represent the blanket of racism and how it affects our thinking as a nation, often subtlety and subconsciously.

The Great White North - "Whiteness"

Part 1 - Quote

Choose one quote from pp. 43-45 of The Great White North? State the quote in your blog posting, then compare and contrast this quote with your own definition of whiteness by answering these three questions: How do you interpret the meaning of the quote? How does its meaning expose a certain truth about the concept of whiteness? Does your definition of the concept prove or disprove (agree or disagree with) the perception of the chapter’s author, James Frideres?

"Privilege is hard to see for those who were born with access to power and resources" - ( Carr & Lund pp. 44)

I thought this was a very insightful quote. The concept being expressed is that whiteness (at least the dimension of whiteness that relates to privilege) is, in large part, defined by non-whites, as privilege is most tangible and concrete for those people who were not born into it. Whites have never known anything other than their racial privilege, as such it is hard for them to comprehend the reality of it or the impact it has on the lives of non-whites. This idea exposes the invisibility of whiteness to whites. Furthermore, the notion that racial identity belongs only to non-whites implies that to be white means to be a part of the "norm" - to be human rather than to be defined by your race. I had honestly never considered that before, but having been confronted with with it in the reading, I can see the truth in what Frideres is saying.

My own definition of whiteness and Frideres parallel one another in some ways, but I would not say that I embrace his definition of whiteness in its entirety. I agree that whiteness relates to privilege that white people receive based on their racial identity. I agree that whiteness is viewed in our society as the norm, and that other ethnicities are labeled as the other. However, I think that to claim that the entire concept of whiteness is the invisible and ubiquitous nature of white privilege is rather shallow and one dimensional. I would hope that there is more to whiteness than simply power, privilege and the identity of oppressor just as I would hope there is more to blackness than being underprivileged and oppressed. Am I wrong? Is this issue as clear cut and one dimensional as Frideres seems to be suggesting? Am I just too blinded by the whiteness of my own skin to recognize the truth? It's hard for me to say, and I think that in this debate the reality of my whiteness diminishes my credibility.

Reread the first full paragraph on p. 51. Considering yourself a future teacher, create two open-ended questions that if given the chance you would ask the author, James Frideres, about his ideas in this paragraph as they relate to your (future) teaching practices. Then, for each question, propose your own response to the question. If you believe the question is unanswerable, provide a detailed response explaining why its unanswerable.

Question 1: "How might we, as teachers, address the subject of whiteness with our students without propagating white guilt? In other words, how do we broach the topic without making it seem as though we are accusing the white students of being guilty by sole virtue of the color of their skin?

I think it's important that the subject be addressed with some sensitivity on the part of the teacher. I think a more successful and meaningful way to get the message across would be to allow the students to first reflect on and discuss their own heritages, their own experiences, and their own assumptions. Then you might ask them to consider how the issues they raised themselves relate to the subject of racial privilege, societal norms and biases. By directing the students while still allowing them to come to their own conclusions about the issue, I believe the experience would be much more empowering and a lot less defeating.

Question 2: "What would the impact be of a non-white teacher bringing up the subject of white privilege in the classroom? Would his/her racial identity give him/her more credibility, or would it further the sense of otherness between him/her and his/her white students? Would a non-white teacher need to approach the discussion differently than a white teacher?

Unfortunately I think that, yes, a non-white teacher would most likely encounter different challenges in this context than a white teacher. Honestly, it's hard for me to imagine what they might be, as it is not a situation in which I will likely ever find myself. However, I think that if the subject were addressed properly, a non-white teacher might utilize his or her own experiences with white privilege as a powerful learning tool. In addition, a non-white teacher would likely not be influenced by individual color-blindness, giving him/her more insight into the reality of racial privilege.

Reflections on Chapter 1 of The Great White North

I find the topic of whiteness to be a very interesting and multidimensional issue. As such I have chosen first to respond to question 1 posed at the end of chapter 1 in The Great White North

In what ways did/has whiteness entered your life in Canada as either privilege and/or oppression?

First off, I would like to clarify that most of my experiences relating to whiteness have taken place in the United States, since I have only been in Canada for a few short years. Having said that, I have been fortunate enough to have experienced both ends of the spectrum, which I hope will allow me to avoid a singularly dimensional perspective when it comes to issues of race and whiteness.

Since I went to a Spanish school which catered predominantly to Latin American families, I experienced a great sense of “otherness” as an outsider to the prevailing culture of the school. For a significant portion of my life, the overwhelming majority of my peers were Hispanic, and I often felt a tinge of self deprecation for not being able to fully participate in their heritage. I felt boring, drab, uninteresting and separate. It wasn’t until we moved and I attended my third high school; a very wealthy, suburban, upper-class school where the average parental income was in the millions, that the tables turned. Suddenly ninety percent of the student body was white and I started to see the impact it had on the non-white students. I started to notice groups self-segregating themselves based on racial identities, and the suspicion that authority figures had towards the non-white groups was very distressing for me. In addition, my neighbor, an elderly widow, would regularly make comments about “her Mexicans.” She had hired help for her yard, and rather than using names or job-titles, she simply referred to them as “her Mexicans” which offended me horribly, though I kept silent about it, a fact that I still suffer guilt over.

In what ways can you and your students/clients/family work to articulate and transform the authority of whiteness at the individual, societal, community, and institutional levels of the local and national levels of Canada?

I think the most important thing to do is to recognize the reality of white authority and to discuss it openly and honestly. As teachers, I believe it is important for us to incorporate lessons of diversity in our classes and to have the students, if they are old enough, think critically and challenge one another’s perceptions of race, whiteness and power. Without recognizing the status-quo, we can’t expect to change it. Individually speaking, I feel it is important to remain aware of ones own privileges and not to allow oneself to become blinded by comfort.

Societal, communal and institutional change will only occur with a shift in the individual mindset. It is important for whites to acknowledge their privileges and to be willing to fight for the rights of non-whites, even if it means giving up the seat of power. We mustn’t allow ourselves to stagnate or accept anything less than total equality. Improvement does not mean achievement!

Response to Chapter 8 of "When Race Breaks Out"

One of the exercises recommended by Fox is to discuss with students the issue of relationships spanning the racial divide. The assumption is that it is difficult for people of different racial backgrounds to develop meaningful connections due to the ignorance of white people to the everyday plight facing people of color.

My problem with this particular argument and exercise is that I feel it simply fosters the notion of difference as being an obstacle rather than an asset, furthering the very thinking we are trying to overcome. Perhaps, as a white person, I am speaking out of ignorance, but it is my belief that truly meaningful relationships are often forged as much out of differences as similarities. In addition, it automatically challenges and belittles the close inter-racial relationships that do exist which may (understandably) offend many students, regardless of race.

On the other hand, it is a valid topic to discuss, and it may offer students an outlet to share with one another issues that would otherwise have been left unsaid. It also challenges students to re-think what they thought they knew and admit that perhaps they are not as enlightened and aware as they may like to think they are. I feel, however, that a better way to pose the question would be “do you believe that a racial divide makes it difficult to have meaningful relationships?” as this choice of words is less likely to offend and leaves the door open for a more varied debate.

Tatum "Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?"

Tatums article raises a lot of key issues, especially in regards to education and teaching. One of the interesting points she brings up concerns the relationship between a teacher and student when the student is a member of a subordinate group while the teacher is a member of the dominant group. Tatum discusses an essay by Herbert Kohl that suggests that when a teacher treats a student as "other" that student is forced to make a decision between learning from someone who does not respect his or her integrity, or rejecting their world by refusing to learn from them. The question that arose in my mind, then, is;

What if it is the teacher who is a member of a subordinate group and seen by her student(s) as the other? How might this influence the classroom dynamic and how might a teacher overcome this obstacle?

My opinion is that one of the key skills a teacher needs to develop is the ability to take challenges and obstacles and use them as educational tools. Granted, a teacher is one voice among thousands, fighting against or trying to work with the multitudes of other influences in a child's life. However, if the student has developed these views of "us" and "other" via his or her parents or the media, or any of the other numerous influences in a child's life, the teacher still has the right and obligation as an educator to offer alternative views and to educate on tolerance and equality (though I hate the term tolerance, as it implies something that needs to be tolerated). A teacher might take it as an opportunity to discuss her own culture, race, etc and those of her students with the goal of making each group not seem so foreign to the other. Multicultural days are a great option and allow students to get creative and share things like food, art, songs, etc with one another.

Another issue raised by Tatum is that of beauty standards. She uses the example of hair and the desire by many in the black community to straighten their hair to make it look "whiter." According to Tatum, there is a general notion of straight "white" hair as being "good hair" and that this is a form of internalized oppression. The question that came to my mind when I read this was;
Does this apply to the beauty standards that white people have adopted from the black community as well? Does the fact that having a "white persons bum" (a more polite term than the one usually used) is considered an insult, or the fact that white women who usually have thinner lips than black women feel the need to get collagen injections symbolize a negation of the beauty of whiteness?

My belief is that, in a way, yes. Whiteness has become dichotomy; on one hand it is represented as the ideal standard of beauty by the media. On the other, it has also become associated with certain undesirable attributes. My belief is that, when it comes to issues of beauty, everyone is a victim of unattainable standards enforced by the media, and it should be a topic on which everyone can come together to overcome rather than another method of division.

Edit: It occurred to me as well that there is another standard of "coolness" which has become associated with blackness, specifically in relation to hip hop. More and more I have noticed that young white people (especially males) are adopting the hip hop and rap subculture which initiated as a black empowerment movent, and are trying to be more "black" --- by that I mean the stereotype of blackness. It strikes me as ironic that white males are striving to achieve the stereotype that black people are trying to get rid of. I wonder if this is due to the fact that white people are not given as many opportunities to explore or consider their race as an element of their identity...

What does it mean to have cultural identity?

As a student of anthropology, the subject of culture is one that I feel very passionate about. Culture (at least from an anthropological perspective) is a combination of abstract values, beliefs, and perceptions that manifest and reflect themselves in people’s behaviours. There are four specific characteristics of culture;

1) Culture is shared. Culture is something unique that binds people together and is intelligible to other members of that culture. Specifically, culture is a means by which groups of people become able to predict one another’s behaviour and know how to react accordingly. It is important to note that the concept of culture differs from that of society. Society refers to geographic groups of people, and often a society can have within it a wide array of cultural groups (like Quebec). In addition, while it is shared, culture is not uniform! No two members of a culture will have identical interpretations of their culture. Smaller subculture groups exist within larger cultural groups.

2) Culture is learned. Culture is NOT BIOLOGICALLY INHERITED! Culture is learned and transmitted from one generation to the next through the process of enculturation. The color of your skin DOES NOT determine your culture, the environment you grew up in, the groups you belong to, and the resulting values, customs, beliefs, and norms that you learn determine your culture.

3) Culture is based on symbols. Art and religion are both parts of culture that involve symbols. Take, for example, a Christian cross, an Islamic crescent, a Jewish Star of David, these symbols mean something to the cultures that use them; they are symbolic of a specific cultures philosophy or creed. At the heart of the symbolic aspect of culture is language, the shared use of words (symbols) to describe the world around oneself.

4) Culture is integrated. I don’t want to get into this point too much since I could go on for pages, and this isn’t an anthropology class, but generally speaking, it refers to the fact that all parts of a culture function together in an interrelated whole.

Source: Crawford, G., Fedorak, S., Haviland, W., & Lee, R. (2002). Cultural Anthropology. Toronto: Nelson.

The video that I would encourage everyone to watch is can be found through the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAARrZpX2l0 it is called Mifugo Ni Mail which means “Herd is richness” and depicts the Maasai Paracuyo culture. It includes images of their daily lives, traditions and rituals and you can get a glimpse of the integrated and interrelated element of their culture. In addition it is very interesting to see how they have incorporated Catholicism within their culture, and how they interpret it as a result of their culture. Furthermore, there is a section that talks specifically about education, and the man who speaks at the end of the clip has some very profound words that I think are important for everyone to remember. While it may seem disconnected from our lives here in Canada, it’s important to recognize that individual, distinct cultures exist within the framework of our society, and it’s vital that we acknowledge, treasure, protect and respect those things that make us unique as well as those things that tie us all together.