Teachers the Paragon’s of Diversity: Or Are We?

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We American’s live in a country commonly called a “melting pot of cultures”, and for good reason, since America has been a place for the repressed and beaten to call sanctuary for some time. But, if that’s the case, if America has come so far culturally, why do we repress African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Islamic, and Asian people? What right do we have to look a starving Hispanic family in the eyes and tell them ‘get a job’? What right to we have to assume that a “rough looking” African-American person is going to rob us when the gangly looking Caucasian guy next to you is probably already in your back pocket stealing your wallet. What’s worse, you probably backed-up into the Caucasian guy because you thought you’d be safer with him.

And do any of us know why we feel this way? Why we don’t look an African-American in the eyes? Why we’re afraid of them? Well, I think it was best stated in a quote from Vernā Myers, who, when speaking about a murder of a young African American man, said: “This violence, this brutality, is really something that's part of our national psyche. It's part of our collective history.” (Myers, 3:06). The “history” Vernā speaks about, is a history of slavery, which for some reason, even though it was out forefather’s who acted as slavers, we, the common collective, still think that African-American people are scary. Even though, we, were the one’s who enslaved them, not the other way around.

What’s even more serious about this, as if the lives of people aren’t serious enough, these prejudices are falling onto child. People, who don’t even know how to add two-plus-two, yet they are experiencing the same kind of cultural despair their parents are. Currently, in America, there are low-income children who are living in fear of weather or not they’ll be spending their early twenties in a college dorm or a prison cell. In a speech made by Alice Goffman during her TedTalk, she says something similar, to the tune of: “What's more, it's poor kids that we're sending to prison, too many drawn from African-American and Latino communities so that prison now stands firmly between the young people trying to make it and the fulfillment of the American Dream.” (Goffman, 2:30). Which, again, begs the question: why?

Well, sadly, the “why” might very well be beyond the understanding of the every-day-joe, but what we can do, as future educators, is make sure that we don’t perpetuate this prejudice. A very important step for a teacher to maintain a positive and prejudice free outlook was stated in the article “Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy” where the author’s declare: “Teacher self-reflection is an important part of the personal dimension. By honestly examining their attitudes and beliefs about themselves and others, teachers begin to discover why they are who they are, and can confront biases that have influenced their value system (Villegas & Lucas, 2002).” (Richards, Peay, Brown, Forde, 2006).

Another point, which can aid in a teacher’s cultural development, was stated well in a blog called: “7 tips for teachers to create a safe school environment” wherein the author: Jeffery Marsh states “ Lobby for safe spaces (or create them). Sometimes a teacher needs to be the one to advocate for the use of school space for clubs and gatherings that the school deems controversial or unimportant. Whether it’s an LGBT or religious or just a hobby club, young people need at least one safe space to make connections with peers and find out they are not alone or freakish or as weird as they may be thinking. A safe space of this kind has several hallmarks. It is clean and respectful. It is private. It is free from other activities and groups. It is free from haters and bullies, whether they are students or teachers who disagree with what the club is offering. If a school refuses to allow a safe space that you know your students need, look for ways to assist with the club outside your school.” (Marsh, 2017). And while that blog’s statement does talk about racial aspects we need to remember two things.

First: That we aren’t speaking singularly about ethnic problems. Many people from diverse backgrounds all face prejudice of different calibers.

Second: Just because the statement doesn’t mention ethnicity doesn’t mean we can’t apply the thought process across different groups.

In conclusion, we, as future educator’s, have a chance to lessen the divide between ethnic, cultural, and personal prejudices if we chose to. We can chose to turn a blind eye to the dark world around us and leave it to rot in its own despair or we can make a difference and help those in need. Not by being heroes, social-justice warriors, or paragon’s of bias-less might who champion the unwanted. But, instead, by being people, real people, who have excepted that we have flaws, emotional baggage, biases, prejudices. What’s important, is that we know about these problems, and strive to be better then them; not for our sake but for the sake of our students.

References:

Myers, V. (n.d.). Transcript of "How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them". Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/verna_myers_how_to_overcome_our_biases_walk_boldly_toward_them/transcript#t-175692.

Goffman, A. (n.d.). Transcript of "How we're priming some kids for college - and others for prison". Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/alice_goffman_college_or_prison_two_destinies_one_blatant_injustice/transcript.

7 tips for teachers on how to create a safe school environment. (2017, May 2). Retrieved from https://blog.ed.ted.com/2017/05/01/7-top-tips-for-teachers-and-anyone-who-works-with-young-people

Richards, Peay, Brown, Forde, (2006) Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. (2006). Retrieved from https://learn.granite.edu/pluginfile.php/1848530/mod_resource/content/2/Diversity_Brief.pdf