MYTHS THAT BIND US
By: Christensen
Connections

All too often, cartoons, the media and other books have given the youth "secret education.".  Exposing the myths can give us a good idea of the stereotypes of who is the hero or heroine, the beautiful one, and who the servants are.

In some of the cartoons, people of color or poor people are either absent or servants to the rich white pretty people.  Overweight people, as Tyler point out, were portrayed as buffoons in every episode after episode. 

Mira attacked the racism with the Native American culture citing in Looney Tunes depicting the race as inferior human beings.  She said, the characters are stereotypical to the greatest degree, carrying tomahawks, painting their faces and sending smoke signals as their only means of communication.

Kenya even scolded parents in an essay "A Black Cinderella Give Me a Break"  She wrote "Have you ever seen a Black person, an Asian or a Hispanic in a cartoon.  She ended her piece: Women who aren't White begin to feel left out because they never get to play the princess.http://sterlingresistance.blogspot.com/2013/02/unlearning-myths-that-bind-us-reflection.html

Mary Carter Smith's delightfully retells Cinderella, Cindy Ellie look like an African Princess with her dazzling dress of pink African laces, a hundred shining braids which had beads of pure gold at the bottom.  And her arms were covered with golden bracelets and on each ear hung five small diamonds earrings.  But both Cinderella and Cindy Ellie had one focus - a man, so happiness for a girl or woman is look for a man.

LGBT
By August

Extended Comments

In this our modern era when there are issues about LGBT people, others have harassed or abused them causing some young lives lost through suicides.  Classrooms of this era should lay the foundations for an inclusive and safe society: a just community where common interests and individual differences coexist according to August.  Any adult interested in creating safe spaces for LGBT youth needs to consider the impact of schooling on the social and psychological development of young people.

As a community, we must discuss and describe how some educators reinforce lGBT exclusionary attitudes and beliefs that find expression in everyday acts of discrimination against LGBT people.  August states that heterosexism is one of those unexamined avenues of privilege.  Assumptions that everyone is heterosexual shape most classroom interactions whether academic or social.  August goes on to say that educations and all adults must forge new paths or widen existing ones to make room for all youth.

Tammy Aaberg spoke about the challenge to all adults in the aftermath of her 15 year old son's suicide.  The son was bullied because of his sexual orientation.  I personally think that lGBT students need advocacy and protection, not neutrality, according to August.https://www.hrw.org/topic/lgbt-rights

Other students might see negative representations of the LGBT community in the health or biology classroom, where they learn about HIV/AIDS as a gay related disease.  History classrooms are no different, even though the themes of oppression and the struggle for civil rights are routinely examined.  There are constitutional protections waged by African Americans, women and the disabled.

If we officially acknowledge the roles of LGBT individuals in the development of this country's harmful stereotypes that have contributed to recent suicide attributed to antigay bullying.

MULTILINGUAL CHILDREN

By: Collier

Connections


"TEACHING MULTILINGUAL CHILDREN"

According to Collier, teaching, multilingual children is exciting but, also challenging.  As politicians sometimes think, if limited English proficient students can converse with their monolingual English speaking counterparts, then these English leaners can compete with them on an equal footing.

http://www.multilingualchildren.org/getting_started/tensteps.html

This is wrong and not that easy.  There is a difference in spoken English and academic written English.  Monolingual English speakers don't have to translate from a students native language to English which is sometimes at odds with local English.  Also, for the non English speaker, it might take up to about five years to be conversant in academic spoken and written English.

Politicians always speak their minds on this difficult issue and, probably, they are not to be blamed because they are not in the classroom with these multilingual students.  There is a connection between Collier and Delpit.  Delpit believes that students can learn the codes of power to succeed in mainstream America.  And also teachers should be encourage and adapt to students background, culture and language styles.

As the writer indicates, "Natives like conversation proficiency generally takes students two or three years to master.  It is not as intellectually as demanding as school or academic language". 

The writer uses one Dominican native who came to America and was working at Domino's Pizza.  Suilo was able to have small conversation in the store and was able to pick up on gestures when dealing with customers.  But Suilo had trouble answering the phone because it required a little more knowledge and understanding of the English language.  This makes it true that, there are many people out there who are proficient in the spoken English but don't have proficiency in the other aspects of English.

UNPACKING THE INVIBLE KNAPSACK
By: Mclntosh


Quotes:

"I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group".

White privilege is not, always subtle, especially, male white privilege.  According to Mclntosh, there are so many things a white person can do that is taboo for people of color.  As the author of this piece suggests, a white person can choose public accommodation without fearing that, people of his or her race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places he or she has chosen.

The author further , singles out that he or she can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having his or her co-workers on the job suspect that he or she got it because of his or her race.  She further more explains that his her skin color was an asset for any move he or she was educated to want to make. 

Peggy thinks that in proportion as his or her racial group was being made confident, comfortable and forgetful, whereas other groups were likely being made unconfident, uncomfortable and alienated.  She goes on to pinpoint that whiteness protected her from many kinds of hostility, distress or violence.  White privilege intertwines with male while privilege.  I cannot even imaging why females whether they are white or black should be paid less even if they have the same qualification.  This makes me think that, a white man buying a new car will be offered a cheaper price than a woman buyer.

 

In my conclusion, as I said in the beginning, of this write up, white privilege is not subtle but easily not noticeable.

U. S. A., LAND OF LIMITATIONS
By: Kristof

Reflections:


I am very grateful to Nicholas Kristof  for his good exposition on his topic U. S. A., Limitations. 








He argues that America is unlike the former land of opportunity.  I agree with him that the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening greatly.

The one percent rich of the population are paying less taxes and the poor are taxed unequally.

My reflection on this passage is that, it's very hard now for a person who is in a well to climb out of it and ascend to the mountain to the economic ladder.

As a black African woman, in this society, with two children, going to college and working at the same time, I can arguable agree with Kristof, that, America is increasing becoming a land of limitations.  I know am hardworking and smart.  However, I believe that through hard work and a little lift from my professor, I can slowly crawl out my well and begin to ascend the arduous task to the top of the mountain.

I particularly, don't want to be a talented person like Rick, as mentioned by Kristof who made wrong choices and ended up receiving disability, that's not me.  As Kristof, clearly points out "school might have been an escalator to a better life", which I truly believe in, I am determined that through perseverance and hard work in college, American won't be a land of limitations but, truly a land of opportunities.

My name is Tina Sam. I have two kids and work in a Special Education School in Canton Mass.