Many do want the best for their kids; they may not know what that entails, it’s part of my job to teach them;
Many are trying their best and have a lot to deal with; I have to acknowledge that;
Even with those that aren’t trying their best, and should know better, so what? I still have to teach their kid. Bitchin’ n’ moaning will not get that done.

Discussing the chapters became very interesting and awkward when the opinions of teachers who were lifelong Kansans didn’t quite mesh with those of us who had been brought up elsewhere and/or traveled extensively. There were also definite judgement calls made by teachers concerning the tendency of those families living in the poorer parts of town taking more of an interest in “showing the bling” as a social investment rather than spending time inside the home helping their children with homework. Hubcaps and stereos were bought before books and computers, and it was something we as teachers had to accept and work with.

One of the teachers was married to a man who was raised in a ghetto neighborhood, and considered our small town in Kansas not NEARLY as “poor” as the one she visited when spending time with in-laws (and she was right). I brought my experiences not only as a teacher from Alaska and New Mexico to the mix, but as a 1/2 Caucasian, 1/2 Inupiaq woman who had attended schools in poorer Hispanic parts of El Paso, Eskimo villages in Alaska, and small farming communities near military posts. Two other teachers rounded out our staff with Japanese and Filipino “blood” but lived what might be called “stereotypically white” lives. It didn’t take too long to realize that there was no way that many teachers in Kansas were going to be equipped, much less familiar with the personalities and cultural values of people of different ethnic backgrounds, despite having American Indian/Native heritages represented statewide. And if the teachers were born, raised, educated, and employed in Kansas, never to travel or study elsewhere, their scope was only “stretched” when Uncle Sam rotated soldiers and their families through the nearby military post. Add to the mix the uneasy thread of political-correctness of it all… I’m not sure we ever came to some conclusion or made a plan as to how to address the experiential, cultural, or social gaps that were apparent between African American students and their Caucasian counterparts because we were so struck with the diversity of not only our students, but ourselves, our communities, our upbringings, our values, our goals for the year and our hopes.