Comments on: Is diversity a waste of time?

By: alicemercer

alicemercer — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 02:00:04 +0000

Maybe we (including me) are ascribing feelings/motivation where we shouldn’t. Who knows what “feelings” Third Grade Teacher has about diversity programs? He said they were a waste of time, and why, that will have to be enough. Saying he was hostile was probably psycho-analysis via long distance and over the Internet, surely fraught with error. But I don’t think ascribing fear, or saying he is threatened works either. I guess you could say some folks feel threatened. I get the sense of annoyance more often, “Why do we have to bother with this? Aren’t we past this yet?”

Love all the comments, especially Woody’s willingness to ask hard questions.

By: Doug Noon

Doug Noon — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:25:11 +0000

I left a comment here last evening that got lost when I didn’t type in the anti-spam captcha. This one’s going to be shorter.

I think that people do feel threatened by diversity. The post Alice referenced…(forced diversity=more tension, waste of instructional time, doesn’t work) indicates at least three different threats. The “doesn’t work” criticism, I think, refers to the belief that cultural awareness will help us overcome our prejudices. That criticism, based on Elementary Educator’s post, seems accurate.

Michaele, thanks for the “Lifetime of Personal Diversity” post.

By: mrssommerville

mrssommerville — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 03:01:50 +0000

And following the theme, each of us will hear or read the post with our own ears/eyes formed by prior schema, a perfect example of diversity itself. I’m surprised Third Grade Teacher doesn’t feel reading, writing and arithmetic can be taught, observed, even enjoyed within the subject of social studies, celebrations like Kwanzaa, Hannukah, and Christmas. Seemed odd and very narrow to me. His use of the word “forced” did imply resentment and hostility to me, but it made me wonder why his solution to the predicament was whatever form of neutered/bland/generic/”non”-reflective-of-society curriculum he seems to want to turn to. I agree with you, acknowledging diversity is essential, because it’s who we are. Teaching HOW diversity has been handled in the past is a history lesson, a guide to the good points and the bad. It shows where we’ve been, where we are, and offers up the problems for solving, which is what we ask students to do every day in school. And it’s a scary subject for teachers who don’t know how to teach the subject, who don’t want to teach the subject, who don’t believe they should teach the subject, and who want to treat every student like some colorless, faceless tabula rosa devoid of cultural influence. Fear indicates threat.

By: alicemercer

alicemercer — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:38:26 +0000

I don’t know if “threatening” is the word I’d use to describe the post that started this from Third Grade Teacher. He seems more bored, or feed up. Believe me, I’ve felt that way at some (most) diversity trainings. They suffer from many of the same maladies that all PD has, lots of lecture, not much interaction, and it’s all at one level, instead of differentiated, but the original post questioned the need for it at all. Is that ignorance because he didn’t have a context for why this might be necessary, or is he hostile to the ideas of social justice and that race based differences may be reflecting an unequal system. That reads more as hostility, not threatened to me.

By: » A Lifetime of Personal Diversity Tending the Kinder-Garden

» A Lifetime of Personal Diversity Tending the Kinder-Garden — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:19:24 +0000

[...] Alice’s post at In Practice was a good read this morning. Addressing how to handle diversity in schools, neighborhoods, and society IS a tough issue, and not just for Caucasian folks. Many people simply want to know how and IF (and when and where) to acknowledge ethnic/cultural diversity. The acts of asking someone about his or her background, of learning something new, of trying to be considerate, making sure no one feels looked over, left out, or unwelcome can actually be awkward for people thanks to humankind’s history, no matter how enlightened, unbiased, worldly, just plain kind and inquisitive, or politically correct they may be. But more than some people do feel threatened by anything outside of their own comfort zone, allowing assumptions and stereotyping to influence what I feel are their fear-based behaviors. For some personal history: [...]

By: a. woody delauder

a. woody delauder — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:46:08 +0000

Alice,
I agree with you that we do have a problem, I just like to look at the other side sometimes. Majority culture neighborhoods have been here since the beginning of time. People feel more comfortable living next to people that have the same beliefs and cultures.
Living in Southern Maryland, about 20 miles south of Washigton D.C., I have seen white flight first hand. I do agree that we do have a problem with this.
Until people get the stigma of different cultures being wrong out of their mind, we will always have this problem. I see it slowly happening in some places. But we have a long way to go.
Look at what our government is doing in Iraq. Stripping a culture of their beliefs and values, sure does send the right message to the American people. Until our government respects and understands all cultures, the problem will persist.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:23:08 +0000

I agree with Woody that part of the problem is the neighborhood diversity (or lack thereof). But, that doesn’t change the difficulties for our schools. If students are never exposed to anything outside of their culture, our neighborhoods will continue to be segregated.

Another problem in many neighborhoods is that those families who can afford it send their children to private schools. This is certainly their choice. However, it means that the schools don’t always reflect the neighborhood.

By: Doug Noon

Doug Noon — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:54:28 +0000

The idea that segregation, no matter the cause, hurts us all was the central thesis of Kozol’s Shame of the Nation. It’s a good book. I recommend it.

Thanks for this post. I’m thinking about why diversity feels threatening to some people.

By: alicemercer

alicemercer — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 05:16:54 +0000

Woody, good question. That is something that Mr. Williams discusses in a bit more detail in that podcast, but it does not fully explore the subject. This “self-segregation” is really about those who are able to move out, leaving. So not only have whites largely left these neighborhoods, but the middle class of all races have as well. In addition, it’s still not unusual for neighborhoods as working and middle class blacks move in, to have whites leave. I live in a neighborhood that is gaining in black and brown (Latino and East Indian) populations. I’m waiting to see if that slows white flight out. I don’t know that busing will get you out of this morass, but it is a serious issue and needs to be addressed. It also means that white students are not spending time with blacks, and often not with Latinos, so if you don’t make an effort to teach them about those cultures, they will not learn it on their own, or they will be it will be by watching gangsta’ rap videos, and Def Jam comedy hour. You can make your own call about how to solve the problem, but it is a problem.

Matthew: Thank you for your support!

By: Mathew

Mathew — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 04:25:48 +0000

Thank you for this post. Well said.