I’ve been thinking a lot about last class lately- mostly about the labels we use to identify people according to their race and/or ethnicity. I have a lot running through my mind, and I was hoping that some of you would respond with comments or clarifications. Sometimes I feel very lost…here is what I mean by that:
When we talked about filling in circles about race on tests/applications/etc I usually don’t fill in anything, not only because I don’t believe that I should be categorized in such circumstances, but because I don’t really know where I belong.
I love it when people ask about me…they usually have no idea what I am, and I am happy to clarify that to those people curious enough to actually ask. I love my cultural background and I love the fact that I feel so connected to it. But, many people do not know. Many do not ask; many are ignorant to the fact that people like me exist-people who are considered “Other” without anymore explanation.
When 9/11 occurred, my mother had to put a large American Flag sticker on her car so that it would be avoided when people were egging “terrorist” cars. In school, I was considered an “A-rab” [sic]. The people who knew my mother was from Iraq automatically connected me to being a follower of Saddam. I was asked where my towel was, whether Saddam was a relative, whether I celebrated Christmas or Easter. In the airport, my family is the first to be pulled out of line and searched. These are the most recent treatments I have gone through, but I’ve had similar experiences since the time I moved out of Chicago into the suburbs. No one knew what “kind of people we were.” I used to hate looking the way I do; I still struggle with the same issues I did when I was seven. The amount of harassment that Middle Easterners have to go through is an issue that oftentimes gets overlooked- yes, it’s in the news, but it’s often negative and they usually show “my people” running around without any shoes, burning American Flags-basically animals who walk upright. The War in Iraq is not only in Iraq…9/11 has not gone away…I am still the girl that is different from everyone else- even in our C&I class. I know there is a fairly large group of Middle Easterners in Urban schools- all my cousins (first second, third cousins) went to school in inner city Chicago. When do those issues get brought up in a way that people can openly discuss what is going on? Am I missing or wrong about the issues I am having?
When we talk about “people of color in class” I am usually hopeful that I am considered somewhere in there, but even then many of us continue with, “Hispanic, Black, Latino.” I can’t help but to wonder, “What about everyone else?” I know that the above mentioned make up what would be (I guess) the “majority of the minority” (ironic, I know) and I know we can not possibly touch on every culture, race, ethnic group, but I think that a lot of issues are being ignored when we don’t take into account that “people of color” is also a label that needs to be defined as well.
So in closing: When you hear “people of color” who do you think about? Is it a safe way to label such a variety of individuals? When our students have come to us, just as I have today, and ask you, “Where do I belong?” how will you react?
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9 comments:
This is an interesting post and it brings up a lot of things.
To be perfectly honest when people mention "People or Persons of Color" I think that people first think of African Americans and the Latino populations.
At the same time, it is almost that politically correct attempt to include everybody who is not white into one category. While it is meant and intended to represent just about everybody who isn't white, I'm not sure that when somebody says "people of color" Asian, Indian, or Middle-Eastern are the first things that come to people's minds.
I think you're right in suggesting that these other groups are easily over-looked in our (and all discussions) of these issues, and it isn't intentional. To guess, I would think that perhaps people simply assume that people from these "other" back grounds are easily assimilated into other, already pre-existing groups.
(Which isn't right by any means, but its just my guess on what's happening).
One question I have is, what purpose do those little bubbles serve anyways? Beyond the idea of "recording demographic information" what good does it do? I'm not a big fan of filling them out either.
As far as a student asking me "Where Do I Belong?", well the first thing that comes to mind is that, at no time should people be ashamed of their cultural background and identity. They should be proud to have it, because not everybody has a cultural identity.
Back in the day the United States was so proud to have their giant melting pot and a whole lot of europeans did a darn good job of assimilating.
So while I suppose in some regard one could argue that by having Scottish, Welsh, Polish, and German ascendants I have a decent cultural foundation, it sure doesn't feel like it. My family has had all the culture sucked right out of it because they assimilated like they were told to.
I suppose in some regard I feel 'culturally deprived' because at this point our culture is non-existant. We celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving and such. We did Easter and Halloween and things when we were still kids, but now we merly acknowledge these things. It's like the culture has been stripped from us, and I'll be honest. I'm kind of jealous of the rich cultural heritage that other people get. It's not like I can go back either. Trying to adopt a 'cultural identity' at this point would be like faking.
So, if a student were to ask me "Where Do I belong?" There are a few answers.
First of all, if a student has ties to any sort of cultural heritage, they should consider themselves a part of that group, and proudly so. American foreign policy or people's ignorance shouldn't be a source of your shame, but of their own, as most of them like me don't have much of a cultural background to embrace.
Second, since I assume this conversation to be happening in the United States, they also belong in the category of "American". I would argue that there isn't anybody who doesn't belong, even though our current immigration policies don't always reflect that. Our politicians somehow have a hard time admitting (well, aside from the Native Americans) that they or their ancestors were at one point immigrants too.
But, the third and most important answer to the "where do I belong" question, is that people should belong where ever they want to. You don't need labels to spell it out for you. If we feel so inclined to use and adopt labels, we might as well choose them for ourselves.
An odd, but good example of this would be all those people on VH1's White Rapper show. They all have identified with black and hip-hop culture. While people find it fun to poke fun of these people for breaking social norms, for 'being something they're not', they have all made their own decision regarding where they belong, and they're happy with it.
It's important to remember that its not our job necessairly to tell people where they belong though. Sticking labels on our students, (even if they ask us to) is somewhat problematic. It is one of those things that people have to determine for themselves.
Funny, today I was thinking about the conversations we had in our last class and I decided I needed to blog a little. However, my mind was clearly read by others.
Therefore, not to repeat what others said, I'll state my initial thoughts.
Coming out of class I felt weighted by the importantence of color and heritage, and how being politically correct affects our lives.
This is what im left with...
"Just how much does the color of your skin or the tone of your voice make you who you are? Can two people of completly different backgrounds agree, normally I say yes, but because of racism I know better. People get weighted down by the image or their "preceived image" of others and our therefore reluctant to be themselves for fear of unjust judgement. But is justified?"
This is an interseting post.I am stunned because I haven't realized that students other then black and whites were in the class....I feel bad!
Well, I am really feeling this post and its crazy because I look around the classroom every Thursady and I see two kids two kinds of skin colors.... black and white. I see black and white because to me, I kind of see myself as being color blind. My dorm room is black and white and thats how this world is defined. There are two kind of people black people and white people, the only difference among them is pratically the religion they believe in, the God they workship or even the place where the ancestors came from.
I know DAVEROY said something like whats the purpose of the bubbles?...the bubbles help people decide who to hire. If they need to hire a minority, they go to the best qualified one in the bunch and hire. If they need a white person, they go through and choose the one they want, the person doesnt have to highly qualified, but because of thier skin color they are good enough. Believe me I KNOW!
When I fill out an application, I fill in the slot BLACK with pride. I know who I am, I know where I am going and I am very proud of that. Dont be ashame of who you are and what your family believe in. I see it like this... The Jews went through it and now arabs are going through it. But who takes a second to realize that blacks went through it for so many years and do you see people feeling sorry for them NO, but...THIS IS LIFE! It is never going to be a perfect world, there is always going to be someone trying to make someone else feel less superior then the another. People do that to try and make themselves feel better, but they never think about how they are making the other person feel.
And its crazy because I walk into store, ariports and any other place and I see people watch me and follow me around, but this has been happening to me all my life. It just didnt start so I feel like this feel grateful to be who you are because for my whole life and years to come I am going to be considered below others because I AM BLACK, but I see myself as one of society's most danderous people not just because I am BLACK, but because I am a WOMAN and I am INTELLIGENT!
As far as a student asking me "Where Do I Belong?", some people may say I am wrong for this, but I plan to teach in the inner city where there will be majority blacks or should I say all blacks and I am going to tell them, "you belong at the top of anybody list of things to do." I am going tell the truth to my students thats why I want to teach middle school. I am going to tell them, how minorities are at the lower half of the barrier, how they have to live up and beyond the sterotypes that people put on them, that people are going to look down on you all your life but all you have to do is be better then they want you to be.
The term “people of color” is obviously a very general way of saying a person is not white. I believe in most situations this is seen as a negative outlook towards any race of color. But why is this term perceived so negative? In certain situations maybe that expression is the best way of explaining the situation. The opposite term would be obviously “white people” which could be used to explain European, Asian, or even African backgrounds. Although because the term had been used so negatively in the past, most people already consider any separation of white and color to be racist. So even if that expression is used in a very innocent way, I still believe it’s not a correct or smart way to label groups.
If this becomes an issue in my future classroom I know it will be a very complicated issue to interpret. Not only is race a very difficult subject to explain but it seems there is no defining lines or terms that you can use to explain such diversity. I plan on answering this question a little differently then most people. I’ll try to explain that the fact is every person on the planet is different if you’re talking about their background, looks, or race. Race is just one simple aspect in the mix of hundreds of differences in each person. Diversity should be explained and celebrated but never is one type better then the other.
Since our last class on Thursday, i have done some extra credit experiments for psychology. It is funny because in both of the experiments that i did i had to fill out information on my race. Immediately when having to do this i was reminded of the conversation we had in class about the purpose of this question. I was wondering why it was so important to know the race of someone when filling out an experiment on the way that people think. The main conclusion i came to was that maybe they want to know if race really matters with the way that people think or if it is a determining factor in these experiments. Putting it this way makes sense, however, i don't feel that this is really necessary considering the fact that there is so much diversity you can't really label a person as being from one of the categories on this sheet. I can remember when i had to fill these boxes out in grade school i was always confused by them. When i was in third grade and we had to do the standardized tests i would never know which bubble to fill in. At first it was because i didn't understand what Caucasian was, but then it was because i didn't understand why i had to just check white. Although i am white, i always thought that there was a lot more to me than just white. I knew that i was German, and some American Indian and French. It seems crazy to think about now, but everyone is made up of so much more than just what the color of their skin represents. I think that it is so funny because as a child i was one who struggled with what i should put and even though it seems pretty clear to everyone else, i always wondered why i could only put white and why there wasn't more boxes to show who people really were.
I think that this is a really hard issue for kids to deal with because at a young age a lot of them don't really know their background yet or can't really understand exactly where they came from. It is important for them to be able to understand this and explore their history. I think it is a good thing for teachers to make sure that they help their students understand their heritage and also for them to make sure their students are getting the knowledge and questions answered that they need. In most cases, as a teacher, you can not provide them with most of their background information, but you can still help them to recognize the positive things about their culture and help them learn more about who they are and where they come from.
When I think of people of color, I have to admit that I think of Black or Arican American people. I can't even say that I think of Hispanics. This horrifies me. On the other hand, I think that just involves that type of phrase. When I think of minorities, I truly think of all the different races. I'm not trying to sound all culturally aware or anything like that. Let's face it, I grew up in Naperville. :) I'm far from being culturally aware.
You pose probably one of the most interesting questions I have read on this blog thing. I wish I wasn't so busy and could read these posts more often than I do. When you asked what would we say to our students that ask "Where do I belong?" I started to freak out. I have absolutely no idea. Ever since I knew I wanted to teach, which wasn't all my life, but the last 6 years, I knew I wanted to teach in an urban area. This is just silly when I tell people that because I've never even lived in an urban area. I have all odds working against me. There is no reason why I would be an asset to the community. I'm not familiar with city life, I'm not fluent in any other language, I have been flooded with all the stereotypes that come with the inner city, and I'm white. Yep. I have read book after book about how white people come and try to "save" the poor folk of the inner city. This rubs off on the kids that they don't have very many teachers that understand being a minority. I know all the obstacles I face going into the city schools and desperately wanting to teach for my own reasons. One of the obstacles is the fact I'm white. I'm white and I have no idea what it is like to be a racial minority. I am a minority in other ways, but race is a different issue. The ways I am a minority and am oppressed on some levels, besides being a woman, aren't ways that I wear on my sleeve. Unless you talk to me, you wouldn't know. Race is something people see when they first meet you. Whether people like to admit it or not, they develop mental models about people before they get to know them. Either they choose to "not see" race or they make assumptions based on it. Either way, they are actively taking into consideration a person's race. So I cannot relate to a person who is not part of the majority. I've gone off on a tangent, but Trish asks a question that scares me. I want to relate to my future students so bad, it hurts. But on some level, I will never be able to. If a student comes up to me and asks where they belong..the only thing I can think to answer is...my classroom. And I hate that answer. I hate it so much. That does nothing for a student. I want to learn about as many people and as many cultures as I can so that I can be better equipped to help people realize how wonderful the different cultures really are. I'm not trying to sound idealistic, but I really think that we all belong together. I can't think of a better phrase to say that so it doesn't sound so dumb. Before I came to college, I only really hung out with white people..cause that is basically all I was surrounded by. I dated one African American guy...for a whole two weeks. But that was it. Coming to college, I have interacting with so many different people with so many different cultures. I have learned so much that I wouldn't have known about with talking to people of different cultures. I have benefited from those people. I am grateful for those people. I can't possibly understand what they are going through, but I want to help them in any way I can. This stinks though, because who would want help from someone on the outside? I know I wouldn't. So Trish...after all that rambling...and I would scared out of my mind if my student asked me that. The end.
I was reading this post and it really got me to start thinking. I am just like all these other people which is reassuring to know that I am not alone, but horrifying to know that we are all considered "well educated" individuals and still have a blind eye to whats going on around us. I usually consider "people of color" as blacks or African American. I think this is because I am from a town where we do not have much diversity from black and white. Some diversity is there but it is never an issue. I think there has to be a way that people can identify themselves and have other identify them and feel comfortable about it. I think we all need to be aware of how we label people. This post does not really make me think of any answers but more questions. I don't know how we are suppoesd to label a person, or if labeling is even the correct thing to do. I believe that having group discussions like this to make others aware of our feelings is the best step.
First and foremost, you'll can really write shorter post to make it easier on the ones that follow. But to answer the questions of who do I think of when I hear people of colorI think black people and that is it. Why? Because I remember the days when I was learning history of the Civil Rights Movement, we (blacks) were called colored folks. I personally limit this label to black people cause it speaks to who I (Robert Ralph Lega) is. I am colored! I have depth, I am unique, and I offer variety.
Now when it comes to other people they may feel a different way, or may think the way I am describing the term "people of color" as stupid, so screw em. But when it comes to my students, I think this is one of those things that you as a teacher allow your students to discover on your own. Cause we cannot decide the way they label themselves that is up to them.
I really think that labeling anyone is completely useless and only leads to stereotypes. When you say "blacks" as simply as that it just combines everyone who is black together giving them no uniqueness or individuality. The same goes for "Hispanics/ Latinos" The categories we form for different races seem completely useless to me. In each circle choice they give us on tests, etc there is so much more to a person than that. Although I am white, I do not have all the same traditions, lifestyle, culture as all other whites. I am Norwegian and my family stays true to many of the traditions of that culture. The white person next to me may be south African or Irish and although our skin color is the same, We are completely different "whites." So the more I think about the classifications of color and race, the more I think they are completely irrelevant and pointless. If there are going to be labels, I think they should be the exact precise label of where you come from or none at all. Because no two people of the same category are the same. It's not a safe way to label and no child should have to feel they fit into a certain "category."
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