Aims of Diversity and Me

Course Reflection

This has been one of the few courses I have taken that has changed me as a person.  I have learned that diversity isn't just the three black students in my room and the little boy from India.  There is so much more to it.  Complicated, not-going-to-be-fixed-after-one-discussion, types of issues. 

I have learned that diversity is race,sex, gender, class, and disability.  I have also learned that each one of those individual topics vary within themselves.  Sex is not just man and woman, it also includes intersex people.  Whether someone is a  black person is not easy to determine.  There are light colored and dark colored black people.  More importantly, it is what one thinks they are that really matters.  A white presenting person can consider themselves black.  We cannot assume anything.

Reading about experiences people have had regarding diversity issues changed my thinking. Taking a walk in someone else's shoes, even if it was just on paper, really affected me.  Reading about the deaf couple who were desperately hoping for a deaf child baffled me at first.  But hearing their side of the story was incredible.  They loved they community of Deaf persons.  They wanted the baby they loved to feel a part of this group,

Trying to understand why we continue to allow differences took a lot out of me emotionally.  I still have a very hard time understanding how, in 2014, we can allow the Native American population to live in the poverty and alcoholism they do.  Not when, with a change in a few policies, they could change their future. We should all be outraged.  We certainly would be if we were being taken advantage of. 

Doing the two Implicit Association Tests from the Harvard website showed me that I am not as free thinking as I would love to think I am.  While I had little to no automatic preference between straight people and gay people, I had a strong automatic preference for European Americans compared to African Americans.  I have to continue to work.

I was so encouraged to hear of some people who were trying to bridge the differences in our society.  Reading about Lily Ledbetter and William Upski Wimsatt, gave me hope.  More people, ourselves included need to step up and be a part of the change we want.

Course objectives

#1 Gain knowledge of the theories and research related to the historical, political, ethical, and legal foundations of social diversity across national and cultural settings.

The knowledge I have gained through the readings and framework essays in The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexual Orientation, and Disability has really changed my thoughts and ideas about many, many things.  I honestly thought of diversity as people of color and those who came from other countries.  That was it!  I am thankful for the opportunity to read about, think about, and discuss with my family, all the different issues that are diversity.  I am a changed person.

#2 Acquire strategies for using appropriate methods of inquiry to generate original findings regarding the endeavors to promote diversity.

I have a whole new way of listening to radio interviews, watching news broadcasts, and reading articles in newspapers and magazines.  I am using a "close reading" technique to get to what is really being said.  I am consciously stopping to think what I am feeling or thinking, as a reaction to the information and why.  


#3 Develop an informed perspective about the practice of diversity in a pluralistic & democratic society and the capacity to convey that perspective to others in a scholarly manner.

I now have an informed perspective about diversity in our society.  It is not the fair and just perspective I had prior to taking this course.  I am not Miss Negative, but I am no longer willing to take the word of someone because they look trustworthy.  I want to check things out for myself.  One of the parts I have enjoyed most about this class is how after each reading I would march off to the kitchen to talk to my husband and kids about what I have read.  We have had many lively family discussions relating to issues I tell them about.  I am a better citizen because of it, and I think I am helping my children see a different side to our society.

#4 Construct a vision of themselves as advocates for diversity with a plan for professional action.

  My plan is . . . .
- to create a supportive and inclusive classroom
- to continue to read scholarly pieces on diversity issues
- to speak with my children and students about diversity issues
- to teach about important member of society including minorities and disabled persons and their 
   accomplishments in making the world a better place
- to become more politically involved
- to stand up and speak out

Guiding question:  What are the aims of diversity?
The aims of diversity are to create environments where everybody feels respected and understood. Environments where everybody's opinions and thoughts are truly listened to and considered.  To provide education to employees, students and citizens on diversity issues.  To educate citizens, employees and students about how many of our feelings and ideas have been taught to us.  The aim of diversity is to work toward a world in which everybody is treated as if they are somebody.

Uncle Sam Knows Best

Retell

Land Rich, Dirt Poor:  Challenges to Asset Building in Native America
Meizhu Lui, Barbara J. Robles, Betsy Leondar-Wright, Rose M. Brewer, Rebecca Adamson


These authors explain how the United States Government, throughout its history, has mishandled the Native American's land and money even though they are supposed to be acting in the best interest of the Natives. 

A quote from the first section of this reading explains that things have not changed.  "Even in the last twenty years, as Native people have found new ways to create wealth, Congress has legislated new methods of exerting control that undermine Native sovereignty an take money out of the Native, wealth pot.  Although the original intention of the trust responsibility was to manage tribal resources for the best interest of the tribes, federal appropriation of Native wealth and federal mismanagement has led to lost resources and stolen funds."  (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 429)

There is a second way in which the U.S. government has hurt the Natives.  They have created laws and policies that force Natives to do things they don't want to do.  For example, taking their children and putting them into white schools so they could become more civilized.  Forcing the Natives to own private lands instead of tribes owning them together.  Basically, outsiders have been destroying the Native America culture since they arrived in the1400's.

As a result of the interference of the government, Native Americans live in poverty.

The authors give an account as to what has happened the Natives through each period of American history.

I believe the main idea of this piece is the fact that the Natives are held under different rules as everyone else.  The authors are asking why.  Shouldn't they be able to do what they want with their land?  Shouldn't they be able to prosper and grow their culture and community?  If I owned land like they do, I would have a lot to show for it.  Money would be coming in every day.  They are not allowed to do with their land what is best for them.  Uncle Sam apparently knows best.


Recall/React
Why are they still treated differently? Why are they still treated like unintelligent savages?  "Indeed, why are Native Americans defined as wards, given that wards are usually children or mentally incompetent adults? (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 440)  These are things I wonder as well.  This is 2014 not the 1800s.  We the people know this is wrong.  Why aren't more people standing up for them?  Why do we pretend they no longer exist?


Rethink

I have discovered that our own government uses public policy to shape differences in order to benefit those in power.  Native Americans are held back by laws and policies our politicians have passed to keep them from moving forward.  They are being held back form opportunities and rights the rest of Americans are given.  The framework essay of this section gave a great visual that I think I will use when thinking of Native Americans from now on.  This visual is of a birdcage and comes from Marilyn Frye in her discussions about oppression.  "Using the metaphor of a birdcage, she argues that oppression cannot be understood by looking at only one obstacle or "wire"; one must consider the set of wires that together form the cage." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 332)

I need to be more active in our political system.  I cannot sit back and believe the men and women in Washington or even Montpelier, are going to do the right thing or act in the best interest of the people of the United States.

Popular Culture

Retell
 Framing Class:  Media Representations of Wealth and Poverty in America
Diana Kendall

Diana Kendall's piece got my blood boiling like no other reading in this book did. She speaks to the fact that the media literally shows us rich people and how they live constantly.  We see them on TV, we see them on magazine covers as we try to buy food, we see and hear them on talk shows.  We know where they live, what they drive, where they go on vacation, which other rich person they are marrying this time, what amazing party they went to and the fabulous free products they got just for showing up.

The problem is that the majority of us, the working class, see all this and feel like failures in our own lives.  So, we buy things these famous people have to feel like we belong in the same group as them.  Adults aren't the only group feeling the pressure to belong.  Children are buying into the need to have what the wealthy have too.  "More children [in the United States] than anywhere else believe that their clothes and brands describe who they are and define their social status.  American kids display more brand affinity than their counterparts anywhere else in the world; indeed, experts describe them as increasingly 'bonded to brands.'" (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 452)  Advertisers spend millions of dollars making sure to keep the pressure of, belonging by having the right things, on.


React/Recall

First of all, I have never seen the show The Simple Life (which must have been on years ago), but I am pretty upset about it.  How can two of the richest kids in America go around getting help, kindness and resources from those who have little or nothing?  Being from a family who tries to help others as much as possible and who also has limited resources, this really pisses me off.  Do these girls find poor people a joke?  They obviously do or they wouldn't have ever agreed to do the show. 

If the television CEOs need something to do with their money, they should contact William Wimsatt and get involved in one of his groups.  He is a kid with money trying to do something good for the world through social change.

 Maybe they could start a show in which people get together to change perceptions of the poorer Americans.  They could stop bombarding us with shows about how awesome it is to have a lot of money and how fun it is to waste it when we have literally starving children in our communities.  How about a show building and planting gardens in poorer communities and hiring real people to take care of it.  They could show how to get it done, and how it benefits us all.

 
Rethink

I believe that we need to teach our children how to watch TV, "read" covers of magazines and really listen to interviews.  We need to make sure they understand the message that is being presented and who is delivering the message.  Not just the actors and actresses, but the CEO's of news organizations and magazines.  Children need to learn how to take a closer look at what is being offered by the media.

I am reading a book right now by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts called Falling in Love with Close Reading.  It talks about close reading as not simply the practice of re-reading in order to understand the text.  Close reading is actually re-reading to find patterns in the message and then using the patterns to develop a new understanding.  I am so excited to teach this to my class.  I am even more excited  that I can use it to teach critical thinking as well. 

In order to understand what the real message of a TV show or commercial is, we need to have critical thinkers.  I am going to start by using songs to teach close reading.  I think I will try out other things like magazine covers and TV shows as well.

Black and White

Retell

Blink in Black and White
Malcolm Gladwell

This fascinating article talks about the IAT or Implicit Association Test.  This test looks at our unconscious associations and how they impact our beliefs.  Malcolm Gladwell brings us through several IAT type activities to show us how we quickly make connections between pairs of words.  Doing these quick quizzes really shows how, despite our conscious decisions to think of everyone on equal terms, unconsciously we do not.  It is the unconscious associations that the IAT measures to the millisecond.
In discussing the IAT, Gladwell explains, "It measures our second level of attitude, our racial attitude on an unconscious level- the immediate, automatic associations that tumble out before we've even had time to think.  We don't deliberately choose our unconscious  attitudes.  And . . . we may not even be aware of them.  The giant computer that is our unconscious silently crunches all the data it can from the experiences we've had, the people we've met, the lessons we've learned the books we've read, the movies we've seen, and so on , and it forms an opinion.  This what is coming out in the IAT."  (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 354)

His main idea is that when it comes to making important decisions, we aren't making them with the completely pure and rational thoughts we think we are.


Between Barack and a Hard Place
Tim Wise

Tim Wise writes about President Obama's victory in the 2008 election and analyzes what it says about racism in America. 

This piece begins with three positive outcomes of the Obama's victory.  First, it shows that racism can be eliminated in America.  Secondly, there was a large amount of cross-racial collaboration that occurred in the campaign.  It was collaboration "rarely seen in American politics. or history."  (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 364)  Thirdly, that a person of color can, over time, prove his intelligence, qualifications, and capabilities to white people.

Tim Wise's main idea, is that racism is far from over in America.  We cannot pretend it is just because we have a Black president.  America has a long way to go as far a racism is considered.  He thinks that comments such as the ones columnist Richard Cohen of the Washington Post said, are far-fetched and not helpful in our task to eliminate racism.  Cohen, on the morning of President Obama's election, wrote "It is not just that he (Obama) is post-racial; so is the nation he is generationally primed to lead."  and " We have overcome." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 366)

Examples are given of how, even in the South during the 1890's, newspapers reported how well whites and blacks got along.  There doesn't seem to be a time in American history when whites admitted people of color were not treated fairly.

Wise ends saying, "That we were wrong in every generation prior to the current one in holding such a rosy and optimistic view apparently gives most whites little pause.  And so we continue to reject claims of racism as so much whining, as "playing the race card" or some such thing, never wondering, even for a second, how a bunch who have proven so utterly inept at discerning the truth for hundreds of years can at long last be trusted to accurately intuit other people's reality . . . ."  (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 369)



Recall/React

I went online to take the IAT test on the website www.implicit.harvard.edu.  I took two tests.  The first was on race.  It showed that I had a strong automatic preference for European Americans compared to African Americans.  My outcome was the same as 27% of the participants. I am honestly shocked by this.  As I was taking the test.  I thought I was doing really well and was really proud of how open my thinking was.  Boy was I wrong.  I guess it proves that my unconscious plays a much bigger role in my thinking than I had hoped.

The second test I took was the sexuality test.  My results showed that I had little to no automatic preference between straight people and gay people.  I was the same as 17% of the participants of this test.  I must say, I was surprised by this one as well.  I was nervous taking this test because I wasn't at all sure where I would fall.  I don't know many gay people.  I have a cousin that is gay and a student teacher I had was gay.  I actually felt guilty the whole time I was taking the test.  I was thinking I might not do well on it and what would that make me? 

The good news is, we have our conscious thoughts to help us make decisions we know to be right even if our unconscious thoughts would have us do otherwise.



Rethink
These articles have made me aware that it is not only my conscious beliefs and wishes that determine my actions, my unconscious thoughts have a very big say.  I need to be cognizant of this fact whenever I am making decisions and having reactions.  I need to ask myself, what, in my past, have I learned or heard or saw, that is forming my decision.  I also have learned that I need to make sure that I keep fighting and standing up for every person.  Just because I would love to think that issues like racism are coming to an end, they really aren't.  We can be getting closer to an end, but we aren't there.

Changes From Unexpected Places

Retell

In Defense of Rich Kids
William Upski Wimsatt


William Upski Wimsatt is a rich kid.  He admits it.  He can spend money without worry because he knows he will be inheriting more later on.  He asks us though, to look a little closer at who he is and what he does.  His main idea is that what he does with his money is what he should be judged on.  He gives away between 20-50 percent of his income to charities every year.  He wants us to compare that with the 2 percent others give regardless of their wealth.

Wimsatt says he gives away money to small charities.  Small charities with great potential to grow.  To grow awareness and jobs.  He loves the world, being part of it, and most of all "Because I get more joy out of making things better for everyone than I get out of making things materially better for myself." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 508-509)

There is a group he calls the "Cool Rich Kids Movement".  It has 100 people like himself who are actually talking about the importance of giving money, not to big churches and colleges, but to grassroots groups.  He hopes to increase it to 50,000 people.

Some of the groups he is supporting or helping set up is called the Self-Education Foundation.  This foundation will "tap successful people who either didn't like school or who dropped out to fund self-education resource centers which will support poor kids to take learning into their own hands." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 510)

Winsatt wants us to help spread the idea to those with wealth.  The idea is to have people with money give to groups who want social change.


Uprooting Racism:  How White People Can Work for Racial Justice
Paul Kivel

Paul Kivel starts off thanking people of color for getting angry with discrimination.  "That person is pointing out something wrong, something that contradicts the ideals of equality set forth in our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.  That person is bringing our attention to a problem that needs solving, a wrong that needs righting."  (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 512)

When a person gets angry we have been taught that something is wrong and we should back away.  It is how we have been taught.  Kivel says we need to stop seeing anger as a sign of failure.  We need to see it as an opportunity.  An opportunity to see the injustice of racism a person of color lives with everyday.

Kivel explains how white people can strong allies to their colored friends.  He lists qualities that a people of color want from white allies.  Respect, Find out about us, Don't take over, Stand by my side, Interrupt jokes and comments are a few.  He took this list to create some guidelines.

His main idea is that every person should be free to live and work without harassment or discrimination.  White people can help people of color by being a strong ally.


Recall/React

My reaction here is WHOA!  I guess I have been thinking very negatively of rich people.  I guess I believed that rich people have the money, want more of it, and have the ability to get it.  It is so nice to read about William Wimsatt.  I didn't find him to be out of line wanted us to see him differently.  It is what we have been learning about.  If we want equality for all, than we should mean all.  It is encouraging to know that there are people with means working for the poor and underprivileged.  My heart feels lighter.
My reaction for the second reading is that Paul Kivel is right.  White people do need to stand up for people of color.  We can't stand by thinking how awful it must be for them and how sad and humiliated they must feel.  We need to do something.  Even something as simple as saying "That is not funny" can do a lot to change the way people are treated.

Rethink

What I have learned is that every person, from every walk of life has an important part to play in our world.  We have to understand race, class and gender, we have to consider the experiences of all people, and we need to figure out a way to have every person live with the respect and caring they deserve.  By even discriminating against one group (i.e. rich people) we have stopped moving toward the goal.

Becoming Part of the Solution

Retell

Influencing Public Policy
Jeanine C. Cogan

 What Can We Do?  Becoming Part of the Solution
Allan G. Johnson

Allan Johnson starts his piece off with the following statement.  "The challenge we face is go change patterns of exclusion, rejection, privilege, harassment, discrimination, and violence that are everywhere in this society and have existed for hundreds (or, in the case of gender, thousands) of years.  We have to begin by thinking about the trouble and the challenge in new and more productive ways..." ((Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 502)

Johnson speaks about two myths of why we don't fight for change.
Myth #1-  "It's always been this way, and it always will"
Johnson says it won't always be this way.  History shows us that the only thing we can count on is change.  I love his description of fluid societies.  "A society isn't some hulking thing that sits there forever as it is.  Because a system happens only as people participate in it, it can't help being a dynamic process of creation and re-creation from one moment to the next." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 503)
Myth #2- Gandhi's paradox and the myth of no effect
This myths reminds us that we can't decide to change the world and have a need to see the change.  It isn't going to happen that fast.  We can however, change it a little bit at a time.  We can do this because we don't get overwhelmed and discouraged with the need to see a final result.  Johnson talks about Gandhi one saying something like this ". . .nothing we do as individuals matters, but that it's vitally important to do it anyway." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 504)  He also gives an powerful image to show his point.  "Imagine, for example, that social systems are trees and we are the leaves.  No individual leaf on the tree matters; whether it lives or dies has no effect on much of anything.  But collectively, the leaves are essential to the whole tree because they photosynthesize the sugar that feeds it.  Without leaves, the tree dies." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 504)

React/Recall
Not choosing the path of least resistance came up as the main idea of becoming part of the solution.  It reminds me of how, by not saying anything, we are agreeing with the way things are. It takes courage to speak out, and people might be uncomfortable and angry with you, but it shows you aren't satisfied and that there is another way.

I remember watching the video of my sister's wedding.  The videographer chose to interview people at the reception.  Guests were given the opportunity to say something about marriage, or really anything they wanted to say to my sister and her new husband.  Three of my father's friends started talking.  Two of them were saying some things about the "little lady" and other inappropriate things.  They laughed and were acting silly.  The third man spoke last.  He starting talking very seriously about cherishing each other, not taking each other for granted, etc.  The other two men immediately stood up straight, changed the expression on their faces and looked ashamed.  They had only been acting like many of the guests did.  Making fun of marriage and how Scott would need to keep Tiffiny in her place.  This man obviously didn't agree.  With his words, he showed the other men what he felt was important.  He didn't care what they thought of him.  In a few minutes, he changed the world just a little.  He made two men stop and think about their words and actions.


Rethink
I need to be part of the change.  I need to stop taking the path of least resistance.  I need to stop being mad at how our society does things and make an effort to change things.  There are millions of Americans who think like I do.  They aren't happy with the status quo but they do nothing to change it. Allan Johnson says it loud and clear "Their silence and invisibility allow the trouble to continue.  Removing what silences them and stands in their way can tap an enormous potential of energy for change. . . . " (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 502)  He is talking about me and friends I talk about these issues with.  I need to remove what is silencing me so I can speak out for myself and others.

For the Greater Good

Retell

Lily's Big Day
Gail Collins

Gail Collins piece tells of women who went up against big businesses, unions and laws to start to change the way women are treated and paid in the work places.  These women dealt with long hard fights that were trying and tiring for themselves and their families. 

Lily Ledbetter worked in a tire factory as a plant supervisor.  As she was getting close to her retirement, someone showed her how much more money men doing the same job were making.  She went to court to fight.  She lost in a 5-4 decision in the Supreme Court.  However, in fighting for what is right, Gail Collins says, "She's now part of a long line of working women who went to court and changed a little bit of the world in fights that often brought them minimal personal benefit." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 489)

Collins briefly discusses other women's journey to equality with men.  Eulalie Cooper, a flight attendant who was fired for being married. Patricia Lorance, a factory worker who found out the union and her employer " . . . secretly agreed to new seniority rules that discriminated against the women who had been promoted in the post-Civil Rights Act era of the 1970s." (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 489) And, Lorena Weeks, who helped change the way companies kept women out of high paying jobs by saying they weren't qualified like men were.

These women worked hard to change the world for other women.  They worked for the greater good.

The Other Movement That Rosa Parks Inspired: By Sitting Down, She Made Room for the Disabled
Charles Wilson

Charles Wilson's piece talks about how Rosa Park's 1955 refusal to move for a white man, empowered the disabled community to work together to change the public transit system once again.

In 1984, the city of Chicago decided not to equip the 363 new buses they purchased with wheelchair lifts.  About twelve wheelchair bound women and men, moved their chairs in front of a bus and didn't move. This same thing was happening all across America.  However, even after the buses were equipped with lifts, the lifts were not maintained. 

There are disabled people in America today, who sit outside in freezing temperatures waiting for a bus with working lifts to come by.  These Americans are being fired from jobs because they aren't getting there on time, they are missing medical appointments, they are being left out of outings with friends because they don't always make it.

"None of this should be happening in America.  "Rosa Parks could get on the bus to protest," says Roger McCarville, a veteran in Detroit who once chained himself to a bus.  "We still can't get on the bus."  A true tribute to Parks would be to ensure that every American can. (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 492)

Recall/React

My reaction to these pieces was a sadness mixed with pride.  It is unbelievable to me, that in America at this time, we could possibly have people waiting for a bus in any type of weather for hours.  I understand that money is tight.  But let find a way to accommodate all of our citizens.  Maybe instead of buying 400 new unequipped buses, 300 equipped buses could be purchased.  As for not fixing the lifts, I am sure there are mechanics looking for jobs that could be hired to do maintenance.  I find in sad that in a time when big companies are getting richer and richer, and they are hiring lawyers to "legally" get out of paying taxes, we have these problems.  America needs to find its heart and morality.

I am proud to be a woman.  I am more proud when I read of strong women likes those in Gail Collin's piece.  It reminds me that I need to introduce more of these everyday heroes to my classes.  I need to show that one person, standing up for what is right, can make a huge difference in our world.

Rethink

My rethinking here is how I allow little inequalities to go all the time.  I do it, I believe, because I was taught to never make waves.  I needed to be a good girl and do things the right way.  Well, that is not the way it should be.  I should have been encouraged to stand up for my rights as well as the rights of others.  I am so very thankful for people like Rosa Parks and Lily Ledbetter.  My life is better because of them.  My task is to find out what I can do to make the lives of future girls and women better.

Denial of Disability

 

“Can You See the Rainbow?” The Roots of Denial

Sally French

Retell

In this piece, Sally French tells of her life being partially sighted. Being with her childhood and ending in the present with her experiences as a working adult, her main theme is denial.

As a partially sighted child, Sally French denied her own disability to lessen the anxiety of the adults in her life. She would pretend she could see things just so these adults wouldn’t be uncomfortable and worried. School and college demanded denial as well. The messages in these places were that people like her were not acceptable the way they are. They need to be “fixed.”

As a working adult, French still finds it easier to deny her disability. Even though her colleagues ask to learn about partial sightedness and want to know what they can do, she believes she is really not taken seriously. Information she shares and accommodations she requests are quickly forgotten.

The following list outlines the reasons Sally French has denied her disability.

“ 1. To avoid other people’s anxiety and distress.

2. To avoid other people’s disappointment and frustration.

3. To avoid other people’s disbelief.

4. To avoid other people’s disapproval.

5. To live up to other people’s ideas of “normality.”

6. To avoid spoiling other people’s fun.

7. To collude with other people’s pretenses. “ (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012,p. 323)

Not Blind enough: Living in the Borderland Called Legal Blindness

Beth Omansky

In this piece, borderland blind people, Larry, Catherine, J.R. and Beth, tell of their experiences with this disability. Much of what they report mimics Sally French’s account. 

Throughout their lives, these four human beings chose to do certain things so as to make other people more comfortable. They were taught to pretend, to act like people without the disability, so they would be able to fit in with members of society and maybe even overcome their disability. Of course, they could not act like “normal” people because they couldn’t see well, and how on earth can a borderland blind person overcome their disability by pretending?

Another thing they reported was not asking for help. Larry speaks about this. “Larry’s reluctance to ask for help is bound up in his desire for self-sufficiency. He said: … to find out that yeah you know damn it I need help reading this label because I don’t know if it’s apple juice or apple vinegar . . . So um, there was a time when I wouldn’t have bought it. That’s, that’s the thing that can eat at you. You know?” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012,p. 327)

Recall/React

Denying a disability reminds me of a little girl in my class a few years ago. She had a very hard time reading and math was a real challenge too. She had push-in help from a special educator as well as a para-educator each day for one hour.

This girl was hard working, friendly and well liked. She would, however turn into a less than polite child one hour a day. She wouldn’t look at the people chosen to help her and even refused to do what they asked her to do. She always did what I asked her to do. Puzzled with her change in behavior, I asked to meet with her mother, and the special educator. Though she would not say so, it turns out she was embarrassed. She didn’t what to look dumb. She didn’t want anyone to know she couldn’t read well. She was denying her disability.

Rethink

I have to rethink how I treat and communicate with people with disabilities. Not just people with visible disabilities, but students in my classes with learning disabilities not so easily spotted. I need to understand that my kind words could be causing them to deny who they really are just so they do not disappoint me or make me feel uncomfortable. I need to be cognizant of the fact that they may be denying their disability in order to appear “normal” in the eyes of their classmates. 

I wonder why my experience of what is normal makes someone else’s “normal” seem wrong. Sally French says, “I believe that from earliest childhood denial of disability is totally rational given the situation we find ourselves in, and that to regard it as a psychopathological reaction is a serous mistake. We deny our disabilities for social, economic and emotional survival and we do so at considerable cost to our sense of self and our identities; it is not something we do because of flaws in our individual psyches.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012,p. 323)

As a teacher, I need to be aware that my words and actions are powerful to all students. I need to model respect. I need to treat each child as a complete, accepted, and worthy individual capable of anything.

Who's Your Daddy?

Who’s Your Daddy?

Why Are Droves of Unqualified, Unprepared Kids Getting into Our Top Colleges? Because Their Dads Are Alumni

John Larew

Retell

This piece speaks about how college alumni are getting their children into Ivy league schools even though their children are far less qualified.

When questioned why this was occurring, Ivy League schools said that children of alumni were just better. This, it turns out, is just not true.

“ . . . after two years of study, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that, far from being more qualified or even equally qualified, the average admitted legacy at Harvard between 1981 and 1988 was significantly less qualified than the average admitted non legacy. “(Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p.305)

Why would this happen when these schools are getting plenty of capable and deserving applicants? “When 20 percent of Harvard’s student body gets a legacy preference, aristocracy is the word that comes to mind.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p.306) Larew asks why no one is doing anything about this unfair practice. Again, one word answers the question: money. These top schools, even though they claim to be needs blind, are accepting students who have the money to pay full price.

Derek Bok, is one person who has spoken out about this topic. Bok warns “.. . that the modern university is slowly turning from a truth-seeking enterprise into a money–grubbing corporation. . .” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p.309)

John Larew believes colleges need to get away from the legacy birthright. Colleges and Universities need to be looking at accepting capable and deserving students even if they are poor and disadvantaged. 

Recall/React

I have a son looking at colleges right now. He has done well academically and is a pretty good wrestler. He works very hard in both areas. Because Ben will have to pay for college on his own, we are looking to find a place he will fit in, be able to do some wrestling, and will hopefully get a really good financial aid package. We have been looking at the different needs blind schools. When you read about needs blind admissions it sounds wonderful. They are seemingly, considering merit before finances. However, when you look closely the facts don’t line up.

Two books that also speak of this issue are Crazy U by Andrew Ferguson and B+ Grade, A+ College Application by Joie Jager-Hyman. 

My husband wishes each College and University would put out base criteria. Any applicant that meets those base requirements would then be put in a lottery system. I envision a big BINGO ball where the admissions department chair would turn the handle and a little ball with someone’s name comes out. When all the spots have been filled in with a name, that class is filled. No one’s race, class, gender, disability or lack thereof would be considered. Fair.

Or is it fair? It could be argued that those students who meet the base criteria were had an advantage. They probably had the best education, had a SAT/ACT tutor for years, volunteered in different fields (because they didn’t have to work), played instruments, etc. The list goes on and on.

Rethink

I have learned that nothing is fair. There is no definition of fairness. A Harvard Alumni may feel that it is only fair that their child go to Harvard too. A national champion wrestle may think it is only fair that they attend Penn State were Cael Sanderson coaches, a students who has worked hard on their own in high school and earned all A’s in AP classes may feel it is only fair they get into a top school.

I have also learned that things really aren’t much different than they were in the Downton Abby series. The huge castles with servants living in the basements may not be around, but we still understand our place in society. It is very hard to break out of our social roles.

What is Sex? What is Gender?

Retell

What is Sex? What is Gender?

Michael S. Kimel

Sex and gender are not interchangeable terms. Michael S. Kimmel defines the two so we might better understand the main ideas of his piece. “Sex refers to the biological apparatus, the male and the female - our chromosomal, chemical, anatomical organization. Gender refers to the meanings that are attached to those differences within a culture. Sex is male and female; gender is masculinity and femininity - what it means to be a man or a woman. . . . And while biological sex varies very little, gender varies enormously.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 115)

Kimmel also speaks about several completing ideas. In my mind, I made a little t-chart to help sort it all out.

Nature	Nurture
Hardwired	Taught
Biological Determinism	Differential Socialization

We see and feel the gender differences but we experience the gender inequality. Gender inequality basically comes down to speaking about power. “ Virtually every society known to us is founded upon assumptions of gender difference and the politics of gender inequality.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 114)

Men and women are constantly told we are different. Yet, we go to the same schools, restaurants, homes and workplaces. In those workplaces we are evaluated by the same set of criteria. Men dominate those workplaces and get more from them. Kimmel believes that gender inequality needs to be eliminated and that we can indeed eliminate it. He says, “. . . I believe that as gender inequality decreases, the differences among people – differences grounded in race, class, ethnicity, age, sexuality as well as gender – will emerge in a context in which each of us can be appreciated for our individual uniqueness as well as our commonality.”(Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 116)

With such a strong belief there needs to be an idea to achieve it. The idea is that we must think differently. I believe we are. Courses in gender studies are being entered into college bulletins. Students are discussing gender. Femininity and masculinity are being better understood. The realization that there is no one-way to describe femininity and no one way to describe masculinity is also being discussed. In talking about our differences, we can also see our similarities.

Where's the Rulebook for Sex Verification?

Alice Dreger

We know men and women have differences and similarities and the dilemma’s they both bring about. The second reading, Where’s the Rulebook for Sex Verification, discusses differences and similarities between people of the same sex.

 

Alice Dreger talks about a couple of people, one who looks like a male from the outside, and another who looks like a female from the outside, have their sex questioned. One was an athlete who had her sex investigated, debated, and reported on in the public arena. The reason was this question: Is it fair for a female “looking” person who is male-typical on the inside, compete against other females? Do they have an advantage? Are the other players at a disadvantage?

 

Scientists, lawyers, physicians, committees, and many others have a long road ahead of them in determining what specifically is a female, and what, specifically is a male. Dreger says, “Sex is so messy that in the end, these doctors are not going to be able to rum a test that will answer the question. Science can and will inform their decision, but they are going to have to decide which of the dozens of characteristics of sex matter to them.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 124)

All Together Now: Intersex Infants and IGM

Riki Wilchins

The Third reading, All Together Now: Intersex Infants and IGM, speaks to the issue of not actually knowing what sex a baby is.

 

The baby in this reading is Charlie. He was born and for the first year and a half, was raised male. After many tests, it was determined that Charlie was actually Cheryl. Cheryl underwent IGM (Intersex Genital Mutilation) surgery. Her parents were told to lie to people, and Cheryl, because it would be too traumatic.

 

In our culture, you need to be female or male. There is no intersex choice. Our society wants us to decide what the infant is and have a doctor fix it so it becomes one or the other. It is interesting that the child is given no say in the matter. It is not okay to be different.

 

Riki Wilchins says, “Medical theories of Sex, like so much of theory, are concerned with the resolution and management of difference. Intersex infants represent one of society’s most anxious fears-the multiplicity of Sex, the pinging under the binary hood, a noise in the engine of reproduction that must be located and silenced.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 127)

Recall/React

The first reading makes me think of a couple of students I have taught over the years. One was a fifth grade girl. She was tall, strong, and extremely athletic. She could play absolutely any playground game thought up to play and would be the best at it. She was a leader and was friends with all the athletic boys in the grade. When the fifth grade went out to recess, she was always captain of one of the teams. She told everybody what to do and scored just about every single point for her team. She was, as one fifth grade boy put it, “One of us.”

Three years later I taught another tall, strong, and extremely athletic girl. She was in fourth grade. Just like the previous girl, this one could out-play anyone on the field or court. There was a difference though. She was not captain. She was never picked as one of the first players. She never got the ball. She complained to the recess monitors and eventually stopped playing. She got sick of running up and down a field never actually being involved in the game.

I wonder why there was such a difference. Did the fourth grader realize things were never really going to change and therefore just gave up? Was the fifth grader more assertive? I wonder if her assertiveness will hurt her in her adult years competing for jobs with males. Will she be seen as “bitchy” or worse?

I feel as though we tell our girls that they can be anything, and they can do anything. But, can they? Really? Until our society believes they are equal will they be? I feel we do need to continue to tell them they can. If enough girls and boys, men and women, believe that they can, than it just might become true.

Rethink

What I learned in the third reading makes me sick to my stomach. I actually had to put the book down several times, while reading Wilchin’s piece. Deciding what person will be without waiting for them to voice their opinion is bad enough, but hearing that, “ . . .about 1,000 infants are surgically altered for cosmetic reasons each year in U.S. hospitals, or about five every day.”(Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 126)

puts me into fits. As a parent, I sympathize with the agony the parents must go through to make these decisions. Our culture sees two sexes not three. We do not want our children to be outcasts or made fun of. What is the right thing to do? I have learned that issues of diversity can be messy things and cannot be “fixed” with a quick solution. It will take a lot of time, thought, and discussion.

What is Disability?

Retell

 

Disability Definitions: The Politics of Meaning

Michael Oliver

Michael Oliver’s main point in his piece, Disability Definitions: The Politics of Meaning, is that what we think and what we believe, really does matter. His idea has been repeated in almost every reading so far. There is only a disability when society says there is one.

Liver talks about a tribe of people in West Africa. Within this tribe, there are many with only two toes. “Missing toes” is not seen as unusual or problematic. It is just reality. Here, in the United States, it would be considered a disability. “Such differences would be regarded as pathological in our society, and the people so afflicted subjected to medical intervention.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p. 170)

 

A World of Their Own

Liza Mundy

Liza Mundy, in her piece, A World of Their Own, speaks about a family, with what the Americans With Disabilities Act, considers an official disability- Deafness. The mothers in this family are having a baby boy. Both mothers are deaf. They chose a deaf donor in order to better their chances of having a deaf child.

The main idea of this piece, is to have its readers think about whether it is right or not to try to have a baby with a disability. Or whether deafness is even a disability. The mothers argue that what they have done is no different than parents trying to have a girl baby or a black baby. Those babies would be discriminated against, so is it right to try to have one? They also argue that deafness isn’t a disability, it is a culture. If the parents feel connected to a culture is it wrong to try to have a child that would also be a part of that culture?

Recall/React

These articles remind me of two things. The first is a woman who just competed on Dancing with the Stars. She is an athlete who had her leg amputated. This woman refused to see herself as unable to do things. She had no leg but why should that keep her out of a dancing competition. I loved the way I changed while watching her progress through the show. I started off feeling bad for her. By the end, I was criticizing her on her performance just like the rest of the cast. My thinking changed from, poor disabled girl, to incredibly hard worker. She could dance! It was also very interesting to watch how the professional dancer had to change his way of teaching to allow her to be the best she could be. It is a good reminder of how we teachers need to change our ways, in order for all our students to be the best they can be.

It also reminds me of my own issue with hearing problems. Up until the age of four, I lived in Madrid, Spain with my young parents in the United States Air Force. I was their first child being raised away from friends and family. When we returned to Vermont, my life changed. Suddenly, people, offering their advice, surrounded us. Well meaning family members started telling my parents they thought something was wrong with my hearing. The story goes, my parents put me to bed and then stood outside my room with my grandparents. They started talking to me in various degrees of loudness. I couldn’t hear them. What followed was a lot of appointments and operations. I had something wrong with my and I could feel it. My poor parents did everything they could to “fix” me.

I wonder what would have happened if we had stayed in Spain. I could hear a little. My parents and I had figured out how to communicate. Did I need all the “fixing”? Society told my parents that not hearing “normally” was bad. Society instructed my parents to do something so I could live a happy, “normal” life.

Rethink

I have learned, once again, that what society decides and believes is what is. If society thinks that not having five toes is a disability, than it is a disability. If society thinks that being gay is bad, than it is. We need to change our thinking. A survey of disabled adults was included in Michael Oliver’s piece. It showed how simply rewriting questions changed how disabled adults felt about themselves. We must rewrite our thoughts and attitudes so we aren’t looking at people with disabilities as second-class citizens or to be pitied.

Experiencing Difference

 

Latinos and the U.S. Race Structure

Clara E. Rodriquez

Retell

Clara Rodriquez speaks about her experiences being a light-skinned Latina from New York City. She learned, throughout her life how her appearance determined how she was treated in different situations. “As I grew older, I came to see that many of these cues or clues to status-skin color, physical features, accents, surnames, residence, and other class characteristics-changed according to place or situation.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p.236)

In her neighborhood her coloring was considered a tan and was envied. In the business area of NYC, it wasn’t acceptable and was looked down upon. 

Rodriquez says that it also happened when she was with other Latinos. “I saw some people as lighter or darker, depending on certain factors, such as their clothes, occupations, and families. I suspect that others saw mw similarly, so that in some contexts, I was very light, in others darker, and in still others about the same as everyone else. Even though my color stayed the same, the perception and sometimes its valuation changed.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p.236) 

Some Latinos are seen as white, some as black, and even some as Asian. If the person meeting them did not know they were Latino, they would be considered white, black or Asian. Once it is known the person is Latino, they automatically become not white. They are light colored. They are part of another group. Attitudes change.

Rodriquez says, “My own life experiences have demonstrated the social constructedness of race, and subsequent research has shown that “race” is not fixed, is imperfectly measured, is at variance with scientific principles, is often conflated with the concept of “ethnicity,” and is under increasing scientific criticism and popular interrogation. Nonetheless, race is still real; it still exits.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p.240) 

Everybody’s Ethnic Enigma

Jelita McLeod

Jelita McLeod writes about her experiences with her appearance. She is half-Caucasian and half-Asian. People see her as different ethnicities, usually, it seems, it depends on what ethnicity the questioner is.

Throughout her piece, she is made to feel bad and even finds it necessary to apologize for not knowing things. A Mexican immigration official gets upset with her for not knowing how to speak Spanish, a waiter helps her “remember” how to pronounce a word she has never heard before. McLeod has a terrific statement for the confusion and need-to-know people around her feel. “I know who I am. It’s everyone else that’s having trouble.” (Rosenblum and Travis, 2012, p.245) 

Recall/React

I remember a day when I was at Lyndon State College that something similar happened to me. I remember it well because it had never happened before. I was going through the food line with my friends. One of the servers started talking to me. I answered his questions and asked a few of my own. When I was getting ready to pay, he asked me a series of questions.

Him: Are you Eurasian?

Me: What?

Him: Are you Eurasian?

Me: No

Him: Oh. You must be Amerasian.”

Me: No

Him: Where were you born?

Me: Spain

Him: Oh.

Me: My father was in the Air Force.

It was a very strange conversation for me to be in. I honestly didn’t even know what those words meant because they were the first time I had ever heard them. I remember telling my parents and then my grandmother about it. I must say that my father does look Asian. My grandmother used to show us pictures when he was really small and say, “Doesn’t he look Chinese?”

It was an experience in someone trying to figure out my racial and ethnic identity. Once he understood I was white, the issue was over. I didn’t, until now, realize what it had meant. A stranger couldn’t figure out who I was. He was trying to place me in a group so he could make some decisions about me. It has been twenty-five years since that happened, but I remember it clearly. I wonder how it must feel to be asked those questions, or knowing people want to ask those questions, constantly? 

Rethink

These articles have made me think (these readings all seem to be doing that) about why I need to figure out where people are from. Am I wondering because I feel the need to put them into a group and make decisions about them? Do I want to feel sorry for certain groups of people? Do I want to envy other groups? It would be nice to have race not matter. Is that reality though? Will there ever be a time again when it doesn’t matter what race you are? Now that it is out there, will humans ever be able to see past it. Or, is it better to try to understand the experiences people of different races have and change our behavior to make all lives feel more equal?