Provenzo Chapter 10

1. Provenzo Chapter 10 Education and Dominated Cultures

2. Our nation has imperfectly championed ideas of freedom, democracy, equality. We are a nation that was founded on the conquest of native or indigenous people—and slavery has played a critical role in our historical experience. We have assigned privilege and power to groups based on their origins, economic, power, and geography: whiteness and privilege have dominated our culture. As teachers and border crossers it is essential that we understand the experience of dominated cultures; not to do so is a basic error that diminishes us not only in our work but also as a culture and society. Privilege and oppression are not limited to those addressed in this discussion. Main Points

3. People conquered as part of European settlement of North America People brought here as slaves Colonized as part of the U.S. global expansion Perceived as inferior by the dominant culture Not provided equal rights Physically segregated Taught by members of the dominant group Language, traditions, and values are trivialized, considered inferior Limited access to social and economic opportunities Deculturalization:when the dominant culture strips away the culture of the dominated group Dominated cultures:

4. Segregation and isolation Forced change of language Curriculum reflects culture of dominant group Textbooks reflect culture of dominant group Dominated groups not allowed to express their culture and religion Teachers from the dominant group Colonized people are directed, they do not direct themselves Methods used in educational settings

5. Native Americans 2 million people About one percent of the U.S. population 7% in BIA schools 5% in private schools 88% in public schools “To describe Native Americans with a single descriptive term is like describing Italians, Greeks, Norwegians, and Russians as Europeans.” Speak at least 200 different languages. Primary goals: “civilize” the savages and convert them to Christianity.

6. Education • 1879: first federally sponsored school, the Carlisle Indian School • Captain Richard Pratt: “All the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” • In 1928, federal report: Native American children be educated in their own communities not boarding schools.” • Self-determination: late 1970’s and early 1980’s. • Funding decreased under the Reagan administration.

7. Puerto Rican Americans • When taken over by the U.S., Puerto Rico was well on its way toward independence. • Puerto Rican independence was brought to a standstill with the invasion of the country in 1898. • The Puerto Rican population, despite its Spanish, African, and Native American roots, was forced to assume U.S. citizenship. • Hawaii and the Philippines are other examples of colonial expansion in the late 19th century.

8. African Americans • When importation of slaves outlawed in 1820s, over 10 million Africans had been brought to North America. • In a slave society, Africans viewed as tools for benefit of owners. • Essentially, compulsory ignorance was the policy established for African children under slavery.

9. Booker T. Washington Washington supported policy of accommodation. Rejected idea of social equality between African Americans and whites. African Americans “as separate as the fingers” from the white population But, like the fingers on a hand, inevitably linked. W.E.B. DuBois DuBois argued for the training of the “talented tenth” of the African American population Serve in positions of leadership in education, the ministry, politics, and business. According to DuBois, Washington’s ‘compromise’ threatened the political power of African Americans, their civil rights, and the possibility of higher education and its benefits. Opposing Models of African American Education:

10. The Movement for Civil Rights Black Codes • Laws restricting the rights of newly freed African Americans after the Civil War. • Illegal to marry across racial lines, • Voting dependent on owning property, • Eliminated Blacks from serving on juries, etc. 1954 Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka: • Supreme Court decision: Separate facilities were inherently unequal. • “Feeling of inferiority. . .unlikely ever to be undone.”

11. Civil Rights • 1955: Brown II • Students to be admitted on a nondiscriminatory basis “with all deliberate speed.” • Resistance throughout the South • Little Rock: first real test of the desegregation laws. • 1957, Arkansas Governor sent National Guard troops to Little Rock to prevent African American students from entering. • President Eisenhower sent troops to Little Rock to enforce Brown Decision. • Process of social change had begun.

12. Compensatory Education • Effort to achieve greater educational opportunity • 1965 ESEA: one billion dollars in Title I funds • Assigned to school districts to help disadvantaged children • For children whose families live below the government’s poverty level. • Established in 1965: compensatory education programs (e.g., infant education, early childhood education, basic skills, counseling, and dropout prevention programs) in nation’s schools. • Best known: Head Start--disadvantaged children preschool readiness program

13. Dominated Cultures and Privilege Teachers: • Usually white, middle class • More suburban than urban • Cultural references: Eurocentric • Moderately conservative The Mercator projection: • Parallels of latitude, which are equal distances apart on a globe, are drawn with increasing separation. • Greenland and Antarctica: enormously exaggerated, although their shape is preserved. • Relative size of the world’s countries are incorrectly represented. • Cultural bias is operating when the world is portrayed using a Mercator projection. • Maps are useful tools. • We need to know the extent to which they unconsciously influence our view of the world by establishing a normative practice. • This is also the case with issues such as privilege, and especially what has been described as white privilege.

14. Our nation has imperfectly championed the ideas of freedom, democracy, and equality. • We are a nation that was founded on the conquest of native or indigenous people—and slavery has played a critical role in our historical experience. • We have assigned privilege and power to groups based on their origins, economic, power, and geography. Whiteness and privilege have dominated our culture. • As teachers and border crossers it is essential that we understand the experience of dominated cultures. Not to do so is a basic error that diminishes us not only in our work but also as a culture and society. • Privilege and oppression are not limited to those addressed in this discussion. Main Points