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“Am I Doing More Harm Than Good?” Grappling With Race Talk Dilemmas in Secondary Literature

“Am I Doing More Harm Than Good?” Grappling With Race Talk Dilemmas in Secondary Literature. Carlin Borsheim-Black, Central Michigan University MCTE, October 19, 2012. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Night by Elie Weisel

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“Am I Doing More Harm Than Good?” Grappling With Race Talk Dilemmas in Secondary Literature

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  1. “Am I Doing More Harm Than Good?” Grappling With Race Talk Dilemmas in Secondary Literature Carlin Borsheim-Black, Central Michigan University MCTE, October 19, 2012

  2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Night by ElieWeisel A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank The Giver by Lois Lowry

  3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Night by ElieWeisel A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank The Giver by Lois Lowry

  4. Race Talk Dilemmas Instances when English teachers have to negotiate • whether, • how, and • to what extent to address racism as it comes up in the study of literature.

  5. Dilemma 1: Whether • Max • Experienced English teacher • Medium-sized community and school; 80% White student population • 10th grade, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • N word

  6. MAX: The use of the N word might make us uncomfortable, right? We keep hearing that word coming up. We’re going to be hearing it a lot in Huck Finn. Now the reason why we hear it a lot in Huck Finnwas because it was written before the Civil War, so certainly slavery was still around, right? What I want us to think about is why we might be able to use inappropriate language when we discuss the novel. SARA: Huh? MAX: I certainly don’t want you running around using the “n” word. SARA: People do--oo. MAX: And they do. But why might we be able to use it in this classroom when we’re discussing a novel? Why might that be important? Think about it. Write down your ideas. And we’ll have a short little discussion to see what you think.  

  7. Dilemma 1: Whether

  8. What difference does it make? • Silence teaches itsown lesson about racism in the school. “One of the outcomes of silence in discussions of race, racism, and White supremacy can be a lack of challenges to dominant perspectives. This lack of challenge, in turn, can reinforce the status quo” (Haviland, 2008).

  9. Alternatives… Articulate clear reasons for discussing racism (if not for students then at least for yourself). Develop a strong sense of community before discussing racism.

  10. Dilemma 2: How • Max • Experienced English teacher • Medium-sized community and school; 80% White student population • 10th grade, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • Guiding questions to frame the study of the novel: • Is Huck a racist?

  11. MAX: This won’t take very long. We’re just going to go around and articulate these very quickly. The first one we have is “Is Huck a racist?” What is the first instance you have there? ADAM: He treats the slave he gets as a normal person. MAX: Sure. That’s the instance. So what did you put for the “what”? ADAM: Ah. Um, he doesn’t want to be rude. MAX: So what does this have to do with whether Huck is a racist? ADAM: Well, technically he’s being a racist MAX: Is he technically being a racist if he just kind of lets his slave that was given to him do what ever he wants to do?  Is that a racist?

  12. ADAM: No. MAX: No. JENN: He still uses the slave. MAX: How? No – he’s like, “Well, I don’t have much use for ya.” [Laugh] “You can follow me around if you want.” The important thing is what that slave does with his free time. Do you remember?  ADAM: He finds Jim and helps him hide in the swamp. MAX: So when he treats someone kindly like that, unexpectedly, good things came out of it. But your big questions is, “Is Huck a racist?” We can see here that maybe he isn’t.  Okay. Next group. How are we products of society?

  13. Dilemma 2: How

  14. What difference does it make? Glosses over racism and reinforces a surface-level understanding of racism. Frames racism in interpersonal, not systemic.

  15. Alternatives… • Consider methods that reflect the depth and complexity of the topic. • Allot plenty of time. • Allow students to discuss.

  16. Dilemma 3: To What Extent Rae Belmont Experienced AP teacher Rural, predominately White school 10th grade, A Raisin in the Sun unit A PowerPoint about “Racism Today” to connect with racism in A Raisin in the Sun.

  17. Rae: …it’s kind of common knowledge that most prisons are made up of a majority of African American inmates yet they are a minority in our country. Do they either commit more crimes or they’re prosecuted more? What do you think is the reason behind this?Student: I think they commit more crimes just because of where they grew up they probably needed to do more crimes. They can’t afford the stuff they need or they are just angry at things so they take it out, um, in bad ways. Rae: Okay.  Student: Um, I’ve heard this before – that they’ll commit crimes because they’ll get um a bed in prison and they can’t get it at home.

  18. Student: I think it might be cops who are racist toward African Americans so they’re more likely to pull over someone who is African American versus white. Rae: Okay, and I’m sure we could find statistics about African Americans getting harsher sentences than white offenders. Whatever it is, do you think that someone with black skin is just more violent? Student: Probably. Students: NO! (Laughing.) Probably not. Rae: The correct response would be no. So then you would look to sociological issues as to why this happens. Now we’ve talked here about the American dream, right?

  19. Dilemma 3: To What Extent

  20. What difference does it make? Reinforced students’ negative stereotypes.

  21. Alternatives… • Offer texts from which students can build opinions based on fact. • Be prepared to clarify misconceptions, challenge stereotypes. • Frame the discussion in productive way.

  22. Race Talk Dilemmas Decisions about whether, how, and to what extent matter All of these decisions are complex All of these decisions have consequences

  23. So what?

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