Reflections #1

Tonight in class there were two things that I'd like to explore a little more. Disney and the Arizona School Superintendent.

Part I
When I was pregnant with my first child, my husband and I talked at length about race. It had always been a part of our conversation. He is Irish, English and Polish. He can track his ancestors to the early 17th century and has been to visit the ruins of a church in Ireland where generations of his family were married. I am Black with my ancestors coming through Goree Island, probably from Senegal. My maiden name is Goree and all my life I was told it was French. As I got older I started believing maybe we originated from the northern parts of Africa that currently are Francophiles. After more research, I discovered Goree Island and the "Door of No Return". Goree comes from the Dutch Goraie, the Dutch actually ran the slave holding settlement for quite some time.

Race, entitlement, privilege, culture, and more have been part of our relationship. As a"white" man who grew up in Detroit and attended an HBCU, he has a different contextual and cultural awareness of the Black experience in America and I believe that is partially why we are able to be in a relationship. He gets me.

Disney was a part of our conversations. Being blessed with two girls we talk often about the portrayal of women, the image of beauty, and society's obsession with perfection in regards to the impact of on our girls and how much to shield them from. He is not a fan of the mysoginistic tones of Disney. I am not a fan of the racism.

Example #1 Celebration http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/cities/DISNEY.html
Celebration was the utopian society Disney created in Florida. It was his ideal community, built by the Disney Development Corporation.  Disney had to level acres of Florida community for Disney world, only to want to recreate what he destroyed in an isolated geographic location. There were to be no people of color in Celebration, FL. The people who lived there were all one people: white. The community was built on Christian ideals with a future dream of expanding to other states in America.

Example #2 The movies.
I really like this author's summation:
http://www.cracked.com/article_15677_the-9-most-racist-disney-characters.html
Disney's movies often included a savior-type figure who was white. The characters in his films were petite, talented, and poised if they were white. If they were Black or Latino or Asian they reflected the stereotypes. They were slovenly, mis-proportioned, practiced imperfect speech, flawed and rarely, if ever, the stars of the film.

Example #3 Indoctrination
Much like Hitler, http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/themes/indoctrinating-youth/, Disney knew if you could get to the children, you could affect the next generation, shaping them to be who you want them to be. While Disney would not be happy with how his company has changed for the better, he would be very happy with how the foundation he set the course for his company to spread its message to families globally. Disney is an empire. They own ABC, ESPN, Marvel, and more. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/11/09/why-espn-is-the-worlds-most-valuable-media-property-and-worth-40-billion/
They control media; what we watch, who we watch, how we watch it, and when. If Disney were still alive at the reins, there is no doubt in my mind he would have been in complete control over the message being sent through the various media controlled by the company. That message would not have had a multi-cultural feel to it. Just based on the creation of Celebration alone, Disney would love the fact that his company is in a position of power to influence families globally through their pocketbooks and children.

Our girls do watch Disney movies, we've been to Disneyland, and we enjoyed it. But, it's not their only form of entertainment. We don't consume it in mass quantities. We don't buy every Disney movie, doll, dress up clothes, stickers, and toy. And we have conversations about the movies we watch. We temper it as best we can. There is a magical quality and innocence that can't be denied. It can be moderated and limited. And I also believe it's important to take notice and give recognition when a positive change happens. Disney is working towards a more inclusive image and message. Tiana (Princess and the Frog) was not perfect, but it was a start. I feel it's important to remain part of the conversation and show support so more change can occur.

Part II
I was interested in the teachers who testified against the teaching of ethnic studies. Superintendent Horne mentioned them briefly in the Cooper interview. http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/12/arizona.ethnic.studies/
He alluded to the teachers being upset by the program, but only cited classroom management and disruptive behavior as issues.  Is it possible that the teachers were not prepared to teach the subject matter, relate to the students, or facilitate a productive discussion and dialogue between the students? And this is why they don't want to teach the program?

My 4.5 year old starts kindergarten next year. Currently we are zoned for Caughlin Ranch. It's a good school based on test scores. They are second in the state. But when you look at demographic data, last year they had no Black students and 23 multi-ethnic students. I commend them for reporting out the multi-ethnic students, as that is not required by Nevada state law. However, in driving around the neighborhood and talking with some of the current parents whose children attend the school, it became clear that we would not fit in. Our family's values are different from the families at Caughlin. We are making a conscious decision to downsize and move into an apartment in a neighborhood where the girls will be zoned for Mt. Rose Elementary. They have a Spanish immersion program and super diverse population of families whose values seem more aligned with ours. It's Reno, so I know we aren't going to find a bustling community 100% supportive of multiculturalism and inclusiveness. However, we can find an environment supportive of it.

The test scores from Mt. Rose are not nearly as high as Caughlin's. I have a theory about that. A good-sized portion of the population of Mt. Rose are not native-English speakers. The standardized tests do not come from a cultural perspective they identify with and the content and context may not be transferable. So of course, there would be low test scores. These students, mostly Hispanic, may or may not be able to read the tests, and are more likely to not have a frame of reference from which to understand the test and conceptualize concepts. So they do poorly on the tests. My theory is not based on any facts, just my own personal observations and experience with standardized tests.

Ergo, it is the responsibility of the teacher to get the student to a place where they can be successful. I would bet the teachers were not taught how to to accomplish that, nor given the support to do so. Connecting that back to Arizona, were the teachers adequately prepared to teach these classes and support the students? Go back one more step to San Fran State Strike. A new program and degree of study was formed, but who was prepared and qualified to teach it?

In thinking about the readings from the Cultural Lit text, if we are supposed to have a foundation that allows us to move forward in everything else, where does that foundation come from? Who determines what that foundation and set of schema are? And if you don't have them, how are you as an educator expected to adequately educate your students?

The text talked about a standardized language benefitting society on pages 75-76. It went into detail on how China suffers from not having a standardized language. The US does not have an official language. Is the book saying we should and if we did we would be a better country? If that is the case, what happens to the students whose native tongue is not the official language of the country? My guess is they fall behind, they don't fully understand concepts, and they get frustrated.

On page 47 of the Hirsch text, he says that "researchers have drawn significant conclusions about the importance of background knowledge for general reading ability." If the students of Mt Rose don't have that general background, then they don't do well in the readings or on the tests. The teachers assume they should have a foundation for understanding, but when that is non-existent, what do the teachers do?

What did the teachers in Arizona do? They spoke out against the ethnic studies program. They could have advocated for better resources and support. The various histories are a part of that background knowledge and should be a part of the foundation. I would argue in doing so, you create better readers if going by Hirsch's book.