Choice Reading: Still Separate, Still Unequal

 My group had the third reading which was the article “Still Separate, Still Unequal”. In my group we decided to acknowledge the activities the article talks about to detect these inequalities and do so more effectively. 

Segregation has been illegal for over 65 years however schools in the US are still separated and unequal. According to the New York Times more than half of the nation’s schoolchildren are in racially concentrated districts where 75% of the population is either white or nonwhite. These districts are often segregated by income. Due to these segregations the educational gaps between students of color and white students as well as rich and poor students has grown and intensified. Segregation is often not largely talked about, especially in school which is unfortunate because the more people and kids are educated on these topics the more likely they are to speak up and fight for more equality and fight for more integration in the schools. 

• Activity 1: Warm Up: Visualize segregation and inequality in education.

• Research the segregation that is present within your own school system

• Activity 2: Explore a case study.

• Analyze the treatment of the students based on factors such as race and social class

• What surprised or shocked you about the case? 

• Activity 3: Investigate the relationship between school segregation, funding and inequality.

• Funding inequality within different school districts 

• Funding inequality for public schools related to private schools 

• “The estimate also came as teachers across the country have protested and gone on strike to demand more funding for public schools”

• Activity 4: Examine potential legal remedies to school segregation and educational inequalities.

• How do we get better schools for our children?

• There are many lawsuits about how the states are violating their constitutional rights as they deny children a quality education.

• Activity 5: Consider alternatives to integration

• Some families are choosing an alternative education method rather than integration.

• School systems advocating for schools specifically created for African American students. 

• Activity 6: Learn more and take action

• Write a letter about your own personal experiences

• Interview someone about their segregation experiences within the school system

• Start a conversation within your community about issues in your schools and district. Talk to the student council, parent association and the school board.

Woke Read Aloud

 This week’s video was Woke Read Aloud: They, She, He Easy as ABC. In this video Ki is reading a book called They, She, He Easy as ABC, this book is about all the different pronouns that people may go by and understanding that  just because someone may look like a girl doesn’t mean they use she/her pronouns.

 I think it is extremely important to teach kids that everybody is different in their own way but we are all still alike in so many other ways. We should always want to make sure our friends, family and classmates all feel comfortable and happy. Ki starts off the video talking about what names and pronouns feel good to them, they say that the they pronouns make them feel good inside, it makes their heart, mind and body feel good. I think kids should be taught the concept of pronouns so that they don't make others feel sad or hurt. I believe kids can handle learning the concept of pronouns, however I do think learning about what that might mean in terms of someone's identity should be something taught later on when they are old enough and mature to fully understand the meaning. This book and video is a great way to teach kids the different pronouns and that just because we have different pronouns doesn’t mean we don’t all enjoy the same things like music and dancing. Ki does a wonderful job explaining and expressing this in their video. 

Unfortunately, I know that this concept and lesson would make some parents very upset and uncomfortable. It's unfortunate that it's hard for the older generations to understand or accept this, it's hard for our society to accept change and it could be because they weren’t taught to accept others for who they are. 

What are some ideas that would be a great way to get this conversation started? 

Class Overview

 There are a few things from our class this year that really stood out to me. Which are our daily Moo In, quotes from the readings, and the roleplay for Wind-Wolf. 

Moo In stood out to me because I’ve seen similar activities teachers do at the beginning of the year as an introduction to the class and for everyone to get to know each other a little bit, but it is never something that is continued throughout the rest of the semester.  But we do Moo In every day, which I’ve never seen before. I think this is a great way to further get to know each other, it's a way to get everyone included and interact with each other and I think it's also a great way to get the class awake, ready to start the class and ready to start having conversations. For myself it also kinda helps me feel more comfortable talking to the whole class, I do have a lot of anxiety when it comes to public speaking and this is a way to ease that anxiety, make me feel more comfortable speaking to the class. 

I really enjoy when we go over quotes from the readings as a class, I find it very beneficial for me because I tend to struggle with comprehending what exactly the author is trying to say. And hearing everyone else's interpretations of the quotes helps me further understand the reading.   

I really enjoyed when we did the roleplay for Wind-Wolf, I thought it was an interesting and fun activity for the whole class. It was interesting to see how others would react and handle this situation. And as a viewer it was great to see how the class communicated as these characters to find a solution to keep Wind-Wolf in class.

Blog #4 Intersectionality

 According to Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality is valid and needs to be accepted in society. The overlapping of social categories, such as race, gender, and sexual orientation is known as intersection. Other aspects of an individual’s identity could go unnoticed if only one is acknowledged. In order to clarify her concept of intersectionality, Crenshaw provides an analogy of an automobile crossroads. An automobile intersection is the meeting point of two or more roadways. Therefore, if this intersection were a person, each road would represent a distinct aspect of their identity, and the intersection would represent their entire identity. For instance, gender could be the horizontal road and religion the vertical road. Despite having no connection to one another, these two identities have an enormous impact on the individual. Next, Crenshaw discusses how these intersections can remain unaddressed in cases of injustice. If the law were an ambulance, it could only help one identity and go on a single route, ignoring any other identities that could be at a disadvantage. In addition, Crenshaw gives a true story that highlights the people who have suffered because intersectionality has not been acknowledged. She gives us the story of Emma DeGraffenreid, who turned down a job offer. In addition to being a woman, DeGraffenreid was also African American, and she felt that the reason she wasn't hired was because their identities overlapped. She was sidelined in her legal pursuits because the courts were able to demonstrate that they recruited both women and African Americans—not an intersection, but a single group. Her argument was that they did not hire African American women, even though that was not her point (intersection; a member of both groups). This is a major issue because Emma was the victim of discrimination and the law did not provide her with any protection. In The Urgency of Intersectionality, Crenshaw says, "If you cannot see a problem, you cannot face it". There won't be a solution as long as intersectionality-related problems are ignored by the law. Crenshaw emphasizes that because so many people are underprivileged, we need to raise awareness of this problem. Emma was the victim of prejudice, and the law offered her no protection, thus this is a serious problem. According to Crenshaw, "If you cannot see a problem, you cannot face it", in The Urgency of Intersectionality). As long as the law ignores issues relating to intersectionality, there won't be a solution. Crenshaw highlights the need to increase awareness of this issue because there are so many disadvantaged people.

Blog #8 Hehir, Toward Ending Ableism in Education

 The first quote I'd like to put out there is the main one that I believe stuck out to everyone “Disability is not a tragedy, (however) society’s response to disability can have tragic consequences for people who have disabilities.

I’m happy that we discussed this quote during class, because it could mean so many different  things. To me this quote is highlighting the fact that society perceives disability as two things, either someone is completely incapable of functioning or performing daily life activity, or someone is pretending or faking a disability as an excuse. 

“Studies of deaf children whose parents are deaf are revealing. These children start school with vocabularies comparable to their hearing peers and have higher levels of educational and occupational success”

This quote is important because it's saying that disability is not always a disadvantage. Students with disabilities are not always “behind” in school but in reality they just need some assistance and guidance to keep them moving forward and focused. 

“What wasn’t clear to Penny at the time was that she was entering a new world, that of a parent of a child with disabilities, a world in which she would have to fight constantly for her child to have the most basic of rights, a world in which deeply held negative cultural assumptions concerning disability would influence every aspect of her son’s life.”

I feel like there is not a lot of support or education for parents who have a child with disabilities. It’s like you have educated yourself, learning as you go, kinda like trial and era. But while also having to constantly fight for your child. Trying to keep all the negativity away from your child and protect them at any cost. 

Blog #7 Richard Rodriguez

 Aria written by Richard Rodriguez, in this text Rodriguez highlights what is like for a native Spanish speaker to have his/her language “taken away” from them. He talks about what his life was like when he was a child. He mentions how when he was younger Spanish was spoken at home, it gave meaning to him and was a strong part of his identity. But his school did not see the importance of his language like Rodriguez did. The school thought that Spanish would be a barrier to his education. The nuns from his school went to his home to talk to his parents and plead with them to only have him speak English. Because of the nuns authority figure within the church, his parents felt obligated to agree. This was the beginning of many events that impacted Rodriguez's life. His life at home was not long the same, Rodriguez mentions how it felt like the time he spent with his family became less and less. Without his family being able to speak Spanish to him they would have less interaction with him. This caused a lot of silence at home, making it a very uncomfortable environment. Rodriguez began to struggle with his identity, a huge part of his identity has been taken away not only during school but at home, the one place he's supposed to feel the most safe and secure. Rodriguez mentions that as he felt one identity slipping he also felt another one beginning, becoming an American citizen. He had always seen himself as being someone who was not the best at speaking English, he would mumble or speak very quietly. He eventually gained his confidence speaking English. 

I don’t think it was right for them to force Rodriguez to stop speaking the language he felt the most comfortable with. But it turned out that to be something he turned into a powerful story, he didn’t let it hold him back. However, it is also very important to respect everyone's culture and you definitely don’t go to someone's home and tell them they speak their own language to or with their child. I think the school could have done so much better to support him, first they needed to have the respect and understanding of others and their culture. They should have educated themselves and see what he needs to succeed.