Color Blind

Again my students didn't disappoint. I have no idea how the whirlwind of conversation led to the tip-toed topic of racism, but one student claimed that racism isn't as much of a factor in society as stereotyping. "People always say I talk 'white'. What does that even mean? Because I speak proper English I am trying to be something I'm not?"

It was a stimulating statement allowing the students people have told me to be misfits to rise to the occasion and show their true colors. (no pun) Eventually the conversation led to the class coming to the conclusion, as a whole, that race would eventually die out as an issue due to the "cross-breeding goin' on", as one student candidly spoke.

I was intrigued by the sudden maturity level at which the students posed themselves. While the conversation may have seemed off topic and took up most of the 40 minute class period, they were actually right on cue. The class is getting ready to create their own amendment for the U.S. Constitution, so while exploring the true meaning behind the phrasing of other amendments they were captivated by the idea that the founding fathers were the ones who agreed on the 3/5ths compromise.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to get at here. Perhaps it's the idea that students are capable of reaching higher orders of thinking if we only facilitate it. Or that regardless of the label society has given a group of people they are able to achieve great feats of intelligence and integrity. The students left class that day awake and attentive, carrying themselves as though they were proud of what they had accomplished together. Other teachers came and asked what we did because they noticed the students were "walking tall".

While Loewen does hit the nail a couple of times when referring to the "invisibility of racism in American textbooks" our students are capable of seeing through the facades put up by the textbook authors at the top of capitalism if we would only provide them with the proper looking glass. But again the struggle for me is how do I determine what truths I will and won't provide if teaching with a textbook as a primary source for my students?