The film "I am Not Your Negro" discusses several aspects in regards to racism, history and in particular the racism and history in regards to people of color. This film overall further enhanced what I knew about the racism and the history of people of color but also led me to take this information, new and old, and implement it into a classroom setting, no matter what the integration rates are at the school.
"The moment a negro child walks into the school, every decent, self-respecting, loving, parent should take his white child out of that broken school." (5:49). This was the first quote of the movie that stood out to me as being important. It is a statement that even though happened years ago still contributes to the structural racism that is seen in todays society. This statement is inaccurate because just because a child of color enters a school, it doesn't even begin to correlate with the school being broken or not. Students of color can be the brightest students nor should the fact that they are a part of a certain school system determine their intelligence or not. Nor as individuals who are white be told that the school that they attend is broken because a student/ students of color attend there. This creates harsh stereotypes toward not only the individual students of color but also to the school district itself.
It also, allows for stereotypes and harsh discrimination to be cast upon the individuals who are white and are accepting of the fact that students of color attend a school. The film brings to light a teacher Bill Miller who taught at a school that had students of color. "She too anyway, was treated like a N*****, especially by the cops, and she had no love for landlords" (13:05) This goes to show that people standing up and acknowledging that people of color too deserve equal rights, such as education, politics, trial by jury, and fair and decent treatment, will face discrimination and judgement from others. This still happens today. People who are out and protesting police brutality and are white are often hearing the phrase "Why are you standing with this movement you are white?" I know this first hand because it was said to my sister and her friends as they were attending a peaceful protest a few weeks ago. Individuals also had called and made fun of my sister and her friends for standing up for the movement and being white along with several others at the protest. This overall, just brought to light that there always have been people who have been brave enough to stand for equality regardless of their race throughout the generations.
Another problem that the film brings to light is the representation in main stream media. Things like movies, television shows, books and advertisements have often used individuals who are white to create their content, or have given small roles to people of color and called that representation. It leads for children and older people of color to think "Heroes from what I could see were white..." (15:38). This sort of representation can discourage people of color for thinking that they can never be any sort of a hero based upon the color of their skin. I personally had known that in the past people of color didn't have any representation in the media, but never had thought about how when they were being portrayed they were minor characters who were not the forefront of the story. This has changed some in more recent years with movies such as Black Panther or books such as Attika Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, but still isn't what it should be in my opinion.
Where do these ideas leave me as a future educator? How as a future educator can I make a difference in the right direction? These things can come from acknowledging that even though some of the discrimination people of color have faced in the past is less main stream and have changed for the better, still realizing that a lot more needs to be done. This can mean discussions among the classroom in regards to current events going on such as the murder of George Floyd and also Breonna Taylor and discussing the #SayHerName movement. It also can mean reading from more authors of color such as Lorraine Hansberry who wrote "A Rasin in the Sun". To just overall being an advocate for students of color or who have parents who are of color. It also can mean fighting for integrated classrooms and that an integrated classroom is not a broken classroom and that an integrated school is not a broken school. It means standing up for people of color no matter the negative comments that will be received. As an educator representation in the classroom matters no matter the ratio of integration because as an educator I want to teach love not hate especially when it comes to one another's race.
Hi Ariel, I think it's great that you mention "A Raisin in the Sun" as one of the texts teachers can use to expose their students to the black perspective. I read the play in high school along side Langston Hughes' poem, "A Dream Deferred." Great post :)
ReplyDeleteI totally forgot about "A Dream Deferred" which is another great piece.
DeleteHi Ariel, I really appreciate how honest and personal you are in this post. I think that the story about your sister being bullied for her support of BLM is an example of how steep the racial divide is. It is apparent that the whole fight of integration has never gone away. As you say, the blatant discrimination may be less main stream now than it was then. However, with schools being more segregated than ever and the massive inequity among districts, it is absolutely necessary to make sure these facts are addressed and discussed in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI agree I think that these issues do play a major role in the classroom and should be talked about and discussed.
DeleteI've heard of Akata Witch before but haven't had the chance to look into it. If you want a topic that intersects racism and entertainment, then I recommend looking into Hattie McDaniel's (first African-American to win an Oscar for Gone With The Wind) Oscar acceptance speech as well as the backstory behind it (they wouldn't even let her sit with her white co-stars because of her race!). Though I think what I appreciate most about your post is your argument for integration in the classroom. I've learned from my time in autism-discrimination research that school districts will often try and bar students with special-needs enrollment because of their IEP requirements. So yes, discrimination/segregation is alive and well and must be fought constantly.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that about Hattie McDaniel and I will have to look into it. Thanks for the great info.
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