I cannot believe it is time to write another reflection about the last two week’s content. Two of the big concepts I read/watched, discussed with peers, and reflected on was racism and classism. Classism and financial inequality is a topic I am extra passionate about, as power closely intersects with money. 

Baratunde Thurston in his TED Talk “How to Deconstruct Racism One Headline at a Time,” uses headlines as a jumping off point to discussing racism. Obviously, headlines come from news, which is shapes the population’s perceptions and access to information. I appreciated how he started from discussing what is real and fake (which was hard to distinguish because reality is pretty absurd at times) and then asked us to reverse the roles, increase believability of the headlines, and then change the action. What he discovered in this process is that minorities are targeted simply for existing. He says, “When they show up for me, it’s different.” He made his talk accessible, impactful, and transferable. I knew before listening to him that police tend to show up differently for those who are in minority groups, and the military/police complex of our countries tends to favor preserving the existing power dynamics and inequality. Mainstream media tends to support those interests as well due to their contributors. However, it is difficult sometimes to show this injustice to people, and Thurston was able to do just that. I most definitely will be sharing this with my students in journalism because they write headlines all the time. While my students are pretty diverse and inclusive, this connection to real life is a great one to make and discuss alongside the headline curriculum, as it opens conversations about the roles and responsibilities of journalism.

The stories of the women were also really powerful. I have so many quotes from them that really stood out to me. I love reading personal stories because it connects the macro to the micro and is very personable to read. Ann in her racial autobiography “How I Developed an ‘Obduracy of Tone’” writes that she was trained to teach in white middle-class classrooms and, through silence on the subject, to ignore all forms of inequality.” She also discussed moving to U. City (where I currently teach), which was a personal connection to me. U. City used to be predominately Jewish, and while there is still a high Jewish population, that is no longer the majority. When I was in education school for undergrad at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis, we were taught about poverty, race, and other important intersections, specifically urban education, which prepared me for a range of populations. I think partly her statement has changed in recent years but primarily shifts based on location, which is unfortunate since teachers never know where they will move or how their school or district will change over time. However, I relate to her not in the fact of being taught to ignore inequality but more in the idea that inequality is just how it is. I was not given much education about how to actually make change in my community besides just building personal relationships. 

Karen discussed her mother being very passionate about inequality but not really discussing civil rights. And then there was Sekani who in her narrative “How I Got My Black ‘Attitude’ Problem” writes of her trauma growing up and the impact inside her: “While my mother had shouted to the rafters how special she thought I was, she was clearly focused on what I now know to be Sister Ann’s racist abuse of her power. She didn’t realize how important it was for me to be liked by my peers, and she didn’t realize the damage the incident had done to my feelings about myself.” She values openly processing social events in class but asks rhetorically “How could Sister Ann do that if she could not confront her own shame?”  The key word here for me was “process” because that is exactly the type of action we need to include in class. It is not just teaching the event or issue and saying what is wrong or right or even just giving permission to have emotions. It is also allowing students judgement-free to really think about the impact of the event on themselves and others and teach them the value in not just holding it in but sharing community with peers, with the teacher primarily being the moderator. I am lucky to have students who are writing on pressing issues, specifically in Newspaper and Intro to Journalism, because these conversations happen naturally.  We are always discussing what is currently happening, and most of my students seem to feel comfortable sharing about it. However, what I think this reading opened up for me was intentionality and really trying to cultivate these conversations with more direction. Students, even high schoolers, are still human children. They want to grow up so fast, but many people (including adults) seem to think it is more appropriate to let things sit inside or to just become desensitized to what is happening around us constantly, especially in the age of social media. I think this opens door to social-emotional learning in that students can have a safe space to practice emotional regulation and comfort skills. 

Joel Spring in chapter three writes of the four factors David Walker thought responsible for “the poor situation of Blacks in the nation: slavery; the use of religion to justify slavery and prejudice; the African colonization movement designed to send free blacks back to Africa; and the lack of educational opportunity.” Spring writes that the denial of education can result in exploitation, as seen through the history of African Americans. These four reasons were really powerful to me because it shows so much irony and that it is just all about preserving power. What I think that Spring could have added was that the reverse is true. That exploitation can only result from denial of education. And we see this today with how invested billionaires and the government is in ensuring that standards are nationalized and are the main focus of education, thereby ensuring that students are primarily educated through the factory model of schooling. Exploitation is still rife in our country, and it is a high priority to convince people it is not. Discussing this with students is heavily important to me, because I want students to see how important education is and critical thinking in all fields. And to evaluate how these barriers still exist today. 

I really appreciated the “A Nation of Tribes” video because the stark difference between people is astounding. How do we reconcile that? In the article “The Psychology of Social Class” by Antony S. R. Manstead, they write that the difference in the thinking and actions of working-class, middle-class, and upper-class people serves to “reinforce these influences of social class background, making it harder for working-class individuals to benefit from the kinds of educational and employment opportunities that would increase their social mobility and thereby improve their material circumstances.” I think this goes back to my previous paragraph about exploitation. I think once someone is financially stable, whether middle-class or higher, there is enough of a cushion that then there is less of a need to change the systems that allow many others to be constantly oppressed. We are not conditioned to work together much for the benefit of all when it directly goes against where power lies. Large hordes of wealth are not possible without others barely having any money to their name. I think how I can incorporate this into my classroom is something like what I did in college, which was to always consider one’s biases and background. Similarly to the personal culture paper, it is good to continue self-reflecting and allowing space to consider where are thoughts do come from and why we act or react the way we do.  I also think allowing students to ponder what their real values are is also powerful. We have students who are planning to write a college essay consider first what their top one of two values are in life. I think this exercise grounds us and allows us to morph the theoretical into the personal. 

Tracey Ore’s compilation book includes an article called “Stressing Out the Poor” by Gary W. Evans, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, and Pamela Kato Klebanov. They cite a study of elementary students and show that those in the poorest quarter prior to kindergarten are “nearly 10% behind affluent and middle class classmates in math.” And the gap almost doubles by middle school, writing that this could be “attributed to the tendency for advantage and disadvantage to accumulate over time.”  When students start off disadvantaged and allowed access to a widely different array of opportunities, equality is then even harder to reach. I’ve heard the phrase from Black women that they “have to work twice as hard to get half as much,” and I think that exemplifies this theme. I think my school district is pretty aware of this and is heavily invested in social justice and equity, but I feel like I know more now and am educated into this topic. The high school and middle school has recently been trying to vertically align their ELA curriculum, which is essential. After taking a curriculum evaluation course last semester, I see the importance of this and am surprised it is not just always a given at a district. I feel like now I can be more of an advocate in my PLC to increase communication not just with the middle school but eventually to the elementary schools, since the gaps start immediately before they even enter their first classroom. I also realize the importance of access to preschool and making early childhood education more accessible to families, because that makes a large difference too. 

Lastly, Lillian B, Rubin writes in “Families on the Fault Line” (also in Ore) that “for most working-class families, therefore, childcare is often patched together in ways the leave people anxious and children in jeopardy.” I think it says a lot about our country in the way we treat our children. And unfortunately, our children are subjected to varying opportunities and trauma just by existing here. Using this knowledge and the community around me to keep up the good fight constantly keeps me motivated.