Our class seemed to agree that addressing cultures in the classroom is important. As teachers we want for all students to feel comfortable, and we want to be able to give each student an equal educational experience. It is our responsibility as teachers to prepare students for participation in our democratic society, which represents many cultures.Therefore we must educate students in regards to other cultures so that we may create a stable and tolerant society for our diverse citizens to live in.
We all are educated and open minded individuals, and these ideals seem to be rational and attainable as we think about getting into the classroom. Although racism seems to be an issue of the past it is still prevelant throughout society, and will always be I imagine since we have freedom of speech. Someone somewhere will always disagree, and that is one of the advantages of living in a country with freedom, people can choose to agree and disagree based on their own judgements.
This brings me to my point, yesterday Attorney General Holder made a comment about the way our citizens have dealt with racism issues, stating that "United States is a nation of cowards" for not discussing the country's history openly. He states that there are still social limits in place, and that the social interaction among people of different races is "bleak" and that it in many ways does not "differ significantly from the country that existed some 50 years ago." He added, "If we are to make progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another, and tolerant enough of each other, to have frank conversations about racial matters that continue to divide us."
Maybe I am just a dreamer, but I feel that our society is drastically different than it was fifty years ago as far as race issues are concerned. I do understand that not all citizens are as open minded as the citizens I have come in contact with in my years of higher education, but as far as I am concerned, as a majority we are an increasingly tolerant society. We may never be 100% tolerant, but I do not think it is as bleak as Mr. Holder declares it to be. Was just curious as to how everyone else feels about these statements, and how we as teachers can foster cultural tolerance and awareness among our students.
One last thought on multiculturalism, I heard a story this morning on the radio where a two year old boy from Bhubaneswar, India was married to a dog. The child grew a tooth on his upper gum, and their tribal lore says that this is a bad omen that the child will be likely to be attacked by wild animals, so the marriage was an attempt to appease the gods and keep him safe, protecting him from ghosts and bad luck. If you want to read the article go to BBC news and search Two-year-old Indian 'marries dog'.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7897098.stm
The information about Attorney General Holder's statements came from The Washington Post online, "Holder Urges Justice Dept. Workers to Discuss Race Openly", by Carrie Johnson,Thu. Feb 19, 2009 Page A02
1 comment:
I agree that our society has grown leaps and bounds from that our parents and our grandparents grew up in. How often do you hear, "well, he's a product of his generation" as a brush off to inappropriate comments? In some ways I feel like we've come full circle - Our grandparents represented a generation that highlighted people's differences in a very prejudicial way, the baby boomer generation, in an attempt to rectify this bigotry or divorce itself from it, aspired to be "colorblind". Our generation is once again highlighting the differences, but this time celebrating them.
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