An Indian's Father's Plea

We live in a very diverse world today, where we all come from a different background. But looking different from the outside doesn’t mean that we should be treated a certain way simply because a skin color  We all have the ability to think for ourselves, to learn, to be intelligent to better ourselves. Looking different from the outside or having other beliefs doesn’t mean that people are slow or dumb. The reading An Indian Father’s Plea by Robert Lake allows us as readers to see how a child is treated in a classroom simply because he is different.

            Imagine going into a classroom where you don’t know anyone and the whole school environment is new to you. In the reading Wind-Wolf is a five year old Indian child who is in kindergarten, he has never really been in a school environment. Wind-wolf was taught by his family their cultural ways, so going to a whole new different environment such as America it was all different to him. Wind-wolf is a very intelligent child explains his father. He knows how to count and knows many things about nature things that most children his age in America don’t know about. In school he has already been labeled as a slow learner and this is honestly just because teachers don’t understand his cultural background and they choose to teach him the same way that they teach their American students. Wind-wolf’s father says “And like so many Indian children his age, he is shy and quiet in the classroom. He is 5 years old in kindergarten, and I can’t understand why you have already labeled him as a ‘slow learner’” (1).  Many times it comes easier for people to just label others instead of taking time to try to understand them and their culture. Instead of trying to find out a way to teach this child in a way that he will understand perhaps using his culture to teach him how to read and write and count like his classmates it was easier to say that he is a slow learner. Wind-wolf’s father says in the reading “he is not culturally “disadvantage”, but he is culturally “different”. If you ask him how many months there are in a year, he will probably tell you 13” (2).  The father is right just because a child doesn’t know the American culture it doesn’t mean that he is disadvantage, he is different because he was born into another culture but this doesn’t mean that he is not capable of learning. He learns in different ways but he is still smart. He does think that there are 13 months in a year but that is just because that was what he was taught in his culture but that doesn’t mean that he can’t count. Teachers as well as students should learn about different cultures so that it can be an easier transition for students.

                           

I like this picture because it signifies that all classrooms are multicultural. Skin color or cultural background shouldn't change the way a person sees someone else.

 

White Privilige

In the article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh the author talks about the white privilege and how many white people are not aware of this privilege. Her main point in this article is that those who are privilege are oblivious.  McIntosh writes in her article that whites are taught to not recognize white privilege they don’t really see where they are privileged because they have been privileged from the start because of their color. As the author begins to think about white privilege she says, “I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious”. McIntosh is describing white privilege as an invisible package because it’s something that she cannot see and that is meant for her not to see as a white person. She can count on her invisible package every day.  Whites usually see their lives as normal and don’t see the unfairness of certain situations; they don’t see the advantages of being light skin. McIntosh writes in her article, “My schooling followed the pattern my colleague Elizabeth Minnich has pointed out: whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow “them“ to be more like “us.” The author here is saying that whites think of themselves as average people so they think of their lives as normal.

            In this article the author provides a list which shows where some ideas on where people think that whites are more privilege then those who are not white. Down the list McIntosh writes, “I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.” The author here is giving here an example of something which is seen a lot now days many employees or owners follow people who are not in the white category just to ensure that they are not stealing. This doesn’t usually happen to white people. As I read the list that was provided by the author in the article I was reminded of the Johnson reading Privilege, Power and Difference, this reading also had a list of white privileges and it also said that white people are not followed around in stores. I can relate this to myself because although I am not “white” I am Spanish I don’t get followed around in stores because I look white. In a way here I am privileged but then I start thinking about my family members who are not as light skin as I am many of them have had experiences where they get followed around in convenient stores because they are not white.

            I found a picture online it is a flyer on a post that says “what can white people do about racism? And then in a bubble it has a quote that says “I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed” this quote is also in McIntosh article. I think that the point of this picture is to show white people that the first thing to do to help racism is to realize that there is white privilege. I think that the quote is their so that white people can realize that they don’t have to be harassed at a simple corner store just like black or Spanish people are. http://orbismediologicus.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/404.jpg Online I also found a page where there is a list of some picture we see online constantly where people try to show that there is white privilege in a humorous way. http://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelblackmon/17-harrowing-examples-of-white-privilege-9hu9 one picture that really caught my eye was a picture of Justin Bieber and picture says “You can wear and act however you’d like without being labeled a thug, low life, gangster etc.” I found this very interesting because Justin Bieber in the past years has been dressing like a “gangster” but he isn’t called names or anything he can do whatever he wants but he isn’t called a “thug” because he is white. White privilege is something that is seen daily but it is something that many white people deny and say that they are not privileged that they are just like everyone else.

Hello my name is Evelyn Vargas this is my third year in Rhode Island College. My major is early child hood education. I chose early child hood because all my life I have loved working with children. I hope that one day I can make my dream come true and become a teacher.