Talking Points #2

Aria

by Richard Rodriguez

Rodriguez argues that while non-English speaking students will shed parts of their previous self once educated in the "public language," they will soon discover their own "public identity" which is crutial for success in society.

Quotes

• "From the doorway of another room, spying the visitors, I noted the incongruity--the clash of two worlds, the faces and voices of school intruding upon the familiar setting of home."

Young non English-speaking students have difficulty viewing their home lives and school lives as being connected. Everything at home is familiar, comforting, and safe, while things at school are strange, different, and scary. I think that the author included this line to describe how he, as a young minority, had felt about his two worlds colliding.

• "But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then. Gone was the desperate, urgent, intense feeling of being home...we remained a loving family, but one greatly changed."

By forcing the family to only speak together in English while at home, the family lost much of its closeness and feelings of comfort. The family shared less and less because the foreign language had erected too many barriers.

• "So they [bilingualists] do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality."

I think what Rodriguez is saying is that though these children will inevitably lose some of who they previously knew themselves to be, they are now able to be an active member of society, and that is crutial for success.

I really enjoyed reading this article. I love languages, and so it was nice to sort of be a fly on the wall of this child's life as he begins to learn a foreign language in a foreign society. I agree with Rodriguez in that having a public identity is crutial, but I think that individuality is nice too. Assimilation is key but I hope that once the English language is learned, not everything Spanish (or Chinese or French, etc.) is forgotton.

Talking Points #1 - Data show racial bias persists in America

by Salim Muwakkil

Muwakkil argues that though many have become blind to it, racism still persists in today's society.

• "Racial disparities persist, and many analysts trace them to biased cultural attitudes and prejudiced social policies so deeply woven into the fabric of American life that they are virtually invisible."

Just as McIntosh has argued in her article that whites are taught from birth to be oblivious to white privilege, and therefore it becomes such a part of that person that it is rarely noticed, so does bigotry and prejudice become a constant part of some social ways that it is usually unnoticed.

• "Deeply entrenched racism still blocks equal opportunity for blacks in the labor market."

Muwakkil refers to a study that had found that applicants with "black-sounding" names had a much lower chance of getting called for an interview than those with "white-sounding" ones. Clearly that is a form of racism and prejudice.

• "Racial disparities in the criminal-justice system also are a large part of the problem."

Muwakkil explains that 13 percent of our nation's drug users are black, yet 58 percent of those now serving drug-related sentences are black people. This study, and others like it, make it obvious that racial prejudices is still a huge issue in our nation. Muwakkil states, "those who assert we've arrived at a colorblind society are blinding themselves to reality."

This article was very easy to read because Muwakkil got straight to the point, and didn't leave me to examine his words in order to see what point he was trying to make. He was straightforward and direct. I hadn't been fully aware that some were arguing that racism is in the past. I thought that it was just common knowledge that unfortunately or world is still a very prejudice one. Thankfully we've got knowledgeable people like Muwakkil, McIntosh, Delpit, as well as others, to keep the conversation going so that hopefully the whole world will eventually take part.

Talking Points #1 - White Privelige: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

By Peggy McIntosh

McIntosh argues that in order to make any substantial changes within our social systems, we must first acknowledge what we have been taught our entire lives to ignore. To continue to ignore or deny privilege is to protect unearned advantage.

• "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 that will allow 'them' to be more like 'us.'" (p2)

I think that what the author is trying to say is that white people on average view their lives, how they live, their religion, way of dress, form of speaking, to be the normal way. She believes that white people are taught to feel this way, and because of this, when white people try to fix problems within our social systems, for example from the top down as Delpit had suggested, whites are then viewed as trying to erase certain characteristics that would make another culture different from us, and then convert them to our ways...the ideal or normal ways. I think this quote contributes to the article because it is one way in which for whites to open their eyes and begin to recognize that they could also be a participant in our "damaged culture."

• "In proportion as my racial group was being made confident, comfortable, and oblivious, other groups were likely being made unconfident, uncomfortable, and alienated." (p4)

This quote contributes to the article because it makes the reader realize that when one thing is arbitrarily given to one group, the same is inevitable taken from other groups. For instance, when McIntosh explains that men gain from women's disadvantages. If, for example, a job is given to an individual who is either white or male, it is then in turn lost to an equally qualified applicant who is either black or female.

• "The silences and denials surrounding privilege are the key political too here." (p6)

I think that McIntosh has summed up the bulk of her message in this one sentence. She believes that while whites continue to be silent on the subject of their privilege, and even deny, then this problem will only continue. It is not until whites open up conversation on this subject that we may begin to see significant changes.

I enjoyed reading this article because the author made some very good points about how whites have been taught to think or view things. I wonder how many white people accept different cultural aspects, yet still view them at strange? For instance, the way some non-whites were their clothes or how different their holidays are from those of whites.

I wholeheartedly agree with McIntosh's argument that no change will come while the whole of the white, and privileged, community refuses to accept or even acknowledge their privilege and what it means, to them, and to those left behind.

Hello, I'm Cristy. I am a secondary ed. major and am studying Spanish. I have been taking college courses for a few years now, until recently it had only been part-time, and I feel like it's taking me FOREVER to finish. Of course the fact that I am a wife and a mother of three doesn't make anything go faster either. I also coach my daugher's youth cheerleading squad and have been for the past three years. So between school (now a full-time load), coaching, my kids, my husband (who is sometimes like a kid himself!) and keeping it all running smoothly, I don't seem to have much down time. Hopefully it'll all get better soon!