Caribbean Teens/Masculinity&Homophobia

The immigrant teens from the Caribbean feel they can be more successful if they do not identify with African American blacks due to the stereotypes that are associated with this group.  The Caribbeans feel they have a higher status (p69) and their parents view “African Americans as criminals, lazy, violent, and uncaring about family.” (p72)  Yet, one parent worries that her child is becoming lazy, like the American blacks.  It makes me wonder if we are talking about a generational problem more so than an ethnic problem.   Are not many young, white, urban kids considered lazy and even violent?  Yet again, I wonder if the socioeconomic issues are equally important to consider as the racial, ethnic, and sexist issues in considering what students think they can achieve.  Also, the discrimination they are exposed to makes it easier to lay the responsibility for their failures, or lack of achievement, on others because of the difficulty they have to overcome stereotypes.   Unfortunately, many kids, and adults, do not look inwards and reflect and take responsibility for their own failure and this keeps them from learning and moving forward.

As for Masculinity and Homophobia…

The stereotype of the classic male:  “young, married, white, urban,…” (Kimmel, p125).  Is this still the case today twenty years later?  I just don’t see it.  Masculine, I think, would have different descriptors today.   I do agree that men act differently when there are other men around than when there is a woman, but I think women do the same thing.   Men have a burden to prove themselves, whether as sons, brothers, boyfriends, husbands, fathers, or friends.  Each one involves different levels of proof of love (or sex), power, responsibility, achievement, even compassion.  Not all of these can be ‘manly’, nor should they be, and happiness in each of these roles comes in finding a balance and demonstrating outwardly comfort with your own self – masculine or not.

On another note…

I just read an article on how new prenatal tests could lead to more women aborting Down’s Syndrome babies – at a time when caring for a Down’s baby has become ‘easier.’   Aren’t these children a minority that is now being discriminated against?  

I also read an interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  He was asked if the US was ‘in a post-racial era in professional sports and he answered, “ I don’t think we’ll ever be post-racial, because of the fear and anxiety of dealing with the other – people who aren’t like you.  But the ability of racism to distort and corrode our society has become a lot less.”  I tend to agree with him, and I wonder if there is some more current research that indicates this might be true.

The 'model minority' - week3

I found this week’s book to be very interesting and the author’s research to be overall more thorough and somewhat less subjective than “Children of Immigration.”  Not related to the research, but a statement I respect the author saying, can be found on page 23;  “Writing and research are always political acts, and this work is no exception.”  This is something I had trouble verbalizing last week, but it felt to me like the authors’ agenda last week was much more evident than in “Unraveling the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype” which I felt was straightforward and honest.

“Please don’t ruin my stereotype.  It is such a nice one,”  (p.141) a teacher says to the author in a quote at the end of the book.  This book makes evident that for some it is not so nice.  Ming, (p.69-70) who struggled academically but would not seek help because of this contradiction to the stereotype of the model minority and the effect it would have on his family.  Similarly, there is Xuan Nguyen (p76) who says the following:  “I used to go into classes and if you don’t do that well in math or science, the teacher is like, “What are you? Some kind of mutant Asian? You don’t do well in math…”  You see, I’m not that good in math.  I also find that a lot of my friends become upset if they’re not good students…”  And yet, some Asian-identified groups embraced this stereotype because of the positive connotations attaching their race to good education and the American ideal.   How frustrating that the teachers agree with this stereotype and use it to justify racial equality in their school, and at the same time view the Gospel Choir as separatist, and eventually ban the group.

It appears that most groups identified in the book – most of the Asian groups, the African Americans, and the White - had racist views towards at least one other group.  With respect to the ‘model minority’ stereotype, groups which were more personally threatened, socially and economically, were the ones to behave negatively – or more racist - towards other groups, depending on how they would be affected by the other groups’ success/failure.

Briefly, regarding bilingual education:  In my opinion, the ideal is a two-way immersion program which benefits English learners and native learners to a new language in an academic and cultural setting. 

The obstacles our educational system face are many, not all of which are political.  There are logistical issues which schools need to face, and urban schools would feel the greatest impact but have the least resources and funds.  There is first the need to serve a possible multitude of languages from different ethnicities.  Then there is the fact that ELLs come at different levels and at different ages (from different countries), and at varying academic levels as well.  Some ELLs are also below grade level in their own native language.  Managing the resources, classrooms, personnel, etc. for all students would require more than I think many schools can realistically prepare for.  I do believe in a challenging, multicultural, academic education for all students, including ELLs, and want bilingual education to fit in there when possible, but in reality, I don’t know that every school can offer this, and do it well.  This will take a restructuring of the public school systems, and I don’t know who is going to undertake that.

Week2: Children of Immigration

This reading was difficult for me, as I felt the authors’ views came across much too subjective for a book I was hoping would present impartial data.  Foremost in my mind, as I was going through the initial chapters, was that I very much needed to hear these results separated not only by immigrant status, but by social class, including native and non-native results.  My experience tells me that many of the issues mentioned are the same problems also facing low-income native children in this country.  I do not want to diminish the very real issues that immigrants face, but I want to hear a non-biased view that takes into account the similarities that native children and their families face.  The following three examples come to mind:  all parents want a better life for their children; more cohesive families with strong ties will be more supportive and involved in their children’s lives; parents who have to work, sometimes multiple jobs, will not be as present in their children’s lives.   Many of the problems immigrant children have in low-income, urban schools are the same ones that the native children and their families are also having.  The language issue is the main issue which can exacerbate assimilation, and I thought was one of the more interesting parts of the book.

            I do believe that immigration brings with it some very real stressors and adjustments, and there are still people in this country who discriminate and are cruel to those who immigrate, particularly if they do not look ‘American.’  I also agree that immigrants are moving to a situation which is better than that which they have come from, but this is felt more distinctly in the actual immigrants than in the children of immigrants.  The strongest statement this book makes is really that the location immigrants settle in is important – this creates the environment of safety (or not), acceptance (or not), good schools (or not), etc. and helps immigrants assimilate into their new life, which, I would hope, would be a bi-culture of their new world and their former country.   

            In the epilogue, I read, “A renowned historian once said that the history of the United States is fundamentally the history of immigration.” (p160).  This is what America is, and will always be, more than any country in the world.  As difficult as it may be to live in this country for some people, as hateful as some people can be, as flawed as our government sometimes seems to be, our country is one that many people want to live in.  Sure, it needs work.  I am working on it at the education level – with our students, immigrant and native alike.