BlogHer - Singled Out - Comments

Multiculturalism Gone Awry

Aileen Duldulao — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 23:50:07 -0600

That's a great post Danielle! And I totally agree with what you are saying. I think that in critical race studies what you are talking about is "essentialism" - looking at subjective parts of a person or culture and making generalizations for the whole. I'm Filipino American and have been asked so many times to comment on the experiences of "my people", and often the "my people" that is referred to are not even part of a culture/race/ethnicity that I identify with!

I call it multiculturalism gone awry...there is such an emphasis nowadays to achieve multiculturalism, but it is done so sloppily. People like you and I are asked to speak for an entire culture, when in reality, everyone experiences their racial/ethnic/cultural identities so differently depending on their personal history and life context. While we might have some shared experiences and history, expecting that you speak for "your people" belies the nuances behind these experiences and the fact tha multiculturalism is not just a recognition of diversity, but that diversity is experienced in so many ways.

Glad you liked Seattle. I live there now...hope the rain didn't get to you!

My "Black History" School Moment

mama-noire — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:14:28 -0600

I was in an academically gifted English class my 11th grade year when I was duly reminded that I was indeed black. I think we all have that poignant moment at some point in our lives. Like Cornell West once said about young blacks who are raised in an integrated "everything" and don't meet racism head-on until later in life: "You just keep livin' and stay black."

We were studying Langston Hughes one day and a boy in the back of the class asked why could Hughes talk about being proud to be black, but whites can't talk about being proud to be white?

I was the only black student in the class that day -- the other black was absent -- and the teacher allowed all the students in the class to ask me crazy questions like: Why do blacks get their own magazines and television stations? The crap really hit the fan when -- in the heat of this one-sided conversation -- the teacher said, "Jennifer would get into Harvard before any of you would." I got my first real taste of racism that day.

It was absolutely horrible especially when I had gone to school with these students most of my life and we were mostly all "friends". I just sat there and cried. In fact, I cried all day.

Singled Out Or Invisible

Qusan — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 00:44:29 -0600

I'm not really sure which one is worse: feeling the heat of being singled out by an insensitive teacher or being made to feel invisble by one.

I didn't attend integrated schools until my last two years of high school in the late 70's. I was the only recognizable black student in my European History class (there was a bi-racial boy who you only knew was black after he told you his dad was black). The instructor, who also happened to coach the mostly black basketball team, made a "freudian slip" one day and made some reference to "German niggers." I was too mortified to speak and he knew it was too late to clean it up so he just moved on as though he didn't say it. After class, the other black kid asked me if I'd heard what the teacher said and I said yes. We both just shrugged. I never told my mother and I am not sure if he ever told his father.

In college, I sat in a Marketing class while the professor made jokes about Sportscaster Greg Gumbel mispronouncing the beer called Schlitz (apparently he claimed Greg said Slitz) and said "What do you expect from a Zebra?" ... If I recall correctly, neither Bryant nor Greg Gumble are "zebras" and have two black parents - albeit fairskinned. Again I was the only black and he acted as though I wasn't even there as I watched to my white peers fall out of their seats in laughter.

So, I'm not sure what is preferable ... them focusing on your color or them pretending you don't even exist.

Wonderful post

Kalyn Denny — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 15:53:03 -0600

What a wonderful post. I'm sorry to hear that a teacher singled you out in such a way. I teach fourth grade and would hope to think I would never make a child feel that way. Thanks for the reminder.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Singled Out

Danielle Henderson — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 14:09:44 -0600

Mrs. Dietzel turned to me, a wiry second-grader, and said, "Danielle, why don't you tell us all about...about...YOUR PEOPLE." My first memory of Black History Month was created around the feeling of being singled out for being diferent.

As one of only a handful of ethnic children in a small town, I was constantly being singled out by my classmates - my skin was "too white for a black person", my hair was "weird - why don't you wear it down like us? Why is it always in braids?" After a short time, I grew to expect that feeling from children, but often found solace in adults. My teachers never cared that I was black - only that I spelled my words correctly. They never cared that my hair was in braids - only that I wasn't pulling the hair of another person in class.

At seven years old, I knew very little about the entirety of the civil rights movement. I only knew how important it was to my family. I knew who Martin Luther King, Jr. was, but wasn't prepared to give an on-the-spot lecture about his life. My teacher pointed me out because of the color of my skin, assuming that no one else would have knowledge of "my people".

I see people making this assumption today. When a white professor taught a Black History class on the campus where I used to work, the students protested. When standing next to one of my Asian friends at a lecture, a woman we were speaking to started asking her questions about how Pearl Harbor affected her family (my friend is Filipino). It's not a wonder how some bloggers are starting to feel like this.

I appreciate that BlogHer is interactive, that other editors can add content to each topic. We all have something to offer, new or different information, in conversations about race and ethnicity.

I am driving from Alaska to Rhode Island. Today, I am in Seattle, surrounded by amazing friends and beautiful weather. In the few moments I have to myself, I've been thinking about Black History Month, and more specifically about Martin Luther King Jr. I know more about his message than Mrs. Dietzel could ever give me credit for.