First off I have to admit that the title of the reading has me confused. I'm not sure if it's asking if race is equal to skin color OR if it's saying race is real because it holds a greater significance to individuals beyond skin color.
The reading basically focuses on statements about race, how we define it, how we perceive it and the consequences of allowing a biological fiction to become a social reality.
The first major statement analyzed comes from an exhibition at the Am. Museum of Natural History in NYC. The key parts say, "differences of culture and society distinguish one group from another but these distinctions are not rooted in biology." Their belief was that mapping the genome is a step to promoting unity. I found that theory questionable because these concepts are not written to hit the average person and average people can't change social policies, thousands of years of negative racist histories or racial disparities in society.
Jared Diamond is the 1st scholar that is highlighted and he writes that "most people regard the existence of race as obvious" - something you can physically see. Which is true in most cases, but what about people who can "pass"? I couldn't help but think, too, of the fact that oppressed peoples (or those that perceive themselves as oppressed) have lived through racism and have difficulty letting go of what they've seen. Although the writing was a bit lengthy, I appreciated his use of scientific language and scientific classification as a way to show the problems with race theories. Diamond talks about the fact that there are certain human traits, like race, that really serve no function to survival while there are others that do. However, because things are the way they are, race is seen by many as necessary for their cultural survival if not their physical survival. I concur with his notions of skin color being linked to ideas of who's beautiful or not.
Barbara Kath Rothman raises interesting issues as it relates to "Blackness" (who is Black, who isn't) and how the American definition of Blackness differs greatly from how the Dutch perceive it. If race = skin color then anyone with dark skin is Black, according to America (whether they were born here or in India or in Jamaica or in Africa). I would take it a step further and say that among African Americans, there are differing views on being Black or "not being Black enough." She says, "What confuses us is that the differences exist physically, but matter socially. There are physical differences and even physical consequences."
Friday, January 23, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Reflecting on My 1st Seminar - CLR
January 13-15, 2009
Beyond a few blunders in terms of talking too long or giving appropriate instructions I think I did a pretty good job with this seminar. I am excited about working with this group and was able to make appointments on the spot for follow up, which makes my job a lot easier.
Some issues raised during CLR Seminar...
How can we emphasize the fact that our identities are multi-faceted? Although society has raised us to see differences, like skin color, we are more than these things.
How can teachers address the depth of students' knowledge of self? What can white teachers (of students of color) do to address issues of race/racism? How can they not perpetuate societal stereotypes? What can be done to build rapport between teachers and students of backgrounds different from their own?
How can FH work with extending resources to discuss the experiences of races other than Blacks and Whites? Beyond the immigration workshops, are there ways to incorporate Hispanic/Latino studies?
Beyond a few blunders in terms of talking too long or giving appropriate instructions I think I did a pretty good job with this seminar. I am excited about working with this group and was able to make appointments on the spot for follow up, which makes my job a lot easier.
Some issues raised during CLR Seminar...
How can we emphasize the fact that our identities are multi-faceted? Although society has raised us to see differences, like skin color, we are more than these things.
How can teachers address the depth of students' knowledge of self? What can white teachers (of students of color) do to address issues of race/racism? How can they not perpetuate societal stereotypes? What can be done to build rapport between teachers and students of backgrounds different from their own?
How can FH work with extending resources to discuss the experiences of races other than Blacks and Whites? Beyond the immigration workshops, are there ways to incorporate Hispanic/Latino studies?
Friday, January 16, 2009
Education-related readings ("School" dvd & R & M)
Targeting the Unfit
- labeling of the inferior peoples in the 1900's
-key figures involved in pushing this forward vs. those who were targeted
- primary sources excerpts from students lumped in these inferior classes and how they excelled above their status
Identifying the Unfit
- Key figures involved in the scholarship
- origins of modern standardized testing and today's connections
-theory vs. practice - why teachers and social workers debated these theories
Challenging Racial Assumptions
- debate among white scholars in the early 20th century around racist stereotypes, specifically regarding the Negro and the "Indian" (i.e., the Negro question, the Indian question)
- the role of WEB DuBois, as the lead representative as far as public criticism against this kind of scholarship
"School" (dvd)
- School is a way to maintain superpower status during Cold War
- school as a place to prepare for college
-school as a place to train a labor force
- school as a vehicle for identifying future leaders and scholars through IQ testing (stratification by race, by class, by citizenship status)
- school as a means toward social advancement, social skills, home economics, family life
This documentary also highlights:
-the various theories that were tried/applied in various different school systems
- which schools were held as models over time and why
- discussion of the role of IQ tests
- labeling of the inferior peoples in the 1900's
-key figures involved in pushing this forward vs. those who were targeted
- primary sources excerpts from students lumped in these inferior classes and how they excelled above their status
Identifying the Unfit
- Key figures involved in the scholarship
- origins of modern standardized testing and today's connections
-theory vs. practice - why teachers and social workers debated these theories
Challenging Racial Assumptions
- debate among white scholars in the early 20th century around racist stereotypes, specifically regarding the Negro and the "Indian" (i.e., the Negro question, the Indian question)
- the role of WEB DuBois, as the lead representative as far as public criticism against this kind of scholarship
"School" (dvd)
- School is a way to maintain superpower status during Cold War
- school as a place to prepare for college
-school as a place to train a labor force
- school as a vehicle for identifying future leaders and scholars through IQ testing (stratification by race, by class, by citizenship status)
- school as a means toward social advancement, social skills, home economics, family life
This documentary also highlights:
-the various theories that were tried/applied in various different school systems
- which schools were held as models over time and why
- discussion of the role of IQ tests
Friday, January 9, 2009
Deconstructing Our Notions of Ghetto - NPACS, Document 2
Ars Longa, Vita Breve: Immortalizing the Ghetto through the Arts
“...So with eager confidence I breathe life through parch and pen
Quill and ink of good intent can quell feuds and arguments...
Breathing life into my pen
In great traditions, now and then,
Truth begins to make amends for mistakes made by the leaders of men
Words
Like glyphs, stand for all time
Not even the guns of Alexander, Napoleon or Hitler could stifle these lines
Willie Shakespeare said it once
Oscar Wilde posed it, too -
Ars longa, vita breve
So long lives this, immortality for you
The life brought to my pen is of heavenly decree
So, these words and thoughts aren't really of me"
- excerpted from "In the Beginning" by Sonja Moore, 2006
There is the notion of life mirroring art or is it the other way around? When the content evokes painful or difficult memories or emotions, it is easy to deny the truth of what an original piece suggests and to blame the artisan for his depiction. If, however, "life is but a stage and we are all players" how can the "playwright" be at fault? The artists, writers, poets and musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries have had the burden of being charged with immortalizing cultures of violence and with rescuing lost heroes from the annals of history. It is through their work that we can begin to deconstruct our past, present and future understanding of our life experiences. Sonia Weitz speaks of “mind journaling” (since she was not allowed to have paper and pen) as a means of remembering, honoring and surviving. Is her work of any less value than those who actually drew or wrote during their captivity? The Jewish artists of the Holocaust; as well as, their family and friends, are immortalized by their words, visual arts and music. They surmounted the walls and barbed wire of the ghettoes with their imagination – providing a vehicle that allows us to get a sense of what they were feeling in captivity. Would we truly have an accurate depiction of events without their voices and their vision? Would they have been able to endure without their creative outlets? Would we be able to truly connect with their struggles without their art? Probably not as much.
Just as the trials of European Jewry is captured in visual arts, creative writing and other forms of artistic media, the African American experience in the ghetto is well-documented, too. A different continent, a different time and different circumstances don’t make their depictions any less poignant, but their adaptation and in some cases, acceptance of ghetto conditions is striking. Cora Daniels writes of America as a “ghetto nation” – a place that contains urban ghettoes, but has, unfortunately, adopted a ghetto lifestyle and mentality that is spreading beyond its urban centers. Trapped in a modern-day version of a closed ghetto, Blacks were closed in by viaducts, expressways, brick walls, streets, railroad tracks and other man-made structures. Overcrowded, filthy, drug-infested areas became the dwelling for America’s poor or lowing classes. Northern city communities that were once home to newly migrated Southern Blacks became the home of the “kitchenette” and then, housing projects (a/k/a “Jets” or “The PJs”). What happens when human beings are treated like animals in a so-called democracy? How do they respond? How do they view themselves and the rest of society? How does society view them?
“…just as society must have a scapegoat, so hatred must have a symbol. Georgia has the Negro and Harlem has the Jew…The structure of the American commonwealth has trapped both these minorities in to attitudes of perpetual hostility. They do not dare trust each other!”
-“Harlem Ghetto” by James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son
Ghettoes, past and present, have been maintained on the basis of racist ideology rooted in an us vs. them mentality. From within and without, battles rage over who will be on top. It is an issue of membership and acceptance whether you’re talking about Harlem, NY or Chicago, IL. The negative lifestyles associated with ghetto residence are perpetuated not only by stereotypes, but by fear and mistrust among residents and towards those outside the ghetto. Often the punch line in ghetto humor is aimed at government (local and federal), as in many Good Times episodes. At other times, when ghettoes are filled with multiethnic groups, the enemy in proximity becomes the target or daily scapegoat – as is the case when one considers the relationships between Blacks and Jews or Blacks and Asians. Baldwin writes of the “Negro” doesn’t hate the “Jewish ness” of their neighbors (who were their local merchants or employers, in many cases), but because of what they perceive as an alleged disregard of their struggle against oppression. According to Baldwin, this shared history of suffering, as perceived by “Negroes” of his time, should have been the bridge to equitable treatment and business dealings. As long as both groups hold fast to the ideologies of the dominant culture, he postulates, there is to be no reconciliation between the two groups. Ironic when you consider all that both cultures have to offer to one another and the assistance given by the Jews to African Americans (helping to found & teach at Black universities and aiding in the Civil Rights Movement & founding of NAACP).
“In America life seems to move faster than anywhere else on the globe and each generation is promised more than it will get, which creates in each generation a furious, bewildered rage...of a people who can’t find solid ground beneath their feet…the Negro lashes out against himself and those that represent their demise.”
- “Harlem Ghetto” by James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son
Even more troubling than the festering rage contemporary residents waged against their perceived enemies is the embracing of all things ghetto. Over time residents went from working hard to make a better life and get out of the ghetto to boldly proclaiming their “ghetto fabulous” status – even going so far as to make no efforts to “move on up” and creating media to encourage the continuance of ghetto life (consider the first time you heard the song “Baby Mama” or heard the B-word in a rap song). Ghetto residents no longer gave the impression of striving for “the American Dream”. They seemed to now, “fester” as a raisins in the sun. It is this rage that leads to the destruction of communities in race riots and explains the reasoning behind the lack of reconstruction following such destruction. This festering led to a kind of anti-establishment rage that has been playing out in America’s ghettoes since the 1970’s and has overtime become the staple of Hip Hop culture, which was once fused with expository messages aimed at “edutainment”.
In researching and archiving a number of poems, songs (lyrics, audio files, video files) that relate to Jewish and African American ghettoes there is an opportunity for multimedia, multicultural dialogue and exploration. Sonia Weitz wrote of the “sounds of misery and cries of longing of a “surplus population,” an unwanted people -“victims of the victims” who were plagued with inhumanities that “assaulted their senses” and made them feel like they were no longer “in the land of the living.” LeAlan Jones, years later, writes of a Chicago ghetto as being “like Vietnam” – knowing things you’re not supposed to at an early age, needing to act older than your age in order to survive, witnessing death on a daily basis. “The violence and killing are out of control…I think if we make it out of here we deserve a medal of honor…because if you aren’t wounded physically you’re wounded spiritually,” Jones writes. Ghettoes, past or present, are no places for children or anyone, but those who survive make use of their creative abilities. If our communities – ghetto or otherwise – don’t allow for this kind of outlet, then they risk the end of vibrant cultures.
(there was a comparative table that could not be cut/paste here)
“...So with eager confidence I breathe life through parch and pen
Quill and ink of good intent can quell feuds and arguments...
Breathing life into my pen
In great traditions, now and then,
Truth begins to make amends for mistakes made by the leaders of men
Words
Like glyphs, stand for all time
Not even the guns of Alexander, Napoleon or Hitler could stifle these lines
Willie Shakespeare said it once
Oscar Wilde posed it, too -
Ars longa, vita breve
So long lives this, immortality for you
The life brought to my pen is of heavenly decree
So, these words and thoughts aren't really of me"
- excerpted from "In the Beginning" by Sonja Moore, 2006
There is the notion of life mirroring art or is it the other way around? When the content evokes painful or difficult memories or emotions, it is easy to deny the truth of what an original piece suggests and to blame the artisan for his depiction. If, however, "life is but a stage and we are all players" how can the "playwright" be at fault? The artists, writers, poets and musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries have had the burden of being charged with immortalizing cultures of violence and with rescuing lost heroes from the annals of history. It is through their work that we can begin to deconstruct our past, present and future understanding of our life experiences. Sonia Weitz speaks of “mind journaling” (since she was not allowed to have paper and pen) as a means of remembering, honoring and surviving. Is her work of any less value than those who actually drew or wrote during their captivity? The Jewish artists of the Holocaust; as well as, their family and friends, are immortalized by their words, visual arts and music. They surmounted the walls and barbed wire of the ghettoes with their imagination – providing a vehicle that allows us to get a sense of what they were feeling in captivity. Would we truly have an accurate depiction of events without their voices and their vision? Would they have been able to endure without their creative outlets? Would we be able to truly connect with their struggles without their art? Probably not as much.
Just as the trials of European Jewry is captured in visual arts, creative writing and other forms of artistic media, the African American experience in the ghetto is well-documented, too. A different continent, a different time and different circumstances don’t make their depictions any less poignant, but their adaptation and in some cases, acceptance of ghetto conditions is striking. Cora Daniels writes of America as a “ghetto nation” – a place that contains urban ghettoes, but has, unfortunately, adopted a ghetto lifestyle and mentality that is spreading beyond its urban centers. Trapped in a modern-day version of a closed ghetto, Blacks were closed in by viaducts, expressways, brick walls, streets, railroad tracks and other man-made structures. Overcrowded, filthy, drug-infested areas became the dwelling for America’s poor or lowing classes. Northern city communities that were once home to newly migrated Southern Blacks became the home of the “kitchenette” and then, housing projects (a/k/a “Jets” or “The PJs”). What happens when human beings are treated like animals in a so-called democracy? How do they respond? How do they view themselves and the rest of society? How does society view them?
“…just as society must have a scapegoat, so hatred must have a symbol. Georgia has the Negro and Harlem has the Jew…The structure of the American commonwealth has trapped both these minorities in to attitudes of perpetual hostility. They do not dare trust each other!”
-“Harlem Ghetto” by James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son
Ghettoes, past and present, have been maintained on the basis of racist ideology rooted in an us vs. them mentality. From within and without, battles rage over who will be on top. It is an issue of membership and acceptance whether you’re talking about Harlem, NY or Chicago, IL. The negative lifestyles associated with ghetto residence are perpetuated not only by stereotypes, but by fear and mistrust among residents and towards those outside the ghetto. Often the punch line in ghetto humor is aimed at government (local and federal), as in many Good Times episodes. At other times, when ghettoes are filled with multiethnic groups, the enemy in proximity becomes the target or daily scapegoat – as is the case when one considers the relationships between Blacks and Jews or Blacks and Asians. Baldwin writes of the “Negro” doesn’t hate the “Jewish ness” of their neighbors (who were their local merchants or employers, in many cases), but because of what they perceive as an alleged disregard of their struggle against oppression. According to Baldwin, this shared history of suffering, as perceived by “Negroes” of his time, should have been the bridge to equitable treatment and business dealings. As long as both groups hold fast to the ideologies of the dominant culture, he postulates, there is to be no reconciliation between the two groups. Ironic when you consider all that both cultures have to offer to one another and the assistance given by the Jews to African Americans (helping to found & teach at Black universities and aiding in the Civil Rights Movement & founding of NAACP).
“In America life seems to move faster than anywhere else on the globe and each generation is promised more than it will get, which creates in each generation a furious, bewildered rage...of a people who can’t find solid ground beneath their feet…the Negro lashes out against himself and those that represent their demise.”
- “Harlem Ghetto” by James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son
Even more troubling than the festering rage contemporary residents waged against their perceived enemies is the embracing of all things ghetto. Over time residents went from working hard to make a better life and get out of the ghetto to boldly proclaiming their “ghetto fabulous” status – even going so far as to make no efforts to “move on up” and creating media to encourage the continuance of ghetto life (consider the first time you heard the song “Baby Mama” or heard the B-word in a rap song). Ghetto residents no longer gave the impression of striving for “the American Dream”. They seemed to now, “fester” as a raisins in the sun. It is this rage that leads to the destruction of communities in race riots and explains the reasoning behind the lack of reconstruction following such destruction. This festering led to a kind of anti-establishment rage that has been playing out in America’s ghettoes since the 1970’s and has overtime become the staple of Hip Hop culture, which was once fused with expository messages aimed at “edutainment”.
In researching and archiving a number of poems, songs (lyrics, audio files, video files) that relate to Jewish and African American ghettoes there is an opportunity for multimedia, multicultural dialogue and exploration. Sonia Weitz wrote of the “sounds of misery and cries of longing of a “surplus population,” an unwanted people -“victims of the victims” who were plagued with inhumanities that “assaulted their senses” and made them feel like they were no longer “in the land of the living.” LeAlan Jones, years later, writes of a Chicago ghetto as being “like Vietnam” – knowing things you’re not supposed to at an early age, needing to act older than your age in order to survive, witnessing death on a daily basis. “The violence and killing are out of control…I think if we make it out of here we deserve a medal of honor…because if you aren’t wounded physically you’re wounded spiritually,” Jones writes. Ghettoes, past or present, are no places for children or anyone, but those who survive make use of their creative abilities. If our communities – ghetto or otherwise – don’t allow for this kind of outlet, then they risk the end of vibrant cultures.
(there was a comparative table that could not be cut/paste here)
NEW PA CASE STUDY OVERVIEW (DOCUMENT 1)
Areas of Inquiry:
1. How does Facing History explore the ghettoization of Jews during WWII and what resources are available to aid (teachers & students) in this exploration?
2. How has contemporary ghettoization been explored through pop culture and how can FH resources be used to support this exploration?
Rationale:
Many of today’s youth are able to define or describe what a ghetto is, but how many are aware of the origin of ghettoes? Although many students can give at least a brief overview of what happened during the Holocaust, most can only outline what occurred in the concentration or death camps. Learning about the Jewish ghettoes of Europe will provide a frame of reference for understanding the complex dynamics of the development of urban ghettoes in the 20th and 21st centuries and the peoples that live there. Furthermore, by examining these dichotomies through the lens of the arts, students will come to appreciate the truly human side of life in closed, open and destruction ghettoes (as defined by USHMM).
Research Approach:
1. To define, describe and identify “ghetto” as it related to the Jewish experience during WWII
2. To define, describe and identify “ghetto” as it relates to contemporary, urban experiences in America, particularly, but not exclusively, for Blacks.
3. To compile a list of FH and USHMM resources available related to the ghettoization of European Jews
4. To archive audio and video footage related to FH and USHMM resources
5. To research and compile supplemental resources around ghetto life (past and present) for curricular implementation along the scope and sequence – poetry, lyrics, historical fiction, non-fiction text, articles, film and tv resources, other multimedia references, etc.
Materials to Preview BEFORE the Presentation:
• New PA Case Study Documents 1 & 2
If you have time & want to…
1. Skim Chapter 25, pg 199-200 of Our America entitled “Our America” (by Lealan Jones)
2. Skim the USHMM articles called “ghettos” and “types of ghettos” – links below & on ning
3. View the 2 "Growing Up in the Ghetto" videos (these are referenced in our Eyes on the Prize guide).
How to Navigate the Ning Site
→ Notes: contains the introduction to my project, list of FH resources, list of USHMM resources (online), Yad Vashem resources.
→ Forum: extensive archive of resources related to past and present understandings of ghettoes – workshop/curricular ideas, poetry by students and adults (Jewish & non-Jewish), music links, non-fiction works & primary sources on ghetto life, information on various other artforms/multimedia links related to ghetto life and articles on the importance of the arts. This is also a place for readers to contribute ideas, such as Susan’s contribution “That’s so ghetto.”
→ Blog: areas of inquiry, essential questions and unit questions for further study (in relation to the FH scope and sequence).
→ Photos & Videos: archive of images and video related to past and present work related to ghetto life. Some videos are excerpts of Jewish documentaries/films and others are contemporary music videos (some lyrics provided).
Sources
1. “Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005059
2. “Ghettoization” http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/index.php?content=phi_ghettos_ghettoization_uu.htm
3. “Types of Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007445
4. Give me your children: voices from the Lodz Ghetto http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/lodz/
5. “Conditions in the Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/index.php?content=phi_ghettos_conditions_uu.htm
6. “Roundups in the Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/index.php?content=phi_ghettos_roundups_uu.htm
7. “Massacres in the Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/index.php?content=phi_ghettos_massacres_uu.htm
8. “The Ghettoization of European Jews: Deportation & Resettlement in the East” http://www.jeewishvirtuallibraryorg/jsource/Holocaust/ghet.html
9. Holocaust in History by Michael Marrus
10. New PA Case Study Ning http://sonjacasestudyproject.ning.com/
11. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
12. Ghetto Nation: a Journey into the Land of Bling & the Home of the Shameless by Cora Daniels
13. Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman
14. Ghetto Life 101” (audio accompaniment to Our America)
15. Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, 1940-1960 by Arnold R. Hirsch
16. The Phoenix: YWLCS Poetry Journal 2005
17. “Resistance and Non-Compliance” by Vladka Meed, Women Surviving the Holocaust Conference, NY, March 1983
18. “G.H.E.T.T.O.” (anonymous poem)
19. “When You Hear the Word Ghetto” (anonymous poem)
Life in the Ghetto: Looking Back
By: Sonja Moore
Life in the ghetto wasn’t always as it seemed
German propaganda footage hides their true scheme -
The total extermination of a segment of humanity
Using tactics and “special treatments” that reveal the insanity
Of man’s inhumanity to man
Some things are hard to tell
As it relates to the “final solution” regarding the religion of Israel
Political movements, a new government
Scapegoating leads to new legislation
The world’s stage is now ridden with fascist, totalitarian dictators
Whose sole aim is to rule the world & rid it of “undesirables”
But they even found ways to make real ghetto conditions deniable
The spread of typhus, lice infections and starvation
The demise of artisans, leaders and intellectuals of a great nation
Daily items now became contraband
Food and clothes we sold right along
With prayer shawls and armbands
“Essential worker” had some reprieve
Against the slaughter that was to come
But even in their case, sometimes,
Bribery or other sacrifices had to be done
Red Cross aid ended as Japanese planes
Attacked a Harbor half a world away
Forcing everyone, even children, to steal food everyday
Hunger breeds desperation
And makes you do things you normally wouldn’t
It drives you mad, it makes you crazy
It makes you say things you shouldn’t
Like, “Where is God? What is He doing?
Are we His ‘Chosen’ or the forgotten?
Why are we to suffer at the hands of evildoers
Who claim to follow God’s ‘Only Begotten’?”
Overcrowded ghetto dwellings filled with filth & disease
Call to mind the rat-infested bowels of ships carrying Africans overseas
The humiliation of haircutting of the rabbi
Makes me think of native children in missionary schools
Or the knot cutting inflicted upon ancient samurai
I can’t help but wonder if diseases were spread by government decree
As with the syphilis injections of Tuskegee
Or like the small-pox infested blankets that wrapped & killed Native babes
All are events that made it clear
That you couldn’t trust policies your government made
Careful calculations, detailed planning
Evidence destroyed and hidden from view
Was this example followed by African dictators, too?
Disregard for human life, no peaceful resting place for the dead
Human beings lined ghetto streets as Katrina’s victims did
Diaries & books tell the stories that others chose to deny
Gripping details and heartache that brings tears to your eyes
A Venetian concept, centuries old, adopted by the Nazi regime
Unfortunately, still a part of some government schemes
1. How does Facing History explore the ghettoization of Jews during WWII and what resources are available to aid (teachers & students) in this exploration?
2. How has contemporary ghettoization been explored through pop culture and how can FH resources be used to support this exploration?
Rationale:
Many of today’s youth are able to define or describe what a ghetto is, but how many are aware of the origin of ghettoes? Although many students can give at least a brief overview of what happened during the Holocaust, most can only outline what occurred in the concentration or death camps. Learning about the Jewish ghettoes of Europe will provide a frame of reference for understanding the complex dynamics of the development of urban ghettoes in the 20th and 21st centuries and the peoples that live there. Furthermore, by examining these dichotomies through the lens of the arts, students will come to appreciate the truly human side of life in closed, open and destruction ghettoes (as defined by USHMM).
Research Approach:
1. To define, describe and identify “ghetto” as it related to the Jewish experience during WWII
2. To define, describe and identify “ghetto” as it relates to contemporary, urban experiences in America, particularly, but not exclusively, for Blacks.
3. To compile a list of FH and USHMM resources available related to the ghettoization of European Jews
4. To archive audio and video footage related to FH and USHMM resources
5. To research and compile supplemental resources around ghetto life (past and present) for curricular implementation along the scope and sequence – poetry, lyrics, historical fiction, non-fiction text, articles, film and tv resources, other multimedia references, etc.
Materials to Preview BEFORE the Presentation:
• New PA Case Study Documents 1 & 2
If you have time & want to…
1. Skim Chapter 25, pg 199-200 of Our America entitled “Our America” (by Lealan Jones)
2. Skim the USHMM articles called “ghettos” and “types of ghettos” – links below & on ning
3. View the 2 "Growing Up in the Ghetto" videos (these are referenced in our Eyes on the Prize guide).
How to Navigate the Ning Site
→ Notes: contains the introduction to my project, list of FH resources, list of USHMM resources (online), Yad Vashem resources.
→ Forum: extensive archive of resources related to past and present understandings of ghettoes – workshop/curricular ideas, poetry by students and adults (Jewish & non-Jewish), music links, non-fiction works & primary sources on ghetto life, information on various other artforms/multimedia links related to ghetto life and articles on the importance of the arts. This is also a place for readers to contribute ideas, such as Susan’s contribution “That’s so ghetto.”
→ Blog: areas of inquiry, essential questions and unit questions for further study (in relation to the FH scope and sequence).
→ Photos & Videos: archive of images and video related to past and present work related to ghetto life. Some videos are excerpts of Jewish documentaries/films and others are contemporary music videos (some lyrics provided).
Sources
1. “Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005059
2. “Ghettoization” http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/index.php?content=phi_ghettos_ghettoization_uu.htm
3. “Types of Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007445
4. Give me your children: voices from the Lodz Ghetto http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/lodz/
5. “Conditions in the Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/index.php?content=phi_ghettos_conditions_uu.htm
6. “Roundups in the Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/index.php?content=phi_ghettos_roundups_uu.htm
7. “Massacres in the Ghettos” http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/index.php?content=phi_ghettos_massacres_uu.htm
8. “The Ghettoization of European Jews: Deportation & Resettlement in the East” http://www.jeewishvirtuallibraryorg/jsource/Holocaust/ghet.html
9. Holocaust in History by Michael Marrus
10. New PA Case Study Ning http://sonjacasestudyproject.ning.com/
11. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
12. Ghetto Nation: a Journey into the Land of Bling & the Home of the Shameless by Cora Daniels
13. Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman
14. Ghetto Life 101” (audio accompaniment to Our America)
15. Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, 1940-1960 by Arnold R. Hirsch
16. The Phoenix: YWLCS Poetry Journal 2005
17. “Resistance and Non-Compliance” by Vladka Meed, Women Surviving the Holocaust Conference, NY, March 1983
18. “G.H.E.T.T.O.” (anonymous poem)
19. “When You Hear the Word Ghetto” (anonymous poem)
Life in the Ghetto: Looking Back
By: Sonja Moore
Life in the ghetto wasn’t always as it seemed
German propaganda footage hides their true scheme -
The total extermination of a segment of humanity
Using tactics and “special treatments” that reveal the insanity
Of man’s inhumanity to man
Some things are hard to tell
As it relates to the “final solution” regarding the religion of Israel
Political movements, a new government
Scapegoating leads to new legislation
The world’s stage is now ridden with fascist, totalitarian dictators
Whose sole aim is to rule the world & rid it of “undesirables”
But they even found ways to make real ghetto conditions deniable
The spread of typhus, lice infections and starvation
The demise of artisans, leaders and intellectuals of a great nation
Daily items now became contraband
Food and clothes we sold right along
With prayer shawls and armbands
“Essential worker” had some reprieve
Against the slaughter that was to come
But even in their case, sometimes,
Bribery or other sacrifices had to be done
Red Cross aid ended as Japanese planes
Attacked a Harbor half a world away
Forcing everyone, even children, to steal food everyday
Hunger breeds desperation
And makes you do things you normally wouldn’t
It drives you mad, it makes you crazy
It makes you say things you shouldn’t
Like, “Where is God? What is He doing?
Are we His ‘Chosen’ or the forgotten?
Why are we to suffer at the hands of evildoers
Who claim to follow God’s ‘Only Begotten’?”
Overcrowded ghetto dwellings filled with filth & disease
Call to mind the rat-infested bowels of ships carrying Africans overseas
The humiliation of haircutting of the rabbi
Makes me think of native children in missionary schools
Or the knot cutting inflicted upon ancient samurai
I can’t help but wonder if diseases were spread by government decree
As with the syphilis injections of Tuskegee
Or like the small-pox infested blankets that wrapped & killed Native babes
All are events that made it clear
That you couldn’t trust policies your government made
Careful calculations, detailed planning
Evidence destroyed and hidden from view
Was this example followed by African dictators, too?
Disregard for human life, no peaceful resting place for the dead
Human beings lined ghetto streets as Katrina’s victims did
Diaries & books tell the stories that others chose to deny
Gripping details and heartache that brings tears to your eyes
A Venetian concept, centuries old, adopted by the Nazi regime
Unfortunately, still a part of some government schemes
Race & Membership Conference Call Reflection
January 9, 2009
1. the reading brought to mind several readings I've done before around race-related experiments (the tuskegee experiment, the smallpox infested blankets given to native americans). I am also reminded of the studies of Gunnar Myrdal and the origins of birth control in America.
2. It also makes me wonder why it is that they feel that eugenics movement is gone and why there is no connection to genetic testing, cloning, stem cell research, etc. To me, it seems to me that what's happening now is an extension of that work in some ways. Granted, the expressed intention of the studies now are not racially motivated...it can't be, but I'm still concerned about what can be done with new technologies and genetic engineering.
3. I can't help but wonder also when/at what point the eugenics movement clashed with the nature vs. nurture ideology. At what point did environment and learned behavior begin to become prominent in psychology and sociology of race?
4. I, too, thought of DuBois' ideas, but was drawn to thinking of Cheikh Anta Diop's two cradle theory and the fact that much of eugenicist's theories/assumptions seem to confirm much of what he outlines as the worldview of the Northern (european) Cradle.
http://www.jalumi.com/class/csu/Two_Cradle_Theory.htm
5. what has always been a personal battle for me, as an african american, is what I see around me daily in terms of negative patterns of violence, substance abuse and destructive lifestyles. I'm troubled by "white flight", but equally troubled when Af-Am residents bring down the quality of a neighborhood through negative lifestyle patterns. I'm disturbed by forced sterilization, but am consistently annoyed by unwanted pregancies, youth having kids and getting welfare,etc. Does this mean that I am a eugenicist?
Sonjanita L. Moore, NBCT, M.A., M.Ed
Facing History Program Associate
Phone: 312/345-3202 - Fax: 312/726-3713
Alternate Email: sonja.facinghistory@gmail.com
"We can't always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." -FDR
1. the reading brought to mind several readings I've done before around race-related experiments (the tuskegee experiment, the smallpox infested blankets given to native americans). I am also reminded of the studies of Gunnar Myrdal and the origins of birth control in America.
2. It also makes me wonder why it is that they feel that eugenics movement is gone and why there is no connection to genetic testing, cloning, stem cell research, etc. To me, it seems to me that what's happening now is an extension of that work in some ways. Granted, the expressed intention of the studies now are not racially motivated...it can't be, but I'm still concerned about what can be done with new technologies and genetic engineering.
3. I can't help but wonder also when/at what point the eugenics movement clashed with the nature vs. nurture ideology. At what point did environment and learned behavior begin to become prominent in psychology and sociology of race?
4. I, too, thought of DuBois' ideas, but was drawn to thinking of Cheikh Anta Diop's two cradle theory and the fact that much of eugenicist's theories/assumptions seem to confirm much of what he outlines as the worldview of the Northern (european) Cradle.
http://www.jalumi.com/class/csu/Two_Cradle_Theory.htm
5. what has always been a personal battle for me, as an african american, is what I see around me daily in terms of negative patterns of violence, substance abuse and destructive lifestyles. I'm troubled by "white flight", but equally troubled when Af-Am residents bring down the quality of a neighborhood through negative lifestyle patterns. I'm disturbed by forced sterilization, but am consistently annoyed by unwanted pregancies, youth having kids and getting welfare,etc. Does this mean that I am a eugenicist?
Sonjanita L. Moore, NBCT, M.A., M.Ed
Facing History Program Associate
Phone: 312/345-3202 - Fax: 312/726-3713
Alternate Email: sonja.facinghistory@gmail.com
"We can't always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." -FDR
Monday, January 5, 2009
Life in the Ghetto (poem)
Life in the Ghetto: Looking Back
By: Sonja Moore
(c) January 5, 2009
Life in the ghetto wasn’t always as it seemed
German propaganda footage hides their true scheme -
The total extermination of a segment of humanity
Using tactics and “special treatments” that reveal the insanity
Of man’s inhumanity to man
Some things are hard to tell
As it relates to the “final solution” regarding the religion of Israel
Political movements, a new government
Scapegoating leads to new legislation
The world’s stage is now ridden with fascist, totalitarian dictators
Whose sole aim is to rule the world & rid it of “undesirables”
But they even found ways to make real ghetto conditions deniable
The spread of typhus, lice infections and starvation
The demise of artisans, leaders and intellectuals of a great nation
Daily items now became contraband
Food and clothes we sold right along
With prayer shawls and armbands
“Essential worker” had some reprieve
Against the slaughter that was to come
But even in their case, sometimes,
Bribery or other sacrifices had to be done
Red Cross aid ended as Japanese planes
Attacked a Harbor half a world away
Forcing everyone, even children, to steal food everyday
Hunger breeds desperation
And makes you do things you normally wouldn’t
It drives you mad, it makes you crazy
It makes you say things you shouldn’t
Like, “Where is God? What is He doing?
Are we His ‘Chosen’ or the forgotten?
Why are we to suffer at the hands of evildoers
Who claim to follow God’s ‘Only Begotten’?”
Overcrowded ghetto dwellings filled with filth & disease
Call to mind the rat-infested bowels of ships carrying Africans overseas
The humiliation of haircutting of the rabbi
Makes me think of native children in missionary schools
Or the knot cutting inflicted upon ancient samurai
I can’t help but wonder if diseases were spread by government decree
As with the syphilis injections of Tuskegee
Or like the small-pox infested blankets that wrapped & killed Native babes
All are events that made it clear
That you couldn’t trust policies your government made
Careful calculations, detailed planning
Evidence destroyed and hidden from view
Was this example followed by African dictators, too?
Disregard for human life, no peaceful resting place for the dead
Human beings lined ghetto streets as Katrina’s victims did
Diaries & books tell the stories that others chose to deny
Gripping details and heartache that brings tears to your eyes
A Venetian concept, centuries old, adopted by the Nazi regime
Unfortunately, still a part of some government schemes
By: Sonja Moore
(c) January 5, 2009
Life in the ghetto wasn’t always as it seemed
German propaganda footage hides their true scheme -
The total extermination of a segment of humanity
Using tactics and “special treatments” that reveal the insanity
Of man’s inhumanity to man
Some things are hard to tell
As it relates to the “final solution” regarding the religion of Israel
Political movements, a new government
Scapegoating leads to new legislation
The world’s stage is now ridden with fascist, totalitarian dictators
Whose sole aim is to rule the world & rid it of “undesirables”
But they even found ways to make real ghetto conditions deniable
The spread of typhus, lice infections and starvation
The demise of artisans, leaders and intellectuals of a great nation
Daily items now became contraband
Food and clothes we sold right along
With prayer shawls and armbands
“Essential worker” had some reprieve
Against the slaughter that was to come
But even in their case, sometimes,
Bribery or other sacrifices had to be done
Red Cross aid ended as Japanese planes
Attacked a Harbor half a world away
Forcing everyone, even children, to steal food everyday
Hunger breeds desperation
And makes you do things you normally wouldn’t
It drives you mad, it makes you crazy
It makes you say things you shouldn’t
Like, “Where is God? What is He doing?
Are we His ‘Chosen’ or the forgotten?
Why are we to suffer at the hands of evildoers
Who claim to follow God’s ‘Only Begotten’?”
Overcrowded ghetto dwellings filled with filth & disease
Call to mind the rat-infested bowels of ships carrying Africans overseas
The humiliation of haircutting of the rabbi
Makes me think of native children in missionary schools
Or the knot cutting inflicted upon ancient samurai
I can’t help but wonder if diseases were spread by government decree
As with the syphilis injections of Tuskegee
Or like the small-pox infested blankets that wrapped & killed Native babes
All are events that made it clear
That you couldn’t trust policies your government made
Careful calculations, detailed planning
Evidence destroyed and hidden from view
Was this example followed by African dictators, too?
Disregard for human life, no peaceful resting place for the dead
Human beings lined ghetto streets as Katrina’s victims did
Diaries & books tell the stories that others chose to deny
Gripping details and heartache that brings tears to your eyes
A Venetian concept, centuries old, adopted by the Nazi regime
Unfortunately, still a part of some government schemes
Friday, January 2, 2009
Journal 2
In the 6 months or so since I began, I've encountered a wide variety of resources and materials related to Holocaust history and the Civil Rights Movement. I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of teachers from the area and attending a number of events and seminars. I have been given the task of leading a number of initiatives beyond follow-up and facilitation, such as the Polk Dialogue, The TLT, and One Book One Chicago. It has been a roller coaster ride in terms of my acclimation to a new working environment. As mentioned before, I am working to find a balance in terms of getting tasks done (ritual engagement) and feeling like I've made a significant contribution to the work (authentic engagement). I'm not really intrinsically motivated by the work and I continue to hope that this will change over time as my newness and lack of exposure wears off.
On Seminars
I've spent much of the last few months in preparation for Choices in Little Rock seminar in February. Much time and energy has been put into recruitment - a long, arduous task. In December, I sat in on sessions by Dunreith, Steve and Denise which were helpful. I hope to find a stronger sense of accomplishment upon completion of the seminar at the end of next week. My concern now, though, is that I have virtually had little to no feedback from my teachers that took the December seminar. It could very well be that I've only heard from the few teachers I have heard from because they are beginning their units in January or February. I don't know for sure. The whole thing just creates anxiety for me because my job performance is directly tied to what these teachers do and how well they do it. As a teacher, you are judged by how well your students do, but as a teacher you have a little more control of your pupils...this is not the case here. I have offered to deliver copies of Warriors as a way to get in for a site visit.
On Teacher Follow-up
I've worked with teachers in the following ways:
1. As part of the requirements of the Polk Dialogue and as follow-up to the summer R&M seminar in July 2008, I am working with 2 teachers from Chicago area high schools around the issue of The Great Migration and Chicago neighborhood histories. The teachers are great and expect to have a good group of students, but I can't help to feel a sense of anxiety at the fact that evaluation of my work is contingent upon the degree of success these teachers have with their students and the degree of satisfaction felt by the funders. This pushes me to put a lot of time and energy into the project and into insuring that the culminating student pieces are as dynamic as possible. We have had several conference calls, a string of emails and a meeting to establish an events timeline, a discussion forum, a guest speaker for the kick off event and working to gain service learning hours for the students that complete the project. I hope to get them hooked up with a multimedia group to allow them to incorporate tech and video.
2. The CHI TLT has taken a dynamic twist this year and formed 2 focus groups - MS and HS. As a former member of the TLT, I often left the meetings feeling guilty because I hadn't contributed more to the work that FH was doing. I felt that I was taking more than I was giving and therefore, suggested the formation of focus group in order to allow our teacher leaders to assist our work in the way of mentoring new CLR teachers, critiquing & analyzing the HHB ERG draft, submitting sample Choices lessons and developing Choices assessments(for vetting and ultimately, sharing). The ideas of these teachers has been invaluable.
3. I've had some good, regular follow up with a handful of schools, one of which is the school I taught at prior to joining FH and the other, a school of a fellow TLT-er. I hope to gain more access to teachers and their classrooms before year's end.
On Seminars
I've spent much of the last few months in preparation for Choices in Little Rock seminar in February. Much time and energy has been put into recruitment - a long, arduous task. In December, I sat in on sessions by Dunreith, Steve and Denise which were helpful. I hope to find a stronger sense of accomplishment upon completion of the seminar at the end of next week. My concern now, though, is that I have virtually had little to no feedback from my teachers that took the December seminar. It could very well be that I've only heard from the few teachers I have heard from because they are beginning their units in January or February. I don't know for sure. The whole thing just creates anxiety for me because my job performance is directly tied to what these teachers do and how well they do it. As a teacher, you are judged by how well your students do, but as a teacher you have a little more control of your pupils...this is not the case here. I have offered to deliver copies of Warriors as a way to get in for a site visit.
On Teacher Follow-up
I've worked with teachers in the following ways:
1. As part of the requirements of the Polk Dialogue and as follow-up to the summer R&M seminar in July 2008, I am working with 2 teachers from Chicago area high schools around the issue of The Great Migration and Chicago neighborhood histories. The teachers are great and expect to have a good group of students, but I can't help to feel a sense of anxiety at the fact that evaluation of my work is contingent upon the degree of success these teachers have with their students and the degree of satisfaction felt by the funders. This pushes me to put a lot of time and energy into the project and into insuring that the culminating student pieces are as dynamic as possible. We have had several conference calls, a string of emails and a meeting to establish an events timeline, a discussion forum, a guest speaker for the kick off event and working to gain service learning hours for the students that complete the project. I hope to get them hooked up with a multimedia group to allow them to incorporate tech and video.
2. The CHI TLT has taken a dynamic twist this year and formed 2 focus groups - MS and HS. As a former member of the TLT, I often left the meetings feeling guilty because I hadn't contributed more to the work that FH was doing. I felt that I was taking more than I was giving and therefore, suggested the formation of focus group in order to allow our teacher leaders to assist our work in the way of mentoring new CLR teachers, critiquing & analyzing the HHB ERG draft, submitting sample Choices lessons and developing Choices assessments(for vetting and ultimately, sharing). The ideas of these teachers has been invaluable.
3. I've had some good, regular follow up with a handful of schools, one of which is the school I taught at prior to joining FH and the other, a school of a fellow TLT-er. I hope to gain more access to teachers and their classrooms before year's end.
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