In lieu of the fact that I'm going to be on vacation with limited internet access, I'm posting my comments here for week 3 discussion for later posting.
Growing Up With Segregation by Delpit
I have to say that while I was initially moved by Delpit's letter to her daughter some years ago when I first read it, today I'm just left with a lot of questions and marginal notes. If memory serves me correctly, Delpit's daughter is biracial/multiracial. I can't help but wonder why that's not mentioned in the intro paragraph.
I am struck by the fact that although Delpit recognizes the discrimination in her neighborhood she still chose to stay and raise her daughter there...why? Even though her parents met with racism, Lisa chose to live in an area where she wasn't wanted or welcome. I often wonder about people who consciously choose to be the first to integrate...what is their motivation? Is it just a desire to have the best or is there an underlying desire to have what was for so long forbidden? IDK. I don't know that I would choose to be the first to integrate so I can't speak for Delpit's reasoning.
She brings up issues that are still problematic for African Americans today, but moreso, in the inner city - police brutality, police harassment, poor/inadequate healthcare systems, inadequate schools, stereotyping. Her closing remarks about the middle schooler reminds me of an adage I grew up hearing - "If you want to hide something from Black people, put it in a book!" This is one of the sentiments addressed in the 90's film, "Higher Learning." It's clear to me that one negative thing that's come out of institutionalized racism is low self-esteem in Black children (i.e., thinking white dolls are prettier, thinking white people are smarter, etc). I suffered symptoms of this phenomena myself growing up.
What I can see and struggle with in our alleged "integrated" society, is the negative effects of integration on the Black community. Once the suburbs and better neighborhoods were an option for Chicago's elite in Bronzeville, they spread out and left the inner city...taking their educational standards, jobs and standing as role models with them. In their place, were left the hard-working middle class, new migrants and the lower class. As the working classes did better, they stayed in the city, but left their original neighborhoods too - leaving behind criminal elements to serve as role models for impressionable youth. I recognize that I've attempted to sum up 50 years in a paragraph, but I think you get the gyst of what I'm concerned about - Why is it that under segregation the Black community and Black family structure was stronger? Why did both seem to disintegrate with integration?
While I disagreed with or was concerned by some aspects of her letter, I can relate to the first sentence in the last paragraph - where she is told to excel or do better than the white kids in her class. I was told this often growing up and in turn, have said it to my students of color (to my female students also). It's the idea behind WEB Dubois' "talented tenth." It's the idea that by a few of us doing well, we can serve as examples for the rest. This served as a means to the development of strong Black families and communities following Emancipation. I don't feel this is a bad sentiment, but it does explain the desire of a people to get ahead and stay ahead in a world that seemed to be against them.
That was the Way it Was Supposed to Be by Dyer
I was not surprised by much of what Dyer wrote. Living and growing up in segregated, all-Black neighborhoods in Chicago it was the assumption that most if not all White people felt this way about Blacks. I can't say I was ever expressly taught this at home or at school, but it was implied in the frustrations of the adults that I encountered and the amount of pressure put on me and my generation to go out and "show the world what Black folks can do", so to speak.
Some of the stereotypes he outlined are not different from ones highlighted on Good Morning America ten years ago in their "black-white study". They are not that different from the negative perceptions played out in Hollywood films or in today's violent video games. The media perpetuates these images. They always have. The problem now is that the very people that are the brunt of this kind of negative imagery have now co-opted the ideas of their critics - contemporary celebrities of color, in many cases, are more than happy to take on the stereotype, exaggerate it and celebrate it. I can't imagine how confusing that must be to someone like Dyer.
The thing I'm left with in reading Dyer is that he says his tree of racism is dying...not completely dead. I can respect and appreciate his candor. I think it's much more realistic to admit that racism will never completely die out or go away. It's something we always have to continue to work on.
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4 comments:
I had a similar response to Lisa's letter - the full letter includes more of the complexity in her thinking--and in sharing the experience of Maya as well. I appreciated that complexity.
Growing up in California, my experience has been different than either Lisa or Daniel, so it is particularly important for me to read these to better understand the full situation, and yet there is enough in my experience that these resonate.
- I grew up in suburban schools, and I remember there being one African American at my high school of maybe 1000. He was a senior when I was a freshman, and in the next 3 years, there was not another who came to the school, though there were some international students from Africa. That is one of the reasons I left the town knowing I did not want to live there as an adult, let alone raise children there if I got to the point of raising a family. It is also why I sometimes shudder at the implicit learning of my nephews growing up now in the same town. (That’s a longer conversation!)
- During high school, away for an extended “band camp/tour” comprised of people from around the nation, I dated an African American teenager from Georgia. At one point we talked about what our parents might do if they saw us together. He told me without hesitation that his mom would not let me in their house. I understand that much more as an adult than I did as a teen. When he wrote me afterwards and his letters were like that of a 2nd grader, I was horrified. I understand that much more as an adult than I did then as well.
In relation to the question: How can we as individuals and as members of a community overcome the legacies of segregation? How have both Lisa Delpit and Daniel Dyer tried to overcome the past?
Both seem to try to overcome the past in part by being honest about their own limitations, and the role that their experience continues to play in forming their thoughts. Interactions seem to be part of what helps overcome – seeing past stereotypes as we get to know individuals, but it seems to require more than just experiencing. Daniel talked about how much he experienced of white privilege without really understanding what he was experiencing. Both seem to have the experiences of a racist society to counteract in daily living and perceptions—we all do really.
I know this is just the start of a dialogue, so I’ll stop there for now.
I think it's interesting to hear that your life in a Cali suburb was probably not all that different than the suburbs here. I have this idealized view of Cali as the land of diversity, acceptance and pluralism....maybe because of Berkeley (did I spell that right?).
I don't know if it's about "overcoming" the legacy of segregation as much as it is learning from the mistakes. There's something to be said for wanting to maintain one's cultural identity - the problem comes when you feel your identity supercedes everyone else's and therefore, you have the right to erase/deny other people's cultures.
California definitely has "diversity" issues! In semi-urban areas like Santa Monica, there is this belief that we're very diverse, and as a whole, we are. But, when you start to look at the community level, the legacies of red-lining residential practices and other factors present a very different picture. Fortunately, there are some great demographic maps which show diversity levels and change over time. They can be really helpful in showing that we may not have yet shed our own legacies. Unfortunately, the occasional racial violence is a pretty big reminder as well.
I agree with you - I think it is important to have and maintain your own cultural identity. It would be a tremendous loss if we tried to have a society where we are all the same. The problem comes when value is assigned to difference.
I'm curious about your ideas on where the "balance" is between maintaining a cultural identity and coming together with those who are different. I'm thinking in part of your comments about the Black community being stronger before integration and the anti-academic idea that has seeped into some students' thinking about what it means to "be Black." I'm also thinking about some of my Mexican-American students who sometimes incite anger from others by placing the "Mexican" part of their identity as having far higher value than the "American."
Here in Chicago (actually now I'm in sunny Florida...but I'll pretend for a few minutes), there is some unity among African American and Latino groups...in particular, my circle is comprised of Blacks, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Columbians of Baptist, Catholic and Muslim backgrounds! We live in neighborhoods traditionally segregated but through the arts, find ways to blend and merge while respecting each other's identities. Many of my friends are in biracial/multiracial relationships so this kind of openness and understanding is a must for cohesive families and communities. I like that, for example, my "brother" who is a Muslim and Black is married to a Native Americcan-Caucasian woman (who converted to islam) makes a special effort to expose their kids to all of their roots - their sons attend after school programs at the American Indian Ctr a few days a week, do breakdancing, poetry and graff with their mom at a neighborhood park district, do sports and learn about their Islamic culture at mosque. It's doable but difficult. The mom/his wife is very conscious of letting her sons know that they are Black men (although they look white, like her) and constantly reminds them to take pride in that. Not many couples would do that. They just live as they live - thinking that the kids will be fine or will just figure it out since they don't see color. I have a couple friends who raise their kids like this and while they are loving moms of children of color it concerns me that their children have no links to the Black community (because the moms have cut off ties to their fathers who is Black). It's tough...this race thing
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