As we contemplate the situation today, not much discussion of the fact that we have a “Black” President seems relevant. His actions and behavior and activities would be more appropriate in a study of Capitalism and resultant alienation.
My concern here is not with why people can not get along with one another. That, again, would require a discussion of the Capitalist World System and how power is maintained by perpetuating division between people on any basis other than class or income. I believe that it is quite clear, however, that there is absolutely no “Hard-Wiring” involved in Racism or ethnic division or religious prejudice. It is most certainly acquired as a result of experience and conditioning and that cognitive analysis yields little evolutionary basis for such attitudes.
One final note: Please excuse the spacing in the notes. Moving this from one format to anther simply caused extra to be entered at the point of "hard returns".
Racism in Education
©2011 by Charles Stanford
Introduction
A brief look at the subject of genetics and a more detailed look at Carl Rowan's The coming race war in america: A wake-up call (1996) introduces the major issues for this discussion of racism in America's schools. It also forms the background for a brief discussion of African-Americans and International Relations. A plethora of statistics and data exist to show the inequity of racism (Axelson, 1993) and enough information is available to show that multi-cultural approaches work and are of benefit to all cultures, including the dominant one (Nieto, 1992). Afrocentrism is discussed to illustrate how a study of contributions of non-dominant culture members can inform the general curricula. This paper is not intended as a summary or digest of such information nor is it an agenda. Rather, it is intended as a philosophic reflection on the issue facilitated by a discussion of the literature. Educators must become cognitively engaged on the subject before they consider their own, one hopes unique, approach to the issue.
Genetics
A great deal of information was made available to the world through the O. J. Simpson trial, information that was available elsewhere but not quite as dramatically. One point that was discussed during the DNA phase of the trial was genetics. It was pointed out at one point that ninety-nine percent of our genetic code is identical to that of the other primates. This leaves one percent to account for all of the differences between humans. Most of that one percent is devoted to such factors as longevity, height, liver size, etc. This leaves a very small percentage to account for all the other, easily observable, differences such as skin, hair, and eye color. With lamentable human logic, most of our energy is spent in making decisions based on this minute information, and discussed inadequately and incompetently at that. Rowan (1996) summarizes the nonsense well enough to make further discussion here superfluous, but it is worth pointing out that he neglects to mention that the first significant rebuttal to the genetic myth was published as long ago as 1906 and by an African American (DuBois, 1906).
Carl Rowan and the International Arena
Carl Rowan's The coming race war in america: A wake-up call (1996) has several uses, but it is particularly useful for citing and documenting those incidents one remembers from the news but has difficulty in locating. It is also useful for a few interesting comments and approaches. For example, when the inane, but inevitable, question of where the money is going to come from to implement programs that will help to bring about needed progress in education, Rowan replies "...with the money we're spending for new prisons -- or that Gingrich proposes to spend on stockades or orphanages." (295).
It is also deficient in several ways. First, it hardly lives up to its dramatic title because it does not delve deeply enough into the militias and their plans for a race war which seems to be the justification for the title. Second, it does not describe in any detail how African-Americans today will fight back.
Perhaps his neglect of DuBois, who is not mentioned in the book, can be explained by Rowan's previous ties to the U.S.I.A. (where he was Director), and his membership in the National Security Council -- hardly the credentials of a "leftist" or a "militant" as he has been called often enough. As Pilgram (1989) points out, DuBois earned his doctorate from Harvard in 1896 and his dissertation became the first volume of the Harvard Historical Series. He helped found the NAACP and published a series of intellectually pioneering studies, including The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study in 1899, the first empirical sociological study conducted by any American. As he became more aware of international relations and the United States' role in it, he became Chairman of the Peace information Center in 1950. After attaining Having attained international prominence through his discussions of United States foreign policy, he was consequently indited on federal charges of being an "unregistered foreign agent." He joined the American Communist party in 1961 and went to Ghana and died in 1963, one day before the march on Washington.
Rowan's association with the National Security Council could also explain his approach to Louis Farrakhan. Rowan quotes Farrakhan as calling Judaism a "gutter religion" and Israel an "outlaw state." (63) On CSPAN2 and other broadcast outlets I have heard the first quote as: "Someone who uses religion to justify such acts has their mind in the gutter." Farrakhan's main point seems to be that "... the black man will never be free until we address the problem of the relationship between blacks and Jews." (69) On his second point, the international issue, Israel is, in fact, in violation of numerous United Nation's Security Council resolutions. When Andrew Young, during the Carter Administration, talked with the Palestinians secretly in an attempt to resolve some peace issues, he was forced to resign as a result of the reaction of Jewish organizations in the United States. The real point here is that Farrakhan does not fit the mainstream notion of what a "good" African-American should be like, but instead, as did DuBois, achieved international recognition, especially from those not likely to be embraced by the National Security Council and its alumni. While a complete discussion of Farrakhan is beyond the scope of this paper, and while, despite the fact (or, perhaps, because of the fact) that his grandfather was "probably" Jewish, he may indeed be prejudiced against Jews, we can at least quote him correctly. Part of the hatred between races is a result of ignorance and people can only reason from the facts laid before them. No service is done to the people by distorting reality.
A Modest Hypothesis
Other African Americans seem to have run afoul of society when they began to discuss international affairs. Martin Luthur King, of course, was the target of J. Edgar Hoover for some time before King made statements about the Viet Nam war, but it was only after these statements that he was assassinated. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize hardly endeared him to bigots. Mohammed Ali was tolerated, but derided, through his name change and religious conversion. Opinion was fairly split on his refusal to be inducted into the service until he spoke out with typical directness: "I ain't got nothing 'gainst them Viet Cong." He was then stripped of his title and boxing license and the only sports reporter to support him was Howard Cosell, a law school graduate. Ali was eventually vindicated by the Supreme Court. Stokely Charmichal eventually left the country as DuBois had earlier. Paul Robeson is another example. Carl Rowan, unlike Andrew Young, has always been careful to seem more "patriotic" than others and, while he regularly receives death threats, will most likely survive. Hank Aaron received many death threats when it became clear that he would break Babe Ruth's lifetime home run record, but he never to mentioned anything about international affairs.
One may hypothesize that African Americans are less likely than "White Americans" to judge foreign countries and leaders on the basis on color and, hence, are less likely to adopt an imperialist approach. When they begin to invade foreign policy which is seem by the power structure as its own province, they are highly suspect and prone to retaliation. However, further development of this issue is beyond the scope of this paper.
Racism
Molnar (1989) warned of the seriousness of racism and Rowan (1996) has amplified the warning. There can be no doubt that it exists and is pervasive even in higher education (Djangi, 1993) where, presumably, the brightest intellects of our species collect.
In addition, racism exists in many guises and forms. A review of the literature shows, if it needed documentation, that racism is directed at Arabs (Shabbas, 1991), Hispanics (Ponciana, 1989), Native-Americans (Harvey, 1993), and every other minority or ethnic group.
Afro-Centrism
Just as a discussion of Minister Farrakhan is beyond the scope of this paper, so is a discussion of the many "races" that face discrimination in society and in our schools. Each cultural group comes to the school with a somewhat different experience and Weltanschauung just as each individual comes with a different experience than those within a cultural group. Even the second child comes into an entirely different world than the first child. For this reason, a brief discussion of what is possible in relation to African Americans is offered with the understanding that the general principles apply to all races. In other words, the contributions and treatment of all people of color in the United States have been distorted or ignored in our curricula.
African American studies as an academic discipline in often misunderstood. Certainly, it is not a subject advisable as a major for an upwardly mobile undergraduate -- most career development specialists tend to emphasize technical specialties for that. However, the research done under such programs and the knowledge that can be applied is certainly valuable. Boyd (1992) discusses this issue adequately.
Harris (1992) and Wieder (1992) and others emphasize that an understanding of the contributions to society by African Americans can help in combating racism and Assante (1991) points out that such studies are of value to both black and white youth. Powell (1991) provides an excellent summary of the debate. Essentially, those opposed argue that much of the work is irrelevant and inaccurate, deprives the students from learning what is important about the "real" roots of our society, and tends to take on a militant aura. Those in favor argue that the current curricula ignores the significant contributions of Blacks to our culture, gives young African Americans a negative self-image, and ignores the contributions and experiences of Blacks prior to the days of slavery.
We can at least examine one example of what has come from such studies before we take one side or the other. Over twenty years ago, Almonse A. Thompson, Jr. (1975) wrote his "Pre-Columbia Black Presence in the Western Hemisphere." Columbus himself noted the presence of blacks when he landed, he got the idea that the world was not flat from blacks, and there is evidence that "Proto-Negroids" sailed from Africa and settled in Mexico a short time after Christ was born. He also maintains that additional translations from the Arabic will further document these facts. The article is well-documented and convincing and has only one sour note -- he reasons that since there was no land bridge 20,000 years ago in Siberia, the Native Americans could not have possibly arrived on this continent first.
It is enough, however, to know the facts about the Black exploration and contribution and this is the sort of information that needs further dispersal, especially in the elementary schools both as a necessary counter to the Columbus jingoism that still prevails, but more importantly as an indication to young blacks that their race is not a hindrance to pride in accomplishment. Rowan (1996) recalls an incident at KcKinley High School in 1987 when the honor roll was called and many black students on that role "refused to stand when their names were called." (267) It seems that they did not want to be considered traitors to their race and did not wish to be seen as acting like "Whitey." (268). If more attention had been given to pre-columbian Black history (let alone to DuBois), perhaps achievement and intellectual capacity would not have been perceived as a betrayal of their race, a point Farrahkan repeatedly makes.
Multiculturalism
Newman (1995) presents a convincing case that, over the past twenty years, the schools have had some success in reducing racism, both in their own structure and in the minds of the students. On the other hand, Levy (1995) indicates that students in a multi-cultural class tended not to believe that they harbored any racist notions. Her solution is to make available the literature of these groups. If counselors, or would-be counselors, are unable to perceive these thoughts in themselves, one can reasonably argue that the population at large is in need of a great deal of education on this subject. Houser (1996) points to the need for thinking of the entire issue as "self-development" and perhaps this is a more important concept than is often realized. Nieto (1992) convincingly argues that a multi-cultural education is valuable to students of all cultures and Banks (1992) extended this concept to gender.
In the discussion of Afrocentrism (above), it became clear that role models were essential to members of minority groups, at the very least to dispel their own acceptance of racist myths. Of course, the concept needs to be extended to all cultures. Few people today, for example, realize that the works of ancient Greece and Rome come to us through Arab scholars. However, pointing that out in the current political climate is about as iconoclastic as stating that Beethoven's father was Black. Similar statements of fact could be made about any cultural group with the same reception.
A hostile attitude towards such statements or facts exists because we live in an economic system that emphasizes competition, that posits that success is built on the suppression and failure of others. Multi-culturalism, on the other hand, stresses cooperation, the direct opposite. In addition, we are conditioned to accept this Social Darwinist Weltanschauung to the extent that we look for any advantage in our relations with others. Even the rhetoric we hear from politicians about "equality" is based upon the realization that preaching "inequality" sounds bad to the voting public and much of what we hear in "liberal" (whatever that means these days) circles seems more directed towards appearance than reality. This competitive necessity as we see it is so deeply ingrained that members of all "races" tend to stereotype members of other races.
A multi-cultural approach, especially in the earliest grades, would help to reduce such friction. Furthermore, this need not be seen as "political correctness" -- simply being as "correct" about the facts should suffice.
Conclusion
It is absurd to look to genetics as a justification for racism. Carl Rowan's The coming race war in america: A wake-up call (1996) is an excellent introduction to the subject of racism in general and racism in America's schools in particular. It also unintentionally provides a background for a brief discussion of African-Americans and International Relations. Racism is clearly detrimental to people of all "races," and multi-cultural approaches are of benefit to all cultures, including the dominant one. Afrocentrism illustrates how a study of contributions of non-dominant culture members can inform the general curricula.
REFERENCES
Assante, M. K. (1991). The afrocentric idea in education. Journal of Negro Education, 60(2), 170-80.
Axelson, J. (1993). Counseling and development in a multicultural society. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. [While this text does not focus very well on the counseling aspect, it does give valuable information about a number of ethnic or cultural groups -- all in one place.]
Banks, J. African-American scholarship and the evolution of multicultural education. Journal of Negro Education, 61(3), 273-86.
Boyd, A. (1993). Afrocentrism: Hype or history? Library Journal, 117(18), 46-49.
DuBois, W. (1906). The health and physique of the negro american. Atlanta: Atlanta University Press.
DHangi, A. (1993). Racism in higher education: Its presence in the classroom and lives of psychology students. ERIC Microfiche.
Harris, M. D. (1992) Africentrism and curriculum: Concepts, issues, and prospects. Journal of Negro Education, 61 (3), 301-16.
Harvey, K. (1991). Native americans: The next 500 years. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 5(3), 1-4.
Houser, N. Multicultural education for the dominant culture: Toward the development of a multi-cultural sense of self. Urban Education, 31(2), 125-48.
Levy, M. Reflections on multi-culturalism and the tower of psychobabble. ALAN Review, 22(3), 11-15.
Molnar, A. Racism in american: A continuing dilemma. Educational Leadership, 47(2), 71-72.
Newman, G. (1995). Racism: Divided by color, multicultural issues. Springfield, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Nieto, S. (1992). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multi-cultural education. White Plains: Longman.
Pilgram, D. (1989). A tribute to W. E. B. DuBois. in D. Pilgram, ed., On being black: An in-group analysis (second edition). Bristol, Indiana: Wyndam Hall.
Ponciano, J. (1989). Racism and the hispanic high school dropout. ERIC Microfiche ED329604.
Powell, F. (1991). Acrican centered education: What is it and why do we need it? ERIC Misrofiche ED344832.
Rowan, C. The coming race war in america: A wake-up call. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. [See esp. Chapter 5, "I.Q. and Race, 142-158.]
Shabbas, A. (1991). The Arabs: Activities for the elementary school level. The things that make for peace: Emporwering children to value themselves and others. Berkley: AWARI--Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services.
Thompson, A. A. (1975) Pre-columbia black presence in the western hemisphere. Negro History Bulletin, 38(7), 452-56.
Wieder, A. (1992) Afrocentrisms: Capitalist, democratic, and liberationist protraits. Educational Foundations, 6(2), 33- 42.
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