I'm not surprised by the reactions so many people are having to the student who was alarmed. One thing that seems really constant is that somehow there is this crazy belief that black people are not ever afraid of white people. I see this in the classes I teach. The Atlanta article's comments show that they seem to think his response was simply to start trouble.
I also agree with Martin that we've gotten lax. I had students who came into class believing that every bit of racism, sexism, etc. should be available for joking and that such joking is a sign of progress. They had trouble seeing the effects of numbers, context, fear, etc and certainly couldn't believe that people might tolerate some of their behavior out of fear. Since I've been here in Madison, I've heard from several people with children in schools that their non-white kids are encouraged to tolerate slurs and poor treatment more generally. And when I sat with some students for a discussion centered around Spike Lee's Bamboozled, one of the questions I got was essentially, why can't we all use slurs? They seemed shocked when I turned it back to them and asked why they would want to do that, and even more shocked when I told them I don't use them myself and am certainly not looking for that privilege from Latinos, Asian Americans etc. On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 10:06 AM, Martin Baxter <martinbaxt...@gmail.com>wrote: > > > This was in Danville, Virginny, Keith, Thuh Las' Capital of Thuh > Con-Fed'racy. And the racism is still intact, trust me. When I was back > there back in '91 to bury my maternal grandmother, I ran into a White woman > who, when we were fellow students, couldn't keep her eyes (or hands off me). > When she took sight of me, in a department store, she couldn't get away fast > enough. > > > On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 9:50 AM, Keith Johnson > <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote: > >> >> >> It might be where you went to school, or simply that back in the day >> whites were more conscious and careful of potentially offending blacks in >> some areas. Now maybe we've gotten a bit lax, as the whole idea that >> everyone's fully equal and those racist days are long gone is often being >> put forward... >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Martin Baxter" <martinbaxt...@gmail.com> >> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >> Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 6:37:10 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern >> Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Georgia Teacher Under Fire for Kids' Klan >> Robes >> >> >> >> Keith, it's bewildering to me. I went to predominately White schools my >> entire life until college, was often the only face of color in the room. I >> didn't often get hit with incidents of racism, but my teachers did protect >> me when they arose, taking the time to explain things to those who offended. >> >> On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 1:18 AM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net >> > wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> I'm amazed at how blithely people want to dismiss things like this as >>> "politcal correctness", or "well-intentioned mistakes". I'm not saying burn >>> the school down or anything, but come on: saying the kid overracted to >>> seeing four people walking through the lunchroom dressed in full Klan robes? >>> Only in a ninety-four percent white area: had they tried that down my way, >>> I'm sorry to say the kids would have probably gotten jacked. It's reasons >>> like this why I'm not a fan of black kids going to overwhelmingly white >>> schools, especially in overwhelmingly white areas: there's a lack of >>> sensitivity and awareness sometimes that can't be easily taught. It is >>> inconceivable that a teacher of any race wouldn't think to inform her >>> principal that she was using Klan robes for a film at school. It's less >>> understandable that it never crossed her mind that marching them through the >>> school might cause some issues. Yet it happened because the teacher and all >>> the parents and kids are simply not tuned in to the world that blacks have >>> endured, or the painful legacies that still linger. How does one teach >>> common sense in the face of such woeful ignorance? She was well-intentioned, >>> but clueless as hell. >>> >>> What bothers me, what is the continuing strugge we have with issues of >>> race, gender, etc., is the lack of consideration by people who can't seem to >>> consider things outside their own experiences. You shouldn't have to be >>> black to get this. I bet if the kids had been dressed like Union soldiers >>> on the way to burn Atlanta, some of these "get over it" parents would see >>> things differently. I bet if they'd worn SS uniforms, even non-Jewish whites >>> would have been more sympathetic to any outrage. What if four big black >>> brothers had marched by with fake guns and knives, saying they were going to >>> re-enact a slave revolt where some whites were killed? Think the parents >>> would be seeing "get over it"? >>> >>> >>> >>> The sad thing is, that we so often only seem to sympathize and empathize >>> when it's something that directly affects our little >>> racial/gender/ethnic/political group. Does the teacher need to be fired? Do >>> we need to march? Probably not, but a conversation definitely needs to be >>> had here. The former NAACP head who says it's a tempest in a teapot just >>> sounds old and tired to me... >>> >>> >>> >>> ************************************************** >>> >>> >>> >>> By Kristi E. Swartz <kswa...@ajc.com> >>> >>> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution >>> >>> The reaction from last week's Lumpkin County High School history project >>> was "blown way out of proportion," said students who gathered at the school >>> Tuesday afternoon. >>> >>> <http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=1652244fu/M=600738505.600765248.409265442.403865905/D=ncnwsloc/S=2022775853:LREC/Y=PARTNER_US/L=dcfde9be-6883-11df-aa58-4b260da7beb4/B=8jP9I0wNids-/J=1274850140211835/K=CWVPA_bIqTtQ1QjBKcZe.Q/EXP=1274857340/A=1757781689173704643/R=0/X=2/SIG=11fa538gh/*http://nissanmall.com/new-nissan-specials.cfm> >>> Moore. "I think people are just making things up to get a little bit of >>> attention out of it." >>> >>> Four students donned Ku Klux Klan outfits as part of a film project for >>> teacher Catherine Ariemma's Advanced Placement U.S. history class last week. >>> >>> Ariemma escorted the group of white students through the cafeteria on the >>> way to being filmed, not anticipating the reaction from a mixed-race >>> student, Cody Rider, who told the AJC on Monday that he was outraged. >>> >>> While most students -- as well as those around town Tuesday -- said the >>> reaction was unwarranted, Ariemma on Tuesday found herself at the center of >>> an administrative debate as well as a media circus. >>> >>> The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a civil rights activist, said in a news >>> conference after the meeting that Lumpkin County High School teachers would >>> have sensitivity and diversity training. There have been measures put in >>> place to make sure nothing like this happens again, he said. >>> >>> There also will be a student assembly in a couple of days to discuss the >>> situation, and a town hall meeting will be held in a couple of weeks. >>> >>> Hutchins has encouraged the school system to further investigate and take >>> disciplinary action, if warranted. Ariemma is on paid administrative leave. >>> >>> "We all must learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or we will >>> die together as fools," Hutchins said. >>> >>> Ariemma, who attended the meeting, did not speak at the news conference. >>> Fifteen to 20 students and some parents were on hand, and several students >>> hugged Ariemma. >>> >>> "Leave her alone," one woman said as she ushered Ariemma into a car. >>> >>> The population of Lumpkin County, located about 70 miles north of >>> Atlanta, is 94 percent white, according to Census data. Dahlonega, with a >>> population of about 4,000, is the county seat. >>> >>> Historic Dahlonega square was fairly quiet on a late Tuesday afternoon, >>> but shop owners and visitors said they’ve been talking about last week’s >>> incident >>> >>> “People were saying it’s a big to-do about nothing,” said Kate Munson, an >>> employee at The Humble Candle. >>> >>> Gerald Eardley, visiting with his wife from Savannah, called the >>> reaction, “political correctness gone crazy.” >>> >>> Geri Dunn said it was no different than watching a Civil War >>> re-enactment. >>> >>> “I don’t think it would have been put in school if it was meant to be >>> derogatory,” Dunn said. ”What she was trying to do was not a bad thing.” >>> >>> One older civil rights activist in that Atlanta area said the flap over >>> the Klan clothing is a distraction from more urgent issues confronting >>> African-Americans today. >>> >>> Ariemma may have erred by failing to inform her superiors about her >>> plans, said activist John Evans. But even blacks stage reenactments of >>> killings by whites, he said by phone Tuesday. >>> >>> “White folk murdered and raped and robbed black folk back in the day. >>> It’s part of history,” said Evans, a former president of the DeKalb >>> County <http://g.ajc.com/r/Cj/> branch of the NAACP. “Now, if you’re >>> teaching history, aren’t you supposed to include that?” >>> >>> Evans, 77, now heads an activist group called Operation Lead and is a >>> current vice president of the DeKalb NAACP though he said he wasn’t speaking >>> for that group. >>> >>> He said he could understand why a black student at the high school would >>> complain. “But now, you get older, and things like that are not very >>> exciting,” he said. Instead, blacks should worry about making and saving >>> money and building their own businesses, he said. >>> >>> “To be influential in this country you got to have yourself some coins,” >>> Evans said. “We’ve got more important things to worry about than something >>> that happened 100 years ago.” >>> >>> -- Ty Tagami and Marcus K. Garner contributed to this report. >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell >> wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik >> >> > > > -- > "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell > wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik > >
