A good resource about handling discussions of race and racism in college classroom is "When Race Breaks Out" by Helen Fox. I've gotten a number of good ideas for handling sensitive issues around race, prejudice and privilege from this book.
Gwen Nyden Oakton Community College 1600 E. Golf Road Des Plaines, IL > Great tips, Kelly! Thanks! I've never used the amazon.com reviews to > launch the class discussions that you've suggested but will probably do so > when classes begin. The autobiographical exercise sounds especially > interesting and should work well. > > Unlike Kenyon College, about a third of our students are African American > (especially in the social sciences), and most are first-generation college > students from working-class backgrounds. And unlike research universities, > our classes are small (usually about 35 students) and everyone wants to > participate in class discussions. In fact, if I left, I don't think most > of my students would even notice ;-). > > The major problem I've had in racial/ethnic courses is that 1) most white > students--especially those who are pretty conservative--are very cautious > about not offending black students, and 2) African American students are > just as cautious about not expressing their anger (rage, in some cases) > and putting white students on the defensive. (Most of our Asian American > students are in the tech/business majors and we have very few Latino > students). So, it always takes me a bit of time and effort to nudge (and > sometimes shove) my students into addressing racial and ethnic issues as > honestly as possible. I've made a few dents, but that's about it. As a > society, we just don't want to talk about racial/ethnic issues... > > During several semesters, the Directors of our Diversity Office (black > women both times) have conducted a class on racial-ethnic interaction, > prejudice, discrimination, etc. They've been very good, but we've had > mixed results. My white students felt more comfortable about airing some > of their feelings about welfare and a few other issues, but many of my > black students often felt that the speaker was too "neutral" in managing > the class discussions on racism. So there. Have other TeachSoc subscribers > had different experiences? > > Thanks again, Kelly, > niki > __________________________________________ > Nijole (Niki) Benokraitis, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology > University of Baltimore, 1420 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201 > Fax: 410-837-6051; Voicemail: 410-837-5294 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Kelly Besecke > To: Nijole Benokraitis > Cc: [email protected] > Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 9:56 AM > Subject: Re: TEACHSOC: Re: Monographs for Sociology of Race/Ethnicity > > > I have a tip! I use "Why are all the black kids..." in my intro course > in a > predominantly white college. When I began using it, I went on > Amazon.com and > printed out all the customer reviews. There are a lot, and a big range > of > reviews that you could use in multiple ways, but what I did was > highlight some > of the really harsh, defensive reactions from what I take to be > defensive white > people, read them out loud to my students, and ask them where they think > these > reactions are coming from, what they think is going on. This has the > effect of > addressing head-on whatever thoughts and feelings they might be having > but may > be reluctant to discuss, or that might otherwise emerge in the form of > vitriol, > but this method softens it, deflecting it from themselves--it opens up > the > discussion so they can talk about their reactions and others reactions > without > attacking each other or feeling attacked. It makes it possible to > discuss > white defensiveness and liberal racism more openly. > > Another thing I do, in the first day of teaching it, is do the exercise > she > talks about in the first chapter--ask students to get in small groups > and talk > about their earliest memory associated with race, what emotions it > brought up, > whether they talked with anyone about it. Then we talk about it in the > large > group. > > In general, this book really lends itself to different kinds of > autobiographical > reflection for students. > > Kelly Besecke > ______________________________________________________________ > Assistant Professor of Sociology > Department of Sociology * Palme House 105 * Kenyon College * Gambier OH > 43022 > tel: 740-427-5854 * fax: 740-427-5815 * email: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nijole > Benokraitis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > In the past, my students have enjoyed Black Picket Fences and No > Shame in My > > Game. This semester, I'll be using, and for the first time, "Why Are > All the > > Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" If any of you have > used > > Cafeteria, any tips? > > > > niki > > >
