Clueless White Person Question

In My Humble Opinion
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[QUOTE=Can Handle the Truth]
but at certain intervals, the white cop would interrupt the narrative with “Keep your hands in the air and shut up!” At the end of each segment, the cop grabbed the actor, slapped handcuffs on, and hustled him/her off the stage, while the actor is saying things like “Please, Mr. Policeman, don’t throw me in jail! Let the world hear my story!” I was sitting there like - WTF?
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WTF is putting it mildly. That’s one screwed up school system.

Aries28 - the only guilt you should feel is attending a patronizing event that has nothing to do with history and everything to do with racial stereotyping. This is nothing but institutionalized baggage that will hurt these kids in the long run. They’re going to go through life thinking people are judging them on the color of their skin and not the fact that the school system failed them miserably.

These kids are being taught that they are poor because they are black when the reality of it is that they are poor because they lack anything remotely resembling an education. And that includes the basic social skills that should be taught at home.

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[QUOTE=Aries28]
And, if it was a joke that the teacher put in place I find it cruel in a way because this particular kid who portrayed Vick is one of my most challenged students. He has a mother who is addicted to crack. He comes to school filthy and has stolen food from the lunchroom until we were able to get him reduced meals. I work with this kid more than I probably do any other because I see tremendous potential for him if only he had a shot.

The kids made posters earlier in the month with pictures they cut out from magazines featuring famous Black Americans. They had tons of entertainers, sports figures, etc. and they looked great. Because this kid struggles so much we provided him with magazines so he could make a poster too. He took them home, excited about making his poster.

On the day they were due, he comes into the classroom furious and getting into trouble. I talked to him and the reason he was so upset was that his mother wouldn’t buy him a sheet of posterboard and he was pissed off that he wasn’t going to be able to make his poster. We took care of it and he got his poster made.

Of all my students, if I were the teacher I would have given this kid an outstanding example of a strong black role model who has succeeded greatly in life and not let him be the guy who is the joke of the program.

Maybe I just don’t get it and it’s completely me.
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This really is the crux of the biscuit. This kid is immensely frustrated , and probably has frustrated parents as well, for who knows what good reasons. Choosing Michael Vick is his outright statement of Hero taken down by the Man, for, what is , in the South, both a black and white accepted subculture of dog fighting. (I don’t at all agree with it, but understand it from the cultural history) He may well have heard at home talk of how Vick was railroaded, and identifies with that.

You can help him make a poster, you can tell him about other historical figures of great importance, but I think it would be more productive to really listen to him and hear why Michael Vick is important to him. And don’t say right off “yeah, but he’s awful because of the dogfighting …” Discuss the dogfighting, and why that might not be such a good practice. “People have these dogfights, but, that is pretty mean to dogs, dontcha think? A lot of people love dogs, and hate to see that. That’s why Michael Vick had that hard time. Not cause he was a hero sports figure, but because he did something that people thought was cruel…and etc”

If you want to do the most good as a mentor, listen: let him tell you who his heroes are, take it to heart, and expand upon what he says. In a different culture than the one you are familiar with, you’ll be continually challenged, but, if you follow a good heart, and look at everyone as equal, you will learn as much as you teach.

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I just want to say that any person with any kind of street cred, who is in the public eye, and who promotes and encourages reading, is an okay choice by me.

I do understand your sense that some of the choices were odd (aside from the Michael Vick thing, which is clearly just not a good choice) because you would think that “museum”=historical=not current. Maybe some kids mistook “living museum” to mean “museum of famous people who are still alive” instead of “museum with historical figures portrayed by live replicas”. When you think about it, to a kid the distinction would not be intuitive.

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As for black football players, how about Jerome Bettis?

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Back to the OP… LEVAS is a staple of the Black church experience and BHM events. I’m surprised so many folks haven’t heard of it. You can be forgiven for not knowing the lyrics… I know the first stanza and that’s about it.

Mike Vick… I agree that this needs further examination. Up until his untimely demise (on the football field and in the court of public opinion) he was the biggest and highest-paid African American in the NFL. The NFL is America’s number one sport. So it’s easy to see why he would be held in high esteem, especially in the South. I think a lot of Black folks have blind spots about the flaws of their heroes, for one thing. My dad is like that. He thinks that Vick got a raw deal, that the Feds went after him, etc. When I say to him, “yeah, maybe, but if he hadn’t fought dogs this would have never happened!” he comes up with examples of White dudes getting away with stuff.

[huge generalization] Another thing you probably should realize is that Black folks as a general rule don’t have the same connection to dogs that White folks do. So yeah, some people are thinking, “That was bad,” but with nowhere near the anger that a lot of White people have, who treat their dogs like family members. [/huge generalization]

*Disclaimer: I am not a Mike Vick fan or supporter, I think what he did was incredibly greedy, selfish, stupid, and cruel. I do, however, feel a twinge of sympathy that he will be pretty much professionally and socially ruined when he gets out. I mean, White guys/gals who do wrong often bounce back - Martha Stewart, Roman Pulanski - but when’s the last time you saw a prominent Black person convicted of a crime “bounce back?”

And don’t say OJ!*

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[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow]

*Disclaimer: I am not a Mike Vick fan or supporter, I think what he did was incredibly greedy, selfish, stupid, and cruel. I do, however, feel a twinge of sympathy that he will be pretty much professionally and socially ruined when he gets out. I mean, White guys/gals who do wrong often bounce back - Martha Stewart, Roman Pulanski - but when’s the last time you saw a prominent Black person convicted of a crime “bounce back?”

And don’t say OJ!*
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Marion Barry? So '94, if you count from when he was re-elected. And I agree that’s a bit of a long time. Good points that you raised in your post.

PS to Hippy Hollow (totally unrelated to this thread, but you don’t have your private messages turned on – I was wondering if you were going to NASPA this year)

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[QUOTE=delphica]
PS to Hippy Hollow (totally unrelated to this thread, but you don’t have your private messages turned on – I was wondering if you were going to NASPA this year)
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Ah, I missed good ol’ Marion.

No NASPA this year for me… I was in Boston last week, and realized why I left the damn place. I’ll be going more in the future for professional reasons… but this year we had a baby and I don’t want to leave mom and junior alone too much!