I must be dense because I don’t see why calling for more inclusive language is a bad thing. Isn’t the PBJ just being used as an example as to where someone could have used a different term to achieve the desired minority inclusiveness? Where is the “how dare someone…?”
Did you read the linked article?
*Chuck Barber, who also offers boys’ drum corps at Vernon and Faubion schools in Northeast Portland, approached Gutierrez last year to start up a lunch-time drum class for black and Latino boys once a week. This year, it’ll expand to two classes a week, to accommodate new boys as well as those with experience.
At least one parent has a problem with the class, saying it amounts to “blatant discrimination and equity of women, Asians, whites and Native Americans.”
“This ‘club’ was approved by the administration, and any girls who complained were brushed off and it was not addressed,” the parent wrote anonymously.
Gutierrez denies that any students were turned away from the drum corps, and vehemently rejects any suggestion that it is discrimination to offer a club catering to minority boys.
“When white people do it, it is not a problem, but if it’s for kids of color, then it’s a problem?” says Gutierrez, 40, an El Paso, Texas, native whose parents were Mexican immigrants. “Break it down for me. That’s your white privilege, and your whiteness.”*
Gutierrez is obviously a sexist, a racist, a misogynist, and an asshole. Why should this turd ever be in the position of principal in any public school?
I’ve been in this forum for thirteen years now, BigT. I know they will never, ever let me out while I’m alive.
What I want is a view. I want a browser window where I can see a tweet, or even a Vine. I want to be on a different message board, far away from DrDeth.
…because it’s a fucking sandwich. Teaching what a sandwich is is in no way culturally insensitive or noninclusive. It’s the opposite. Excluding the knowledge of someone who might not be familiar with a sandwich for fear of offending some sense of bread -based cultural sensitivities, continues their exclusion.
There is no penalty for not knowing what a sandwich is or not eating them. Don’t know what a sandwich is? Oh here is what it is. Give it a try, if you like. Don’t want to? Cool, continue eating your torta or pita. No pressure. Boom, done.
There is no call for sandwich and non sandwich tables or separate sandwich and non sandwich drinking fountains. There is not a tortas only bathroom.
Was the teacher teaching what a sandwich is? I didn’t get that. Is not the sandwich just an example of how an alternative wording could be used and discussed?
Now with regard to the band example: Who is claiming what is PC? I don’t see how a debate over the appropriateness is anything other than a debate. If I argue that the class is beneficial, and you argue that it is not…let’s debate it.
It’s an example of finding solutions to problems that don’t exist based on imaginary cultural insenstivities. There is literally no need to find alternative wording to a sandwich because a Hispanic child might be eating a torta at home. He can take a look at a sandwich and go “Oh yeah, a torta.” oir alternatively the kid says “What’s that?” It’s a sandwich, like your torta. No need for alternative wording.
The thing is, this has fuck-all to do with “PC,” and just has to do with the power of media and communication being in the hands of the proles. Laying this at the feet of “PC” is stupid FOXNews-speak, as the Dixie Chicks example shows. People of all stripes are willing to throw their outrage, consequences be damned.
In the comments from the article, I found this:
I don’t know enough to either dispute or verify whether the original example cited by Prinicipal Gutierrez was indeed using sandwich-making as a process description assignment, but it seems reasonable to me to advise teachers in diverse environments -such as the very school under discussion- to take cultural differences into account in their lesson plans.
Sharia-compliant banking and lending is a real thing, so it’s not like he’s inventing new products. If the plan is for the city to offer the mortgages directly, that would be problematic in that the city shouldn’t be running a bank as such. But if it’s just a matter of allowing Sharia-compliant financial products which don’t violate any existing financial regulations to be offered by local banks - which will in turn allow people to buy houses without violating their religious beliefs - that would seem to be a good thing.
What’s the downside here?
That kind of thinking is what causes things to bogged down in minutiae. There will ALWAYS be that minority (and it’s not necessarily racial , or gender, it could simply be family culture, maybe a gluten free kid with a peanut allergy) There is nothing wrong with making an asisgnment about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If the child doesn’t know what that is, part of their lesson will be to learn what it is and how to make it. IDK, spitballing. It is not, however, ineherently racist or bigoted to bristle against this increasing over senstivity to every single word, assignment, task, outing, interaction, etc. for fear of alienating or offending even one individual no matter how slight.
It’s not “fear of alienating or offending” the students that’s driving Gutierrez’ concern for cultural awareness, it’s the effectiveness of the lessons and the fairness of the evaluations. Yes, there’s several easy things the teacher can do to deal with the different experiential bases of the kids. -One good way, as Gutierrez rightly points out, is to offer/allow discussion and sharing of other food processes. The article does not say that Gutierrez wants to eliminate discussion of PBJ, she’s just cautioning her teachers not to assume homogeneity of cultural knowledge.
This should be fairly obvious, and I think you’re rather proving the OP’s point by insisting that it’s just minutiae overly concerned about feelings
But it IS minutiae. The lesson is to learn how to decribe making a sandwich. Part of that process is to know what it is. Some, regardless of culture, race, gender or religion, may not know. It then becomes PART of that lesson to learn it. It’s not racist. It’s not bigotry. It’s not cultural insensitivity. It’s not exclusionary. It’s a part of the lesson. Simply saying someone is a bigot, because a child with a peanut allergy doesn’t know what a PB&J sandwich is, doesn’t make it so.
The boss suggests that discussing “sandwiches” is out because the teachers suffer from “white privilege”. Since the boss has some say in the teacher’s future promotions, bonuses, and possibly, their rates of pay, it’s best to do as the boss suggests. No matter how the racist Gutierrez phrases her warning, it’s still PC-style coercion.
The teachers are not allowed to use their own cultural experiences, they must use the racist Gutierrez’s cultural experiences.
So, really, in truth, its the liberals who are the real racists!
If there is a thing as Sukuk, why the need for city approval?
Where did I or that principal make the charge of bigotry over the PB&J example? Answer, we didn’t. Jennifer Anderson, the reporter who wrote the [three year old] article calls it “the subtle language of racism”, but that’s her hook for the story, not Principal Gutierrez’ complaint. She nor I characterized it as bigotry or racism. Because it’s not about bigotry, it’s about an equitable learning environment, which cannot be established or maintained if the lessons and examples used in teaching are all built around a ‘majority’ culture that is not shared within the increasingly diverse student population.
Consider a teacher who only uses sports examples in her lessons, and insists that those who don’t know what a “double play” or a “zone defense” is must learn about them in order to complete her physics word problems. Would you say she is being fair to her students? They’re all getting the same lessons, some just get to learn even more new stuff, right?
The whining about political correctness in reaction to pretty basic educational concerns seems to be all about white defensiveness. So, yeah, bigotry’s involved here certainly, but it’s reactive bigotry.
The OP did. Have a read.
Gosh, this would also seem to be a charge of bigotry. So, odd you would make that first statement.
This is a good question. The article was surprisingly sparse on details.
As are all the other articles on this subject that I’ve read.