SELF WORTH AS A WEAPON
We are taught that America is diverse and inclusive: that it is the land of equality and opportunity for all. However, anyone who lives in America knows that this is a myth. James Baldwin, in “A Talk To Teachers,” goes directly to the jugular vein of this illusion, and doesn’t let up. He speaks about the paradox within education, and the way in which it “occurs within a social framework and is designed to perpetuate the aims of society” (p.1). If the aims of society are skewed, the education of young people is also skewed, and this is where the damage begins, at the crucial early stages of childhood, as children are shaped and formed by the influence of the society they live in. The “paradox of education” that Baldwin talks about happens at the crucial moment “when one begins to become conscious” and “begins to understand the society in which one is being educated” (p.1). He goes further to emphasize that it is “precisely at this point when you…must find yourself at war with your society” (p.6).
Contradictions then, abound. Does society really desire this independence of thought in individuals, or, as Baldwin supposes, no society is “really anxious to have that kind of person around” (p.1) and that: obedience is really the goal. The incongruity is that independence of thought “is the only hope society has” and the “only way societies change” (p.1). If America “guarantees ‘liberty and justice for all’” (2), then why can’t black people sit wherever they want on the bus, or live in a neighborhood where the streets are clean and the garbage is picked up, or where they are treated like they belong rather than being the servants of white people in society? I remember, in my own experience, as a child of Mexican immigrants growing up in California, seeing the framed pictures on the walls of my elementary school. They were distinctly all white men — the leaders of our country. Not only were they all white, but there were no women either! I absolutely wondered what the world would have felt like if there had been women on those walls, as well as people of color. It is in the “reflecting back” of what is familiar and known, that the silent message of inclusiveness is lived. Even the literature we read (in school) lacked the voices of women and people of color. The subliminal message is one of being left out and not fitting in. It’s a feeling of separateness, and of “us” and “them”…between the dominant culture and the “other” people in society who live here too.
At my community partner site, Parent Services Project, the children, and their parents and siblings, are generally low-income immigrant families with little or no education. This does not create a strong foundation in the primarily white and affluent community of Marin, where education is high, as are expectations, in terms of a child’s education. The issues I see, which are relevant to this Latino community, may have to do with getting over the hump of a language barrier, and potentially less educational support at home with parents who may or may not speak English or feel empowered within the school system. The best support for the children would require active and aware parents who advocate and stay close to their child’s education, as well as participate in the school. Another impediment to the success of these children are the messages that are coming from American society today, which may create fear for some of these families as their immigrant status may or may not be legal. This is a very relevant factor. Some families will fear deportation, which means that they will internalize the message to not make waves, or to stay under the radar, and to not expect to be treated the same as a “full member” of society or as a citizen. The myths being perpetuated about “illegal immigrants” and the resources they use up, or the jobs they supposedly take away from those who are the “rightful citizens”, etc. will be a factor, because as Baldwin noted: certain “children…have an apprehension of their future which with every hour grows dimmer and dimmer” (p.6). The idea being that the children in these positions, at some point in their lives have to be “stronger than this conspiracy” of viewing themselves as lesser than, and that “they must never make peace with it. And that one of the weapons for refusing to make peace with it and for destroying it depends on what he decides he is worth” (p.6). Baldwin makes a bid for taking responsibility: through education, knowledge of one’s history, the development of self worth, and the courage to refuse being a part of the conspiracy that keeps blacks in “their place”. This attention to developing strong self worth will also be important for the children and the families in my community partner program because without their voice, America will struggle to serve as true democracy.
In “The problem We All Live With” by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the part of the podcast that struck me the most, was when the black students from Normandy school were about to transfer into Francis Howell school, which was 85% white. The townhall meeting of white families speaking out in protest showed how relevant the “bias factor” is when kids of a different color enter the population. Their fears covered the gamut: scores going down, violence toward their own white kids, drugs, security, the lowering of accreditation, etc. (All of these concerns were disproven a year later after the transfer.) One mother expressed fears of white kids being “stabbed, robbed or drugged.” Bias is clearly a potential problem for the Latino kids I work with at the parent Services Project, though maybe not to the same extreme.
My responsibility, as an educated person, is to do a critical self-examination, to know my own story, and to understand my identity and place in society. I will use my education as a tool for awareness, clarity, and a voice for action, as well as to help educate others. My community partner work helps me to put myself in the position of others, understand what they need, and help them to be empowered parents who are engaged in supporting their children through early childhood education. Early childhood education is crucial in shaping the lives of kids and how they will succeed in the future. I will use my education to promote inclusivity, to help gain trust, and to provide positive mirroring and support.
