Sunday, September 26, 2010

Aria, Richard Rodriguez

Aria-Richard Rodriguez
Quotes
While reading “Aria” by Richard Rodriguez I started to realize how much language means to an individual. Our language is a way of communicating, learning, escaping, and a plethora of other things. Rodriguez really put this into perspective for me, especially with his choice of words. There were a couple of quotes within his writing that really stood out to me and I will discuss them below.
“Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid, I would have trusted them and responded with ease. “
This quote really hit and made me think about going into teaching. How do you greet someone who is just learning English? Do you say “Good Morning” to a Spanish student or “Hola”? Rodriguez thinks that he would have felt more comfortable if a teacher greeted him in Spanish, acknowledging his culture. He was scared, scared of English, scared of leaving his culture-a safety zone. I think that we need to acknowledge cultures but I really don’t know whether I’d greet a Spanish student with English or Spanish.  It made me really think.
“But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then. Gone was the desperate, urgent, intense feeling of being at home; rare was the experience of feeling myself individualized by family intimates. We remained a loving family, but one greatly changed. No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness.”
When the nuns asked Rodriguez’s family to only use English at home his family lost a huge part of them. There was nothing to bring them together. As the children got more educated in English and less in Spanish the parents remained at the same level of brokenness and it became hard for communication. I thought this was a big point. No one should ever ask a family to give up their native language, that’s the entire concept of the ‘melting pot’. I could only imagine being a family and losing all ties together. It came to the point where Rodriquez and his siblings could barely talk to their parents, or where they would just get annoyed with all the “What’s” I thought this was really terrible for a family to go through.
The last quote I want to discuss really ties the whole piece together and it is something I hope to remember when going into my own classroom.
”I would have been happier about my public success had I not sometimes recalled what it had been like earlier, when my family had conveyed its intimacy through a set of conveniently private sounds. “
Rodriquez wished that he still had learned English and was very proud that he did but he wanted his Spanish culture too. I think it’s really important to have two cultures and be proud of it. He lost a lot of communication with his parents, which to me is a huge thing. I think family is the most important thing in a person’s life and Rodriquez, because of English, lost a great deal of family ties. When I go into teaching I want to embrace the different cultures and encourage the use of both and this article really opened my eyes towards that.
Searching online about "Aria" I came across an interview with Richard Rodriquez that i thought was interesting! It actually answered a lot if question i think to be helpful, so check it out!
In class I want to discuss what you would do if you had Spanish or any other language speaking students. How would you greet them?  I still don’t know what to do and I’d like other opinions.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

White Privilege; Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

White Privilege; Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
Peggy McIntosh
Reflection

While reading Peggy McIntosh’s piece “White Privilege; Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” the concept of SCWAAMP really started sinking in. It’s like when I start reading more and more of these articles everything I have ever believed to be true about America-it being a melting pot of differences, everyone being welcomed no matter color, gender, religion, et- that concept is washed away and a new vision of segregation and racism comes to mind. McIntosh’s article listed out many ways she has white privilege in her life. Now I could sit here and list out everyone that related to me but then I would be relisting her entire article. That scared me, how because of one minor detail of my body I am thought of as having more “privilege” than someone who has maybe two shades of darker skin. Everything McIntosh was saying was true and got me wondering and questioning how I have never made this realization before.
            I’m going to focus in on a few points of her article that I can recall situations of my personal life to. Point number 12- “I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.” Now my brother has an obsession with shopping at Savers, the second hand store, and he always finds really nice, but cheap things. Sometimes I go with him and I even found an Ed Hardy t-shirt for five dollars. I never have really thought as that concluding to other people that I am poor but after reading this article and thinking about this when I see people of Hispanic race or African American race in a second hand store I sometimes think savers is all they can afford, but is that racist of me? I mean I am making an assumption but are they making an assumption that maybe I am a poor white person? Sure most of those people aren’t even poor but white privilege makes it seem like they are.
            I’m going to relate to one more point, point 25- “If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.” One week last year I got two tickets, one for running a red lights in providence, and one for doing 40 in a 30, I couldn’t buy a book I needed for school because I was borrowing my brother’s credit card and they wouldn’t let me use it because the name didn’t match my ID, and I got a flat tire on the way up to visit my friend. Now not once did I think “It’s because I’m white” but I’m sure if I was of a different race I would think differently. Maybe that cop only pulled me over because I was black, maybe they thought that I stole that credit card, etc, but none of those things ran through my head but I’m sure they would of if I was black, or Latino, or Hispanic, etc.
            The last thing I want to mention isn’t from McIntosh; it’s from the article “Data Show Racial Bias Persists in America” and the part where a person who has a “white” name is more likely to get an interview over a “black” name. This is white privilege and I have witnessed it firsthand. I have a lot to do with setting up interviews at my job along with a manager, Melissa, who has final say. The other week we were in desperate need to hire some more people, Melissa and I looked through probably a hundred applications and she would read a name then make a judgment on just that, I found it troubling to sit there with her since she thought that a name was more important than anything else but it just goes to show you how white privilege is used.




In class I want to discuss how not many people realize this and how we can just go on living our lives as if none of this ever happens, I don't fathom it and I just would like to hear other's opinions on it.

Monday, September 13, 2010

About Me(:

I'm Beckah, I am from Rumford, RI. I transferred from Stonehill College to RIC in the spring of 2010. I am studying to be an elementary school teacher with a second major of special ed. I cannot think of a better or more rewarding job that is suited for me! During the school year I work at Chuck E Cheese (embarrassing!) and during the summer I work at Camp Ramsbottom, a children's day camp in Rehobeth. Outside of school I dance competitively and have been since the age of seven. I love country music, especially Taylor Swift and Keith Urban. I also have a small obsession with Vera Bradley(: