After reading, PJ Tobias’ article on racism in America, I had to spend some serious time thinking about the balance we hold so dear in the U.S. between freedoms and civil rights and the need for a safe and secure country. With all of the recent discussions on tolerance in the news, from our mosque controversy here in Tennessee to Koran burning attempts in Florida, this delicate equilibrium that we sustain as a people has been called into question. Admittedly, as I read the comments left in response to the article, I asked myself “should all people be free to speak and write whatever they please?” I am a firm believer that the truth will always stand against lies and that love and acceptance always win over hate. So, generally, I don’t get upset over comments that strike me as ignorant or even utterly bigoted. However, as one of my mentors often says, we can become so “open-minded” that our brain falls out. Allowing member of supremacist groups, like the author of The Brigade, to espouse principals of hatred and violence on the internet is undoubtedly dangerous. As Tobias states, this kind of propaganda can lead to terrorism and the murder of innocent Americans. As an Oklahoman, my family and I know this too well. Unfortunately, there will always be groups that choose fear over acceptance and anger instead of understanding.
As an educator, I often find myself balancing these same principles, my students’ right to speak their mind and their need for a safe classroom environment. At the beginning of the year, without fail, at least one student will ask, in front of the class, why we have to learn Spanish when we’re in America, apparently home of the free, brave and monolingual. I never have found a way to respond that both acknowledges the student’s right to ask such a question and defends the value of linguistic and cultural diversity. So, given the choice, I support diversity. My rationale is that, in Hendersonville, TN, my students will find plenty enough assenting opinions against multiculturalism. I tend to find myself in this role, the multiculturalist, fairly frequently in my middle class suburban educational environment. Unfortunately, student opinions on race and culture can be so ill-informed that I often shy away from dealing with these issues at any level in my classroom, leaving discussion of culture in my classroom at a superficial level, focusing on the salient traits and stereotypes rather than delving into the complexity of different cultural perspectives. After reviewing some of the articles addressing multiculturalism, I feel challenged to tackle the tough questions that will inevitably arise when discussing culture in all its intricacy. My students need to be presented with conflicting opinions and perspectives in order to learn to analyze and think critically.
Another fear of mine when addressing culture in the classroom is echoed in the nationalist article against multiculturalism. Unlike the article’s author, I am sure that teaching students to value and respect other cultures is important. Yet, I often feel that, in highlighting differences and assigning cultural characteristics, I am creating an “us” opposite “them” mentality in the minds of my students. Although I often emphasize similarities, I feel my students focus on these differences overall. Just as tolerance and security must be balanced, I think a teacher focusing on culture must take care to present evenhandedly cultural contrast and the universality of the human condition. Still, I will choose to explore the "deeper" parts of culture, like differences in values and viewpoints, with my students at the risk of drawing boundaries because I think that students are more capable of grappling with these concepts than we realize. They can use divergent historical and cultural perspectives to develop their own world-views and I hope to become a brave enough teacher to entrust to them that very task.
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