Toni Morrison

"I really think the range of emotions and perceptions I have had access to as a black person and as a female person are greater than those of people who are neither....So it seems to me that my world did not shrink because I was a black female writer. It just got bigger." Toni Morrison

"In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate."
Toni Morrison

"I was thrilled that my mother is still alive and can share this with me. And I can claim representation in so many areas. I'm a Midwesterner, and everyone in Ohio is excited. I'm also a New Yorker, and a New Jerseyan, and an American, plus I'm an African-American, and a woman. I know it seems like I'm spreading like algae when I put it this way, but I'd like to think of the prize being distributed to these regions and nations and races."
Toni Morrison- Nobel Lecture

I read these and want to go teach! Thinking of the Principal El video and Chimamanda Adichie Video I now think of African-Americans as somehow opposite of the stereotype. I hold them in a state of wonder. I think a lot of Americans feel this way. We are taught our lives about the oppression that they went through, the way whites have viewed them. We're tired, they're tired, heck everybody's tired of discussing the problems with race. Woah, this is a rant, I knew I'd do it at some point, please understand I am just trying to figure things out, gosh it's hard. We aren't ever going to get answers. But a ton more questions : ) Back to what was mentioned in class, of course we need to discuss race because it's there and if it hasn't greatly affected me yet it will. My mind is going to explode. 
I want to relate these last six posts with each other. So here are the overall question for the asssignments:

• What message(s) (consistent or conflicting) are being sent about this cultural group through these artifacts?Illustrate how the artifacts convey the message(s). Africa-American culture has become more widely known in the united states than any other culture. We have great writers, professional sports players, politicians, and a President that can identify with the black community. Consistently, we are bombarded with the message of equality and how to honor this culture with out over emphasizing differences. 

• How might this message(s) impact how a child from this cultural group is viewed and treated in the classroom? Why is it important for teachers to examine how cultural groups are represented in the media, curriculum, and policy? An African- American child would know the stereotypes about their culture. In a classroom of 40 fourteen year olds something will be said concerning race, or some thing will be brought up in class concerning race. I think the way to deal with things is to talk with your students. If something said was even mildly offensive I think it's okay to just ask the kid if their okay? If they want to talk about it? 

• Why is it important for teachers to examine how cultural groups are represented in the media, curriculum and policy? This I struggled with from the first time i heard we were going to take a multi-cultural education class in order to teach. I thought the rule of "leave it alone it will take care of itself" or "don't make it such a big deal and it won't be" applied. The thing that made this issue so real for me today was facing reality. When you are Latino and pulled over every week in California because the cops think you are an illegal immigrant, or you are white walking into a store getting looks from black people, when you feel the need to remember every race and culture, you can feel it, you are living it, it's oh so very real. I think we study the media, stereotypes,points and views of others just so we know some angles at which to help the one. We can only go one person at a time, well at least that's what I feel like right now. I'm not going to solve the problem of race, if it's even a problem? That's another question to ponder. Oh goodness. Treat people as people and treat race as a real thing. That's all I'm letting myself write. : )