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Re: Multiculturalism
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From: Helen Frost <helenfrost_at_comcast.net>
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:35:48 -0500
I have a couple of things rattling around in my head that I'll try to put into a coherent message as this good discussion moves on.
Elsa--thank you for your post. I hope you will post your list of books here. The connection of present-day depictions of Arab cultures to American history was made all too clear when Bin Laden was given the code-name "Geronimo" during the raid in which he was killed.
Also, I share your dismay about the Halloween costumes. Have you seen the "It's a culture, not a costume" posters that have circulated the past few years around Halloween? Unfortunately, there are costumes caricaturing pretty much every culture. Last fall there was a "Trayvon Martin/ George Zimmerman" costume set. Almost, but unfortunately not quite, unbelievable.
On a separate thread of the conversation, we've been talking about cultural clues and nuances. I'd like to share two memories:
In 1968 or '69, I was working at a recreation center where everyone but myself was African American. One afternoon someone brought in a Sears catalogue, and ran around showing it to everyone. An excited group gathered around him, as he showed a page with an African American model. "Look at the color of this girl!" That was a first--for me, for them. It is such recent history. What children's books were being published that year as it began to dawn on America that everyone was not included in our media depictions of ourselves?
And--a few years ago in an airport, a young woman struck up a conversation with me, and within 5 minutes, mentioned that her uncle was Carter Rivard, whose poetry book, published by Salt Press, which publishes poetry by Native American poets, I had read the previous week. I was baffled--what could possibly have clued her in to the fact that I might know anything about her uncle? I suppose there could be a certain look that would suggest "poet" --who knows? But Carter Rivard isn't exactly a household name, even among poets. A few minutes later, I went into an airport restroom and as I was combing my hair, I realized I was wearing a small barrette I'd purchased at an Algonquian Language conference. Actually I'd bought it as an earring and converted it to a barrette--that's how small it was. But a tiny clue, right? Carter Rivard is Osage, and the person who made the earrings was, as I recall, Ojibwe. Yet still, that little cultural clue or connection.
We can talk more about beadwork, commerce, and genuine connections in our upcoming book discussions, but I share these two memories here as a way of confirming the importance of our continuing work together. Each little step forward matters.
thanks, everyone, Helen Frost www.helenfrost.net
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:35:48 -0500
I have a couple of things rattling around in my head that I'll try to put into a coherent message as this good discussion moves on.
Elsa--thank you for your post. I hope you will post your list of books here. The connection of present-day depictions of Arab cultures to American history was made all too clear when Bin Laden was given the code-name "Geronimo" during the raid in which he was killed.
Also, I share your dismay about the Halloween costumes. Have you seen the "It's a culture, not a costume" posters that have circulated the past few years around Halloween? Unfortunately, there are costumes caricaturing pretty much every culture. Last fall there was a "Trayvon Martin/ George Zimmerman" costume set. Almost, but unfortunately not quite, unbelievable.
On a separate thread of the conversation, we've been talking about cultural clues and nuances. I'd like to share two memories:
In 1968 or '69, I was working at a recreation center where everyone but myself was African American. One afternoon someone brought in a Sears catalogue, and ran around showing it to everyone. An excited group gathered around him, as he showed a page with an African American model. "Look at the color of this girl!" That was a first--for me, for them. It is such recent history. What children's books were being published that year as it began to dawn on America that everyone was not included in our media depictions of ourselves?
And--a few years ago in an airport, a young woman struck up a conversation with me, and within 5 minutes, mentioned that her uncle was Carter Rivard, whose poetry book, published by Salt Press, which publishes poetry by Native American poets, I had read the previous week. I was baffled--what could possibly have clued her in to the fact that I might know anything about her uncle? I suppose there could be a certain look that would suggest "poet" --who knows? But Carter Rivard isn't exactly a household name, even among poets. A few minutes later, I went into an airport restroom and as I was combing my hair, I realized I was wearing a small barrette I'd purchased at an Algonquian Language conference. Actually I'd bought it as an earring and converted it to a barrette--that's how small it was. But a tiny clue, right? Carter Rivard is Osage, and the person who made the earrings was, as I recall, Ojibwe. Yet still, that little cultural clue or connection.
We can talk more about beadwork, commerce, and genuine connections in our upcoming book discussions, but I share these two memories here as a way of confirming the importance of our continuing work together. Each little step forward matters.
thanks, everyone, Helen Frost www.helenfrost.net
---
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Received on Sun 16 Feb 2014 10:36:31 AM CST
