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Re: This goes back to discussion perhaps before Tim Tingle
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From: Helen Frost <helenfrost_at_comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 19:29:05 -0500
Thanks, Elizabeth, Something else that is more difficult than most people realize is for dominant-culture people to have a nuanced, deep understanding of ourselves, maybe for the same reasons, or the mirror image of the reasons, that it's difficult to gain that understanding of other cultures. An African American teen once asked me, "How did you learn to be White?" adding, I've always wanted to ask someone that." Do many (any) of us really know, or think hard enough about that?
If we're trying to dismantle racism, we need to confront its roots in our own lives, especially our childhood experiences, which include reading. And then think about the books we're sharing with children, and why. One of the most challenging things is to expose racism without re-teaching it.
I think the hardest thing for people to believe in How I Became a Ghost is probably the fact that the smallpox blankets were intentionally given out, in the guise of kindness. We can believe that Native American people were more susceptible to diseases to which they had not been previously exposed, and feel sad about that, but the deeper evil of the actual biological warfare is harder to take in. If readers of any age really can get that from this book, it's an amazing accomplishment on Tim's part.
Has anyone shared it with elementary or middle school students? What are you hearing from them?
thanks everyone, Helen Frost
On Feb 21, 2014, at 7:01 PM, Ehbluemle wrote:
dominant-culture members need to work much harder to have a nuanced, deep understanding of other cultures
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 19:29:05 -0500
Thanks, Elizabeth, Something else that is more difficult than most people realize is for dominant-culture people to have a nuanced, deep understanding of ourselves, maybe for the same reasons, or the mirror image of the reasons, that it's difficult to gain that understanding of other cultures. An African American teen once asked me, "How did you learn to be White?" adding, I've always wanted to ask someone that." Do many (any) of us really know, or think hard enough about that?
If we're trying to dismantle racism, we need to confront its roots in our own lives, especially our childhood experiences, which include reading. And then think about the books we're sharing with children, and why. One of the most challenging things is to expose racism without re-teaching it.
I think the hardest thing for people to believe in How I Became a Ghost is probably the fact that the smallpox blankets were intentionally given out, in the guise of kindness. We can believe that Native American people were more susceptible to diseases to which they had not been previously exposed, and feel sad about that, but the deeper evil of the actual biological warfare is harder to take in. If readers of any age really can get that from this book, it's an amazing accomplishment on Tim's part.
Has anyone shared it with elementary or middle school students? What are you hearing from them?
thanks everyone, Helen Frost
On Feb 21, 2014, at 7:01 PM, Ehbluemle wrote:
dominant-culture members need to work much harder to have a nuanced, deep understanding of other cultures
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Received on Fri 21 Feb 2014 06:29:39 PM CST
