Final blog question:
Due: April 28th, by 11:59 PM.
Scale: 6 possible points (abridged scale below)
6 points = well-written, highly reflective/analytical account of the ways that race was manifested/performed
3 points = somewhat reflective, not particularly well-written1 point = argument is overly simplistic, e.g., race is good or bad, poorly written
Minimum word count: 300 words (give or take)
Thinking back to the Gates, Jr., article, Race as the trope of the world, please write a short essay regarding the overarching racialized dynamics you witnessed within OMI. For example, you can discuss/analyze the racial spatialization of a given classroom, specifically, or the entire school site, more generally. Or, you may want to discuss the ways in which race informed your subjective tutoring experiences or, perhaps, how you race witnessed in the ways that other tutors or teachers interacted with particular students. Or, you may want to discuss/analyze the ways in which students acted out racialized stereotypes or, instead, purposefully resisted racialized stereotypes in their comportment and behavior. This assignment is meant to be reflective; so, please discuss what it is that you felt vis-à-vis what you observed.
As a tutor at OMI, I noticed that students had a tendency to socialize with other students who were of the same race. For example, there is a group of about four Asian female students who are in the seventh grade who are always together in the Holaday Center. It is very seldom that I see one of them hanging out with someone else, except on one occasion when one of them had her feelings hurt by an African-American male student who was normally somewhere else at OMI besides the Holaday Center. However, as soon as she felt better, she returned to her group of friends until someone came to pick her up. It seems that this clique-like behavior is pretty common throughout the school with Latino students hanging out with each other, African-American students hanging out with each other, etc. It also seems like there is a commonality with the gender groupings with the males normally grouping with each other and the females grouping with each other on opposite sides of the library.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing about race at OMI is how some students use race as a way to help them with their studies. The main way that I've observed this is when students are working on Spanish homework. For example, I saw an Asian student doing a worksheet and he needed help conjugating a Spanish verb (I think it was “correr” or something). He turned to a Latino classmate that was sitting next to him and asked him how to conjugate the verb. I don't quite remember if this exchange continued either until the student left or until he'd finished his homework, but it was still interesting to see how the interaction lasted until an external force interrupted it, not necessarily because one student grew bored with the activity or got tired of answering questions. It seems to me that the Latino students are open to sharing their culture with others when it comes to language or customs. They will converse on the phone in Spanish, show each other pictures of their religious backgrounds, and interesting archaeological discoveries that have recently been made in Mexico. There is an openness that they exhibit with the other students that seems to make the others comfortable with asking them for help with Spanish homework.
The students with whom I interacted seemed aware of racial stereotypes, but did not do much to resist them. One week, I was sitting at a table with three boys. Two of them were Filipino, I believe, and the other was Latino American. One of the Filipino boys asked, "No offense, but how come most of the people in academic support are Mexican?" He said this in a somewhat joking manner, but his question shows that he is at least somewhat aware of the stereotype that those of Mexican/Latin American descent do not as well in school. Later, when one of his friends asked him how he knew his answer to the homework was correct, he answered, "Because I'm Asian," conforming to the stereotype that Asians are good at school.
ReplyDeleteThe students seem to be aware of race, but do not seem to take the issue particularly seriously. I once observed two students insulting each other. The Latino-American student labeled the African-American student "Martin Luther King, Jr.", and the African American labeled the Latino American "Cezar Chavez." Like with the previous example, they said this jokingly, perhaps so they would not get punished, but their comments show that they are aware of racial differences, and that attacking someone for his or her skin color is a legitimate attack. Even though they most likely did this in jest, I still feel that, like CJ said above, there is an instinctive grouping of races among students. When they are working on homework and have to share a textbook or a dictionary, races will mix, but more often than not, they remain separate. I am not entirely sure, however, whether the students actively maintain this, or if they just see it as the status quo and cannot be bothered to change it. Whatever the case, they are certainly aware that there are racial and cultural differences among them, and when it comes to making jokes or finding insults, race is definitely a source for them.
Like CJ, I also observed that the students divided themselves along racial lines. At one of the before-school tutoring sessions, an African American girl drew my attention to this situation when she called out to her friends, "Man, I'm leaving the Mexican table to join the Black table!" I looked up to see that the cafeteria tables were indeed thus separated. The "Mexican table" was teeming with students across all ages. Their pure numbers rendered them loud and gregarious compared to the "Black table." There were only six or seven students at that table, and it seemed to be a much more intimate group of friends, whereas some of the kids at the Mexican table weren't really interacting with their peers, just sitting with the "right group." In a corner, a few Asian boys clustered together, claiming a portion of a table to themselves. The arrangement of the cafeteria recalls the organization of the school campus in "We Make Each Other Racial," and the students at OMI also readily voiced their awareness of race. Other than the two notably homogenous tables, the rest of the cafeteria was fairly mixed, but the cliques were both more visible and more widely recognized than the more heterogeneous groups.
ReplyDeleteThis racial consciousness among the students was evident, as they evinced no qualms about identifying themselves or each other via racial terms or even racial slurs. A specific tutoring session with a Vietnamese boy prompted me to reflect on what “Asian” means. He was working on his Spanish homework, and when I began to help him, he kept telling me, “I’m not that Asian.” I found his definition of Asian rather curious, as he used it synonymously with academic achievement or “intelligence.” Another tutor, Jose, was also helping him with the assignment, and both of us were trying to encourage him whenever he felt fed up with the homework because it was too hard. I told him that it wasn’t too hard, and he said, “Well, because you’re Asian!” I said, “What about Jose? He’s not Asian.” “Yeah, he is!” the boy insisted. He also indicated that he thought Baisy was Asian, and that a high-achieving Hispanic classmate was Asian. In this interaction, the term Asian had lost its original meaning completely and absorbed the Asian stereotype into the very denotation of the word. The concept of race as a trope is thus literalized.
In my experience at OMI, race was somewhat of a backdrop. Tutoring in Oakland implied that the school would consist mostly of minorities. The Saturday program I worked in consisted of mostly African American students, and a few Latino students. At first, I felt out of place. I was a white middle-class female from a prestigious college. I accepted lower class minorities who were not doing well in school. Many of the students’ appearances typified this belief. On the first day of our program, I classified their clothing style as “ghetto.” Since we met on Saturdays, the students did not have to wear their regular military attire. The girls wore tight clothes and bright colors, with lots of accessories. They donned big earrings and bracelets that matched their outfits. The guys wore baggy clothing and wide-brimmed hats. Their speech was different as well. Jocelyn constantly called me ‘girl’ and even gave me the nickname of “Jesskerr.” This made me feel accepted, and I felt like I stood out less.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the school was based on race, and I had to adjust my view as I got to know OMI a bit better. Because our Saturday film program was voluntary, I got to see a different side of the students and the school. Here, students could come in their regular attire and interact with their friends in an informal educational setting. Many of these students were overachievers, and wanted another activity to add to their busy schedule. It was also interesting to find out – toward the end of the semester – that our most dedicated student was actually struggling in school. During our sessions, race was not an obvious topic. However, it served as an important backdrop for the program. Only after many sessions at OMI did I find that many students did not adhere to the stereotypes I believed at the beginning of the semester. On the other hand, some students fell into these expectations and did little to refute them. Therefore, my experience at OMI demonstrated that preconceptions can be proven and also challenged, as long as we keep our eyes open to different perspectives.
With my experience at OMI this past semester, I have witnessed many student interactions that were related to race. From the students' relationship to other students to the relationship the students formed with the tutors, racial spatialization is very apparent in the halls of OMI. Since I tutor on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I always work in the Holaday Center. I have noticed that the students normally sit in groups divided by race. For example, every time I tutor there are about three Asian students that always stick together. I have never seen these three girls not sitting next to each other and they always shy away from my efforts to help them with their homework. A few desks away from them would be a group of African American gentleman and a part from them would be Latino students. Although there are individual students that mingle with everyone, the general group divisions are based upon race. Recalling my own high school experience, I noticed the group divisions were very similar to the set up at OMI. Since my school consisted of only minorities, the groups were labeled by race (black, Latino, or Asian.) Although I was part of the "Asians" at school, at the time I felt as though the reason we were close friends with one another was not just because of the title of our race, but was from finding it easy to relate to one another on a cultural level. Since home life heavily affected our school life, it seemed natural to connect with people that were similar to the people at home. However, I have now realized that race is not what brings people together. Instead, common interests are what connect people with one another.
ReplyDeleteThe racial construct also applies to the relationships the students build with the tutors. Since the main tutor at the Holaday Center is Latina, I have noticed it is common for the Spanish-speaking students to have conversations with her in Spanish. This automatically makes others that cannot understand Spanish and myself feel excluded from their conversation. Also, one student constantly talks to me about how he is not a "normal Asian" because he is not smart in math and science. Even though I constantly remind him that intelligence is not based on race but from hard work, he always argues that I'm wrong. He tries to prove his beliefs by saying that the reason that I am able to help him in math, attend UC Berkeley, and play video games like Call of Duty is because I am Asian. He even tends to limit his questions about how to do certain math problems to the tutors or Asian students. I will never forget the day he told me how offended he was when a teacher told another Asian tutor that was pestering her to "open his eyes" when his eyes were already open. Although the teacher said this statement light-heartedly, since then the student often widens his eyelids with his fingers and reminds me of the statement the teacher made. This reminds me that the racial views are not only due to the affects the students have on one another, but are heavily reliant on the views cast upon them from authority figures. Until society gets rid of race as a trope, racial constructs will continue to affect schools.
I noticed the racial dynamics at OMI from the very first day of tutoring. My experience with tutoring Brian, an Asian student at OMI, gave me much insight. Brian is the only student in the library who always raises his hand and asks for help, so I think most of the tutors of OMI already know who I am referring to. As I was helping Brian with his math homework, he got frustrated and told me, “I hate math. It’s so hard. I’m not like other Asians. I don’t like math at all. I’m a disgrace to Asians.” Later, when I noticed that he only completed half of his math problems, he said to me, “my teachers don’t expect me to finish all of the problems. They expect the smart kids, the Asian kids, to do all their work. I can still get points for just doing half.” I was shocked to hear this, and thought about the self-fulfilling prophecy. If a student is made to feel that he is inferior due to his “race” or “ethnicity” then he will believe it and adjust his behavior accordingly. Brian seems to really want to separate himself from being associated with “Asians” because he thinks that he is not smart enough to be an “Asian.”
ReplyDeleteThrough just one experience, I realized that racial stereotypes are deeply ingrained at OMI. Upon reflection, I noticed that the students at OMI tend to stay with those that are like themselves. Yet, I did see many exceptions to this. For example, in the library, the students are a little more racially integrated than in the cafeteria because they tend to help one another with their homework.
I observed the racial spatialization in the cafeteria and found that none of the Asian students worked in the cafeteria. They went to the library because that’s where the more “serious” students went to finish their work, whereas the students who just wanted to hang out with their friends went to the cafeteria. Most of the Latino students sat together, and they were often separated by gender. The Latino girls sat together and the Latino boys sat together. Then, the African-American students all sat together in one corner based on their grade level. The one White student sat with the “mixed race” students, and there was little interaction between the groups. I understand that the students themselves are not to be blamed for this dynamic because it is something that is deeply rooted in everyone’s backgrounds. Because of the racial stereotypes at OMI and in their daily lives and interactions with everyone, they feel more comfortable with people of their own race.
After working at OMI, I have noticed a distinct pattern of racial stereotypes that have been established by students for students. Students did not attempt to resist the stereotypes either; in fact, many of them used the stereotypes intuitively as a response to anyone who seemed to be "stepping out of line."
ReplyDeleteAt least once a week I hear a reference to a racial stereotype amongst the students I worked with. For example one afternoon a young Asian girl was working on a math assignment; when she needed help, the students around her scoffed and asked her why she would need help if she was Asian. She did not answer back to those students, and she did not ask for help again. It was disappointing to see that a racial stereotype, which was established by the students at OMI, can discourage a student from reaching out for help; this attitude towards students is detrimental to their success. It can seriously jeopardize a student’s ability to perform well because he/she feels pressured by the assumption that Asian students should be good at math.
Often, I would try to challenge the racial stereotypes students presented, but for the most part, they were not receptive of my questions. This kind of racial stereotyping can define an individual’s future academic identity. By predetermined circumstances, students are told what subjects they should do well in, and which they should not. In fact, some students discourage themselves from excelling in courses they enjoy because they do not fit the stereotype of the students who should do well in that particular subject. I have yet to observe a student who rebels against these standards set by others, and challenges his/her peers on this subject. Because these students have heard and used these stereotypes for years, they have become accustomed to these standards and abide by “the code.” This code, as accepted as it has become at OMI, may have serious repercussions in the future.
While tutoring at OMI, the racial spatialization of the tutoring sessions in the library were plain to see. The students don't explicitly acknowledge this separation of groups, but it was clear in the ways they acted towards tutors and who they hung around most of the time. For instance, the Hispanic students always turned to Baisy for help, as they could relate to her more and speak Spanish with her. Race is connected with an increased comfort level and intimacy, that the students often find themselves associating more with in-group members of race rather than out-group members. This was especially relevant to my own experience, when an African-American student asked an African-American tutor for help on homework. The tutor was busy at the moment, and she turned the student over to me to help him on his homework. The student rolled his eyes and said, “Are you serious?” Because I wasn't the same race as him, his comfort level was much lower and he was skeptical about me assisting him on his homework. Further, he didn't speak to me the same way he did with the other tutor, showing that he has formed different schemas of how to deal with different groups of peoples.
ReplyDeleteAnd, like CJ added, the students were aware of the different races in the class and who could be of assistance on assignments, like Spanish homework. What was interesting about this was that I even found myself buying into the racial spacialization of the class. I haven't taken a Spanish course in three years, so when I was helping a student with their Spanish homework, I needed to check the answer with a Hispanic student. Recognition of different races and separation into groups based on racial spatialization is very much present at OMI, and it guides the student's interpretations of and interactions with eachother.
For the most part, the students I encountered separated themselves by race, regardless of what task they were working on. Whenever boys “mixed”, the word “gansta” is thrown around a lot, showing a stereotype that only African and Latin Americans join gangs. However, these groups usually occur among the older (high school age) students. Younger students are typically glued to each other; if one does something, they all do it. Usually it is not working, but something they perceive as “fitting” to their race, such as trying to rap, listening to heavy metal, or chatting about shooter video games.
ReplyDeleteIn perpetuation of stereotypes, the majority of the students also consider Asian students as the band/book geek, and not the athletic type; African Americans and Latin Americans though, are. During Saturday break, two Asian boys wanted to join in on the soccer game happening on the field. The boy who started the game immediately rejected them, telling them to “Go back inside and study! You’re not good at sports!” He perpetuated the weak Asian stereotype, but one of the Asian boys stole the ball, and scored a quick goal, showing complete defiance of the stereotype. With that, the Asian boys were permitted to play.
Conversely, most students with math questions immediately assumed, since I fit the Asian math nerd stereotype, that I would be the best/only person to get the answers from. Several students have walked across the room and asked me for help, not even bothering to ask the tutors at their table. Once, a student walked up to me and blurted a math question to me. In my confusion as to who he was talking to, she said “Come on, you're Asian, you have to know how to do trigonometry”.
I feel that the kids at OMI bond mostly with people of the same race. Within their own groups, they feel comfortable, and do not want to be ostracized. Thus, they do whatever they think they should and consequently maintain the status quo of continuing stereotypes.
From the moment I first arrived at OMI, I could see that children predominately socialized within their racial categories, as Latinos and African-American students hung out on opposite sides of the entrance. I experienced these divisions everywhere – in the hallways, classrooms, and so on. In fact, the first thing one notices when they enter the library is how the children are grouped. Each race has its own section of the library. Though these are not rigid boundaries, it is obvious many prefer these social groupings. Several children preferred to bunch into cramped spaces than to be across the class and comfortably seated.
ReplyDeleteDespite these divisions, there does not appear to be anything to the extent of racial tension. Of course, many students voice hurtful stereotypes, but it does not appear they understand what they have said. The casualness in which the children use the phrase, “But he’s asian, he is good at math,” illustrates how ingrained these ideas are. It is unfortunate that the children understand these stereotypes to be normal, as if these stereotypes are what they are predestined to become.
Unfortunately, I think it is hard to get beyond what the students can comprehend in the matters of race when tutors themselves contributed to the dynamics of race. Though I do not believe it is intentional, many tutors were drawn to racial groupings that matched their own. It was interesting to see whom first time tutors would choose to approach first. What was interesting was that several chose students of the same race. Perhaps some tutors thought that to get out their first day jitters they needed someone they could relate to. I was able to witness later as well that, probably unconsciously, some tutors gave preferential treatment to those of the same race. In some cases where everyone was struggling with the same work, the tutor would provide encouragement for the student of their race while dolling out discipline more sternly for those of other races.
In all, race appeared deeply ingrained in not only OMI, but in the tutors as well. I do not believe any of this was conscious, yet it is a prime example of how we ourselves internalized race as students. How we at points in our lives saw these remarks as jokes. It was most interesting to see that despite the uniforms, OMI looked very separate.
From my experiences this semester at OMI, race was not as prevalent as an issue or subject matter. I worked on the Saturday KIDNET program, where there were fewer students, averaging about 8-10 per week. The majority of these students were African American with a few Latino students added to the mix.
ReplyDeleteI would say that race in this scenario was secondary to the activities and routine of the program. This was seen through the way some of the students talked and the way they dressed. The vernacular of some of the students could be described as "ghetto", using slang that recognized race but was not in the forefront of their communication. With the Space2Cre8 website, more evidence of this vernacular is present in some of the students' user names. One student goes by the name "Lil-Blackboy" and another goes by "timmydaboi". To me this signifies that the students are comfortable with their race as a part of their identity and therefore make a common part of their speech. Slang is also seen through "da boi". Also, since the Saturday session allowed students to dress in casual clothes as compared to their military uniforms, they dressed in clothes tied to their identity. For instance, one student came dressed to KIDNET with a shirt that expressed Black Power sentiments. Although not aggressive towards other races, it served to show that the student was proud of his race. This student to me resembled Spike Lee in the way he dressed (wore lots of hats and thick rimmed glasses combined). In short, race was clearly seen and heard but was never the center of anything we did.
Personally, this was the first time I was in a social environment where I was a minority on many levels. As a caucasian college student from a suburb in Southern California mentoring students of African American and Latino backgrounds at an Oakland high school, I initially felt completely out of place. I had some sort of fear or feeling that the students wouldn't respond to me or like having me as a mentor because of my different background. So my approach at the beginning of the semester in the sessions was cautious and collect, playing off how they behaved and what they liked. But after enough time and patience, I was able to go past my initial feelings and the students were more welcoming and accepting of me as their mentor. It also helped that when creating a profile for the Space2Cre8 website, I made the then-unfortunate-but-now-fortunate mistake of making my user name "mrballoonhands": this was a reference between my friends and I did not know that the name you provided for the login was the same as your profile name, and there was no way to change it. So when adding friends on the website, they were very confused when they got a request from this strange man. Yet one girl, Jocelyn, after seeing this began to only call me Mr. Ballon Hands. I was a little annoyed at first, but then I realized that this was a way for me to break the barrier between mentor and student and get to know her as well as the other students on a more personal level. From this account, I learned that if you exercise some form of humility with the students you work with, then they view you as more as someone they can relate to and play around with. But it is still important to distinguish yourself as the authority figure. Overall, my preconceived notions dissipated as the semester progressed. Now I feel more comfortable if in future tutoring endeavors that if I am a minority that it will not effect my performance and ability to reach out to the kids.
When I compare other high schools with my own, two main differences usually come up. One is the racial diversity. Ironically, though being Latino marks me as belonging to a minority, my high school in South Los Angeles was something like 90% Latino, making us the majority. And this was of 3,000 students. The second difference that usually comes up is the size of the student body. My high school was overflowing with kids. My classes always had over 30 students in them, and it was pretty much impossible to get to know everyone – especially those outside your classes. OMI was different from my high school experience on both accounts. The students all seemed to know each other, or at least recognize each other, and though many of the students were “minorities,” at least they were diverse. Yes, it is obvious that a lesser form of de facto segregation does occur in the classrooms, but I do not think it is prevalent to the point of being detrimental.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned above, my high school was not diverse at all. This meant that there were few cliques overall, however it would be a mistake to assume everyone got along with each other. People treated strangers as any other person would, regardless of the fact that they were all of similar ethnicities. At OMI, the cliques do persist – I can attest to the various mentions of certain groups present at the Holaday Center – but they interact. And not just when it suits their needs either. They interact when there is common ground in interests, and mischief. For example, there is a group of three students who often spend time on their hobbies in the library. One of them is an African American male, one is a Latino male, and the other is an Asian male. They all seem to be classmates, around the same age. Sometimes I see them browsing YouTube and Yahoo! News, sometimes they are drawing cartoons or reading books. They also have an extensive Yu-Gi-Oh! card collection. Since the head tutors don’t seem to mind their lack of productivity, and since they do not disrupt others, I can only assume they either finish their work early or they don’t have any work to do.
I think the racial spatialization acts more as a “default” category to which students meet their peers, but given other common ground, they have no problem crossing racial boundaries. I think this is a much better outcome than having a non-diverse student body with little to no experience with other cultures. Lack of diversity would surely produce students with increased difficulty crossing those same racial differences.
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ReplyDeleteWhile the racial discrepancies between the cafeteria and the library have been extensively observed by all those who have ever entered these after school homework help locations, those students who slip under the radar of the prominent racial groups are much less noticed. In the library, you will find almost the entire population of Asian after school students. Seated around them are singles or pairs of African American students, and Hispanic students sprinkled in between. Typically, this group tends to be quieter and more dedicated to working. In contrast, Battalion Hall enticed only a handful of the Asian students and consists of mostly African American and Hispanic students. The latter two, however, are almost equally intermingled throughout the cafeteria, besides maybe two tables.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for those students who find themselves in Battalion Hall and neither African American nor Hispanic, it seems to be almost impossible for them to nestle into a group. Two such students in particular, a Hawaiian girl and a Russian boy, seemed to be friendly with almost all the students, but never sat with the same students and preferred to sit alone. However, they sat alone not to be more productive, since that was not effective, but just because they felt more comfortable that way.
Vlad, the Russian boy, did form a bond with me however. Since I am Russian myself, it almost appeared as though he wanted to impress me and identify with me by speaking to me in Russian and telling me all the impressive Russian authors he’s read. When I asked him why he doesn’t talk about this kind of stuff with the other students, or about things of consequence in general, he said that they simply wouldn’t be interested and liked to read Anime instead (in reference to the Asian group of students sitting next to us). It shocked me how deep rooted racial stereotypes were in Vlad, extending even to the discrepancies in literary preferences. When I challenged him, pointing out that even the African American students read Anime, he didn’t respond, but still insisted he had little in common with them. I know how conservative, stereotypical, and often racist full blooded Russian parents can be, and it is often difficult to form your own conclusions growing up with such parents, but I can’t help but be almost certain that the culture at OMI has much to do with the racial discrepancies.
From the beginning of my visit to OMI, it was recognizable that students tend to socialize with other students who were of the same race. I mostly stayed in the library, and in the library, students divided themselves, mostly, with race. Asian girls are always sitting together on one side and they mostly speak only to each other. They rarely talk to the students outside of their “group” and they even reluctant to ask tutors for help. And, there was Latino students clustered together on the other side of the class. Other than the two homogeneous “group,” there was a small ‘mixed group,’ consisted of diverse races and gender: African American and Asian boys rarely come to library, and when they come they mingled with this heterogeneous group. However, this Racial Spacialization seemed to be not limited to the after hour activity. One time, I arrived at school right after the classes was over, so OMI students, other than students who come to the tutor, was hanging out in the hallway. Separate race groups stay separate in the hallway, with a few kids who mix. Students, perhaps, cluster with their own races, merely, because they share the culture and, therefore, feel more comfortable with people of their own race. However, my experience with tutoring Brian prompted me to think that this racial consciousness and the racial divide were also being affected by the authority- teachers. As I was helping Brian with math assignment, he got fed up with the problems and told me, “I hate math. I can’t do this. I am Asian, so I am supposed to do well in math like my cousin. But, I am unlike regular Asians.” I encouraged him to do it again and told him that the intelligence is not based on race. But, he said, “I don’t even need to finish this. Teachers expect the smart Asians to finish the problem, but other than them, they give us point even though we finish only the half.” This made me to rethink about what Gates meant by ‘Race’ as a ‘dangerous trope’ in the “Race” as the Trope of the world. The stereotype of Asian as ‘modal minority’ affects teachers and the students seemed to be affected by the teachers with this trope. So, I thought sharing culture as well as racial stereotypes in daily lives and interactions with others influence OMI students to socialize with students who are of the same race.
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ReplyDeleteAs a tutor in OMI, same as my classmates, I noticed many students in OMI had a tendency to socialize with other students who were of the same race. We can refer this situation to Gates, Jr’s argument that ‘race is a trope’. This phenomenon happens because the students in OMI categorized other students into ‘otherness” based on their appearance, skin color and race with attachment of stereotype. They associated other students with different attitude, ability, intelligence, and language based on their race.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also saw that the students in OMI are very friendly interacting with schoolmate from other races/ethnicities. Instead of the situation of ‘racial discrimination’ and ‘racial separation’ mentioned by Gates, OMI is a harmony place for students from different ethnicities or races. They studied in the table, discussed the homework with each other, and joined the extra-curriculum and have fun together. However, this situation can also explain by Gates’s argument that “race is not based on biological classification, but is socially constructed”. In addition, it can also explain by Katz and Hull that the process of self-identification is always related to the people and the environment around us.
I talked about this racial topic with some students in OMI. They responded me that they were open-minded to other ethnic groups. Most of the students in OMI mainly grow up in Bay Area, an environment with diverse ethnicities and racial groups. They constantly interact with different kinds of people in their daily life, which cultivate their perception: American is a multiracial country, and we are all American. This perception makes them to accept and normalize the racial differences, and to learn how to respect and interact with other racial groups. In conclusion, the environment and the people the students constantly interacting with cultivate their perception and change their identity- They are African, Asian, Latino, or Caucasian, but they are also American.
I saw students in OMI socialized and studied with people from other race all the time. It is true that their close friends are mainly from their own racial/ethnic group, but the real factor of being together is not their race or appearance, but their common interests and perspective. In fact, they learned all these common cultural values, knowledge, and perceptions from their family which make them have more similarity to share with. Race indirectly plays a role separating the student in OMI.
As a human being, we cannot get rid of our biases, emotions, and subjective values. People tend to be with people who share similar culture, value, perception and common interest. If people have all these similarity, they can hang out together, and it will not be discouraged by others’ race, appearance or skin color.
As I first walked towards the doors of Oakland Military Institute, I met eyes with a girl dressed in OMI uniform. She was African American. I didn’t notice her race as much as her steady gaze and her OMI uniform covered in head to toe from the OMI dark gray cap to the black shoes that gleamed slightly in the sun. As I walked through the hallway, and as I volunteered every Saturday at OMI, I became more aware of the racial dynamic within OMI. My particular program on Saturday (Space2Cre8 film session) is composed of majority African-American students, and a few students who are of Hispanic decent, and one student who is Asian.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, the Asian student seemed to look slightly out of place as if she did not know how to act or who to interact with. She mostly talked to the tutors, including myself. Perhaps she felt out of place because she was a minority in OMI. If I were to base social interactions solely on racial dynamic, I would say that the African American students seemed to have a closer bond within themselves. However, I hesitate to base such assumptions solely on race, because many of them were on the same basketball team at OMI, or they were deeply involved within OMI as a lieutenant. I believe that the students were able to bond closer due to their connection within certain groups based on interests within the school; the school has many types of groups in which the students were able to connect under. In terms of academic achievement, we had no access to such information, nor did the students reveal any sort of information to us tutors. This was due to the nature of our program, which did not involve academic achievement, but involved global connection with other students around the world, through film and other forms of media.
Personally, I felt like I was back in high school again, where I was a minority. However, this time, instead of Caucasian majority, the school had a clear majority of African-American students. I could understand how Spring, the one Asian student in our program may have felt. However, it was an opportunity adjust and learn from each other about the different cultural and social aspects that the students brought to the Saturday session every week. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing each and every one of them and I hope to continue to learn from them in continuing semesters.
I have had a much difference experience during my time at OMI than most of the other tutors. Since most of my time has been focused solely on one student, I have not had much of a chance to observe inter-student interaction. However, this changed substantially a few weeks ago when Shiniqua, the girl that I work with, brought her new boyfriend in to work with us in chemistry. After he left for the day, she told me that people had given her a hard time that day because she is black and he is Latino. When I pressed her further, I found it surprising that she is very aware of racial dynamics within the school, but is also socially colorblind when it comes to making friends.
ReplyDelete“People give me shit because I like to chill with everyone. Like, my friend don’t usually, like care or anything, but sometimes? Man! It’s like if I wanna find Jermey, I look where all the black kids are chillin’ and that’s where he’ll be, ya know? I like that none of my friends really care and it pisses me off when other people talk shit.”
This rare bit of insight given by Shiniqua into the social and racial domains of her school completely took me back, mostly because she tends to interact with me on a more pragmatic level, and the mere fact that she brought this up must have meant it was heavy on her mind.
I believe as a tutor/researcher, it is very easy to make these judgment calls from the outside looking in. I never really considered drawing from a subjective knowledge base, but this sudden gem really gave me a view into how a normal, or maybe not so normal student views the racial dynamic of OMI.
My experience with race at OMI had mostly to do with attitudes toward the Asian-American race. Often I would work with students who did not think that they were “Asian enough” to excel in their studies. What I found most striking about this, however, was the fact that several of the students I witnessed expressing this belief were in fact Asian-American themselves. It was surprising to me that they would participate in a form of racism that was derogatory to themselves. I expected student s of other races to make light fun of the stigma that surrounds Asian-Americans’ societal reputation with math and science, but I did not consider the possibility of that stigma putting pressure on less-than-excellently-performing Asian-American students.
ReplyDeleteThe term “Asian” became synonymous with what I would typically use to describe “smart” in my high school days. Even the term “smart”, though, is problematic. What does smart really mean? Ideally it would be a measure of inherent intelligence, but what is that a measure of? Labeling students as “smart” and “not smart”, or even “less smart” is an educational issue by itself, and one that was present in my high school experience, but at OMI the same generalization has been attached to the Asian-American race. The diversity at OMI, while no doubt a positive facet of the school’s portfolio, has created an interesting new instance of alienation. Not only does it raise the initial expectations of Asian-American students from their peers, it creates a distinct identity for other races as being less intelligent than everyone else. For example, let’s say a non-Asian-American student happens to be doing well in his or her math class, but is experience peer pressure from his peers to “not be so Asian!”. I suspect that that student would be highly tempted to forego excellence in favor of fitting in with his friends.
At OMI, the typical high school generalization of “smart” and “not smart” friends has been attached to the personal condition of being Asian-American. This is only one way race has manifested itself at OMI, but was the most prevalent to me.
All in all, these responses are really good. I appreciate all of the honest assessments; and, I applaud your collective willingness to open up in such a public space. Thank you all for a great semester; and, best of luck on all of your respective future endeavors. Lastly, if any of you have questions, off-line, on graduate school, or course readings, or anything else, please don't hesitate to contact me.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Jeremiah