“Ms. Homeskillet, you should put yo hair in a pony tail and get a big rhinestone bow. You can get you one up at Phat Ladiez Hair Supply, right next to the $3.99 shoe sto”
“Oh yeah, I’ve been to Phat Ladiez before. I probably could get a bow there.”
“WHAT?!? You been there? I didn’t think white people bought weave! You got weave Ms. H?”
“I don’t have weave Ebony, but I was with a friend who needed some hair products.”
“Woh woh woh! Wait a minute- you know black people? Like real ones?!?”
Now I know what is going through some people’s minds right now. “I can’t believe she is calling herself the ‘white teacher’” “How insensitive can she be?” Well if you are in the category of people who feel that way, you need to hear me out.
The fact of the matter is that yes, we live in a country that has a history riddled with racial conflict, and I think that the majority of Americans would agree, that while we have made significant progress in bridging the racial divide in some areas, we have a lot to accomplish before we are completely out of the woods. Quite frankly, there are kids of all races, who grow up surrounded by people that look like them and act like them, and when that is the case, they have no way of gaining the much needed cultural and racial awareness that is necessary to survive in the melting pot we call America. Now I don’t consider myself an idealist by any stretch, but I do what I can in my classroom to address this cultural knowledge gap with my students by encouraging open dialogue about racial differences. As a result, I have been entertained by a series of questions and conversations that will now be documented through my “Dear White Teacher” posts. My students may NEVER punctuate a sentence correctly, despite my ardent efforts spinning in this hamster wheel, but they will walk away with at least some knowledge of this strange group of people known simply to them as “whities.”
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