Parent and teacher colleagues,
Here is the second part of a summer reading list- some books I recommend, all of which are engaging, well-written and have changed the way I think about educating our children and engaging the world:
1. Why are all the Black Kids sitting together in the Cafeteria? by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum is an excellent and thoughtful exploration of racial identity development for children and adolescents.
2. If you read the book above and enjoy it, move on to Can We Talk About Race, also by Dr. Tatum. It is an expansion of four lectures she gave over a period of time on topics related to racial identity and education. Profound and thought provoking.
3. How to Rent a Negro by damali ayo is a sharp satire about the tendency of white folks to embrace "diversity" but to engage simultaneously in micro-aggressions and othering of people of color. Be prepared to be discomfited if you self-identify as white.
4. Whistling Vivaldi by Dr. Claude Steele is a review of the most recent science of stereotypes for non-academics. It looks at the negative effect stereotypes have on their target group's performance and how they can be overcome by simple re-framing.
5. Definitely not beach reading is The Everyday Language of White Racism by Dr. Jane Hill. This is an academic text by a highly esteemed linguist and I recommend it strongly. The first chapter is excerpted to the left under "documents you may be interested in."
6. If you are interested in more detail about the principles and framework of an anti-bias curriculum, look at What if All the Kids are White? Anti-bias Multicultural Education for Young Children and Families. This book gets to the practical aspects of implementing an anti-bias curriculum in a school where the majority of students are non-children of color.
Looking forward to next year and a revised and restructured program for Discussing Diversity!
2 comments:
Hi Josie,
You wrote a comment responding to a comment of mine of the Love Isn’t Enough blog recently and I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said about having to work on your own issues with being white and white privilege before being able to be an effective anti-racist parent. I also loved your article linked from this blog about why white parents don’t talk about race.
Your writing and other stuff on Love Isn’t Enough have really inspired me to start thinking more deeply about my own relationship to race and white privilege, to the point where I am thinking about starting a social justice parenting group in New York (unless one already exists but I haven’t found anything by Googling). I was wondering if you have any advice on how to go about it. I don’t know many other parents in the area and my daughter is only 12 months so I don’t have connections with other parents through schools. You mentioned that your friend Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. lives here now. Do you think I should try reaching out to him to ask for advice?
I would really appreciate any advice and contacts you may be able to provide. Thanks!
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for your comment. I think the idea of a social justice parenting group is a great idea. I know of a friend who is setting one up in the Chicago area, and I read about the White Noise group on Love Isn't Enough, but haven't heard about other groups. You are right that there is not much out there in terms of guidelines on how to organize or guide discussion for white parents, which is daunting but also exciting in terms of opportunities to learn. Reaching out to Dr. Moore would be a great idea, although he will probably be busy the first half of the school year settling into his new situation. I also know that the White Privilege Conference (which Dr. Moore founded) is organizing a focus group for families that are doing this anti-racism work, but whether that will be in place for the 2012 meeting in Albuquerque or not until 2013 in Seattle I am not sure. The WPC would be a great opportunity for you for learning for sure. I couldn't find a way to email you directly, but if you want to contact me, email me at doctorjoez0@gmail.com, and we can talk further.
Fondly, Josie
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