Black Enough to Teach Black Kids?

[wlotus]

In Charles Barkley’s book “Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man”, Barack Obama recalls a few college professors asking him, “Man, why are you pretending that you’re not smart?” Obama continues, “And coming from black professors, especially, that was important, because I couldn’t throw back at them, ‘Oh, you don’t understand.’”

Looking back at his own educational experience, Obama concludes, “That’s a big part of the reason it is so important to have black teachers, especially black male teachers. I’m not saying exclusively, but in many situations you need someone who can call you on your stuff and say… that it’s not ‘acting white’ to read a book.”

~ From "Understand?", by Will Okun
(http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/understand/)

Will Okun, a white teacher, asked his students to write whether they feel black teachers are more effective with black students. Half of his students said race made no difference in effective teaching. Half of his students vehemently disagreed, claiming white teachers give up on black students faster, don't understand where black students are coming from, etc. Will said while it frustrates him to think his race hinders his efforts to reach some of his students, he sees where there is a racial disconnect when they study certain topics.

I see the points and recognize the validity in all of them. But in my experience, the race of the teacher is unimportant, so long as they do not limit their thinking based on their race. For example, black teachers with a "Black people don't do that!" mentality about certain subjects or activities are just as harmful to a black young person's development as white teachers with that attitude. Since black teachers are human like the other black people with that mentality, I have to believe there are plenty of black teachers with that mentality. They just aren't called "racist" when they express those views to black students, while white teachers are.

All black people do not have the same experience, so putting a black teacher into a classroom does not automatically mean she or he will connect better with their black students. For example, I know nothing about living in poverty and violence, because I did not grow up in a poor family or violent neighborhood. But make no misake: I am black. Check my userpic. :-)

Anyway, having a black teacher who could speak to those issues from experience would not have helped me understand my math- and science-intensive curriculum any differently, would not have encouraged me to shine academically rather than pretending to not be as smart as I am, and would not have made any difference in my above-grade-level English and composition abilities. I suppose it would have been nice to have seen dark skin and curly hair (or dreadlocs) on my engineering school professors, but their whiteness and Asian-ness did not cause me any problems. Cousins from Africa were my advanced math and science teachers in high school, and I don't recall being any more able to relate to them than I was able to relate to the white woman who taught my AP Biology course or the white man who taught me Calculus.

Perhaps for some black youth, having black teachers makes a huge difference. It didn't matter to me, and I don't remember thinking as hard about the race of my teachers as I have thought about it while writing this post! In short, I learned because I wanted to learn, and I worked hard because I had goals in life, which included getting and staying OUT of the inner city environment I went to high school in! :-)

What do you think?

Comments

[chinook-wind.livejournal.com]

I actually agree with you, for the most part -- the attitude of the teacher is more important than his or her race. Some people, though, whether white or black, have already pigeonholed themselves, and I think it does those people good to see other people of their race do something outside the pigeonhole. Whether it's a teacher or a student, learning that people are more than their ethnic origins is important. I also think that there might be something about being any type of ethnic that maybe only other people of the same group understand. I don't know, honestly, because I don't feel like I belong to any ethnic group -- white seems to be the None Of The Above when it comes to ethnicity -- but from what I understand from other people, there's a shared 'language' or a bond between members of an ethnic group that people outside the group just don't share. Do you feel like that's true? It seems to me that it might be more related to socioeconomic status; I would have more in common with a black person raised in a similar middle-class, suburban environment than I would with a white person raised in a violent inner city, I think.

I think the sum total of my thought is that I think it's important to have teachers of all different races and ethnicities. Consistent exposure to all kinds of people is one of the best ways to move away from intolerance and prejudice, as I see it. Learning that all these different people are smart and caring and, overall, just like us is hugely importnat.