In response to Adam's post, I've encountered the same with my students.
I'm a Hispanic female, and by virtue of the cultural proximity, I
probably get earfuls of biases on a regular basis.  It's really
difficult to hear but at the same time, I don't feel it's appropriate to
dismiss students' personal experiences. The fact is that this is an
issue we as educators cannot gloss over and ignore. Hispanic and black
youth kill each other in gang warfare in different parts of the country.
Recent media reports have cited that some blacks feel that immigrants do
threaten their opportunities and that efforts to help the plight of
Hispanics might take away from efforts to help build the black
community. There is tension between these communities, no doubt,  when
there should be alliances. 

 

For that very reason,  I have often used racially biased comments as an
opportunity to teach about American history, the civil rights movement,
and ultimately, to credit African-Americans with so many of the rights
immigrants have today. For lower level students, there are plenty of
really powerful images on the internet from which you could convey rich
messages.  I also make connections between the historical treatment of
Blacks in this country and the way indigenous peoples of Latin America
continue to be treated in many places today. That can be very disarming,
and I have found that at least in class (I don't know what they do
outside), their attitudes change. I also teach about language dialects
among cultural groups in the US and caution against judgments of
'correct English', again drawing parallels between the variety of
equally correct Spanishes of Latin American and Castilian Spanish. 

 

I like that you bring in African-American speakers. That is something I
haven't  tried. 



Rebeca Fernandez

 

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Adam W
Nathanson/FS/VCU
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 1:57 PM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3143] Adult ESL students and African Americans

 

Hello All,

 

I teach EL Civics for Richmond, Virginia Public Schools Adult &
Continuing Education.  Perhaps because I am a white male, I have found
that like many native-born United States people, some of my ESL students
feel free to express their biases towards American blacks with me.
Examples include comments that blacks are lazy and impatient in
communicating with them.

 

I always debunk their generalizations and stereotypes when they come up.
I also bring in speakers from the community who happen to be African
American, as well as stressing how black progress has pushed our country
forward throughout its existence.  But I want to hear about other
instructors' experiences with this problem, and how you've dealt with
it.

 

Thanks,

Adam Nathanson

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