John and Brett: 
 
Your discussion on hybrid identities speaks volumes to me. (I like that
term - hybrid identities) I agree that identity is something that the
individual must create and come to terms with by oneself. Often identity
is a mixture of what the person holds true and assimulates together. It
isn't what is always the cultural norm and in my case has offended
people in my culture. But I am what I am and I can live with that
identity with some measure of peace. It isn't easy, going against what
is expected. 
 
I was born in Uganda to Indian parents, grew up in England (from the
age of 5) and consider myself English but am not white, have Indian
values but western thought about relationships (so did not have an
arranged marriage), and family heirarchy. I went to a convent, have lots
of catholic friends and probably know more about Christianity than some
Christians and more than my own religion. 
 
I am married to a Indian Malaysian, have children born in Texas (who
consider themselves American), AND now have my In-Laws living with us,
not of my choosing! (I'm still trying to figure how to assimilate THAT
into my identity (being the Indian daughter-in-law) when I NEVER wanted
to be in THAT situation. 
 
Identities are evolving and never changing and important to the
discussion on "race" and literacy. 
 
Thanks for listening, or reading. 
 
Pinder Naidu
Math Instructor
PhD graduate student GA State. 


>>> bgriff at umich.edu 10/5/2007 11:06:55 AM >>>


John,

Thank you for your personal response. Yes, this is a fascinating 
example of hybrid identity. My roommate last year, though not Spanish 
speaking, often explained her difficulty with identity being 
American-born Indian who attended school in India but didn't feel like

she fit with the Indian communities in the states.

I have to get better at these listservs. I meant to send that to the 
list, and I will post our discussion directly for other members. 
Quoting John Warrior <john.r.warrior at cox.net>:


> I have several of my student that could be

> considered as case studies for this research.

> These students are if Indian descent, but they

> grew up in either Central America or the

> Caribbean. These students then came to the US and

> attended at least a year or two of school in the

> US public school systems.

>

> So, they look Indian, they speak Spanish and

> graduated from an American high school. Most of

> them have very little knowledge of Hindi or their

> parent's primary language, which makes it

> difficult for them to interact in Indian circles.

> They do not have the physical characteristics of

> the other students from Central and South America

> so they find it difficult to interact within the

> Hispanic community despite the fact that Spanish

> is their primary language. Finally, they do not

> have the English skills to interact effectively

> with the English speaking community.

>

> This is possibly an example of a hybrid identity

> that is filled with challenges and obstacles. I

> agree in that I feel our title should be one that

> is broad and inclusive, not narrow and

> constrictive, because for every socioeconomic

> factor that is identified it seems that there are

> two more that go unnoticed. However, all of them

> affect learning and literacy, whether or not we

> recognize them.

>

> Take care,

>

> John

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Brett Griffiths [mailto:bgriff at umich.edu]

> Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 8:29 AM

> To: John Warrior

> Subject: an argument for "Identity" in the name

>

> There is a  lot of current work being done now on

> the term "identity,"

> with scholars looking at the nature of "hybrid

> identities." A person

> can identify with one or more races, one or more

> nationalities, one or

> more ethnicities, one or more social classes, and

> even one or more

> genders. For example, if a person is Native

> American who grows up in

> mainstream American culture but follows the

> teaching of his or her

> historical tribe, there are still implications for

> literacy learning.

> Complicate that with social class or skin color,

> and you have a further

> complication. Because social class and skin color

> both have important

> correlations with literacy questions, it seems to

> make sense to leave

> that identity up to subjects themselves to define.

> A person with a dark

> skin color may identify as Haitian,

> African-American, Pakistani, or

> White American depending on other factors of his

> or her identity.

> Another person may grow up white with a

> working-class family and live

> in a middle-class suburb. The identity that s/he

> most identifies with

> will have implications for relationships with

> literacy, one way or

> another, given the conflicting social messages

> about literacy and "what

> is text" viewpoints from each class. I guess this

> is my push for using

> Identity in the title. To me, it allows us to

> consider each discussion

> from multiple subjectivities and allows them to be

> personally defined.

>

> Brett

>

> Quoting John Warrior <john.r.warrior at cox.net>:

>

>> I am not sure what the final decision will be

>> about the name of this particular list but as I

>> have said before, there are some critical

>> questions that we need to ask ourselves before

>> changing or adding to this title. The fact is

> that

>> "ethnicity affects education. Ethnicity is not a

>> "comfy" word, it is a word used by professionals

>> that means "a sense of being different than

> other

>> groups because of cultural tradition, ancestry,

>> national origin, history, or religion." This

> term

>> is more accurate than "race" when we look at how

>> it influences learning and literacy. For

> example,

>> try to describe the influences of "race" on

>> education in India or the influence of

> "ethnicity"

>> on education. You will see that "race" is too

>> generic and it does not accurately represent the

>> complex differences between people. Andres seems

>> to be stuck on race because of its connection

> with

>> racism with ethnicity being too comfy. However,

>> ethnicity is tied to something even worse than

>> racism and that is ethnic cleansing. The fact of

>> the matter is that professional educators and

>> professionals from other disciplines use the

> term

>> ethnicity to define the differences between

>> people.

>>

>>

>>

>> As for me, I am not Caucasian as race would

> label

>> me. I am a second generation European. My

> father's

>> side of the family is Scottish and immigrated to

>> the US during the 1930s to escape the affects of

>> the depression in Europe. They came here and

>> worked hard as farmers in Iowa, fought for their

>> new country in World War II and continued to

> grow

>> and prosper through hard work and determination.

>> One my mother's side I am Polish. My

> grandparents

>> fled Poland in the face of the German invasion

> in

>> 1939. An incomplete escape since I have two

>> great-uncles who's names are etched on the

>> Auschwitz Memorial. They were killed for their

>> ethnicity, not their race. They came to the US

> and

>> when my grandfather was told he couldn't fight,

> he

>> took his skills as a machinist and worked for

>> Martin aviation, building aircraft to protect

> this

>> country. I have a Protestant/ Catholic

> background,

>> I am the first one to complete any college

> degree

>> and my father went to public school and my

> mother

>> went to a Catholic girls school. Today, you will

>> find that my family includes my past, plus the

>> past of my Korean wife. Race does not describe

> my

>> children; it cannot because of all of the

> factors.

>> Factors that we encounter in the classroom

>> everyday.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> Why does the name need to be more inclusive? It

>> needs to be so that when professionals, students

>> and those with personal interests in literacy

> come

>> to the NIFL site they can look through the

> titles

>> and see that this one, deals with the often

>> volatile and controversial influences of how

>> poverty, ethnicity and gender affect educational

>> achievement and opportunities in the US and

> around

>> the world. That is the purpose of a title, it

>> should act a s beacon to people looking for

>> information. No one is going to come here if

> they

>> are looking for information about learning

>> disabilities and literacy, they can see from the

>> title that there is another list.

>>

>>

>>

>> Now comes the topic of gender. I would like to

>> say that I take offense to sexist attitudes

> toward

>> males. I feel that blindly leveling prejudice

>> towards men is as cancerous as the prejudice and

>> discrimination against women. That is why one of

>> my favorite quotes comes from Mahatma Gandhi.

> When

>> asked if he was a pacifist he replied that he

>> would not become what he was fighting. In the

>> struggle to dispel the injustices of the world,

> we

>> must not loose sight of what is right and wrong.

>> The fact of the matter is that it women are not

>> the only one's affected by sex when it comes to

>> literacy and education. There are significant

>> groups of women and men that feel the affects of

>> sex upon their educational achievement and

>> opportunities. This is not sexism, this is

>> reality.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> I need to go teach, let's not become what we

> hate.

>>

>>

>>

>> John

>>

>>

>>

>>

>

>

>

> --

> ---And the day came when the risk to remain tight

> in a bud was more

> painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anais

> Nin

>

> Brett Griffiths

> Second Year, PhD student, JPEE

>

>

>

>




-- 
---And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more 
painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anais Nin

Brett Griffiths
Second Year, PhD student, JPEE
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