Daphne, what I am hearing is that you think it's progress TO discuss race
and gender since it's obvious.  I can see that as progress as well, since
for some reason, discussing the obvious is often viewed as revolutionary for
whatever reason.  I guess I just assume people have already discussed the
obvious, so we can move on now to other things.  But I forget not everyone
is as "blunt" as I can be at times.  For example, I have openly said to men
and women things like, "Yes, women have vaginas.  Can we move on, now?"
Sometimes, comments like this have gotten me into trouble with people who
CANNOT move on, which is something I have a hard time grasping.

Just for the record, I often call Hillary "Hillary" because I can't remember
how to spell "Barak."  LOL.  Otherwise, I have this habit of calling
candidates and politicians by whatever name feels right at the time.  I
realize this is some kind of political faux-pas, but....oh well.  People
don't always use MY correct name and professionals ALWAYS call me by my
first name, so why should politicians be any different?

What do you think of the idea that men and women sometimes think
differently, that women are hormonally different from men, and because of
that we approach teaching (and politics) differently at times?

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt





-----Original Message-----
From: povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:povertyracewomen-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Daphne Greenberg
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 7:01 AM
To: povertyracewomen at nifl.gov
Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 1505] Re: Democratic Party Election Results


There have been very interesting responses to my query regarding whether
adult literacy learners and teachers are talking to each other (whether in
formal civics classes or in informal hallway conversations) about the fact
that a female and an African American are top contenders in one of the
party's election results.

The intent of my question was to really focus on adult literacy
learners-what are they saying, and whether the elections are being covered
informally or formally in classrooms. If they are, I wonder what is being
said, and if they are not being covered, I wonder why not.

I agree with the poster who stated that we have come a long way as indicated
by the fact that race and gender are not being stressed. However, I don't
think that we have come far enough, that we can't be excited that for the
first time in history that an African American and a Woman have serious
chances of being their party's presidential candidate.

I think that people are noticing race and gender, and here are a few
examples:

When it was clear that both Obama and Clinton were going to run, I heard an
African American adult learner say: there is no way whites will vote for a
Black person. I similarly heard a female learner say the same thing about a
female candidate. Recently, I heard an adult learner say, I wish that I
wasn't a pure Republican-I hope one day there is an African American running
in my party. Finally (not adult learner related, but something to think
about vis-a-vis our language in the classrooms), until fairly recently, I
noticed that the media, and people in the community often referred to
Clinton by her first name, while referring to all other candidates by their
last name, or by their first and last name. Perhaps it was a way to
differentiate her from Bill, or perhaps it was an unconscious/subtle way of
making her different from the others. Regardless of the motive, it did set
her apart.

So, I guess what I am really trying to get at, is:
Are the elections being covered/discussed in the adult learner community
(either formally or informally). If yes, how and what is being said? Are
people discussing gender and race issues vis-a-vis the elections? If the
elections are not being talked about, why not?  Are current events typically
not discussed?

Daphne


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