Andrea,
I'm glad you shared/expressed this horror.  I've been living in the
Charlottesville VA area for nearly 10 years now, and horror is what I feel
SO often --
and
shame/guilt/confusion/appalled/astounded-that-I-seem-to-be-the-only-one-who-sees/feels-the-WRONGness
of it all --
I remember when Saddam Hussein statues being ripped down made headline news
-- I was wishing that would happen here to so many examples of (in my
opinion) wrong, horribly wrong, messages...
but,
we live in a democracy?
It is not easy -- free speech, free expression --
(isn't it odd how the word free is included so easily in those
statements...)

I actually (still) avoid driving past a few statues that perturb me.
(avoidance is not an admirable response).

I am still amazed when I see the multitude of confederate flags so blatantly
flying when I travel the backroads...  and, I'll confess, I'm also
terrified.

[I am Holly, human (my preferred primary identification) female, 'white,'
52, raised in NJ for the first 17 years of my life -- on a 32acre
nursery/agricultural/dairy farm -- on that farm were 5 residences -- it
wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that 2 of those residences were
essentially "sharecropper" residences -- and that my best friend through 5th
grade (a wonderful young boy named Marvin, African-American) lived as the
son of a "share-cropping" family.  The farm had been in my father's family
for three generations prior...  I struggle with isms... I struggle with
privilege -- my awareness of it and my dependence upon it and the limits I
seem willing to act upon and not... I do confront myself more often -- I do
BELIEVE in the power of intentional dialogue (for evil and for wondrous
positive transformations)...]

An incident occurred recently in my life that I'm still reflecting the
implications of...

A longtime single friend (who happens to be Senegalese) called to ask
(shyly) if he might bring a friend with him to dinner (he'd been invited to
our home for dinner, a frequent happening).  We were happy for him and of
course extended the invitation and chided him for asking -- but acknowledged
appreciation for the advance notice to set an additional place --
Well, the new friend happened to be a US-born African American woman -- we
enjoyed a friendly evening, shared a lot of laughs.  I hadn't noticed
anything awkward (beyond the typical first time meeting kind of thing).
However, on the third subsequent outing together, this young woman expressed
her continuing surprise that we really welcomed her presence -- and shared
that her visit to our home was a FIRST in her FAMILY -- not a one of the
five members of her family had ever been invited to a white person's home
before.

The year was 2007...

Does this surprise any of you?   or not?  What implications might it have
for teaching?  for PD?
Holly (Dilatush)
Human!
holly at dilatush.com
(434) 960.7177 cell phone
(434) 295.9716 home phone
[OK to call 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST / GMT -5 time]

"As soon as we begin to generalize, we fail to have meaningful dialogue."
(author unknown)

"Live with intention. Share inside~out smiles, inspire hope, seek awe and
nurture in nature."

www.tales-around-the-world.blogspot.com
www.abavirtual-learningcenter.org
www.boomerlangs.edublogs.org
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