Talking Points #7

Peter McLaren
Race, Class, and Gender
Why Students Fail

Quotes:
1.  "It is not hard to imagine the deep distrust between blacks and public schools and blacks and white authorities, which Ogbu claims is communicated to children from a very early age by parents, relatives, and neighbors."  It shouldn't surprise us that this distrust between blacks and the school systems actually exist.  There have been so many incidents that have occurred because of the stereotypes set about different cultures.  For example, in the reading they talk about the black youth simply "making it" through school rather than the students succeeding or striving to do well.  This is an unfair stereotype about races that will never disappear because the ideas are passed on from parents to children. 

2.  "For many economically disadvantaged students, success in school means a type of forced cultural suicide, and in the case of minority youth, racial suicide....A moderate level of depression, an absence of political awareness, the presence of self blame, low assertiveness, and  high conformity may tragically have constituted evidence of the 'good' urban student."  I think it is awful that we even judge people by their class level, especially as the student youth.  When we are students, we are young and living under a parent/guardians roof.  Thus meaning that the classification of the students class is really based on the parents.  It is extremely unfair to the students to have these preconceived notions about them as students because of the class level in which their parents fall under. 

3.  "The girls in my class were particularly concerned with popularity and physical attractiveness--areas of interest that for superseded academic aspirations.  Girls were constantly experimenting with makeup and improving clothing styles.  Subcultural dress codes established by the disaffected denizens were not only symbolic challenges to the conservative sartorial codes of teachers and more affluent peers, but a way of fostering group identity and solidarity."  All I can think of after reading this quote is about the project we just spent time on in class.  It focused on how the media portrays women which causes women to feel the need to always improve.  With all of the medias attention on women celebrities constantly promote sex and beauty and no girl is happy unless she looks like these models. 

I chose three different quotes that deal with the three different sections of this article; race, class, and gender.  I feel as though these three factors will always play an important role in the school system even though it shouldn't have to be.  Like stated in the article, these "ideas" are passed on from generation to generation by parents and relatives to their youth and I don't think these stereotypes are ever going to stop.  In America, we say that everyone is equal and treated equally when we know in reality, that because of the stereotypes that have been in place for years, white people are looked at as the dominant color over the black people. 
I feel as though this whole article is based on the stereotypes that have been made in society for years.  There are good black students and there are bad white students.  There are students from underprivileged areas that succeed and there are privileged students that fail.  There are some women who are more successful than men and vice verse.  This reading ties into several other readings we have had that deal with being underprivileged and that dealt with race, gender and class. 
I feel as though this one article can tie in to all of the other readings in one way or another.  This article made me irritated while I was reading it because it focuses on the stereotypes and not the fact that there are many people of many races, classes, and genders who succeed.  To me, it is sad that so many people really do think like this and there isn't really a thing that can be done to change it other than making people aware of it.