5 Big Picture Sentences
These first two chapters offer a framework for Freire’s thoughts about education. He defines oppression and human’s vocation. Freire also speaks towards the problem of what the oppressed often do with their liberation. In the last chapter, Freire takes a look at the banking model of education, which he says cannot be used in the pursuit of education. He juxtaposes this model with what he calls problem-posing education, which he sees as the best form of pedagogy for the oppressed.
4 Key Passages“A revolutionary leadership must accordingly practice co-intentional education. Teachers and students (leadership and people), co-intent on reality, are both Subjects, not only in the task of unveiling that reality, and thereby coming to know it critically, but in the task of recreating that knowledge. As they attain this knowledge of reality through common reflection and action, they discover themselves as its permanent re-creators. In this way, the presence of the oppressed in the struggle for their liberation will be what it should be: not pseudo-participation, but committed involvement.” (pg. 69)
“Education is suffering from narration sickness.” (pg. 71)
“For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.” (pg. 72)
“Authentic liberation – the process of humanization – is not another deposit to be made in men. Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it.” (pg. 79)
3 Key Terms
praxis – (page 51) “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it”
prescription – (page 46-47) a basic element of the oppressor-oppressed relationship; “represents the imposition of one individual’s choice upon another”
necrophilic behavior – (page 65) – “the destruction of life – their own or that of their oppressed fellows”
2 Connections
On page 59, Freire says, “They cannot see that, in the egoistic pursuit of having as a possessing class, they suffocate in their own possessions and no longer are; they merely have.” This reminds me of what Tim Wise was saying in the Loss section of White Like Me – we (white people) have lost our own identity in the process of trying to suppress that of others. He was talking about how black and white people in a workshop made lists about what they liked about their race and African Americans were able to say they liked how they valued family, their music, and other very identifiable aspects of their culture, but the Caucasians’ list was simply things that they didn’t have to put up with, like being followed in a store, because of their whiteness.
In the first chapter, when Freire is talking about insincere liberation, he writes that the oppressor is truly empathizing with the oppressed “only when he stops regarding the oppressed as an abstract category and sees them as persons who have been unjustly death with, deprived of their voice, cheated, in the sale of their labor – when he stops making pious, sentimental, and individualistic gestures and risks an act of love.” This makes me think of 1 John 3:18, which was part of the message this morning. John writes, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth;” both men are saying: it’s not enough to say you love or say you “feel for” someone – put it into action.
1 Question
Do you think that there can be a balance between the dialogical model and the banking model? Do you see advantages and disadvantages of both or do you think there is never a use for the banking model?
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Tim Wise's White Like Me
5 Big Picture Sentences
In his book White Like Me, Wise offers a powerful, in-your-face look about the truth of racism in America. The first chapter, Born to Belonging, tells about how whites are “born into an environment where one’s legitimacy is far less likely to be questioned” (x). The next two chapters are about racial privilege and about resistance towards that privilege. The fourth chapter talks about being weary of who you collaborate with. The last two sections are about the cost that whites pay for their racism and about the hope for redemption.
4 Key Passages“The power of resistance is to set an example; not necessarily to change the person with whom you disagree, but to empower the one who is watching and whose growth is not yet complete, whose path is not at all clear, whose direction is still very much up in the proverbial air.” (pg. 74)
“Although white Americans often think we’ve had few first-hand experiences with race – because most of us are so isolated from people of color in our day-to-day lives – the reality is that this isolation is our experience with race.” (pg. viii)
“Being a member of the majority, of the dominant group, allows one to ignore how race shapes one’s life. For us, whiteness simply is; it becomes the unspoken, uninterrogated norm, taken for granted, the way a fish takes water for granted.” (pg. 2-3)
“Today, in the course of my work I meet white teachers much like the ones I had in school – almost all of them nice, decent, underpaid professionals – who say things like, ‘I treat all my kids the same way and don’t even see color when I look at them. This is neither true nor desirable, as their kids in fact do have a race, and their race matters, because it says a lot about the kinds of challenges they are likely to face.” (pg. 16)
3 Key Terms
perspectivism – (page 59) “the elevating of the majority viewpoint to the status of unquestioned and unquestionable truth”
kudzu – (page 82) “a particularly tenacious vine” that is very common in and exclusive to the South; Wise says this is a perfect metaphor for the way that Southerners cover up their crimes
“white blindness” – (page 136) – “the ability of whites to be utterly blind to the fact that indeed we have more than our fair share of criminals, drug addicts,” and other screw-ups
2 Connections
In the chapter about Resistance, Wise spoke about the time in his adolescence when he began to dress, speak, and behave like his African American friends. He describes his teachers’ reaction to this phenomenon, which was mostly dismissing him and deeming him “hopeless.” Wise’s reaction to his teachers’ treatment was to withdraw from school culture. We talked about this in my Educational Psychology course; there are “resistance cultures” whose beliefs, values, and behaviors don’t match up with those of the mainstream culture. For example, an African American teenage boy has to choose between doing well in school, becoming “white,” or withdrawing just like Tim did from schoolwork in order to maintain his culture.
I really loved the quote by Tutu. He said, “You do not do the things you do because others will necessarily join you in the doing of them, nor because they will ultimately prove successful. You do the things you do because the things you are doing are right.” This is so encouraging, because sometimes I get bogged down by the problems that International Justice Mission fights; sex trafficking, poverty, and modern-day slavery aren’t just going to end in the next year. But I don’t do it because sex trafficking is a buzz word right now or because I will be able to see the results of my work; I do it because it is right.
1 Question
What are some practical suggestions for me? How do I fight racism as a student at Baylor?
In his book White Like Me, Wise offers a powerful, in-your-face look about the truth of racism in America. The first chapter, Born to Belonging, tells about how whites are “born into an environment where one’s legitimacy is far less likely to be questioned” (x). The next two chapters are about racial privilege and about resistance towards that privilege. The fourth chapter talks about being weary of who you collaborate with. The last two sections are about the cost that whites pay for their racism and about the hope for redemption.
4 Key Passages“The power of resistance is to set an example; not necessarily to change the person with whom you disagree, but to empower the one who is watching and whose growth is not yet complete, whose path is not at all clear, whose direction is still very much up in the proverbial air.” (pg. 74)
“Although white Americans often think we’ve had few first-hand experiences with race – because most of us are so isolated from people of color in our day-to-day lives – the reality is that this isolation is our experience with race.” (pg. viii)
“Being a member of the majority, of the dominant group, allows one to ignore how race shapes one’s life. For us, whiteness simply is; it becomes the unspoken, uninterrogated norm, taken for granted, the way a fish takes water for granted.” (pg. 2-3)
“Today, in the course of my work I meet white teachers much like the ones I had in school – almost all of them nice, decent, underpaid professionals – who say things like, ‘I treat all my kids the same way and don’t even see color when I look at them. This is neither true nor desirable, as their kids in fact do have a race, and their race matters, because it says a lot about the kinds of challenges they are likely to face.” (pg. 16)
3 Key Terms
perspectivism – (page 59) “the elevating of the majority viewpoint to the status of unquestioned and unquestionable truth”
kudzu – (page 82) “a particularly tenacious vine” that is very common in and exclusive to the South; Wise says this is a perfect metaphor for the way that Southerners cover up their crimes
“white blindness” – (page 136) – “the ability of whites to be utterly blind to the fact that indeed we have more than our fair share of criminals, drug addicts,” and other screw-ups
2 Connections
In the chapter about Resistance, Wise spoke about the time in his adolescence when he began to dress, speak, and behave like his African American friends. He describes his teachers’ reaction to this phenomenon, which was mostly dismissing him and deeming him “hopeless.” Wise’s reaction to his teachers’ treatment was to withdraw from school culture. We talked about this in my Educational Psychology course; there are “resistance cultures” whose beliefs, values, and behaviors don’t match up with those of the mainstream culture. For example, an African American teenage boy has to choose between doing well in school, becoming “white,” or withdrawing just like Tim did from schoolwork in order to maintain his culture.
I really loved the quote by Tutu. He said, “You do not do the things you do because others will necessarily join you in the doing of them, nor because they will ultimately prove successful. You do the things you do because the things you are doing are right.” This is so encouraging, because sometimes I get bogged down by the problems that International Justice Mission fights; sex trafficking, poverty, and modern-day slavery aren’t just going to end in the next year. But I don’t do it because sex trafficking is a buzz word right now or because I will be able to see the results of my work; I do it because it is right.
1 Question
What are some practical suggestions for me? How do I fight racism as a student at Baylor?
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