Avenfeliz1@aol.com
Sun, 10 Dec 2000 10:18:39 EST
In a message dated 12/9/00 11:43:30 PM Eastern Standard Time,
shoeless@jazztbone.com writes:
>
> I don't really find that a guide such as science is necessary to tell us
> things like this that we can't help but already know...
>
Joe,
A nerve has been hit here, so bear with me. It's difficult to translate
things from the heart. When I read the above statement, I interpret it as,
"What we as white males assume you all should know."
I'm not suggesting that Sudbury entertain the social sciences or any of the
sciences. It's a good thing too, cause they aren't about to. The model being
cognizant of it is another matter. That's what social sciences provide.
Awareness.
I've looked at so many Sudbury and alternative schools. As wonderful as
many of them are, there has always been something missing to me. Not enough
to keep me from grasping and loving the model. Just enough for me to wonder
about. Not too long ago, I discovered that something. There are few, if any
people like me there. I'm an Hispanic/Indian woman. 3% of us even make it
out of graduate school (social statistics at work there.)
This society is dominated by white male thinking. Nothing new there. I see
the Sudbury model somewhat as an extension of that. Not all of us are white
males, however. Social Sciences include, ethnicity, women's issues, history
anthropology, alternative lifestyles. The list goes on. I address ethnicity
and diversity here.
My Hispanic/American Indian people have given much to the world, and if
it weren't for the social sciences, we wouldn't even be mentioned. We still
aren't in many arenas. I believe that Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez,
Wilma Mankiller and Cochise would wonder why Sudbury model schools aren't on
the reservations or near the airports where the minorities live. I wonder
that myself. I wonder how many of the staff members in Sud schools are
minorities. How many students are minorities? The answer is few. Why? It's
not because Sud schools don't welcome them or because they shut them out. Why
then? I don't know the answer. But I do know that we come from a different
place. We come from a different place way back. We just don't think like
white males. No matter how much it's shoved down our throats. We think like
"we" think. Yet, we must adapt to a white male environment. Women and gay
people might be able to identify with this. I don't know.
Not many people know of Cesar Chavez or Wilma Mankiller. I know of them
because I'm from them. And Abe Lincons decendents think how they think. They
and the others I've mentioned have given a great deal in the social arena.
Martin and Cochise gave their lives and their land for it. What about that
young man who was killed in Wyoming simply because he was gay? My brother
was recently murdered because someone thought he was just some homless man of
color :(. In fact, he was a social peacemaker.
I'm in the public school system. I won't give us much. But I will give
us this: Most of the children I know, know of Cochise and Cesar Chavez. How
many children in Fairhaven know who Abraham Lincon is? How many know who
Wilma Mankiller or Cesar Chavez is? I'm not suggesting that these things be
taught. Quite the contrary. What I am asking is this: Is there a place for
minorities in a Sud school? I mean a real place? I know there are tokens of
minorities in these schools. My son was one of them. He was raised in a
rich Hispanic/Indian culture. He thinks like that, not like a white male
(Even though his dad is Irish!) He struggled in the Sud system. He found it
difficult to assimilate to the "white" way of doing things (He despised
J..C.!) At the same time, he loved parts of it. He just didn't experience it
like he was expected to. I doubt anyone was even aware of his difficulty for
what it was. I saw it, but that's because we come from the same place. Many
saw the outcome and gave only that creedence. It wasn't a spiteful thing.
There was just little awereness. In not addressing cultural differences,
they get ignored. Not everyone adapts to this environment in the same way.
If that's not socially important to you Joe,it's not. That in essence is what
we, as minorities must deal with. I'm sure you don't know what it's like to
be called a "spic",tamohawk toter, a "nigger", "just a girl", or a "fag".
I've been called a few of those. Believe me when I tell you, We come from a
different place. Unfortunately or fortunately, you'll never know. But people
of all colors being congnizant of it sure helps matters. I don't think that
the model should be apprehensive in addressing it. I thank the social
sciences for its' part in bringing it to the light at least.
Please accept this as my perspective. It is sincerely not meant to be
combative or confrontational.
Viva Sudbury.
Kathleen
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