1. "The saddest element is that the individuals that the black and Native Alaskan educators speak of in these statements are seldom aware that the dialogue has been silenced. Most likely the white educators believe their colleagues of color did, in the end, agree with their logic. After all, they stopped disagreeing, didn't they?" PG 23
It exposes a hidden but damaging dynamic in many school and professional settings: silence is often mistaken for agreement. Delpit shows how educators of color may stop voicing their opinions not because they've changed their minds, but because they’re exhausted from not being heard. The real sadness here is that many white educators are completely unaware this is happening. They don’t realize that the "conversation" they think they’re having is actually one-sided, and that they’ve unintentionally shut others out of the dialogue.
How can we tell the difference between real agreement and someone choosing to go silent because they don’t feel heard or respected?
What can educators and students do to create spaces where people feel safe and encouraged to keep speaking up even when their views are different?
2. “Some have added that the liberal educators believe themselves to be operating with good intentions, but that these good intentions are only conscious delusions about their unconscious true motives. One of the black anthropologist John Gwaltney's informants in Drylongso reflects this perspective with her tongue-in-cheek observation that the biggest difference between black folks and white folks is that black folks know when they're lying!” PG 29
The line from Gwaltney’s informant is very revealing. It suggests that white educators sometimes lie to themselves without realizing it. They think they’re helping, when really they might be reinforcing the very systems of inequality they claim to oppose. Meanwhile, Black educators and community members are more likely to recognize when something is off, even if they don't feel safe calling it out.
What does it take to be honest with ourselves about our biases, even when it’s uncomfortable?
3. "...this student was proud of the teacher's 'meanness,' an attribute he seemed to describe as the ability to run the class and pushing and expecting students to learn. Now does the liberal perspective of the negatively authoritarian black teacher really hold up? I suggest that although all 'explicit' black teachers are not also good teachers, there are different attitudes in different cultural groups about which characteristics make for a good teacher. Thus, it is impossible to create a model for the good teacher without taking issues of culture and community context into account." PG 37
This quote challenges the one-size-fits-all idea of what makes a good teacher. She tells a story of a student who actually admired his teacher’s “meanness”, but not because the teacher was cruel. In his eyes, “meanness” meant structure, high expectations, and a push to succeed. What looks like bad teaching to one group might actually be great teaching in another cultural context. It depends on what values and expectations are at play in that community. She’s saying that we can't define good teaching without understanding the cultural and community lens we're looking through.
What assumptions do we carry about what a “good” or “bad” teacher is and where do those assumptions come from?
How might misunderstandings around tone, discipline, or communication style lead to unfair judgments about teachers, especially teachers of color?
Argument Statement
This author, Lisa Delpit, argues that true equity in education can’t happen unless we start listening to and valuing the voices of those who have been silenced, especially educators and families of color who know what their children need.
Aaron, this is a very interesting Blog! Well done!
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