Quick Reflection on being White

WARNING: If you don't like talking about race or reflecting on the effects of racial differences, then for the love of God, read this article. Actually, I'm just kidding. If you don't like talking about race, then for the love of God, do not read this article because you may find it offensive. And I don't want to spend my well earned weekends replying to and blocking angry comments on my blog.

For those of you who listened to my emergent village podcast, you may remember me saying that I work for an organization called Teach For America. Most of us are recent college grads who have committed two years of our lives to work in public schools and do our damnest to close the achievement gap in our nation.

I have been so lucky to be placed in Memphis, Tennessee and most of my students are black. In fact, something like 90%+ of Memphis city school students are so, and I'm just coming to terms with this.

Before moving to Memphis, I have never really been friends, beyond cordiality, with any African Americans. And now, I have some 100 African American students who I consider my friends. In fact, they have educated me just as much as my English lessons have educated them. For example, an extremely smart 11th grader of mine taught me what collared greens are; they're basically spinach. Another student taught me what the phrase, "fixin' a'" means; it means "going to". Many white people don't know these things, as I didn't myself prior to coming here. However, I'm learning how extremely important these cultural differences are.

When I first started teaching English in a school predominately African American, I thought no one knew how to speak proper English, and this frustrated me to no end. Pronouns were a nightmare to teach. Yet what I'm learning is the language my students utilize actually has tremendous utility to them in their community. I don't want to say much more than that because I feel like I don't have a lot of business harping on a culture not my own. All I'm saying is, I'm very much learning to appreciate the African American community that I work with every day. They're a sharp bunch. And they're a sharp bunch not like I'm a sharp bunch; it's quite different.