Speaking in Colors: A Window into Uncomfortable Conversations about Race and Ethnicity in U.S. Bilingual Classrooms

ARTICLE: "Speaking in Colors: A Window into Uncomfortable Conversations about Race and Ethnicity in U.S. Bilingual Classrooms"
by Tatyana Kleyn

(Shared by Larry)
I am attaching a short piece on a study dealing with race in bilingual classrooms.

"The Liberal Gloat"

ARTICLE: "The Liberal Gloat"

by Ross Douthat

I'm posting this opinion piece, because I think that this opinion piece and one of the comments responding to it, were both very thought-provoking.

In his editorial, Douthat posits a common refrain/warning that Republicans make, namely that: 

     [There is a ] growing failure of America’s local associations — civic, familial, religious — to 
    foster stability, encourage solidarity and make mobility possible.

To his credit, this piece isn't a mindless attack on liberals, per se, but still, the arguments he makes seemed a bit skewed.Then I read one of the comments responding to the article and I felt like it did a good job of explaining what I was thinking:

• winiznayne
• albuquerque, nm

NYT Pick

The problem with the right is that they see the failure of social institutions as the cause of societal decay instead of the other way around. It's not the failure of the family, community, church that is the core of the problem. The core of the problem, (and the cause of the downfall of these institutions) is the rising inequality enacted by thirty years of Republican policies of deregulation, tax cuts, union busting, etc.

Republican economic policy is completely at odds with conservative social positions. It's an economic policy that openly embraces inequality and a social policy that demands that people help themselves. A policy that embraces privatization of everything, forcing people to make more purchases of every day products, but one that resists wage increases among workers at every point. The list goes on.

These contradictions breed a cynical attitude among society. Low-wage families can't thrive under such pressures, and churches refuse to acknowledge the insensitivity and absurdity of these policies. It is really hard not to see the Republican party, and conservatives in general, as a group of out of touch elitists who can't seem to understand why poor people aren't richer, why immigrants aren't maintaining families, why working-class people aren't intellectual. The core of the problem is the economics. Focus on the inequality, not the ramifications.

What do you guys think?

The Houses that Racism Built

ARTICLE: "Racial Preferences for Whites: The Houses that Racism Built"
By Larry Adelman

San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, June 29, 2003

We read this article in our PD last month and I thought that it was really powerful.  Here's one excerpt from the article that encapsulates the main message:

Racism doesn't just come dressed in white sheets or voiced by skinheads, but lies in institutions that, like the FHA, have quietly and often invisibly channeled America's wealth, power, and status disproportionately to white people. Those advantages are passed on and accumulate, generation to generation, giving us a head start in life. As Ohio State University law professor john a. powell observes: "The slick thing about whiteness is that whites are getting the spoils of a racist system without themselves being personally racist." 

When Pineapple Races Hare, Students Lose, Critics of Standardized Tests Say

ARTICLE: When Pineapple Races Hare, Students Lose, Critics of Standardized Tests Say

ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

Part of an eighth-grade English test has baffled students and given ammunition to activists who say that it shows the absurdity of standardized testing.

This is hilarious... and ridiculous...

Move to Outsource Teacher Licensing Process Draws Protest

ARTICLE: Move to Outsource Teacher Licensing Process Draws Protest

by Michael Winerip

Student teachers at the University of Massachusetts are protesting a new national licensure procedure being developed by the education company Pearson and Stanford University.

Dorm Offers Safe Haven for Commuter Students from Chicago's South Side

ARTICLE: A Dorm for All Colleges
by Michael Winerip
A new residence hall, La Casa, offers commuter students from Chicago’s South Side a safe, quiet place to eat, sleep and study.

What a great idea!