Assessing
Student’s
Colorblindness
and
its
Place
in
the
English
Language
Arts
Classroom.
Casey
Staib,
Inquiry
Paper
June
2009
ABSTRACT
Can
students
get
to
a
point
where
they
are
not
afraid
to
interpret
a
different
culture
from
outside
of
their
own
cultural
perspective?
Join
me
on
an
inquiry
into
the
issues
surrounding
students’
ability
to
step
outside
of
themselves
and
their
own
personal
experiences
in
order
to
evaluate,
analyze,
and
write
about
a
text.
INTRODUCTION
This
year
I
have
had
the
pleasure
of
working
with
three
sections
of
Advanced
Placement
12th
grade
Literary
and
Composition
students.
They
have
provided
challenges
to
me
as
a
teacher,
as
well
as
given
me
moments
where
I
felt
that
I
could
shine
as
an
educator.
Learning
about
them
and
their
capabilities
has
been
one
of
the
most
rewarding
aspects
of
the
internship.
Each
of
these
students,
at
least
to
some
extent,
is
culturally
aware.
They
know
who
they
are
and
where
they
fit
into
society,
and
school.
When
referring
to
culture
in
this
paper
it
not
only
includes
ethnic
background,
but
also
race,
religion,
gender,
and
sexuality;
basically
anything
that
makes
someone
a
minority
or
considered
having
characteristics
of
“otherness.”
These
are
politically
correct
students
in
most
everything
that
they
do.
They
have
been
taught
throughout
their
lives,
many
of
them
growing
up
in
State
College,
that
the
best
way
to
show
their
acceptance
of
someone’s
differences
is
to
ignore
the
differences
and
make
them
a
non‐issue
in
their
interactions.
The
students
assert
“colorblindness”
assuming
that
this
is
the
way
that
one
should
approach
one
another’s
differences.
While
working
on
a
lesson
for
“Theme
for
English
B”
by
Langston
Hughes,
one
student
asserted
that
racism
simply
is
not
the
problem
that
it
used
to
be
and
we
do
not
need
to
address
it
via
classroom
lessons.
This
led
me
to
question
whether
or
not
this
was
colorblindness
or
something
deeper.
Colorblindness
being
the
inability
to
regard
another’s
differences
whether
that
is
race,
ethnicity,
gender,
age,
or
sexual
orientation
and
how
those
differences
may
or
may
not
help
to
define
the
person
and
be
helpful
in
coming
to
terms
with
how
the
differences
that
all
of
us
share
make
us
who
we
are.
These
2
differences
were
addressed
in
some
of
the
texts
that
we
studied
in
class
this
year
and
therefore
allowed
for
discussion
and
written
reflection.
While
the
same
student
who
made
the
earlier
statement
acknowledged,
in
a
free
response
assignment,
that
when
we
learn
about
people
who
are
different
from
us
we
are
more
aware
of
ourselves,
he
still
asserted
that
this
poem
dealing
with
race
was
unnecessary
in
the
classroom.
Attempts
were
made
to
explicitly
discuss
these
issues
in
hopes
that
the
students
might
come
to
an
understanding
about
the
potential
pitfalls
of
avoiding
discussing
one
another’s
differences.
One
of
the
things
that
we
see
throughout
State
High
and
I
am
sure
throughout
the
world
is
students
who
share
commonalities
grouping
themselves
together.
When
students
self‐segregate
they
are
often
doing
so
because
it
is
simpler
to
associate
one’s
self
with
those
who
share
the
same
background
or
life
experiences,
usually
based
on
something
that
comes
from
a
shared
cultural
experience.
In
her
article,
“Walking
the
Talk:
Examining
Privilege
and
Race
in
a
Ninth
Grade
Classroom,”
Kelly
Sassi
and
Ebony
Elizabeth
Thomas
cite
Beverly
Tatum’s
writings
in
which,
she
asserted,
“that
it
is
easier
not
to
notice
that
Black
students
are
sitting
together
in
the
cafeteria
(or
to
attribute
it
to
other
reasons)
because
to
do
so
would
mean
one
would
have
to
acknowledge
the
racism
that
shapes
this
seating
arrangement.”
(27)
This
lack
of
acknowledgement
that
is
seen
daily
in
the
students
seating
arrangement
directly
relates
itself
to
the
idea
that
the
students,
no
matter
what
color
they
are,
choose
not
to
acknowledge
their
own,
or
one
another’s
differences
at
all
throughout
the
day.
3
Sometimes,
there
is
a
tendency
to
assume
that
students
are
exposed
to
different
cultures
in
their
social
studies
classes,
and
that
is
the
classroom
where
teachers
should
address
these
issues,
but
there
are
others
who
disagree
with
that
notion.
According
to
Dr.
Jefferey
Taylor,
author
of,
“Asking
the
Right
Questions:
Helping
Mainstream
Students
Understand
Other
Cultures,”
when
an
English
Language
Arts
(ELA)
teacher
wants
to
provide
their
students
with
a
cultural
experience
in
the
classroom,
it
needs
to
come
from
an
overall
transformation
of
the
curriculum,
not
simply
an
additive
approach
(1).
In
thinking
about
this,
one
has
to
question
where
or
why
does
this
fit
into
my
teaching
and
is
it
necessary
in
order
for
students
to
succeed
in
my
classroom.
Dr.
Taylor
asserts
that
Literature
studies
are
at
an
advantage
because
literature
is
one
of
the
prime
sources
of
recorded
cultural
knowledge
(1).
The
literature
that
is
available
to
teach,
here
at
State
High,
includes
some
multicultural
options,
and
many
teachers
take
the
opportunity
to
ensure
that
their
classrooms
include
these
texts.
They
offer
students,
many
of
whom
are
white
and
from
a
middle
class
background,
a
chance
to
explore
a
world
outside
of
their
own.
Taylor
goes
on
to
say
that
the
best
job
that
a
teacher
can
do
is
attempt
to
discern
the
right
questions
to
ask
in
order
to
ensure
their
students
are
getting
to
the
heart
of
these
important
cultural
issues
(1).
He
goes
on
to
say
that,
“It
[multicultural
literature]
can
be
tapped
to
discover
a
culture,
and
no
culture
can
be
properly
understood
without
an
understanding
of
its
literature,
oral
and
written.”
(2)
One
thing
that
we
often
miss
in
the
classroom
is
that
when
students
come
to
some
understanding
about
a
culture
and
they
do
not
question
why
something
is
the
way
it
4
is,
this
can
not
only
be
in
reference
to
their
own
culture,
but
also
any
other
culture
on
earth
(Taylor
3).
When
students
miss
these
opportunities,
teachers
take
the
role
of
“question‐asker”
then
it
becomes
a
teacher
led
discussion
that
does
not
necessarily
encourage
student
exploration.
If
ELA
teachers
acknowledge
that
the
literature
that
we
have
at
our
fingertips
allows
for
an
understanding
of
difference
then
we
can
take
the
first
steps
to
forming
more
culturally
aware
students.
While
reading
the
short
story,
Everything
that
Rises
Must
Converge,
by
Flannery
O’Connor
the
students
wrote
about
the
strained
relationship
between
mother
and
son;
what
some
students
failed
to
do
was
investigate
the
role
race
relations
in
the
segregated
Deep
South
played
in
this
relationship.
In
one
student’s
literary
analysis
of
the
story
he
wrote
that,
“something
must
have
happened
in
the
family’s
past
to
make
the
mother
and
son’s
relationship
so
strained.”
Throughout
the
story
it
is
quite
apparent
that
it
is
their
differing
views
on
race
that
strain
their
interactions,
but
this
student
chose
to
ignore
that
completely
and
assume
it
must
be
something
else.
Missing
opportunities
to
meet
issues
like
this
head‐on
and
discuss
them
directly
relates
to
the
decision
to
take
the
more
colorblind
path.
There
are
more
examples
later
on
from
students
who
also
made
this
decision.
One
of
the
things
that
became
clear
to
me,
as
a
teacher,
is
that
in
some
texts
some
aspects
are
completely
unavoidable,
and
that
if
I
just
glazed
over
these
topics
I
would
not
give
my
students
the
opportunities
to
talk
about
something
they
might
otherwise
never
get
the
opportunity
to
discuss.
My
mentor
teacher
and
I
began
planning
some
lessons
with
this
idea
in
mind,
but
what
we
found
was
that
most
students
did
not
bring
these
questions
to
class,
such
as:
5
•
Why
is
the
protagonist
black?
•
Why
was
this
story
written
from
the
perspective
of
illegal
immigrant
children?
•
Why
does
the
speaker
seem
to
be
defined
by
their
race?
•
What
role
does
race
play
in
the
interactions
between
the
characters.
In
our
preparation
we
made
some
assumptions
that
students
would
read
about
these
topics,
and
wonder
about
their
personal
reactions
to
it
and
then
bring
them
to
class.
Students
would
need
explanations
and
therefore
we
would
open
up
a
forum
for
discussion
where
they
otherwise
might
not
get
them.
On
the
rare
occasions
when
students
did
bring
these
issues
to
class
there
was
an
overall
discomfort
in
discussing
them
and
an
inability
to
really
feel
free
in
discussing
their
feelings
and
ideas.
Later
on
in
this
paper
I
will
highlight
some
of
these
instances.
The
students
seemed
to
desire
to
maintain
an
overall
“status
quo”
that
they
were
used
to
and
doing
something
like
acknowledging
someone’s
cultural
differences
would
certainly
go
against
this.
In
order
to
more
fully
understand
the
situation
that
my
students
are
in,
it
is
important
to
acknowledge
how
some
researchers
describe
white
privilege
and
how
it
manifests
itself
in
the
classroom.
Part
of
the
problem
that
I
saw
in
my
students
via
reflection
and
discussion,
or
a
lack
there
of,
was
that
they
insist
on
asserting
that
they
are
no
different
from
any
one
else,
as
opposed
to
acknowledging
that
their
white
middle‐class
background
was
just
as
important
in
forming
them
as
their
opinions
of
others.
They
need
to
come
to
a
realization
about
who
they
are
and
how
that
came
to
be
and
see
how
that
experience
influences
their
opinions
of
others.
In
a
6
survey
of
questions
for
the
Theme
for
English
B
lessons,
75%
of
students
said
that
their
own
race
played
little
to
no
part
in
their
day‐to‐day
lives.
This
lesson
is
highlighted
later
on
in
the
paper
in
the
classroom
section.
What
the
students
who
were
in
the
75%
majority
did
was
ignore
what
Peter
Heinze,
author
of
“Let’s
Talk
About
Race,
Baby”
calls
the
white
culture’s
influence
upon
other
cultures
(2).
Heinze
asserts
that
those
who
are
white
with
a
Euro‐American
background
tend
to
look
at
racism
as
something
that
someone
either
is
or
is
not
(3).
In
looking
at
racism
in
these
terms
I
do
believe
that
my
students
see
racism
through
the
white
Euro‐centric
lens,
simply
because
of
the
way
that
they
were
raised
and
the
place
that
they
live,
and
it
is
also
apparent
in
the
way
that
they
approach
these
topics
in
class.
Whether
they
know
it
or
not
they
are
asserting
what
Peggy
McIntosh,
author
of
“White
Privilege:
Unpacking
the
Invisible
Backpack,”
describes
happening
when
those
who
have
power
do
not
acknowledge
it
and
that
means
that
any
oppression
as
a
result
of
the
power
will
not
lessen
or
end.
Kelly
Sassi
and
Ebony
Thomas
go
on
to
discuss
an
experiment
that
they
conducted
in
Thomas’s
class
that
brought
students’
races
and
differences
to
the
forefront
of
the
class
and
the
thoughts
and
reactions
that
this
type
of
assignment
provoked
(29).
This
exercise
got
the
students
to
not
only
think
about
their
own
position
in
relation
to
the
rest
of
the
class,
but
also
how
they
view
their
fellow
students
(Sassi
and
Thomas
29).
This
experiment
is
one
that
is
done
in
classrooms
across
the
country
and
at
all
levels.
They
had
their
students,
who
came
from
all
different
cultural
backgrounds,
answer
questions
depending
on
their
answers
they
were
to
take
steps
forward
or
backward.
The
interesting
part
comes
when
the
7
experiment
is
over
and
one
can
observe
where
they
are
in
relation
to
peers
from
other
cultures.
The
experiment
also
lent
itself
to
some
of
the
reactions
that
I
experienced
in
my
own
classroom
when
discussing
“Theme
for
English
B.”
They
discussed
how
some
students
said
that
the
lesson
only
brought
out
what
they
already
knew
about
their
privilege
in
relation
to
other’s
in
the
class
and
probably
made
them
feel
bad
(Sassi
and
Thomas
29).
This
experiment
like
some
of
the
discussions
in
our
class
was
purposeful
in
that
it
was
supposed
to
invoke
certain
conversations
whether
the
students
were
responsive
to
them
or
not.
Acknowledging
that
some
students
have
a
certain
position
because
of
their
race
is
not
meant
to
be
hurtful,
but
to
get
them
to
think
about
how
they
see
this
playing
out
in
their
school
and
in
society.
WHY
MY
CLASSROOM
An
aspect
of
this
that
can
be
seen
in
our
classroom
on
a
daily
basis
is
the
notion
that
on
certain
subjects
we
simply
do
not
know
about
them,
such
as
histories
other
than
our
own
and
topics
that
are
not
always
covered
in
traditional
literature.
This
often
becomes
an
issue
for
teachers
when
they
start
to
teach
a
text
that
is
not
part
of
the
historical
standardized
cannon.
Students
need
to
explore
these
topics
in
order
to
come
to
meaning,
and
this
is
especially
true
in
relation
to
other
cultures
that
one
might
not
be
exposed
to
on
a
day‐to‐day
basis.
It
is
something
that
I
have
seen
in
their
lack
of
assertion
and
seemingly
lack
of
appreciation
that
beyond
their
own
vision
there
might
be
something
worthwhile
to
learn
or
know
about.
This
also
comes
into
play
in
relation
to
their
ideas
about
using
colorblindness
in
order
to
appear
as
if
they
are
understanding
and
accepting
of
all
differences.
The
nature
of
8
ELA
the
classroom
allows
for
teachers
to
include
culturally
relevant
discussion
and
incorporate
these
issues
into
the
classroom
and
therefore
everyone
benefits,
but
if
there
is
no
student
response
then
it
is
virtually
useless.
The
teachers
should
bring
the
topics
to
class
knowing
how
important
these
culturally
relevant
issues
are
and
the
students
need
to
take
the
opportunity
to
run
with
these
ideas
via
writing
or
discussion.
Another
reason
for
why
any
classroom
is
a
good
place
for
cultural
discussion
to
happen
is
that
there
are
students
from
all
different
backgrounds
who
have
grown
up
as
the
minority
in
the
United
States.
While
my
classroom
is
largely
made
up
of
white
students
another
classroom
in
another
city
might
be
completely
different.
Even
if
I
do
not
have
one
student
in
my
class
who
sees
an
“otherness”
inside
them
it
is
crucial
for
them
to
learn
about
the
differences
that
all
people
share
in
order
to
be
better,
more
effective
members
of
society.
In
thinking
about
this,
in
relation
to
my
classroom
and
many
others
in
this
school,
I
wanted
it
to
be
relevant
to
teachers
to
acknowledge
the
white
privilege
that
exists
and
challenge
it
in
relation
to
their
ELA
classrooms.
They
can
do
this
in
a
multitude
of
ways
that
are
discussed
at
the
end
of
this
paper.
In
doing
this
there
is
more
of
a
chance
that
students
will
acknowledge
their
own
position
and
how
that
relates
to
others.
Getting
students
to
talk
about
these
issues
will
inevitably
lead
to
better
understanding
for
everyone
involved.
This
was
seen
in
Jefferey
Taylor’s
study
when
he
got
students
to
pose
questions
beyond
their
comfort
zone
they
came
to
a
greater
understanding
(13).
It
is
important
to
see
how
this
issue
as
well
as
others
discussed
come
up
in
my
own
classroom
experience.
When
we
the
students
choose
the
path
of
9
lease
resistance
I
do
not
think
that
they
are
doing
any
harm,
it
is
the
exact
opposite.
This
way
they
feel
like
they
are
following
what
they
have
been
told
all
of
their
lives
about
not
pointing
out
people’s
differences
in
order
to
assert
acceptance.
EFFORTS
TO
ENGAGE
STUDENTS
IN
CULTURALLY
RELEVANT
REFLECTION
AND
DISCUSSION
Upon
noticing
this
assertion
of
colorblindness,
I
felt
it
necessary
to
look
further
into
some
of
the
issues
that
we
had
discussed
in
class
throughout
the
year
in
order
to
explore
this
issue
and
recognize
whether
or
not
we
could
overcome
it,
if
I
was
perpetuating
it,
or
if
the
students
simply
felt
that
this
was
their
maintenance
of
the
status
quo.
In
giving
students
the
opportunity
to
look
outside
of
themselves
we
felt
that
they
would
embrace
this
opportunity
in
order
to
have
a
chance
to
not
only
learn
about,
but
also
learn
through
the
experiences
that
minorities
encounter.
The
AP
class
is
largely
based
around
reading
and
then
writing
and
discussing
what
the
students
have
read,
which
are
the
ways
that
the
students
had
the
chance
to
get
outside
of
themselves
in
order
to
interpret
texts.
Three
of
the
texts
that
we
used
in
class
this
year,
Othello,
“Cariboo
Café,”
and
“Theme
for
English
B”
were
the
lessons
that
I
specifically
decided
to
look
at
in
relation
to
the
issue
of
colorblindness
that
was
being
perpetuated.
Othello
The
opportunity
to
teach
Othello
was
one
that
I
relished.
This
is
a
text
that
is
widely
known
by
many
and
a
required
reading
for
the
AP
12
curriculum.
The
issue
of
race
is
one
at
the
heart
of
Othello,
Othello
and
Desdemona
are
in
an
interracial
marriage,
Othello
struggles
with
finding
his
place
in
an
all
white
society,
and
10
Othello’s
“otherness”
is
largely
exploited
throughout
the
play.
If
I
did
not
talk
about
race
in
relation
to
a
text
like
Othello
I
would
have
been
doing
a
disservice
to
my
students.
Right
from
the
beginning
of
the
play
the
students
are
given
some
strongly
worded
descriptions
of
Othello
and
his
relationship
with
Desdemona,
not
only
are
they
racially
charged,
but
they
also
reference
his
age
and
lower
place
in
society.
Here
is
one
section
of
lines
that
we
talked
about
in
relation
to
these
issues,
Act
1
Scene
1
Lines
83‐88:
'Zounds,
sir,
you're
robb'd;
for
shame,
put
on
your
gown/Your
heart
is
burst,
you
have
lost
half
your
soul;/Even
now,
now,
very
now,
an
old
black
ram
Is
tupping
your
white
ewe.
Arise,
arise;/Awake
the
snorting
citizens
with
the
bell,
Or
else
the
devil
will
make
a
grandsire
of
you:
Arise,
I
say.
Using
these
lines
coupled
with
the
rest
of
the
scene
where
Brabantio
is
alerted
of
his
daughter’s
marriage
we
begin
to
get
a
description
of
Othello
before
really
getting
to
know
him
and
it
is
one
that
specifically
involves
the
color
of
his
skin
in
relation
to
the
white
woman
that
he
married,
as
well
as
his
comparison
of
Othello
to
the
devil.
In
order
to
get
students
to
discuss
the
affects
of
this
language
we
first
had
to
get
to
the
heart
of
what
the
characters
were
saying
as
well
as
establish
the
effect
that
it
had
on
the
audience
not
only
when
read,
but
also
more
specifically
when
acted
out.
One
of
the
essential
questions
that
I
felt
the
students
needed
to
be
aware
of
after
reading
this
play
was
how
Othello’s
race
directly
related
to
everything
that
happened
in
this
tragic
play.
Teaching
a
play
like
Othello
encompasses
a
wide
variety
of
issues,
not
only
is
the
language
difficult
for
the
students,
but
some
may
not
11
be
familiar
with
the
nature
of
the
script
format
of
the
play.
That
being
said,
the
hardest
issue
to
tackle
is
that
of
Othello’s
race
and
its
role
in
the
play.
Upon
finishing
the
play,
I
felt
as
if
we
had
adequately
discussed
race
in
relation
to
the
play,
even
to
the
extent
of
how
racial
issues
from
the
play
reveal
themselves
in
society
today.
We
did
this
via
an
opening
activity
where
the
students
were
responsible
for
acting
out
a
scene
that
mirrors
ones
from
the
play,
but
they
had
not
yet
read
the
play.
In
this
activity
there
were
certain
issues
addressed,
but
on
a
more
relatable
level
because
they
were
in
more
modern
terms.
Some
of
the
prompts
that
the
students
were
given
are:
1. The
main
character,
Denise,
has
decided
to
marry
someone
from
a
race
and/or
religion
that
her
father
won’t
approve
of.
She
knows
there
is
going
to
be
a
big
scene.
Describe
the
scene
and
write
the
dialogue
that
might
occur
between
Denise,
her
father,
and
her
husband‐to‐be.
2. Rob
has
worked
hard
to
play
on
Varsity.
He
knows
he’s
good!
He’s
shown
up
for
all
the
games
and
practices.
The
position
that
he
wants
goes
to
Bill,
who
is
the
same
race
as
the
coach.
Describe
the
scene
and
write
the
dialogue
where
Rob
tells
his
friends
how
he
feels.
The
students
chose
between
these
two
as
well
as
3
other
prompts
in
order
to
take
a
modern
situation
that
they
might
find
themselves
in
and
relate
it
to
some
of
the
things
that
we
were
going
to
talk
about
while
reading
Othello.
We
made
the
connections
as
a
group
after
beginning
to
read
so
that
they
could
see
how
the
issues
they
might
face
in
relation
to
race
and
relationships
was
being
played
out
in
the
12
play.
They
also
did
this
through
a
free
response
question
that
they
wrote
about
during
a
class
period,
the
question
is:
1.
Is
there
a
difference
between
being
friends
with
a
person
and
marrying
them?
If
so
what
is
the
difference
and
how
are
the
differences
amplified
if
the
person
is
from
a
different
race,
religion,
ethnicity?
These
questions
were
given
to
provide
the
students
with
time
to
reflect
not
only
on
what
we
have
been
reading
about,
particularly
after
Act
1,
but
also
one
the
nature
of
the
relationships
that
were
forming
or
had
already
formed
in
the
novel.
Having
used
questions
like
these
and
others
throughout
the
discussion
of
the
play
I
felt
as
if
the
students
had
an
understanding
of
the
role
race
played
in
Othello.
The
student
responses
to
this
question
varied.
They
all
said
that
being
friends
with
someone
was
definitely
different
than
being
in
a
relationship
with
them,
but
they
did
not
really
bridge
the
differences
in
relation
to
the
second
questions.
The
overwhelming
majority
said
that
the
difference
is
the
relationship
itself,
not
who
they
would
be
in
the
relationship
with,
basically
saying
that
unlike
in
the
play,
it
would
not
matter
if
they
married
someone
outside
their
own
race,
religion,
etc.
The
students
wrote
these
answers
down
and
then
were
asked
to
share
them
with
the
class.
When
sharing
with
the
large
group
they
all
looked
at
one
another
and
basically
all
answered
the
questions
together
with
yes
or
no
answers.
I
later
took
the
time
to
read
these
answers,
and
that
made
me
question
whether
or
not
the
assertions
that
they
had
made
were
actually
true,
or
was
this
another
instance
where
they
were
trying
to
seem
as
if
they
do
not
notice
the
other
person’s
difference
and
therefore
they
cannot
be
racist.
13
At
the
end
of
the
unit,
one
of
the
tasks
that
the
students
had
to
complete
was
an
in‐class
AP
Free
Response
Essay.
The
essay
question
dealt
with
how
a
protagonist
may
betray
their
own
values
or
be
betrayed
by
someone
else;
before
they
wrote
the
essay
we
discussed
the
question
a
bit,
and
one
of
the
students
came
to
the
conclusion
that,
“Othello
did
not
have
to
be
black.”
This
was
not
only
an
assertion
that
I
believed
to
be
completely
wrong,
but
also
a
moment
where
I
felt
that
I
failed
as
a
teacher.
Many
thoughts
went
through
my
head,
as
the
student
explained
his
rationale,
and
although
this
is
a
class
of
particularly
opinionated
students,
no
one
else
agreed
or
disagreed
with
his
assertion.
I
saw
this
more
of
a
teachable
moment
for
myself
as
opposed
to
the
students.
I
needed
to
process
his
statement
and
then
determine
how
I
would
approach
this
topic
in
future
lessons
as
well
as
whether
or
not
I
was
alone
in
my
experience.
Around
the
same
time
that
my
student
had
made
this
assertion,
I
found
an
article
by
Husna
Choudhury
entitled,
“Othello:
What
is
the
position
of
Race
on
a
Multicultural
English
Classroom?”
While
doing
her
pre‐service
teaching
in
England
she
had
an
almost
identical
experience
that
sparked
her
interest
in
the
subject.
Choudhury
shared
some
of
the
same
ideas
that
I
had
before
teaching
Othello,
she
asserted
that
Othello
was
as
important
as
ever
in
relation
to
contemporary
racial
issues
(188).
She
went
onto
discuss
how
exploration
into
one’s
otherness
in
racial
and
religious
terms
has
existed
as
long
as
literature
has
been
recorded,
but
it
is
often
ignored
(Choudhury
189).
Her
article
went
on
to
talk
about
many
of
the
ideas
previously
outlined
as
far
as
her
students’
decisions
to
not
talk
about
certain
issues
of
culture
and
assuming
that
was
the
right
path
to
take
(Choudhury
189).
While
14
discussing
Othello
she
too
had
a
student
say
that
Othello’s
color
did
not
matter
and
he
could
have
been
of
Scottish
decent
and
it
would
have
had
the
same
impact
(Choudhury
189).
This
assertion
stunned
her
just
as
much
as
it
stunned
me,
in
my
classroom.
Choudhury
saw
this,
“as
an
attempt
to
further
write
out
the
black
‘other’
from
literature.”
(Choudhury
189).
I
think
that
this
is
a
powerful
assertion,
and
it
needed
to
be
thought
about
in
terms
of
my
own
students.
If
this
was
the
case
and
the
student
who
said
this
was
trying
to
write
out
the
black
‘other’
why
was
he
doing
this?
I
started
to
see
this
as
another
‘tool’
to
aid
in
the
colorblind
way.
If
the
student
made
an
assertion
like
that,
to
most
of
his
peers
who
sat
there
and
nodded
their
heads
in
agreement
with
him,
he
seemed
to
be
showing
how
he
thought
acknowledging
Othello’s
race
was
wrong.
Instead
of
taking
the
opposite
stance,
the
one
that
I
saw
to
be
more
important
and
defining
in
that
from
the
first
scene
Othello’s
race
plays
a
major
part
and
ignoring
that
or
saying
that
it
did
not
matter
was
ignoring
a
strong
message
that
came
out
of
a
play
written
over
400
years
ago
that
most
certainly
fits
in
society
today.
When
students
choose
to
ignore
the
‘otherness’
in
a
text
they
choose
to
marginalize
it,
whether
they
know
this
or
not.
In
going
deeper
into
Choudhury’s
research
she
talked
about
how
meaning
is
arrived
at
in
an
ELA
classroom
she
discussed
how
we
have
been
led
down
the
path
of
assimilation
and
she
cites
research
done
in
1985
by
M.
Arnot
stating
that,
“assimilationist
concepts
of
educational
and
societal
aims
often
resulted
in
a
disturbing
lack
of
sensitivity.”
(Choudhury
190).
This
assertion
was
more
along
the
lines
of
what
I
saw
going
on
in
my
classroom
in
that
the
students
have
been
taught
15
all
of
their
lives
that
acknowledging
someone’s
differences
is
something
one
should
avoid
because
it
is
rude
or
condescending.
Although
whenever
they
were
supposed
to
reflect
on
the
idea
of
race
the
students
said
things
like,
“we
should
all
feel
comfortable
in
asserting
our
individual
culture,”
as
well
as
“those
who
are
from
a
race
other
than
white
should
be
proud
and
feel
as
if
they
have
nothing
to
be
ashamed
of,”
what
they
neglect
to
see
is
that
when
they
ignore
one’s
culture
then
they
are
perpetuating
the
same
assimilation
that
they
spoke
out
against.
Instead
of
being
taught
that
the
other
person’s
differences
are
what
make
them
who
they
are
so
if
we
do
not
acknowledge
those
differences
and
the
struggles
that
they
potentially
had
to
overcome
because
they
possessed
some
“otherness”
then
we
are
truly
marginalizing
them.
This
apparent
mirroring
in
experience
that
I
saw
not
only
in
my
classroom,
but
also
in
my
research
led
to
me
further
explore
some
of
our
classroom
experiences.
Students
should
feel
as
if
their
acknowledgement
of
Othello’s
otherness
is
not
a
bad
thing,
but
can
be
a
reflective
opportunity
for
kids
to
explore
outside
of
their
own
experience.
“Cariboo
Café”
The
next
activity
that
I
decided
to
explore
were
papers
written
about
a
short
story
that
was
one
of
the
texts
in
the
student‐taught
short
story
Unit.
The
story,
“Cariboo
Café”
was
about
young
illegal
immigrants
who
find
themselves
kidnapped
by
a
confused
woman
who
recently
lost
her
son.
This
story
was
new
to
them
and
presented
a
form
of
writing
that
they
had
not
been
previously
exposed
to.
Students
were
intrigued
by
this
story
and
had
a
difficult
time
navigating
through
the
unusual
writing
style
in
that
the
story
was
broken
down
into
3
parts,
all
told
from
a
different
16
characters
perspective
in
the
third
person;
they
largely
focused
on
this
navigation
through
the
text
as
opposed
to
finding
deeper
meaning.
The
students
in
the
class
neglected
to
acknowledge
that
these
children
had
a
barrier
against
them
to
begin
with
being
minorities
in
a
country
where
their
family
felt
they
were
not
wanted,
and
this
lack
of
acknowledgement
transcended
itself
from
the
discussion
into
the
written
work
that
they
submitted.
Two
students
who
wrote
essays
about
how
the
style
of
the
writing
lent
itself
to
what
was
happening
in
the
story
said
that
the
style
the
author
used
served
to
let
the
reader
know
about
the
“true”
immigrant
experience.
While
they
asserted
this,
they
made
no
attempts
to
say
what
this
experience
was
or
how
they
saw
it
after
reading
the
short
story.
To
me,
this
was
an
example
how
it
is
easier
to
say
something
about
a
topic
such
as
illegal
immigration
without
actually
defining
what
they
feel
or
mean,
or
put
parameters
around
it.
Cultural
stereotypes
that
we
see
perpetuated
in
society
were
being
perpetuated
in
the
classroom.
In
a
writing
assignment
that
we
had
given
them
they
were
supposed
to
talk
about
the
form
of
the
story
and
how
it
lended
itself
to
the
plight
of
the
immigrant
children
in
the
story.
The
idea
being
that
they
might
discuss
the
ideas
that
the
author
had
or
the
commentary
she
was
making
about
illegal
immigration
in
the
United
State.
Some
of
the
papers
that
we
received
were
surprisingly
harsh
in
relation
to
the
children,
one
student
saying,
“However,
even
though
the
children
avoid
the
police,
they
do
not
despise
them
yet.
They
have
not
hardened
like
their
parents
and
dropped
to
the
level
of
name‐calling
and
insults
yet.”
17
It
was
as
if
the
students
had
forgotten
about
being
a
child
let
alone
being
an
“outsider”
of
society
who
fears
being
sent
back
to
a
place
they
do
not
even
know.
I
continued
to
wonder
about
whether
or
not
they
even
had
the
skill
set
to
look
outside
themselves,
in
order
to
at
least
express
empathy,
since
they
had
never
actually
been
considered
outsiders.
The
student
who
said
this
went
on
to
say
that
the
children
were
not
the
vengeful
immigrants
yet
either,
but
they
were
more
than
likely
headed
in
that
direction.
It
was
as
If
he
did
not
take
the
time
to
think
that
he
was
simply
making
assumptions
based
on
his
own
personal
ideas
about
illegal
immigration
as
opposed
to
looking
at
it
from
the
perspective
of
a
child
who
is
lost
and
then
gets
kidnapped.
Another
student
went
on
to
talk
about
how
the
protagonist,
“epitomized
a
child
from
an
illegal
immigrant
family,”
but
did
not
go
on
to
explain
exactly
what
that
meant.
While
reading
the
essay
I
wondered
what
exactly
it
meant
to
epitomize
immigrants
and
realized
that
the
student
more
than
likely
did
not
really
take
the
time
to
explain
what
that
meant
because
she
was
simply
reiterating
what
she
had
heard
before.
Teaching
this
story
and
going
back
and
looking
at
the
writing
made
it
even
more
evident
to
me
that
the
students
struggle
looking
beyond
their
own
experiences,
and
although
I
thought
that
I
was
doing
a
good
job
in
encouraging
them
to
do
so
they
still
neglected
the
task.
This
was
especially
powerful
in
thinking
about
how
they
regard
their
own
experience,
or
lack
there
of.
If
they
resist
finding
anything
culturally
relevant
in
their
own
experiences,
like
I
will
illustrate
them
doing
later,
then
it
should
not
come
as
any
surprise
that
they
could
not
do
so
for
another
culture.
18
“Theme
for
English
B”
Continuing
down
the
path
of
least
resistance
the
students
stayed
within
themselves
even
when
characters
in
text
might
be
relatable
to
them.
I
thought
it
necessary
to
try
to
explicitly
talk
about
some
of
these
issues
in
class
in
relation
to
a
poem
in
our
poetry
unit.
“Theme
for
English
B,”
was
written
by
Langston
Hughes
in
1951
on
the
cusp
of
the
Civil
Rights
Movement.
It
explicitly
deals
with
a
student
who
is
trying
to
not
only
fulfill
an
assignment
from
his
teacher,
but
also
find
where
he
fits
into
society
in
relation
to
his
“otherness.”
It
can
be
argued
that
in
this
poem
the
speaker’s
race
plays
a
major
role
in
his
definition
of
himself,
so
I
posed
this
question
to
the
students:
“What
role
does
race
play
in
your
life?”
The
majority
of
students
said
that
their
race
place
no
role
in
how
they
see
themselves;
some
simply
acknowledged
that
they
are
American
and
one
student
went
as
far
as
saying
“When
I
think
about
my
race
and
my
own
identity
I
often
wish
I
were
a
different
race
[other
than
white]
with
an
actual
culture.”
Upon
reading
these
responses,
especially
the
last
one
it
struck
me
that
it
would
be
difficult
to
see
other
racial
and
cultural
relevance
if
I
cannot
see
my
own
or
even
acknowledge
that
there
is
something
different
about
me
even
if
I
am
“just
white.”
Not
only
did
I
see
this
as
an
issue
in
relation
to
their
personal
experiences,
but
it
would
especially
relate
itself
to
their
lack
of
seeing
from
outside
of
their
personal
perspectives.
Not
acknowledging
someone
else’s
differences
further
marginalizes
that
person.
It
seemed
that
the
students
who
were
insistent
that
their
whiteness
had
not
cultural
relevance
for
them,
was
essentially
furthering
the
damage
potentially
being
done
by
this
“oppressions
by
inaction.”
19
According
to
Peggy
McIntosh,
white
people
tend
to
lack
the
ability
to
acknowledge
that
with
their
skin
color
comes
privilege
(“White
Privilege:
Unpacking
the
Invisible
Backpack”)
I
was
seeing
this
in
relation
to
my
classroom;
it
goes
right
along
with
the
notion
of
colorblindness
in
that
if
the
students
do
not
even
acknowledge
that
their
individual
races
put
them
in
a
certain
position,
then
someone
else’s
race
does
the
same
for
them.
My
students
were
ignoring
that
they
were
potentially
furthering
the
oppression
that
they
were
so
earnestly
trying
to
avoid
by
simply
ignoring
that
their
race
had
any
impact
on
their
day‐to‐day
life.
The
colorblindness
that
I
was
seeing
asserted
in
the
classroom
could
easily
be
a
result
of
their
lack
of
meaningful
reflection
into
their
own
culture.
Although
many
students
took
this
position
there
were
some
who
acknowledged
that
their
race
did
in
fact
play
a
part
in
their
daily
lives.
The
same
student
who
discussed
the
immigrant
children’s
future
of
vengeful
thoughts,
said
that
his
race
was
“semi‐big”
in
defining
who
he
was.
He
went
on
to
say
how
it
was
big
in
relation
to
getting
into
college
and
potentially
getting
an
opportunity
over
a
white
person
because
he
was
considered
a
minority.
Another
student
went
in
the
opposite
direction
of
the
masses
in
saying
that
“It
is
important
to
remember
our
collective
histories
rather
than
just
be
American.”
One
more
reaction
acknowledged
that,
“In
trying
to
find
our
place
in
a
rapidly
converging
world,
it
is
essential
to
always
recall
where
you
came
from.”
These
were
a
few
oppositional
reactions
that
students
had
who
were
willing
to
recognize
their
own
personal
cultural
differences
whether
they
were
race
or
ethnicity.
These
answers
exemplified
that
when
given
the
opportunity,
some
students
have
the
ability
to
discuss
their
own
culture
and
20
potentially
the
cultures
of
the
characters
who
we
meet
in
texts.
It
was
a
small
step
in
the
direction
of
recognizing
that
even
if
they
were
white
there
was
something
about
that,
that
defined
who
they
were
and
where
they
fit
into
society.
This
is
a
step
towards
“unpacking”
their
whiteness
in
order
to
see
how
that
places
them
in
society.
We
had
one
more
day
in
class
to
talk
about
“Theme
for
English
B”
and
it
was
important
to
me
to
ask
the
students
if
there
was
still
relevance
in
society
today
to
talk
about
a
poem
that
has
racial
implications.
I
felt
that
asking
them
about
this,
would
lead
to
some
understanding
about
why
they
think
that
ignoring
differences
is
better
than
talking
about
them
out
in
the
open.
The
student
responses
did
provide
clarity,
to
some
extent,
but
in
the
end
led
to
more
questions.
One
student
believed
that
“Race
is
no
longer
a
defining
feature
in
interactions.”
Another
student
agreed
saying
“Racism
is
made
out
to
be
worse
than
it
is.”
Another
disagreed
saying
“There
is
still
a
lot
of
racism
not
only
in
the
US,
but
also
around
the
world.”
While
others
in
another
class
agreed
that
a
poem
like
this
not
only
transcends
time,
but
also
issues.
These
answers
showed
me
that
they
students
have
pointed
views
in
how
they
see
culturally
relevant
issues,
especially
in
relation
to
race.
The
students
who
challenged
the
assertions
that
this
poem
is
not
relevant
today
were
in
the
minority
in
one
class
and
in
the
majority
in
two
others.
I
believe
that
this
important
in
order
to
highlight
21
that
in
relation
to
certain
issues
such
as
race
and
racism
the
majority
of
students
through
the
different
class
periods
felt
that
there
is
some
reason
to
talk
about
a
poem
about
race.
The
aforementioned
quotes
were
from
a
small
number
of
students,
who
asserted
a
position
that,
in
my
opinion,
is
controversial.
This
could
be
their
“position”
or
this
could
be
a
trend
that
we
are
moving
towards
as
a
society
in
believing
that
the
further
we
are
removed
from
the
Civil
Rights
Movement
coupled
with
something
as
profound
as
having
an
African
American
president
means
that
racism
does
not
exist
in
society
any
more.
Throughout
my
explorations
of
these
issues
I
came
to
some
conclusions.
They
were
sometimes
surprising
and
more
often
than
not
led
me
to
further
question
what
was
happening
in
the
classroom.
It
became
increasingly
clearer
to
me
that
the
students
who
were
in
my
classroom
were
so
engrossed
in
their
own
whiteness
that
it
was
difficult
to
see
beyond
their
own
experience,
as
a
frame
of
reference.
Then
growing
out
of
that
it
was
obvious
that
they
were
not
really
questioning
themselves
and
their
own
culture
so
how
could
I
expect
them
to
comfortably
do
so
with
other
cultures.
As
I
have
highlighted
later
on
in
this
paper,
the
students
who
were
“stuck”
in
their
whiteness
tended
to
avoid
talking
about
cultures
different
from
their
own
in
a
classroom
setting,
and
only
minimally
did
when
writing
and
reflecting.
It
is
important
to
me
to
continue
to
investigate
this
phenomenon
in
my
classrooms
in
the
future.
With
the
availability
of
more
multicultural
texts
at
different
levels
I
believe
that
I
can
continue
to
chip
away
that
the
comfort
students
feel
in
asserting
their
colorblindness.
SOLUTIONS
and
SUGGESTIONS
22
One
possible
solution
in
dealing
with
these
issues
in
the
classroom
is
the
application
of
Critical
Race
Theory
(CRT).
Critical
Race
Theory
has
been
used
in
education
as
a
multicultural
heuristic.
It
is
a
new
way
to
critique
the
current
structures
and
practices
in
schooling.
So,
in
terms
of
teaching
and
learning,
CRT
challenges
current
teaching
pedagogical
practices
of
schooling
to
recognize
and
celebrate
African‐American
and
other
marginalized
groups
by
using
student
culture
as
the
basis
for
helping
students
understand
themselves
and
others,
structure
social
interaction
and
conceptualize
knowledge.
Learning
becomes
knowledge
acquisition
of
the
aforementioned
thing
but
not
necessarily
limited
to
it.
As
I
talked
about
earlier
the
notion
of
colorblindness
and
being
associated
with
racism
Arlette
Willis
and
Kimberly
Parker,
authors
of
“Oh
Say,
Do
You
See?
Using
Critical
Race
Theory
to
Inform
English
Language
Arts
Instruction,”
assert
that
whether
or
not
someone
chooses
to
acknowledge
racial
issues
is
a
choice
that
people
make
that
could
be
more
of
a
hindrance.
This
is
because
of
the
same
ideas
asserted
by
McIntosh
and
others
that
ignoring
these
issues
only
perpetuates
them
and
does
not
allow
for
them
to
go
away.
CRT
is
somewhat
problematic
in
relation
to
its
not
actually
being
educationally
directed,
but
it
has
its
place
especially
in
the
ELA
classroom.
CRT
can
be
used
as
a
tool
to
challenge
student’s
whiteness
and
show
them
that
their
perspective
does
not
just
exists
it
comes
out
of
their
own
cultural
experience.
You
could
then
connect
that
with
the
idea
that
if
they
can
acknowledge
that
then
they
can
make
steps
towards
comfortably
asserting
their
opinions.
It
is
especially
23
important
for
teachers
to
have
the
tools
to
use
CRT
in
their
planning
and
preparation
for
certain
topics.
It
specifically
helps
to
determine
how
one
can
form
a
multidimensional
identity
these
identities
are
needed
to
survive
within
and
outside
of
school
(Willis
and
Parker
34).
They
assert
that
whether
or
not
someone
chooses
to
acknowledge
[culture]
is
a
choice
and
as
teachers
it
is
important
to
encourage
decision
making
in
that
direction
(Willis
and
Parker
34).
Making
that
choice
one
way
or
another
leads
to
differing
perceptions
about
the
world
around
the
students
(Willis
and
Parker
35).
Willis
and
parker
acknowledge
that
it
is
necessary
for
us
as
teachers
to
know
about
the
relationship
between
race,
racism,
privilege,
and
power
and
acknowledge
that
Language
Art
studies
are
a
way
for
students
to
explore
the
multifaceted
nature
of
the
works
and
apply
them
via
analysis
(Willis
and
Parker
35).
The
nature
of
an
ELA
classroom
is
one
of
exploration.
This
comes
via
the
medium
of
literature.
My
best
suggestion
is
the
one
that
the
rest
of
them
relate
to
is
to
include
texts
that
allow
students,
especially
if
the
class
is
homogenous
in
any
direction,
to
explore
different
cultures
and
cultural
themes.
Some
other
suggestions
include:
providing
students
with
an
open
forum
in
order
to
express
their
thoughts
and
feelings
openly,
ensure
that,
as
educators,
we
are
not
simply
“glazing
over”
topics
that
can
be
potentially
problematic,
keep
our
own
personal
thoughts
and
beliefs
out
of
the
classroom,
in
order
to
give
the
students
room
to
explore,
and
have
discussions
about
topics
to
get
to
know
your
students
and
gauge
where
their
thoughts
lie
in
relation
to
certain
topics.
The
literature
choices
that
we
as
teachers
make
directly
relate
to
the
availability
for
students
to
do
these
things.
In
relation
to
24
getting
students
to
look
and
think
beyond
themselves
teachers
need
to
start
within
themselves
and
their
own
education
and
preparation.
If
I
did
not
see
this
as
an
issue
in
my
classroom
then
I
would
not
have
tried
to
challenge
and/or
overcome
it.
Students
who
have
invoked
colorblindness
are
not
going
to
be
easily
swayed
to
look
outside
themselves,
but
it
is
worthwhile
to
have
them
try
to
do
so.
25
Works
Cited
Choudhury,
Husna.
“Othello:
What
is
the
position
of
Race
in
a
Multicultural
English
Classroom?”
Changing
English.
14.2
(2007):
187‐200.
Heinze,
Peter.
“Let’s
Talk
About
Race,
Baby.”
Multicultural
Education.
(2008).
McIntosh,
Peggy.
“White
Privilege:
Unpacking
the
Invisible
Backpack.”
Sassi,
Kelly,
and
Ebony
Elizabeth
Thomas.
“Walking
the
Talk:
Examining
Privilege
and
Race
in
a
Ninth
Grade
Classroom.”
English
Journal.
97.6
(2008):
25‐31.
Taylor,
Dr.
Jefferey.
“Asking
the
Right
Questions:
Helping
Mainstream
Students
Understand
Other
Cultures.”
Opinion
Papers.
(2002):1‐15.
Willis,
Arlette
Ingram,
and
Kimberly
N.
Parker.
“Oh
Say,
Do
You
See?
Using
Critical
Race
Theory
to
Inform
English
Language
Arts
Instruction.”
Breaking
the
Silence:
Recognizing
the
Social
and
Cultural
Resources
Students
Bring
to
the
Classroom.
International
Reading
Association,
2009.
26
27