Journey toward Multiculturalism Author(s): John A. Poole Reviewed work(s): Source: The English Journal, Vol. 94, No.

3 (Jan., 2005), pp. 67-70 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30046422 . Accessed: 18/08/2012 14:06
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

National Council of Teachers of English is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The English Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

MULTICULTURAL

LITERATURE

OF

THE

AMERICAS

John A. Poole

Journey toward

Multiculturalism

Findingthat his ruralIdahostudentswere unableto connect meaningfullywith multicultural JohnA. Poole createda unitsupplementingthe readingwith interviewsof community literature, members.He describesthe unit'simpacton the sophomores'appreciationof diversity. have taught English in a rural school district for eight years. Ninety-nine percent of our students are white; others are Hispanic, Asian American, and African American. Most of our literature reflects the predominantly white background of the community. There are only two classroom sets of books written from any other ethnic background, The Chosenby Chaim Potok and The Houseon Mango Streetby Sandra Cisneros. Despite the lack of multicultural resources, our community contains many different ethnicities because of the presence of the Department of Energy. However, this diversity represents a small part of the total population. When I began my teaching careereight years ago, I assumed that my students were fairly open-minded and that reading multicultural literature would be part of the curriculum. However, I quickly learned that my assumptions would be challenged. The first challenge came one fall afternoon in 1996. We had been studying TheAdventures ofHuckleberry Finn in my eleventh-grade English class. To combat the one-dimensional perspective of the author, I had invited to class an African American speaker, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP. He told us a story of HuckFinn that opened our eyes. He related the events from Jim's perspective and then related them to his own experiences growing up in the South. Suddenly, some of the humorous jokes Huck played on Jim did not seem so funny. He concluded by indicating that he felt Huck truly came to understand Jim and overcame his initial racial prejudice. As he talked about his experi-

ences and answered questions, the students sat enthralled. After he left, we discussed the information that he had shared. Most of the students could not understand the racial hatred he spoke about. I felt they were perplexed by the hatred exhibited in racism and that the presentation had fueled their desire to learn more. As I walked to my car, I pondered the future possibilities of expanding this project. Our department could buy a set of books written by an African American author, involve guest speakers of other races and ethnicities, and involve other classes in these presentations. When I began my But I was shocked as I arrived teaching career eight at my vehicle. On my windshield were hate fliers from a years ago, I assumed that white supremacist group. The my students were fairly apparent success of my presenopen-minded and that tation evaporated into the cold reading multicultural November air. literature would be part of The second challenge the curriculum. However, I came later that month. I had a quickly learned that my member of this hate group in one of my ninth-grade English assumptions would classes. He brought with him a be challenged. level of hate that I had never experienced. This student did not and would not accept other races or religions. Life to him was black and white; black, brown, or any other color equaled evil and white equaled good. For the first time in my life, I saw the ugly face of racism and I did not know how to fight it. The combination of these two incidents left me reeling. I had always assumed that racial tolerance was something that people possessed

English Journal

Vol. 94, No. 3

January 2005

67

Journey toward Multiculturalism

because they were human beings. It never crossed my mind that people could hate each other so deeply and so terribly in today's progressive world. After I recoveredfrom my initial shock, I realizedthat racial intolerancewas not something that happenedonly in history. It was an actual problem that existed in my community. The real question was, What could some of the other teachers and I do to combat this hatred in my school?

the literature of only their own racialgroup, needed to be exposed to other reading material and other ways of viewing the world. I felt that students' work in the project should consist of three distinct parts: (1) reading multicultural literature, (2) listening to guest speakersfrom other ethnic groups, and (3) self-reporting on experiences reading the literature and listening to the guest speakers.

Diversity Education
Fostering racialtoleranceis not an easy task. Changing the attitudes, beliefs, and perceptionsof students is daunting. Equally daunting are the alternatives. Prejudice, bigotry, and harassmentcannot be tolerated. English curricula and My students, having literature choices seem to be experienced the literature the logical places to effect of only their own racial change. Reed Way Dasenneeded to be brock argues in CollegeEngroup, glish for the inclusion of exposed to other reading multicultural literature bematerial and other ways cause it "will confront us of viewing the world. with things we haven't confronted before ... [and] will cause us to come faceto-face with our own values in a way which will either cause those values to change or cause us to become more awareof them and more reflective about their value"(700). My students, having experienced

Multicultural Literature
The first step was to read multicultural literature. BarbaraWass Van Ausdall claims, "Ratherthan bemoan the task that society seems to place on usthat is, saving all our students from the many negatives that invade their lives-we as educators need to dig in and do what we can. Literatureis rich in explorations of the human condition and can actually provide an avenue for healing" (34). SaraDalmas Jonsberg states, "We can read texts that will open our students' minds to all the ways of being that exist in a welcoming world" (29). These two statements, along with my belief in the efficacy of reading multicultural literature, made the decision an easy one. I decided my sophomore class would pilot this program. We had recently read ToKill a Mockingbird and many students had questions about the effects of racial prejudice. In addition, these students seemed more eager to participate in a project than those in my other classes. I divided the class into teams of two or three. Each team chose an ethnic group they would like to learn more about. Once they had chosen their group, each team was required to read four short stories and four poems written by a member of that ethnic group. They had one week to complete this part of the project. The literature choices were great. They included poems such as "We Wear the Mask"by Paul LaurenceDunbar, "Love:Is a Human Condition" by Nikki Giovanni, and "Afro-American Fragments" by Langston Hughes. Short stories included "Bread" of Cisneros,"Carriers the Dream Wheel" by by Sandra Scott Momaday,and "A Pair of Tickets" by Amy N. Tan. Despite the wonderful choices, the students did not find them interesting. The students could not relate to the words on the page. They had no experience with other cultures and could not put the

68

January2005

John A. Poole

experiences of these writers into their contextual framework. Somewhat discouraged, I hoped that the guest speakers might provide the link the students needed to connect their readings with the real world.

Ethnic Perspectives
Representatives of ethnic groups in our community could provide a wealth of useful information. The local Department of Energy diversity coordinator provided a list of contact people from thirteen different ethnic groups. Unbeknown to me, many of these people had helped to form a cultural committee in our community that fostered positive cultural interactions. These people became my mentors and helped me shape my project into an effective and viable way to rid our school of racial bigotry. I had originally envisioned having one member of each of the thirteen ethnic groups come in and speak to my class over the course of the year. However, committee members quickly pointed out that racial misunderstanding is more easily addressed one-on-one. We decided the best way to have the students learn about cultures was to ask their teams to conduct an interview. Each team would interview someone from their chosen ethnic group. They would be required to set up the interview, write questions to ask their interviewee, and conduct the interview. The day I proposed this new phase of the project there were many student complaints. However, after talking through the positive experiences each student would have, they reluctantly agreed to see the project through. Each team chose a person from the list that they would like to interview and developed questions about the literature they had read, about the ethnic groups they had studied, or about the person they would be interviewing. Many students were extremely apprehensive about interviewing someone from a different ethnic group. Lindsay, a shy student, came to me one morning before school and begged me to let her do an alternative assignment. She said, "I just don't feel comfortable asking questions to someone who I know nothing about." I tried to assuage her fears by saying this would be a valuable learning experience. After talking for almost thirty minutes, she left the room, fearful but agreeing to participate in the interview. A Hispanic student wanted to interview another Hispanic, not a

white person. His reaction stemmed from his belief that no one really wanted to know about his culture. For most students, this was Eachteam chose a person their first contact with anyone fromthe listthatthey from another ethnic group. would liketo interview I was apprehensive as the and developed questions week of the interviews apaboutthe literature they proached. Each team either chose to invite their interviehad read,aboutthe wee into the school or to meet ethnicgroupsthey had at the person's home and constudied,or aboutthe duct the interview. Most stupersontheywould dents were nervous, if not be interviewing. outright scared. Others, however, were looking forward to understanding aspects of another culture. I secretly hoped that they each would have an experience that they would not forget.

Student Perspectives
The day after the interviews were to be completed, I sat at my desk, watching the students file in. As class began I asked the question, "What did you learnfrom your interviews?" I thought it might take a minute for them to respond to the question, but hands quickly shot into the air. The first comment surprised me. One girl and her team had interviewed an African American man in his home. She stated, "As I walked into his home, I saw a picture of Santa Claus, but he wasn't white. He was black. I had never even thought that other people looked at things differently than me. It made me realize that we need to try to understand things from someone else's perspective." While I was thinking about her comment, another student added, "My guy played pro basketball during the '50s and '60s. He couldn't even stay in the same hotel with the white players. He had to sleep in another motel when they traveled in the South." The comments and observations went on and on. Each student shared a perspective or insight that he or she had gained from the project. I waited anxiously for Lindsay to raise her hand and share, but she did not. As students were filing from the room, I noticed Lindsay waiting behind the others. She came up to me and said, "I wrote this paper about my experience. I want you to read it." She then quietly slipped out of the room. Luckily, I had planning period, so I had time to read her paper right away. The following is an excerpt from what she wrote.

English Journal

69

Journeytoward Multiculturalism

Lindsay had interviewed a German woman whose father was a German concentration camp guard in one of Hitler's death camps. Lindsay wrote: I took your advice and decided to come home and write about how my interview affected me. It is so much easier for me to just write down on paper than to say it to you or anyone. On the paper, the thoughts just keep flowing. There is nothing to disturb you or interrupt you. I never in my life thought or would have thought that it was really that bad for the Jews. It shut me up and made me think about it. For some reason, I can't get the movie AmericanHistory X out of my head. I guess it's all the discrimination in it or something. There is this part where all the Skinheads go into a convenience store owned by Black people and they just trash the place. They beat up the workers and wreck the store completely. They take a woman working and throw her up on the counter and put stuff all over her. All sorts of food and then start pouring milk and cream all over her face and she is crying and they are saying stuff like "Now you're white so you are going to move up in the world. You're going to lead a good life now." All I can say is I have nothing against people for their race and I never will. This interview really helped me see that. Lindsay and the other students were given a glimpse of life from another perspective. They were able to sit down with someone from a different ethnic background and talk face-to-face. It helped them be more open-minded in relating to others. One young lady summed up my feelings when she stated at the end of class, "We look at each other and judge, but deep down, we're all the same. The final part of the project was for teams to share their findings with the class. The criteria for the project were open-ended. Each team was required to present the information from their readings and their interview questions in a manner of their choice. Lindsay's group made a music video of the life of Martin Luther King Jr., with the song "Changes" by Tupac Shakur in the background. Another team chose to have their interviewee come in and speak to the

entire class, asking him or her to speak on specific questions they had asked. As the presentations continued, each team brought a different insight, a different piece of information to share.

Impact
As I reflect on this project, I am amazed at the impact it had on the students. On the last day of the project, I recorded some thoughts that students expressed. One said, "People are always better when you get to know them." The Hispanic student mentioned earlier stated, "No matter what I do or what I accomplish I will always be looked at as a Mexican and I will have to be proud of that." To him, the importance of the project helped him to realize the value of his culture. Another student summed up the vitality of this experience by stating, "I think there will be discrimination everywhere, but I think that if we stop and think about it, the way we feel will change." The project is the highlight of my teaching career. I understood that when students actively participate in a project, they learn more than if I do the work. I also learned that students must make a connection with literature and writing for their learning to make sense. Students left the class with a greater understanding of different cultures and a greater understanding of each other. It was an exciting learning process. Life had changed in a small classroom in Idaho. Ethnicity was no longer the divider; rather, it created of us a collection of differences that together made a wonderful mosaic. WorksCited
Dasenbrock, Reed Way. "Why Read Multicultural Literature?An Arnoldian Perspective."College English61.6
(1999): 691-701.

Jonsberg, SaraDalmas. "A Place for Every Student."English

Journal 89.5 (2000): 27-31.

Van Ausdall, Barbara Wass. "Books Offer Entry into Un51.8 derstanding Cultures." EducationalLeadership
(1994): 32-35.

John A. Poole teaches Englishat Hobbs Middle School in Shelley,Idaho, and serves as assistant principal.He also teaches as an adjunct Englishfaculty member at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg.email: jpoole@sd60.kl12.id.us.

70

January 2005