Talking Points 3

Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community~Dennis Carlson

In this reading the author is arguing the fact that society doesn't look as everyone the same. Carlson said that community, society, and schools should teach people to realize that everyone is "normal", we should be taught that it is okay to say lesbian, gay, homosexual, and bisexual. We need to use these words everyday because its real, its out there.

"Throughout much of this century, the dominant idea of community in America was represented by what I we will call the normalizing community. Within normalizing communities, some individuals and subject positions (ie, white, middle class, male, heterosexual, etc.) get privileged and represented as "normal" while other individuals and subject positions (ie, black, working class, female, homosexual etc.) are disempowered and represented as deviant, sick neurotic, criminal, lazy, lacking in intelligence, and on other ways "abnormal"." This quote is saying just because of someone's sex, gender, job, or sexual orientation they are stupid, this is so stereotypical. I know people that when they see a black man they think of them as dumb or "bad", but that isnt true. That black man could be just as smart as you or even smarter. This quote is terrible but so true.
“Three techniques of normalization and (hence) marginalization have been of primary importance in this regard: (1) the erasure of gayness in the curriculum. (2) the “closeting” and “witch hunting” of gay teachers, and (3) verbal and physical intimidation of gay teachers and students.” In high school my varsity basketball coach/math teacher was a lesbian and married to a woman. Her wife would go to all the games and her family was very supportive about it. When the parents found out they didnt want her coaching girls anymore. So they caused alot of chaos and eventually "drove" her out. She just had enough and stepped down from coaching, but still taught. Parents then went after her teaching job and now she has a different teaching job at a school that is very accepting of her sexual orientation. In a way she closeted her relationship from the whole school because she didnt want drama revolving around her, but she was open with her orientation with her team because we were "family".
I really liked this article by Carlson, it really grasped my attention. I think that everyone should read this article because its really true, people need to realize that there are people of different sexual orientations in the world. This is like Johnson, Carlson is saying its okay to say the words, just say them outloud. In this reading Carlson also talking about power and privilege like Johnson. They are very similar writers and want to get there point across to society.

Aria~Richard Rodriguez



I think that the author is trying to get across the fact that ESL students should still be able to speak their language in the home. This article makes the family totally stop speaking spanish to their children. When this happens the children and parents can not communicate with each other. They are drawn apart. "But the special feeling of closeness at the home was diminished by then." The parents could speak to each other in spanish but had to speak english to the children.

I think that students should still be able to speak their language in the home. "Is it possible for you and your husband to encourage your children to practice their English when they are in the home?" Richard would get yelled at by the nuns at school when he mumbled or didnt speak up. If a child is shy and gets yelled at for trying to speak the language he is always going to think negatively about speaking. If someone is shy about it then you shouldnt yell at them to speak up, you should encourage them to keep trying and its ok if you mess up.

I disagree with the reaction of the nuns in this reading. I think the way they handled the situation was way out of hand. You have to have patience with someone learning a new language. When and if I ever experience a situation I will remember this reading and how negative his experience was and never react the way that the nuns did.

McIntosh/Muwakkil

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible knapsack~ Peggy McIntosh

Peggy McIntosh discusses how white people are born with privileges just because of there ethnicity and color. She discusses how people of different ethnicities don't have the same privileges but could be the same person on the inside. Just because of their color they don't have the same privileges. Different ethnicities have to fear things that white people take for advantage. On page 2 "My schooling followed the pattern my colleague Elizabeth Minnich has pointed out: whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work that will allot "them" to be more like "us"."McIntosh also discusses the inequality of men and women. On the first page "I have often noticed men's unwillingness to grant that they are over privileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged... These denials protect male privilege from being fully acknowledged, lessened, or ended." I really liked reading this article. Everything she mentioned I totally agree with. As I read the conditions that she states in which her skin is beneficial one that really caught my eye was the last one. "I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color that more or less matches my skin." After I read that I really thought about how this is so true. I never really thought about it until I read it. I really liked this article and it didn't bore me!



Data show racial bias persists in America~ Salim Muwakkil

"Do you feel that racial minorities in this country have equal job opportunities as whites or no?" I think that they have equal opportunities but people cant see past the color of their skin. I mean I feel as though if it was to come down to a white man getting the job position and a black man the white man would get the job regardless of knowledge and experience. "However, white applicants with prison records were still more likely to be hired than black men without them." If race wasn't such an issue even today wouldn't you think we would of had an African American President sooner? People always ask the question "Is there still racism today? I definitely think that there is still racism today. How many company CEOs are African American? Or how many police lieutenants are African American? I still think that racism is a big issue today, and I think it needs to be stopped. You cant just judge someone by their skin color, that is just ridiculous. They could have more knowledge than the white man but because of his skin he doesn't get the job or he doesn't get the house that he bid on. This needs to be stopped!