NIU Discussion

Last week at the beginning of class we discussed how the media is not making as big of a deal out of the shooting at NIU as the media did after the shooting at Virginia Tech. When the shooting at Virginia Tech happened I was studying abroad in South Africa. I did not have a TV, or access to a computer in the room I was living in, but heard about it the next day from a South African girl in one of my classes who saw media coverage at home on TV. When I finally got around to checking my e-mail, just about every e-mail from family members/friends mentioned the shooting, and how “it is just as bad as Columbine.” Now, after the shooting in Illinois, even though there were fewer victims, for some reason this tragedy is not as big of a deal as previous ones. This reminded me of a quote I read a few months back after the death of a South African musician who was killed by carjackers in Johannesburg in October 2007:

"Remembering the murdered has become an all too common experience in South Africa. Lucky Dube’s death has not sparked off a rallying cry against crime or even criticism of the government to do more. Instead the real tragedy is that South Africans have become numb to the violence around them, they have become used to saying goodbye." - CNN.com

When I was in South Africa I found myself not worrying whether or not I might get mugged that day, I just made sure not to bring a lot of money with me or valuables certain places. In South Africa, there are "car guards" who watch your car from getting stolen in parking lots at the mall, on the street near restaurants, the beach etc who you tip when getting back to your car. You do not have to legally stop at red lights if there is no oncoming traffic in certain areas because of the fear of being hijacked. There are 6 foot walls topped with barb-wire covering most houses...the list goes on. But the bottom line is that crime is everywhere, and as the quote said, people have become numb to it. It has become a way of life. It does not seem like a big deal anymore if someone gets mugged, and it is not surprising or a big media event when someone gets shot just so somebody can steal their car.

A very dear friend of mine that I met in South Africa came to visit me over winter break. He was shocked at how safe he felt in America, and how well my family knows are neighbors because we don't have a wall, how there are no car guards etc. I would hope that this is always stays the case. I know the shooting at NIU is a rare event, but it is sadly not too surprising anymore because cases like it have happened in the past at other schools and at malls. I find it really scary that the media did not cover the tragedy more than what was covered. I did not see as many magazine covers or news specials about the shootings at NIU as I did after Columbine or from what I heard about Virginia Tech. Is America becoming used to these sorts of events? I hope not. Should the media and government be doing more?

Book Awards

For the most part, I think that having numerous different awards is a positive thing because it brings awareness to great literature that is being written that might otherwise be overlooked. I know that when I go to the bookstore I look at the books with metals on them. I might not always buy them, but I pick them up and see what they are. Also, from class last week we learned that more diverse literature is now being written. I think that diverse awards being given is definitely a factor in this because it can inspire authors to write about their culture, or a culture that they are interested in. The negative thing however is that maybe awards such as the Newberry Award will overlook such diverse books because they will think “oh well they will get the such and such award.”

Blogging/Grimes

So far I have liked the idea of blogs. This is my first time ever writing a blog (I actually have to do one for two of my classes this semester) and I find them useful. My problem with them is I do not always know what to write. I would try to contribute more, but I feel like I need promps to do so, but maybe this is because I am not used to writing a blog where I share my thoughts for many to see. It might be more of something I need to “get used to.” I do find them valuable though, for example in last weeks coursepack reading something stuck out to me, so I wrote about it on my blog incase I forgot to mention it in class. I think blogs are very useful in this respect. Or, if you do not feel comfortable saying your opinion in class etc, a blog is another alternative where your voice can be heard. I think it is a nice place to discuss things that you did not have a chance to say in class, or things that you thought about after the class discussion. I like how the blog is set up so that you can access everyone’s blog that is in the class from the class blog page. However, (this would probably be more confusing) but in a way I think it would be nice if there was one big blog for the class or something like this. I do not know if this is even possible, but if it were the case, I know I would personally be more apt to respond/comment on other people’s posts, and would read more of other people’s posts. Overall, I f ind the blogs useful and something I would use in the future. I personally probably would not use a blog for personal reasons, but I would use one in the classroom. Especially if I ever teach middle school English.
On another note, I did a little bit of research on Nikki Grimes, and I think her reasons for feeling like she can write as an outsider for different kinds of characters are very valid. Nikki Grimes has lived in Tanzania and Sweden, and has permanetely lived in the United States. She has also had numerous occupations including administrative assistant, financial aid officer, documentary photographer, proofreader, translator, literary consultant, library assistant and freelance writer. These different perspectives and experiences have made her feel comfortable in creating different voices. To add to the insider/outsider debate, I agree that it is more experience rather than one being an “insider” that should determine who can and cannot write something. I think today’s courspack reading from Woodson and Nikki Grimes perspective also shows this.
Helpful sites: http://www.nikkigrimes.com/bronx/bronx1.html
http://www.nikkigrimes.com/bio.html
Also, one last thought about last weeks reading of Habibi. There are so many different perspectives that can come out of the Middle East. The sad part is that all of the conflict in the Middle East is based on religion. So much history/religious history has taken place in such a small part of the world, and unfortunately, these religious conflicts may never be resolved. However, when you set religion aside, I thought Habibi did an excellent job of capturing the culture of many Arab families. The importance of family, generousity, sitting in a room and laughing/eating, love etc. I saw myself in so many scences in the novel- spending a day communicating with someone you cannot actually talk to, the food, having an “imagination in Arabic” but not being able to speak the language. When my aunts come to visit, I will often spend a day shopping with them, or cooking with them. We really do not know what we are talking about, but we manage to communicate the entire time. It is my hope that these sorts of scences are taken with a person after reading a novel such as Habibi- because it can help break stereotypes. At least the stereotypes that attack people from certain cultures as vicious people. I never read a novel in school about Arabs, but I wish I would have had that opportunity.

Reaction to Readings for 2/6

I found the readings this week (The Minority of Suspicion: Arab Americans and Arab Children’s Literature) to be very informative- giving a good general overview of the Arab culture/Arab American culture. However, there was one thing that sort of struck me as akward when I was reading the articles: “The vast majority of Muslims are in South Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. At the same time, there are significant Arab populations of Christians, Melokites, Maronites, Jews, Druze, and Copts residing in the Middle East” (Al-Hazza and Lucking p 95). “However, the Arab world includes sizable populations of Arab Christians, Egyptian Copts, Maronites, Druze and Melokites” (Al-Hazza p 103). These statements are not wrong, but I feel that they are worded in a way that could lead to misconceptions. I feel that when one reads these sentences they could form the belief that the listed religions are different when in fact some of them do not hold different beliefs. Someone who is Maronite or Melokite is Christian. The Catholic Church (which is Christian) has 7 rites to it, and two of these rites are Maronite and Melokite. Someone who is an Egyptian Copt is also a Christian. I felt that the way this sentence was worded, made it seem like Maronite, Melokite and Copt was different from Christian because Jews and Druze are not Christian, and are included on this list. Most Melokites come from either Syria or Lebanon, and most Maronites come from Lebanon, but they are both Christian/Catholic. Druze is not Muslim or Christian, but the beliefs are close to that of someone who practices Islam. Many Druze reside in the mountains of Lebanon, bordering Syria and Israel. If the author was going to list Maronite, Copts and Melokite in this list after “Arab Christians,” then Orthodox (which is Christian) would have also been appropriate to list as would Chaldean and many other branches of Christianity. Just thought I would use this space to try and clarify any possible misconceptions!
I thought Nye’s Habibi was a fun read and was based on many factual cultural practices, but I also think it included some stereotypes about dress, religion etc. Coming from an Arab family/Arab-American family, I thought she did a wonderful job of capturing the general feeling of family values in the Middle East. When I was reading parts of the book, I could image in my mind the same family get-togethers that were described- overall I thought it was a really cute book even though there were some stereotypes!

Insider vs Outsider

I believe that as an outsider, you can, with the right knowledge and experiences, write about another culture that you are not apart of. It would not be as easy, and I think one needs to really do their research and try to submerge themselves (at least for a period of time) in the culture they are writing about, but I think that it can be done in an appriorpriate way. I very much agree with Rudine Bishop that an author needs to know a culture “intimately” in order to write about it. If an author does know a culture well, and the content of their writing is correct, then I do not see why one would have to be an “insider” in order to write about a culture. I think that the only thing an author would lack is the actual feelings that a person of a culture might experience. For example, I am partly Middle Eastern and have experienced some discrimination in my life. I know my culture fairly well, but I am sure that there are many people out there who have studied my culture who although might lack personal feelings of discrimination, would be more qualified than I am to write a diverse piece of literature with Arab characters. On the other hand, I think that there are things that an author can do in order to have a better understanding of the emotions that one goes through when they are discriminated against. For example, I studied abroad in Durban, South Africa last spring. Do to South Africa’s history, I saw an extreme amount of discrimination, and even experienced discrimination myself. Durban holds the highest population of Indians outside of India in the world. I befriended a lot of Indians while I was there, and often racially passed as Indian. It was a very humbling experience and I think it allowed me to gain a much different perspective on what it is like to be Indian in South Africa then some of my friends who could not pass as Indian. I do not know much about the Indian culture, but because of these experiences, I would probably be more equipt to be able to write about certain aspects that an “outsider” would not be able to write about. Overall, I think that content is by far the most important component that should go into determining what is and what is not good diverse literature. There are certain things that one can do in order to gain a better understanding about a culture different from their own, and in my opinion, this is what is necessary to do in order to accurately write a good piece of diverse literature. I like Shannon’s definition that “culture is a design for living-ways of acting, believing, and valuing…” and I think that if an author can do their research and understand these beliefs, then they can be qualified to write about them. I also think that is very important to recognize the point of view from which one is reading.

I found the video about Native American mascots and discrimination to be incredibly eye opening. Aside from a few colleagues at work, my exposure to, and knowledge of the Native American culture is unfortunately very limited. Before watching this video, I probably would not have thought much or possibly anything of seeing an Indian mascot at a sporting event. In the past I have seen such mascots and never realized that they were offensive. I empathized after hearing how offensive and hurtful it was, especially after seeing (I do not remember the exact examples) things like “The New England Catholics” or “The Midwest Caucasians” on team flags.

I was apauled by the view points and lack of understanding from some of the alumni and faculty members that were interviewed from the University. In my opinion, it is one thing to not realize that you are offending somebody or someone’s culture, but it is another thing to not try and change it once it is made clear that you are. One of the people being interviewed made the comment that the mascot was representing Native Americans in an “honorable and dignified” way. Clearly they are not if people are offended by it! Another made the comment that “minority rights are not always right.” I was very surprised by these comments. This video made me realize the importance of educating myself and students about cultures different from my own. I think that good, diverse literature one great way of doing this!

Introduction

I am a senior at Michigan State University majoring in Elementary Education and Language Arts. I am creating this blog for a class I am taking about diverse adolescent literature. I am very excited to be taking this class, as I love learning about other cultures different from my own. In my future classroom one of my main priorities will be to provide a comfortable and welcoming environment for my students. In order to provide this type of environment I strongly feel that I must educate myself and my students about other cultures. I think that learning about other cultures through literature is a great experience because the reader can empathize with the characters and hopefully have a better understanding of different view points. I am looking forward to this course and discovering how to find good literature that I can use in my future classroom and for my own personal benefit!