Racist terminology in the classroom

[longleggedgit]

So I'm about to teach an article about a sort of institutionalized hierarchy of racism in a North Carolina slaughterhouse, and I was wondering how it would be best to proceed regarding some of the racist terminology in the article. It's got some pretty incendiary language, including the n-word among many others. The student who I'll be teaching is

Comments

[mikevonkorff]

Hey, I've read that article! I really liked it.

I think that the n-word is much less problematic when you're teaching it to someone who can only understand white-black racism on an intellectual level. Similarly, I could learn about Japanese/Chinese racial tensions, and any language used by Japanese people to refer to Chinese people, without having my opinion of either country or culture significantly changed.

So, I think it'll be fine as long as it's clear to him that the racist stereotypes presented in the article are just that, stereotypes-- and also perhaps given ideas about where they come from. (Since he's not too close to the issue, he'll probably have an easy time seeing that anti-Mexican racism comes in part from economically-motivated anti-immigrant sentiment, rather than an actual tendency for Mexicans to be lazy, etc.)

[longleggedgit]

It was really, really interesting, wasn't it?

I agree, although that's one of my concerns with teaching it, too--because it doesn't carry the same weight, it seems like it would be easier to misunderstand and potentially misuse (which, I guess in this case, just means to use at all) the word. Ugh, all this teacherly responsibility, it's eating me alive!

I think you're right about the outside viewpoint making that aspect of the article interpretation easier, though. He's such a mature kid and a really sophisticated thinker, so I trust him to draw the right conclusions.

[longleggedgit]

Ah, I should've specified, but I'm not in the U.S. I'm teaching in Japan to a Japanese student, and at a school that doesn't have a principal or department, haha. So that changes things a bit.

[longleggedgit]

I've read all your comments and am rereading them now--thank you, I really appreciate all the input. I'm kind of commenting-as-I-go right now but this right here:

That demonstrates the power of the word, without actually removing it, and it forms the habit of *not* using a word which should not be used.

That's a very compelling argument/suggestion right there. Especially because he is from a culture that doesn't use this word (as far as I know--guess I'll find out soon).

[longleggedgit]

I really do appreciate all of this. I was definitely aiming to hit many of your points in the comment above in the lesson(s) anyway, but you've helped put a lot of the points that were sort of muddled up in my head into more concise terms, anyway.

I'm still a little back and forth on the ultimate decision I'm trying to make, but I can assure you your comments are only helpful and thought-provoking, not hurtful at all. I feel like writing a much longer essay in response to all you've written me, but my bedtime is approaching, and I have a lot of thinking to do before class tomorrow. I think I'll opt to report back to you after the fact instead.

Thank you again for all your input! It's been really interesting and helpful.