Month: November 2009

A guest shares her thoughts on the proposed curfew

A guest shares her thoughts on the proposed curfew

Reading Time: 2 minutes

by Brandy Johnson

Tomorrow (December 1), a proposed curfew for minors in Iowa City will come up for consideration by our City Council. I was recently asked if I felt that the curfew proposal was focused on black youth.  My answer was “ABSOLULTELY YES!”  The violence that people talked about during the curfew debate has been taking place in our part of town, so it seems pretty clear that the curfew is more towards the African American kids on the Southeast side than any other race or location.

I am a minority student attending City High School and I am a member of the FAS TRAC program.  The choice of a juvenile curfew as a response to crime that affects all of us in my neighborhood–instead of choosing to invite me and my family and others of us to help figure out a solution–makes me feel like blacks aren’t to be trusted.  This makes me feel that our community isn’t welcoming me here, like I am being judged by other races (mostly Caucasians) and the decision being made is that I’m not wanted in my neighborhood.

Not only is the curfew affecting blacks in general, it is also affecting minors who have done nothing wrong.  I fit in both categories. I am not a troubled student or a violent person.  Why am I being punished for doing nothing wrong?  If the curfew is going to be a new law, it shouldn’t be toward one race or non-violent kids, it should be forced on the individuals who caused this.

It would be better to get to know minors as a new generation, understand what we are about, and hear our voices when it comes to making new decisions about us in our community (which don’t even affect the adults who make them). Again, why punish me and others who have done nothing wrong?

Pausing on Thanksgiving

Pausing on Thanksgiving

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  This morning, I opened my email to a much appreciated message from the president of the National Congress of American Indians, Jefferson Keel.

NCAI President Jefferson Keel Speaks of Gratitude and Hope on Thanksgiving Day

WASHINGTON — November 25, 2009 — National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Jefferson Keel released the following statement on the eve of Thanksgiving Day:

“Indian Country was here at the beginning of our first national holiday, and we are still here four centuries later — grateful that we stand proud of our tribal cultures and contribute their strength to the sustaining diversity of America.

Indian Country is grateful on many, many counts. A President and his Administration have heard our concerns and priorities, acknowledging the nation-to-nation relationship, at the first annual White House Tribal Nations Conference. The Embassy of Tribal Nations has opened its doors in the nation’s capital. Congress is working in partnership with us to advance the priorities of Indian Country as seldom before. And a national museum on the Washington Mall bears witness to us for all who visit it.

We also have much to contribute to this great nation. Above all, our cultural heritage has positioned us to spearhead the historic task of restoring a human connection to the land, air, water, all living things and one another. We give thanks that the Creator has safeguarded our message of oneness in the web of life, for it is instrumental to restoring the global environment and good will among nations.

We must give thanks for other safeguards — the warriors who guard our homeland, many of them far from home on this holiday of gratitude and reunion. Native men and women have steadfastly fought and died defending this country as the highest serving minority group in the U.S. armed forces. We give thanks for all who defend our country.

Also this year, we give thanks for the harvest that inspired the first Thanksgiving. Abundant as the harvest has been this year for many, for many others it is a lean year. We’ve known that unemployment is high and that household hunger is a growing concern.

As always, Americans give thanks this day for their individual and community harvest. But especially this year, NCAI calls on them to join the many tribes and individuals in Indian Country who are going the extra mile to help their needy neighbors, just as they did on that first Thanksgiving.”

Stereotype Threat

Stereotype Threat

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In July 2009, REL Southeast at SERVE Center, UNC, Greensboro,  published the Issues and Answers brief for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) titled Reducing stereotype threat in the classroom: A Review of social-psychological intervention studies on improving the achievement of Black students.  The authors tell us that “stereotype threat arises from a fear among members of a group of reinforcing negative stereotypes about the intellectual ability of the group” (p.i).  Without intervention, stereotype threat has a negative effect on student performance for members of such groups.

The brief considers only “rigorous research” and finds support for the following three classroom social-psychological strategies for reducing stereotype threat: (1) reinforce for students the idea that intelligence is expandable and, like a muscle, grows stronger when worked; (2) teach students that their difficulties in school are often part of a normal “learning curve” or adjustment process, rather than something unique to them or their racial group; and (3) help students reflect on other values in their lives beyond school that are sources of self-worth for them.  The report also notes several limitations of the study that are of great importance.  First, the report notes that the underlying search was very focused and included only those interventions that have been tried in real school settings.  This means that there may be other equally or even more effective interventions out there.  Second, the studies were small in scope and their replicability is unknown.   Thus, the authors urge readers to share ideas for reducing stereotype threat even if they are in the developmental stages.

The authors also make some important concluding points.  First, they suggests educators will need to adapt the strategies for their own contexts so as not to lose the spirit of the interventions.  Second, they suggest the timing of the intervention might be critical (one study focused on 7th grade students) as there may be “windows of opportunity for influencing student attitudes and beliefs” (p.13) and interventions might be more effective at particular times during the school year.  Perhaps the most telling point, however, is the last one.  The authors tell us that no social-psychological intervention can make up for lack of learning, motivate unmotivated students, or turn a low-performing and underfunded school into a model school.  They go on to say:

“More generally, the interventions would not work if there were not broader positive forces in the school environment (committed staff, quality curriculum) operating to facilitate student learning and performance. Without these broader positive forces, social-psychological interventions, while potentially reducing psychological threat levels for some students, would be unlikely to boost student learning and achievement. However, when these broader positive forces are in place, social-psychological interventions such as those reported on here may help Black and other minority students to overcome stereotype threat and improve their performance in school” (p.14)

Congratulations to REL Southwest for getting such an important Issues and Answers brief published.  However, let us not lose sight that these interventions do not directly challenge the system that perpetuates negative stereotypes about the intellectual ability of these groups in the first place.  Rather, they place the burden on students of color and the educators who care about their achievement rather than on the system that makes such interventions necessary in the first place.  Thus, stereotype threat interventions are a short-term strategy that may be part of a longer-term strategy to disrupt systemic racism and other social forces that serve current power structures.  They are not in and of themselves sufficient to transform education.

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