I had a tough time figuring out a topic for this project. I have never had a blog or a website and I spent so much energy trying to get the technical side of things together. My topic is going to be about assimilation.
as·sim·i·la·tion
4. Sociology . the merging of cultural traits from previously distinct cultural groups, not involving biological amalgamation.
a·mal·ga·mate
1. to mix or merge so as to make a combination; blend; unite; combine: to amalgamate two companies.
2. Metallurgy . to mix or alloy (a metal) with mercury. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amalgamate
When I first started reading, and actually enjoying it, I was mainly interested in books about slavery and people escaping to the North. I then became obsessed with stories about Native American's and how Europeans came to what we now call home and destroyed their homes.
I don't know why these were the books I chose to read or why topics like this interested me so much. Maybe part of the reason was that I have always been drawn to human interests stories. Why else would I want to be a teacher?
When I went to tech college in La Crosse, I tutored a woman who was Hmong. She had several children and she would make me authentic Hmong dishes and bring them to our meetings where I would help her with homework. I think Kaying was the first Hmong person I had ever met. I grew up in a tiny town in Wisconsin, we had two Black students and we thought that was pretty good for 1400 people in the town.
I went to Hmong New Year with Kaying and her family and I got to know her over the year I continued to live in La Crosse. She talked about her children and how they were learning English and how easy she felt it was for them compared to her. She also had not worked on computers before so as we talked and I ate the food she brought me we also did all our online homework together in the tech library. I guess I never thought much about it. I enjoyed getting to know her and finding out about her life as I do with any person I get to know. I never really wondered what life might be like for her in terms of the culture shock. I never thought about her kids in school and their first day. I think about my first day of High School as a senior and how terrified I was, and I knew the language everyone was speaking.
I didn't start thinking about Kaying again until my second year of college in Eau Claire. I took a "Foundations of Education" class for my teaching degree.
I also became a Peer Diversity Educator http://www.uwec.edu/housing/Organizations/PDE/
That's when I started learning about White priveledge.
I have always kind of felt sorry for myself. My family is not wealthy. We grew up very modestly. I remember eating rice and beans for almost every meal one month because it was the cheapest meal we could have that was the most balanced in terms of whole grains and proteins.
The first pair of pants I owned that were brand spanking new was when I was 16. I took on a waitressing job at the local cafe at age 14, my brother and I had a paper route when we were 11. We worked hard and finally one day when I wasn't filling up our parents one working vehicle with gas and bringing home groceries for the family, I purchased my first pair of brand new jeans. They were L.E.I. and they were really tight flares. I felt so good wearing them and so guilty for spending $35 on a pair of pants. It mattered so much to me back then. Fitting in, oh my god, I wanted to fit in sooo bad. I wanted friends. I was also homeschooled...blurg! I have always loved people, I can't live without people. But when I was younger, up until my senior year, I was at home during the day with my mom and little brother. I don't know how I didn't loose my mind...maybe I did a little.
So, it wasn't really all that bad. Everything is true but I am conveying it in that "woe is me" tone I feel sometimes. But what I'm really trying to say is, take my fear of being the weird awkward "HOMESCHOOLER," on my first day of public school as a senior and times it by God knows how much.
Anyway, White Priviledge:
#'s 15, 17, and 18 for some reason get to me the most.
Anyway, this eventually comes full circle to why I am picking assimilation as my topic.
When I was student teaching at a middle school in Eau Claire I had a class hour with six or so 8th grade Hmong students in a room of about 30. Most of my students took a while to warm up to me but I remember it felt like it took longer for my Hmong students. One day I remember watching one of those students walking down the hallway and a teacher said hello to him. He did not look up but he smiled and said "hi" very quietly. The teacher did not notice his smile or his quiet greeting. He simply said, once the student was out of earshot, "What a bad attitude."
This really bothered me. I couldn't handle that the teacher thought this kid was a bad kid when maybe he wasn't at all. Maybe he wasn't doing his homework because he didn't understand the instructions. Imagine trying to motivate yourself to do homework....yeah, it sucks...then imagine trying to figure out your homework in a different language. Forget that crap.
SO, I talked to a professor I had at college who was into Hmong studies and I asked her about that little interaction between teacher and student. Apparently, in Hmong culture, it is a huge sign of respect to not look your elders. In fact, it is a sign of incredible disrespect to look an elder in the eye. To look an elder or person of authority in the eye in traditional Hmong culture is like blatantly saying, "I will not listen to you, I do not respect you as my authority figure, etc." Also, in America there is all this crap about challenging authority, being your own person, listen to your heart not what society tells you. In Hmong culture, (From my understanding) there is an emphasis on family, community, respect, working as a group or a unit and respecting authority.
So that teacher was wrong and not only did he lose out by feeling like that kid was being disrespectful, but that student also missed out because God knows how much understanding was given to him the next time he needed extra help on an assignment.
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