English assesment test: Racist right or right for the kid?

Started by ewu, March 17, 2009, 09:11:05 PM

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ewu

Quote"Mr. Ruleaux (assistant principal Beau Ruleaux) told me I was 'no Rosa Parks' -- that I should give up because I would not succeed in my protest," Phanachone said.
The assistant principal seems to think this is a race issue.....

In reply to Pyron:
It is also possible for a person to not have the particular experience that others posses to be able to identify such things. Maybe you posses profound experience in other things, just not this. It is not as clear cut as the examples of racism you cite, but these rules do have a negative impact on immigrants and all those that look like immigrants. On the surface it is blatantly about primary language, but the undercurrents and the motivations of those that enact these rules are biased. You don't need to go farther than looking at the people targeted by this test. It is just another way to say that if you are anything but "normal" then you are not American. Gone are the days of blatant racism. Now we need to turn to understanding the institutional and societal aspects that continue to bar equality. Its the subtle way of identifying groups that are unfavorable and isolating them.

Yes English is not her primary language, but why does that instantly equate her to a person that is not fluent in English. Her stand is not about the reason why the requirement was instituted, but rather no one thought to realize that someone with a primary language that is not English CAN be fluent in English and not immediately written off as someone with crippled English skills. Would you want to need to prove you are a citizen each and every time someone hears you not speaking English? Fighting this test is just another way of combating the notion of the perpetual foreigner.

Why is there racism in the world? because the perpetrator does not take the time to understand the victim is just like them, another person.

When will we drop this ethnocentric attitude and join the 21st century?

to bright:(who posted while I was composing, please excuse the brevity)
I am glad and sad that you have had experiences in racism. I too myself have been both the perpetrator and victim. I hope that we take from our experiences and make this world a better place.

Also, I have no experience in the delicate science of teaching an impressionable mind. I do not know how to specifically address the problem, but unfortunately there still is a problem and it needs to be aired. Just like so many things in our society, there are issues that we see and the only way to make society better is to talk about it as we are doing now:)
Eric Wu
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#21
Quote"Mr. Ruleaux (assistant principal Beau Ruleaux) told me I was 'no Rosa Parks' -- that I should give up because I would not succeed in my protest," Phanachone said.

This is open to interpretation, because I would agree with Mr. Ruleaux. Phanachone is NOT Rosa Parks and no matter how hard she tries, this is not a race issue.

For those not familiar with ELL (as opposed to ESL) and other terms, please visit:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ell/glossary.html

If Phanachone really wants to "demonize" the test as racist (apologies if that sounds too extreme), she might want to study the history and battles that civil right groups in this country have fought through the years to get funding and support for schools to actually offer ELL services. You might also be interested in the Lau vs. Nichols case from 1974 in San Francisco. http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ell/lau.html

The test that Phanachone took is not a legacy of racism. It's actually the opposite. It's the result of decades of work by civil rights groups to ensure equal education.

And if you've ever worked in public education at the K-12 level, you'll understand what Pyron and BrightHeart are talking about when they bring up statistics and funding. Ultimately, that was what the test was about. And that's what Phanachone needs to understand.

And OT, but I really enjoyed this thread. BrightHeart, thank you for sharing. Eric, thank you for bringing up all this. I still believe it's important to deal with race issues, even after all this time. I just think it's important to make sure we pick our battles so that they're relevant.


PyronIkari

Quote from: ewu on March 19, 2009, 09:24:56 PM
In reply to Pyron:
It is also possible for a person to not have the particular experience that others posses to be able to identify such things. Maybe you posses profound experience in other things, just not this. It is not as clear cut as the examples of racism you cite, but these rules do have a negative impact on immigrants and all those that look like immigrants. On the surface it is blatantly about primary language, but the undercurrents and the motivations of those that enact these rules are biased. You don't need to go farther than looking at the people targeted by this test. It is just another way to say that if you are anything but "normal" then you are not American. Gone are the days of blatant racism. Now we need to turn to understanding the institutional and societal aspects that continue to bar equality. Its the subtle way of identifying groups that are unfavorable and isolating them.

Yes English is not her primary language, but why does that instantly equate her to a person that is not fluent in English. Her stand is not about the reason why the requirement was instituted, but rather no one thought to realize that someone with a primary language that is not English CAN be fluent in English and not immediately written off as someone with crippled English skills. Would you want to need to prove you are a citizen each and every time someone hears you not speaking English? Fighting this test is just another way of combating the notion of the perpetual foreigner.

Why is there racism in the world? because the perpetrator does not take the time to understand the victim is just like them, another person.

When will we drop this ethnocentric attitude and join the 21st century?

I was born in Iowa man. My family knows all about "racism".

There are no undertones. There is no secret initiative the government is doing to be racist at all. To be honest, people like you CREATE the racism in this. Like I said with the African American thing. It's not racist, at all, it's just that people look for a reason to turn it racist. Something that is completely innocent can be turned into something that's no. It's just the result of over thinking.

The fact of the matter is, there is no negative impact in this test. Taking this test in no way puts down any race of people, or anyone at all actually, and that's my biggest issue with this. No one in any way suffers, has harm done to them, or is segregated in any way.

To be honest, this reminds me of feminists arguing about how women are being oppressed because words are masculine. "Calling it the 'sun' is sexist!"