Friends Respond and Another Story
NOTE: A former
student, now I should call him a friend, expresses indignation and dismay
over World Racism and advocates eradication of racism in ALL its
manifestations – After all, racism does not have colour.
I agree.
And it is my duty;
it is our duty, commissioned by God, to help eliminate racism, in all shapes
and forms, from the world.
I included my class experience which some how illustrates F.S.'s views somehow. I agree. Racism in any shape or form - Black, White, Yellow must be abolished. Thank you F.S. for your views and experience...
H.K.
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Reading through your last 2 posts about racism has somewhat struck a
nerve with me so I decided I would write to you and give you my thoughts. I
don't know if you should post this because there are some people that won't be
mature enough to understand what I write below, but do what you want with it. I
obviously trust your judgement.
I 100% agree with you that racism is a huge problem all around the
world, but since when is racism defined as being only discriminatory towards black
people? Unfortunately, in today's world, that is what the term racism has come
to mean. You are absolutely right in saying that there are black people being
discriminated against on a daily basis by those in positions of power because
of racial profiling and discrimination. But, that's not supposed to mean that
whenever something bad or negative happens to a black person that it is because
of racism. Unfortunately, like with every race and gender, there are always
those who give their type a bad reputation.
Throughout my life, from my experiences, the majority of black people
have taken the term racism and are using it inappropriately. They blame all of
their downfalls on that. They think that because they are black, they are
destined to fail because of racism. But that is not the case. In Canada at
least, everybody has some form of opportunity to succeed, free school being a
huge opportunity. But whose fault is it that they don't succeed? They try to
blame the teachers. They went and made a school just for African-Canadian kids
thinking that it would increase academic performance and what happened? Their
performance hasn't changed at all and the development of such a school has only
further segregated society.
You mentioned that student of yours who always came late. Was anybody
forcing her to come late every day? No. It was her choice. Sure people can come
late sometimes, life is full of unexpected surprises and we are all human. So
what's her excuse for her constant lateness? That's not the teachers fault or
even the VP's fault or even the child's fault. It is her parents fault. Until
she turns 18, she is her parent’s responsibility. Her parents let her believe
that what she is doing is right when it is clearly isn't right. But the blame
doesn't stop there. The government and society is also to blame for letting
racism be redefined for the benefit of few. They claim to be a
"minority" and so they are entitled to financial compensations and
more opportunities and they are basically assured welfare should they need it
because they are a "minority".
This is really sickening to see every day in this world. Throughout my
whole life, I have been discriminated against because I am an immigrant,
because I am white, because I am Croatian, because I am a practicing Catholic.
Never once has the offending party been punished and I have been discriminated
by everyone from Italians to Blacks. What did I do to deserve all that?
I and my family immigrated to Canada from Germany, without knowing the
language or even knowing a single person here in Canada. We didn't have many
choices because we couldn't stay in Germany any longer because Croatia was
supposedly deemed to be safe enough to go back after the war of Yugoslavia
between Serbia and Croatia. But it was nowhere near safe. We had our home
bombed and destroyed so we didn't have too many options. We had to go wherever
they would accept us and we're glad Canada accepted us. We have managed to make
the most of our opportunities and we have had absolutely nothing handed to us,
no favours at all.
Speaking just for myself, because of everything that I've been through
and what my parents have done for me, I knew that mediocrity wasn't enough for
me. I worked hard and have had some success in my life and what does success bring
in this world? Jealousy… Jealousy brings out the worst in people and they will
say everything and do everything to try to bring you down. It really sucks but
what can you do. You can't sit around and cry about it. You have to pick and
choose your battles and fight hard.
To summarize, I agree that seeing racism in this world is horrible but
we will not be able to fix it until people realize that racism is
discriminatory against any race and not just against black people. We
are constantly hearing about racism cases against black people but when was the
last time you heard about a case about racism against a white person? That's
completely unacceptable and change will have to start with the government and
the laws, and then an overall change in attitude of the whole world to move
away from the racial stereotyping and like you said about what the VP said
about that student with the student's attitude and behaviour being expected of
them.
Having been a victim of racism and discrimination my whole life, I have
learned firsthand just how much it hurts and I would never wish that upon
anyone. Eliminating racism would benefit society as a whole and it's in the
best interest of the world to eliminate racism sooner rather than later.
F.S.
Another Experience
In 2013 I had three black
students in my math class – two boys and a girl. The girl dropped the course on
the second day. One of the boys dropped the course after four days. The third
survived…
He was a good kid and
had much potential. I urged him and attempted to motivate him as much as I
could. I did not want to push him to hard. After all, the other two had dropped
out and I wanted him to continue, to succeed.
I do not care much
about math. I wanted him to succeed in life with or without math. I wanted him
to learn to observe and arrive at logical conclusion. For this numbers help, but they are not all…
During the semester, it
so happened that Lincoln Alexander, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, passed away.
He was black and he was successful. I wanted to seize the opportunity to talk
about him in class. I wanted all students to appreciate his successes in life,
but I especially wanted my black student to take notice of him.
Lincoln Alexander had written
an autobiographical book: Go to School Little Black Boy. The title was
very suggestive and the opportunity was right…I thought about it and next day I
suggested to my student;
“If you read the book,
I will give you 10 marks on the next test…”
“Really…You mean it?”
I was serious and I
said so.
Every day we checked. He
had not borrowed the book from the library, yet.
I talked to the
assistant librarian about it. She had access to the public libraries -She
worked there too. I sent the student to her. She managed a library card for him
and I wanted him to read the book.
I was not successful,
but I was comfortable with him and I knew that he will not drop out.
All my pleas were not
headed. So I raised the ante every few days and finally I promised; “I will give
you a bonus 100% test mark - an extra test mark. The rest will have 8 unit
marks and you will have 9. One of them will be 100%.”
I waited.
The last week of the
semester he brought the book to class. I asked if he read it. He replied that
he got the book the day before. He was happy…So I called him to the front and
made him read the back cover. He did.
But that was all that
he read from the book.
Now I do not know where
he is. But this Black History month I still want him to read the book.
H.K.
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