My Diversity Background

Well I grew up in a stereotypical middleclass

white town of about 10,000. Largely a farming
community.
Our largest minority was by far the Ho-Chunk.
And folks in town were not shy about voicing
their negative feelings about tribal members.
I was friends with many of the farm kids who
were also not shy about throwing around racial
slurs.I personally did not face too much of
that, being half Mexican.
My parents are both white, completely
European. My mother is my biological mother,
however I have never met my biological father.
The man I call Dad has been with my mom
since I was two years old. I have no association
with Mexican culture, I can barley speak
survival Spanish, I even go so far as to loathe
Mexican food.

My Diversity Background Cont.
Im also a convert to Islam. I have
donned the Hijab for various
periods of times. That of course has
its challenges and discriminations.
However, I would say I have received
far more praise than criticism.
Strangely most of this praise comes
when Im at work, not only from my
co-workers, but from white middle-
aged women who praise me for
going against the western beauty
ideal. I feel its important to note
that I work in a salon and spa. My
family has been supportive, but
mostly they think its a phase. I
could talk for days about Islam and
the joys it has brought to my life,
but that is of course not the point of
this exercise.
Diversity As a Teacher
I have a problem with trying to be too culturally
sensitive. My background in Ethic Studies has on one
hand gave me a enlightened view of minorities in
America. Their history, struggles, triumphs, and
visions for the future. On the other hand it has made
me too much of Cultural Relativist. Everything is
OK because it is their culture. Many an
anthropology professor has lectured on exotic
practices across the ocean, some might view as cruel,
such as female genital mutilation. A practice that we as
westerners have no right to judge.
While working at the Historic Indian Agency House in
Portage I gave a number of tours to Native Americans.
The site does not necessarily evoke the warmest
memories for the Native American community. These
were always the toughest tours because I felt I had to
sugar coat everything. The truth is History is not clean
and neat, but I sure do try to make it so for sake of
political correctness.
My hope in teaching the social sciences is striking a
balance.



As a Teacher Continued..
Another example I hope to avoid is
wrongly representing a minority group. I
was listening to a podcast of This
American Life a few weeks ago. There
was an interview of an elementary
teacher who was discussing the Sioux
uprisings in Minnesota during the
1860s. She quoted along the lines of the
Indians didnt know how to use their
words to settle disputes, they only knew
how to use physical violence, now we
know we how to use our words. Its
probably safe to say no Native students
were in the class to be offended. While
an elementary student can not fully
grasp the background and build up of
the uprisings, the seeds of thinking as
natives as uncivilized savages killing
innocent white people have been
planted.
As educators we have a responsibility to
introduce students to new ideas and
cultures. We also have a responsibility to
represent these cultures correctly as we
can. As fair to both sides as possible.
We also have a responsibility to teach
our students about their history. In a
class full of Latino/a students we cannot
bypass the Bracero Program, Cesar
Chavez, or other important moments in
the story of Latino/as in America. As an
educator I want to do my best to reach
students from all backgrounds and social
classes.