Diane McCants

Visit with Diane McCants, native of Farmington, NM

Thank you, Diane, for sharing your story with us!

Talking Points:

One Book/One Community: An African American Perspective
Giving Voice to the Past (Majestic Winter 2016, pp. 34-36)
Civil Rights Sit-Ins
March (John Lewis)
Susan Hampton Morgan Story
- Susan Hampton Morgan Lessons

During our Ms. McCant's visit, Black Wall Street and Historical trauma were mentioned.

Black Wall Street (1921)
Tulsa Historical Society (Black Wall Street)
Black Wall Street (PBS)
Bodies Don't Just Tell Stories, They tell Histories
How Trauma Gets Passed Down Through Generations
Workshop on Historical Trauma
How Trauma is Passed Down through the Generations in our DNA
Can Trauma be Passed to Next Generation in DNA?
Unpacking White Privilege (Peggy McIntosh)
Beyond the Knapsack (Peggy McIntosh)

Unpacking some concepts

Text Box

Despite the best hopes and efforts of the Civil Rights

Movement and landmark court decisions (such as Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 which led to desegregation

of the nation’s schools), racism is still a destructive element in U.S. society; Orfield, Losen, Wald, & Swanson, 2004).

Racism has been defined as “a system of advantage

based on race” (Tatum, 1992, p. 3).

The term extends to systems that confer privilege on white Americans in comparison to members of nondominant ethnic groups, who may or may not consider themselves nonwhite.

Racism is a term that can be used broadly to refer to

a system of advantage based on language, culture, race, or ethnicity (Bartolomé & Macedo, 1997)

(Leading with Diversity, Trumbull & Pacheco, pp. 11-12)

Text Box

See Kalamazoo School District's efforts to diversify classroom libraries

Cultural racism is the set of practices that make schooling more appropriate for dominant culture students than for others. The content of the curriculum may perpetuate cultural racism when it excludes nondominant-culture authors or represents U.S. history and society from a single perspective. Classroom organizational practices that implicitly value one group’s ways of interacting over another’s could be called cultural racism. For instance, requiring students to speak out in class and express their opinions penalizes those who have learned to show their respect for others (particularly adults) by quiet listening.

Likewise, expecting young students to sit quietly for extended periods of time penalizes those whose families judge a high activity level and spontaneous self-expression to be normal.

Individual racism denotes an individual’s attitudes and behaviors that help perpetuate the power relationships of racism. Personal prejudice and the holding of stereotypes about particular groups become destructive when individuals act upon them and when they are linked to societal power—providing fuel for cultural and institutional racism. (Leading with Diversity, Trumbull & Pacheco, p. 14)

Text Box

Learning about preventing racism is best accomplished in a

supportive group led by experienced educators (Lindsey et al., 2003).

It is important for educators to have (1) the willingness to listen

to others and accept that everyone’s experiences are real and their perspectives valid, (2) the willingness to examine one’s own values and behaviors, and (3) the ability to discuss diffi cult issues and tolerate disagreement. A key to successful professional development about race is establishment of a safe environment, with ground rules for participation. One rule or norm of the group might be to use “I messages” rather than “you messages.” This means that rather than saying, “You always avoid this topic,” one would say, “I feel uncomfortable that our group never fully explores this topic.” Another rule might simply be: Allow each participant to finish his or her comment without interruption. Maintaining confidentiality, showing mutual respect, and speaking from one’s own experience are also essential (Tatum, 1992).

(Leading with Diversity, Trumbell & Pacheco, p. 15)

Glossary of Terms