Conclusion

Gary R. Howard's book, We Can't Teach What We Don't Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools has been very eyeopening for me. The main theme running through this book is the idea of White dominance. This idea was very interesting to me and not something I had heard before. It basically says that Whites have certain privileges and other cultures do not get to take part in that. We get certain rewards just because we are White, while other races get certain consequences just because they are not White, just because they are not part of the dominant culture. White America did the things it did because it helped them out and gave them what they wanted, without taking into account or caring about what it did to others. That just does not sit well with me. I get certain privileges just because I am White. I did nothing to deserve these privileges, I was just born into the dominant race. My roommate, on the other hand, wouldn't get as many of those privileges just because she is Asian. This does not make any sense to me and this is not the way that we should live. Howard says that we can't teach what we don't know. We will never know what it is like to be a race other than our own; what it is like to be a minority and to not have the privileges of White dominance, but we can have empathy for these people by sharing our stories and trying to put ourselves in their shoes. We can teach our students the varying perspectives of historical events instead of just giving them the White view.

I really enjoyed reading Howard's book, but he also makes it sound easy. He tells his own story of how he was pretty much blind to other cultures, he had not experienced them, but then he went to Yale and worked in The Hill. Even though this experience was challenging, it really opened his eyes and changed his life, he was able to see White dominance and now he is working to have others see this White dominance as well. He then lists ways to go about understanding other cultures and sort of leaving this life of dominance and not considering himself as part of the White dominant culture. He makes it seem that if you follow these steps, you'll be good to go, but it's not that easy. It's a hard thing to change, especially when that is the world we have been immersed in. It's all we have known, and now we are just supposed to change our entire view of the world. I really do understand the points that Howard makes and he has opened my eyes to some very insightful things, but he appears to make this whole transition seem must easier that it really is.

The point of Howard's book was, just as the title suggests, that we cannot teach what we do not know. I grew up in White, Dutch, Christian schools in White, Dutch, Christian towns. That is what I know. I do not know and have not experienced many other cultures. For Howard, that is what changed his life. As I go forward from, I want to experience multiculturalism. I want to learn more about other cultures and immerse myself in understanding them. I have thoroughly enjoyed my teacher aiding placements because the schools in this area are so diverse and I am able to interact with so many students who are different from myself. I think that it would be beneficial for me to attend a Trinity event each week at Roseland Ministries. There are students from Trinity who go to Roseland on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays to help with an afterschool program. Students come to this afterschool program where they participate in activities and are tutored on their homework. Many of the students who go to Roseland are not apart of the dominant culture and do not have a very high socioeconomic status. These are students with which I have not had a lot of experience. I think that immersing myself in their lives and in their culture would help me to be a better teacher in the future.