Did anyone happen to watch the Today show this morning? They interviewed a man by the name of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. about a new book that he has "America Behind the Color Lines." Anyway, he made reference to alot of the inner city schools, particularly in the Chicago area. He also felt that there are inequalities in education still today. It was interesting because he did a survey of inner city black students and simply asked them to list what they thought was "white." Their answers reflected some of the thinking in our book. The students responded white means making straight A's, being able to speak English (grammatically correct) and attending museums such as the Smithsonian. I was floored by their responses. He also made a comment that he felt that when an African American tried to "lift themselves up" through education, some people accused them of trying to be "white."
Just thought this was an interesting tie in to our reading.

Reading the struggles of other teachers within these "war zones" has made me more appreciative of what I have!

The responses to the questions about what "white" is is part of the problem for African Americans. The responses reflected their emotions when they should have reflected their intelligence. If African Americans change their mentality to "I will because I can," then they would not be saying that white means making straight A's, etc. They would be saying we deserve fair and equal treatment in education regardless of where are school is located or economic status. Those who desire to overcome do. There is no stopping a train that is going full speed. They do not have time to listen to doubt.

this is true in the minds of many children that face these issues. If you can remember back to Dr. Horton's class this goes along well with the article we read, I don't remember the title exactly but it had to do with the "privilages" of being white.