Rather than give a summary book report, I want to provide
a review of the book based off of quotes that I feel demonstrate the complexity
and value of the issues we have been learning about in class. After providing
each quote and the page number where it can be found, I will give a reflective
response based off the assignment guidelines for each of the three sections:
(1) points of disruption, (2) descriptions of the stories from the book that
clarify or provide examples of the ideas we have been discussing in class, and
(3) how the stories from the book will influence my thinking about my future
work as an educator.
Points of disruption (places in the book that caused me to feel uncomfortable
or angry or curious):
“It’s
easy to forget sometimes that by the time they walk into room 337 on the first
day of senior year, many students had already survived more trauma and hardship
than she could imagine” (51).
One of my greatest disruptions was that many students
will have already survived more trauma in their short lives than I will ever
see in mine. That alone puts me at an advantage to be able to deal mentally
with surviving everyday life. I’ve had my own forms of struggles, but they don’t
compare to the experiences that my future students will have faced as
immigrants or anyone not a part of the dominant race and class. I need to
figure out how to help my students learn despite these difficult backgrounds
and being at a disadvantage with the time running out for them to learn English
and get educated in a way that can significantly improve their lives.
“Legal
status is a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell thing,’ Miguel explains. All students,
whether documented or not, are legally entitled to attend public school from
kindergarten through the twelfth grade as a result of the 1982 United States
Supreme Court ruling, Plyer v. Doe, which came out after a group of
undocumented Mexican children living in Tyler, Texas, were effectively denied
free public education at local schools. The ruling has been called into
question several times over the past three decades, with each new
anti-immigrant wave. However, the alternative – not educating the hundreds of
thousands of undocumented children who currently live in this country – could
help grow an impoverished underclass” (31).
It was surprising to me that the school could be so fluid
on their rules and regulations concerning undocumented immigrants for both
students and their parents. While I have been becoming more comfortable with
the whole idea of accepting immigrants and providing affordable, appropriate
education, the idea of being at odds with government rules is still difficult
for me. I liked how this quote pointed out that we are bettering immigrants
lives by making education affordable, and by so doing we better our own lives
(the privileged lives) by preventing crime.
“As
immigrants in America, [the students at International] are divided into one of
two categories: Legal or Illegal. The new haves and have-nots. The kids with documents plan for college and
careers. Those without documents take the same college-prep classes. They learn
how to apply for the same financial aid. They network with the same professionals
in the fields of their choice. But whether they will ever get the opportunity
to follow through with any of it is largely dependent on the fate of a bill
known as the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act,
which would create a conditional path to citizenship for high school graduates
who arrived in the United States before their were sixteen and have been here
for at least five years, in exchange for completing two years of college or
military service” (96).
I am curious to know more about the DREAM Act, and how it
is being carried out and enforced today (4 years after the book was published).
By reading this book, I was able to better see that immigrants fight to be in
America harder than I ever have and ever will. Just because I was born here I
have more of a financial right to education? This seems silly and bothersome to
me.
“One
essay can make or break a student’s chance of getting into college, which is
why Ann and Vadim have been using journal warm-ups to prepare the seniors for
the challenge that lies ahead: writing college essays” (39).
The idea that student’s chances of getting into college
hinge entirely on one application, and even one essay is upsetting to me. It’s
so difficult to show the person and the student you have become on paper, and
for immigrants to be competing with students who have English as a first
language, that seems unfair. I need to be able to prepare my students to work
with what they have to their best advantage because time can’t necessarily be
made up.
“‘This
is the honorable Mohamed Bah speaking to you all,’ it reads in fading pencil” (193).
This quote occurs after Mohammed moves in with Cindy and
his past experiences of taking advantage of people in order to get ahead are
brought to light. He came to America on a Christian scholarship to experience
American education and then return to Sierra Leone, but ran away in order to
not be forced to return home. He then lived with other Sierra Leone men who
provided him with food and shelter, but in return expected him to help them pirate
CD’s and DVD’s. Mohammed had no family, even though he would call home, and he
was mostly on his own. He would have been homeless if these men hadn’t taken in
him, and he therefore felt obligated to do whatever they asked even when it
wasn’t best for him. When he leaves in order to gain citizenship and be adopted
by Cindy, these men felt taken advantage of and unappreciated. I think that the
quote above shows Mohamed’s honor, like fading pencil, eroding and decaying. My
disruption was that undocumented immigrants really do need to watch out for
their own safety, and because of that they will often use people to their best
advantage. I can’t blame them, but if I were in either the shoes of the church
members or Mohamed’s roommates, I would have felt abused.
“‘Is Mohammed going to have to live the rest
of his life as a fugitive?’ she asked. He simply laughed and said, ‘His life is
going to be so much better than it ever was’” (155). – Pat
The disruption associated with this quote was that
despite all of the discrimination and opposition and legal consequences that
undocumented immigrants face in the United States, their lives are so much
better than what it would have been in their previous countries.
“Aside
from raising her siblings and finding a career for herself – her first and
second wishes – Yasmeen’s third and final wish is more childish than anything
her younger siblings said. After all, despite everything they have been
through, they are getting the chance to have a childhood, and that is mainly thanks
do their big sister, who sacrificed hers a long time ago./ ‘The third wish,’
Yasmeen says, ‘is to go to Disney World with Jessica’” (121).
This quote from the book actually made me cry. The lawyer
asked Yasmeen’s siblings what their three wishes would be, if they had them,
and they gave heartfelt responses (as would have Yasmeen). For Yasmeen’s third
wish to be to go to Disney world with her best friend was heartbreaking to me.
She is responsible and hopeful and helping her family figure everything out,
and because of this she missed out on childhood. Students that I teach will
have missed opportunities for happiness and exploring their imaginations. I
need to figure out how to connect with my students and help them to have hope
despite their difficult circumstances.
Other disruptions that occurred by reading this novel
included:
Students represent everything about their previous
countries – political, economic, culturally – to everyone else and that’s not
fair. Even though it’s a part of their identities, they shouldn’t be labeled as
them to everyone else. It affects daily interactions with everyone.
In the first weeks of class, when Dr. Draper said that
when AP/honors classes are filled with white kids and remedial classes are
filled with all brown kids, racism is at play, I was very uncomfortable with
that idea. I had taken AP and honors classes, and I had worked very hard to be
able to get in to those classes and to stay in those classes. I have realized
that the racism occurs through the entire institution, not just signing up for
classes.
Descriptions of the stories from the book that clarify or provide
examples of the ideas we have been discussing in class:
From English Class to advisory meetings, from Jessica’s
kitchen in Chinatown to Yasmeen’s Muslim engagement party, from the first day
of school to prom to graduation, we get to know the students and teachers at
Brooklyn’s International High School at Prospect Heights. The students and
culture of the school can be described similarly to how the different groups in
the lunch room are described as “Geographically close, but galaxies apart in
every other aspect…” (19). The school is focused on helping immigrants learn
English and receive the bet education possible. The book explores the topics of
immigration, undocumented immigration, gender roles, cultural hegemony,
institutional racism, privilege, race, ethnicity, refugees, religion, and
culturally responsive pedagogy through the eyes and experiences of various
students and teachers. I chose my favorite quotes concerning the students,
teachers, and school and provide them below to illustrate the ideas we have
been discussing in class.
Teachers
and School:
“Alexandra
had a vision of what the school could be. She imagined filling the spacious classrooms
with students of every color and painting the putty-gray walls a warm peach. .
. . Since the school opened in 2004, Alexandra has filled it with a staff that
is almost as divers as the students. They are from Puerto Rico and the suburbs
of Philadelphia, the Deep South and Nairobi. They are straight, gay, single,
married, black, white, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, Taoist, conservative, radical
Democratic Socialist, pierced, parents, tattooed, graying, blue-eyed and
blue-haired” (16).
Not only are the students at International extremely
diverse, but the teachers are too. I believe that this helps to foster a more
positive school culture where someone is not put down because they are
different – everyone is different. What is difficult is the cultural hegemony
that does occur between the different cultural groups of students.
“at
nineteen, [Bilguissa Diallo] is a wife to a Fula taxi driver and mother to
their baby, born last year. Every morning before school Bulguissa wakes at 7:30
to pack her daughter’s pink knapsack with Huggies diapers and two plastic
bottles filled with milk, which she hands over to the child-care specialists
who work at a campus nursery on the first floor. . . Despite her
responsibilities at home, she has managed to become one of the top students in
her grade” (22).
In class we talked about providing resources and
accommodations to students and parents from lower classes who can’t get off
work or can’t find child care in order to come to school functions. The novel
pointed out many resources that schools
can provide in order to help immigrants and impoverished people to get an
education despite the circumstances of their lives.
“‘Now, I’m going to throw some Tibetans in
there! Then I’m going to throw some Mexicans in there, and maybe a few
Domincans.’ She points to a sprout-sized girl from Puebla with straight black
hair who erupts into giggles. ‘This is the idea of assimilation,’ Minerva
continues, ‘all these different cultures blending together. And this’ –she taps
the image of the stockpot – ‘this is America’” (235).
We discussed the idea of America as a mixing pot or salad
bowl full of different races and ethnicities, and I thought that this quote was
a positive way that the teacher explained the situation to the students. The teacher
then went on to describe how a salad bowl is more accurate, because even though
we come together to make a whole, we maintain our unique differences.
“When
the director said, ‘Congratulations,’ Marie had to put the phone down so she
could start jumping. Minutes later, her parents were calling everyone they knew
and telling their friends that Marie had won ‘a scholarship.’ But it wasn’t
until they translated the word into Creole that their friends really
understood. ‘Bous.’ That one word said it all. It said that Marie was a good
student, but also that she was a good daughter, which meant that her parents
were good parents, that they had made a good decision coming to the United
States, and that all of their struggles up to this point had been worth it. It
also said that she was from a good country that turned out good people” (201).
This quote gives a good example of language and how
meaning is transferred through various different languages, affected by
culture. The parents and friends didn’t necessarily know why it was so
significant to receive a scholarship, but when translated everyone understood
the importance of it! It’s also very culturally relevant that receiving a
scholarship reflected on the students’ parents, their immigration to America, their
struggles, and their previous countries.
Mohammed:
“Children
were seen as assets, and the underlying expectation is that, someday, the
‘fostered’ child will be able to offer assistance in return. But sometimes the
arrangement is abused, and the child may end up being maltreated or exploited,
doing work that borders on slavery, while the other children in the family are
going to school” (89).
“Before
Mohammed left Africa, Abdulai had spoken to him about the struggle and that
it’s necessary for success. Over the phone, Abdulai reminded his little brother
that the men he lived with had no real obligation to him. As long as they
provided food and shelter, he should do whatever they said because he wouldn’t
be there forever” (177).
Mohammed’s experience shows the struggle that people go
through just to get to the United states and to stay in it. Had he gone back to
Sierra Leone when his time with the church was up, he would have probably never
been able to get citizenship in the United States or come back at all. The
chances are incredibly slim. Because of this, his brother encouraged him to
stay in the states by any means. As a part of the Sierra Leone culture, they
hand over their children to strangers all the time if they believe that it will
give the children greater opportunities. This is in an attempt to combat
homelessness, a serious threat and possibility to undocumented immigrants.
Because of this threat, children and basically any homeless person can get put
in compromising, abusive conditions in exchange
for food and shelter.
Yasmeen
“By the time she was seventeen, Yasmeen had
received four marriage proposals, mostly from cousins back in Yemen who wanted
a wife in the United States. . . . Compared to some other girls from her
country, her parents gave her relative freedom. College was at least a
possibility” (77).
The cultural expectation for Yasmeen was that she would
conform to re-established Muslim gender roles and get married youn (through an
arranged marriage) and give up her education. Her family was already
uncomfortable with the idea of her going to high school, but college just
seemed absurd because it was so untraditional in their culture. At the same
time, Yasmeen was more privileged than other girls in her country because she
at least had the option to go to college. In her home country, that option
didn’t even exist for women. Here in the states, Yasmeen was also privileged
over undocumented immigrants because her family had gained legal citizenship
and in result college is a much more realistic possibility.
“I’m
trying to tell you that I know what you’re going through. Life took me from my
parents. But I’m going to take from life as much as I can. You’ve already
overcome so many obstacles – learning English, coming to the U.S. There’s only
a few steps left. Just get the diploma, and then do whatever you want” (216).
Immigrants have to go through so much in order to get to
the states, learn English, get an education, become functioning members of
their homes and society, and maybe gain citizenship. I feel like many people
who grew up in the states and only know English think that immigrants need to
“just figure out how to assimilate” by learning English and adopting our
culture, and those who cannot or do not are either stupid or rude. This is not
the case. Learning English is a serious struggle and we should not expect
people to forfeit their cultural identities because they are different from our
own.
“‘Who’s
going to be your advocate?’ No one – not if she’s in a situation where there
are two people and a culture against her” (220).
One of the biggest issues brought up with Yasmeen’s story
was that the gender roles and expectations of her culture put her in a position
where she does not have very much power or control if she conforms. Her teacher
thinks that by getting married, Yasmeen is forfeiting her chances to go to
school. At the beginning of the novel Yasmeen said she would only marry for
love, but after her parents die she agrees to marry one of her cousins. In the
end, Yasmeen wants to conform to her own culture and values it highly.
Jessica:
“Mr. Tan
left his wife and sons behind to watch his daughter accept an honor that
symbolizes everything he has given to her, including a ticket to the United
States and the means to pursue her education and future, as well as everything
he has denied her: a home and a father. There is no war he can undo the painful
events of the past year, but soon Mr. Tan’s new family is going back to China,
where they will stay for the summer. While they are gone, he has asked Jessica
to move back in so that they can spend time together before she leaves for
college in September” (276).
Jessica’s story deals with gender roles and expectations,
gender norms, homelessness, cost of living, immigration, privilege, and many
other issues that we discussed in our class. Because Jessica is a girl, her
father values his new wife and two sons more than her or her mother. He makes
obvious choices that show that sexist preferences dominate his important life
decisions. He is at least able to bring Jessica to the states, get her
citizenship, and keep her off of the streets. He now provides for her
financially, but she can’t live with them and the only time he spends with her
is to provide food for her and not eat it with her. Jessica’s story also shows
how difficult legal and illegal immigration is, and that it can tear apart
families. Although Jessica is physically separated from her mother and
emotionally separated from her father, she is still privileged in terms of
educational and career opportunities because she was able to obtain documented
citizenship.
Ngawang:
“However
they ended up here, almost all of the Tibetan students have crazy pilgrimage
stories about how they fled: crossing the Himalayas by foot in the middle of
winter, getting thrown in jail, and being held at gunpoint by Chinese police. .
. . Even thousands of miles away from home, age-old animosities between the two
cultures play out in the cafeteria” (23).
Ngawang escaped his country in a suitcase, traveling for
24 hours in pitch black and under crushing weight. Immigrants go through crazy,
dangerous things and often see America as a hope to ending their repression.
But after they get here, there are still incredible difficulties, however different.
This quote also illustrates how cultural hegemony occurs, and “age-old
animosities” not only exist but thrive in schools and society. As teachers, we
can help to diminish animosity by encouraging and appreciating different
cultures.
How the stories from the book will influence my work as a future
teacher:
My favorite quote came from Yasmeen about hope:
“For
once, the future seemed full of possibilities that were not just meant for
other people, and in her final minutes of high school, Yasmeen struggled to put
into words exactly what it was that had gotten her through this year – and
would get her through the next twenty. . . . ‘The things that you care for,
they drag you, they push you to move on. Inside of me, I felt like I am nothing,
I felt dead – but I was breathing. You will get there, as long as you keep hope
alive. Keep it breathing’ . . . . ‘Keep hope breathing’” (280).
Whatever our students are dealing with, we can help them
maintain hope for the future; we can help them to realize their opportunities
and capabilities. Some of my biggest takeaways from the book that will
influence my work as a future teacher were that I need to be a part of my
students’ lives and I need to fight for them to receive the help and support
they need to succeed in school. I need to be their advocates, and in order to
do so I need to know them. I need to be able to help them without pitying them;
I need to do my best to understand where they are individually coming from. I
need to work to their strengths and encourage their cultural appreciation while
helping to respectfully push back against the more repressive parts of their
cultures. I need to advocate the provision of resources that make learning
possible, such as child care or fundraisers or translators or my extra time. Over
all, I need to care for my students and use structural ideology to help break
down the barriers in place that limit student opportunities.
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