Sometimes teaching at my magnet arts school in Alabama, I can imagine the worst days of racism and intolerance are behind us. Most of the roughly 500 students have genuine, deep friendships across racial lines and very rarely do the old racist memes and tropes raise their ugly heads.
My students have even broken down the last bastion of segregation at any school—the lunch table. I am not so naive as to believe that racism doesn't exist. Even if my students do harbor some sentiments that could be labeled racist and intolerant, they are polite and respectful. This is most true when it comes to black and white students. However, when it comes to Asian prejudice though, it is a different story.
Granted, the civil right’s movement of the 1950s and 1960s so pivotal in Alabama and the South was a study in racial divide between whites and blacks. It’s been our focus and we’ve been working toward understanding since then. However, when new industries expanded to this area about a decade ago, the ethnic population grew to include more Asian and Latino families. We now have a lot more work to do to broaden our understanding of those cultures.
What it comes down to is awareness. The South has always been insular to a degree when it comes to world cultures. Our racial divide was wide and while the black/white divide narrows every day, we have a long way to go with numerous other racial and ethnic groups that have immigrated to our region in the last decades.
There’s no open hostility toward our school's Asian population. On the contrary, many of our Korean students have been very popular with other students of all races. The racism I see is more casual. There is still a lot of mystery about our Asian students. For example, one student classifies all of our Asian students as “Chinese.” Another insists that Asian restaurants serve household pets and a third doesn't see the problem with pulling his eyes back and mocking a Cantonese accent.
But when confronted about the intolerant nature of these comments and actions, the students were shocked and offended that someone would accuse them of racist behavior. Only after a lengthy classroom discussion did some of these students understand why their comments and actions could be hurtful. I was glad to have these learning moments in class and feel that real progress was made, but I was initially surprised that there was so little understanding of Asian cultures.
The same sort of casual racism is even more pronounced toward the small Latino student population. I hear many of the anti-immigrant memes and jokes that have been repeated and snickered at since the days of the Irish Potato Famine. Whenever these statements come up in class, I pounce on the learning moment, finding the opportunity to talk about immigrant culture and problems of assimilation. But once again, I ache for my students to be more culturally aware and sensitive.
I approach this with urgency. The globalization of culture will only increase in our students' lifetimes. Ignorance and fear of other cultures lead to prejudice, stereotyping and intolerance and are counterproductive and will limit our students. If we expect our students to be accepting of people from different backgrounds, they must be exposed to more of the rich cultural tapestry that makes up the world. When students understand the rich history and legacy that makes a society what it is, this understanding paves the way for a greater level of global citizenship tomorrow and a more inclusive learning environment today.
Coleman is a high school social studies, computer applications and sound recording teacher in Alabama.