Challenge to Equality: "We Made It, Why Can't You?", The

Multicultural Education, Spring 2007 by Bhavnagri, Navaz Peshotan, Pr�speri, Jorge Dante Hernandez

1. The Cognitive Goal: To promote critical thinking, by providing readings on colonial power, trauma, resiliency, and resistance, followed by provocative questions reflecting on the oppressor, the oppressed, and links to current times.

First, the teacher educator could discuss juvenile literature about colonial power, trauma, resiliency, and resistance, such as reported in From Slave Ship to Freedom Road (Lester, 1998a), which is interlaced with participatory activities and reflective questions. Several relevant books are: Follow the Drinking Gourd (Winter, 1998); A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman (Adler, 1992); Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters (McKissak & McKissak, 1994); The Relocation of the North American Indians (Nardo, 2000); Broken Promises (Wilson, 2003); First, the teacher educator could discuss juvenile literature about colonial power, trauma, resiliency, and resistance, such as reported in From Slave Ship to Freedom Road (Lester, 1998a), which is interlaced with participatory activities and reflective questions. Several relevant books are: Follow the Drinking Gourd (Winter, 1998); A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman (Adler, 1992); Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters (McKissak & McKissak, 1994); The Relocation of the North American Indians (Nardo, 2000); Broken Promises (Wilson, 2003);

Segall (2002) informs us that by identifying with colonial experiences, it becomes a part of public discourse, and thus contributes to national healing and national identity and bolsters the nation to be democratic during a post-colonial era.

Second, we suggest posing the following provocative questions, because Burbules and Berk (1999) recommend that students be directed to critically think of power dominance in all their readings, and to discern misinformation, distortions, and falsehoods.

(1) Oppressors: How does the oppressor's mind work? What are the motivations, reasons, and justifications from the oppressors' perspectives that rationalize such behaviors? Give examples and/or quotes from your readings showing the inconsistencies between the colonialists' religious beliefs on Christianity and their racist ideology and oppressive practices.

(2) Oppressed: What are the commonalities and/or differences you noticed in the coping strategies (e.g., resiliencies and resistance) of African Americans and Native Americans? What were the outcomes of overt versus and covert resistance, and behavioral versus mental resistance to oppression?

(3) Linking past and present inequities: How did the past Jim Crow schools (Irons, 2004) and current schools in impoverished African-American neighborhoods (Kozol, 1991, 2005) contribute to the achievement gap? How did the past boarding schools for Native Americans and current education on the reservations contribute to the achievement gap? How are current African-American disfranchisements practiced in education, the justice system, housing, voting rights, and economic opportunities similar to oppression of African Americans during colonialization? How are the current threats that Native Americans are experiencing regarding their resources, lands, waterways, traditional values, self governance, and culture similar to earlier threats to their way of life?