Identity In Madison High

From the beginning of this book, I have been very interested in the identity that the students take on upon arriving to Madison High, and how it effects the original identities that they came to this country with. Although so many explain that the United States is a country described as a melting pot of cultures, races, languages, and religions, it seems as though many times the social pressures of others wish to homogenize and assimilate these differing cultures into one in order to eliminate some of the differences that there are. It seems to be this way as well at Madison High. Upon arrival to the school, the students are classified as immigrants until they choose a group in which they wish to identify themselves with. For many, this is a problem for reasons such as there is no specific group to which they can join to identify themselves with. In terms of nationalities such as Brazilian or Guatemalan, there is no specific group because instead there is one group which umbrellas all of the nationalities of Latin America- the Latinos. This is extremely problematic for some, because this is creating a pan-ethnic identity in which all of the identities of the other nationalities are homogenized into one, even though they are extremely different in terms of language, customs, beliefs, and dress. Many of the students will give in and join the group regardless of them losing part of their culture since they have to conform to the homogenous identity of everyone else in their group. The idea of the color spectrum of white or black, brown or yellow is completely problematic at Madison High because they are smashing together an array of cultures, just simply due to the color of their skin. Ideally, and as it is romanticized, America is a land of opportunity that accepts an array of nationalities. However this does not seem to be the case, newcomers are expected to assimilate and "choose their race and their place" almost immediately in the American culture. This process can be very devastating and confusing for those who have to endure through it.

Once students conform to a certain identity with a group, there is then a new set of rules that they must conform to in terms of how they act, how they dress and what language they speak. The original identity of the newcomer is almost completely lost, because it is almost as though they are asked to act in a way that is completely different to how they would normal be. Many of the students believe that if you go to class on time, bring your books and materials, do your homework, participate in class, etc, that you are "acting white". So in other terms, many of the newcomers value education and believe that it is important to do so in order to receive their diploma. However, once they conform to the Latino group, they admit that they begin to skip class and hang out with friends because there is no point in them going to class, because pretty much as long as they go to school, they can get a diploma and work at Pizza Hut.

Why is it that students need to find a place according to their race? Why is it that students can not simply work together and be together as one, disregarding the unimportant differences that their are between one another such as skin color, language spoken, and ways of dressing. Students can learn so much more from eachother if they just drop these differences and accept one another's culture. However, will this ever change in America? I feel that there will always be those who pressure others to choose their place, no mater what.

In thinking about some of the clinical hours that I have completed, I noticed immediately one thing: all of the Latino Students work together, all of the Oriental students work together, and all of the African students who speak french work together. In this given situation, I believe that it is language that divides them. They like to make little comments to each other in their own language, to try and be the class clown. Unfortunately, in the 6th and 7th hour that I observe, there is only one boy from Korea, who is surrounded by numerous Latinos, who constantly talk and laugh to each other in Spanish. Many times I hear him scream out, Speak English! While other times I hear him say, Are they making fun of me?. I feel really bad for the student because he is extremely self conscious that they are saying things about him and that he is unable to understand. To be honest, they usually are not saying anything about him at all. However in one instance, I heard the boys snickering about how high the Oriental student was wearing his pants (this was coming from a Mexican student who generally always wears his pants down to this ankles). I immediately got the Latino student's attention, and said that it is inappropriate to make comments about others in class. It does not seem that there is a dividedness of the class, just that the students choose to hang out with and speak to those of their language. If and when students do need to interact with the others, they work fine, however once they have finished the task they are back to yelling to others across the classroom in their language.

If I were the teacher, I would demand that there be a decrease in comments made in our foreign language. I think that the students are using the language as a "code" so that others cannot understand what they are saying. Instead, I believe it should be only used when students can not understand the task, etc. However, I feel in doing this, I am taking away of the environment that I would want to create in which their native language is welcomed and accepted. I just do not know what I would do.

Chapter3

This chapter was extremely interesting to me. I find that the struggle that the students have with their identity has created a vicious circle. First, they realize that they are different, whether it be their skin color, their nationality, the language they speak, etc. Then, they realize that the majority of other people are different from them also. This in turn leads them to conform with a group of others who are the same as them, further pushing their differences from the others around them. It's so sad. Why can't this school just get along and accept that everyone is different from each other in unique and interesting ways? The school could seriously just benefit if the racism would stop and the students would accept eachother and learn from each other. In this chapter it explains that the students always say they all get along, but then they do not act like it. Reading this story makes me want to go to this high school, grab the kids by the shoulders, and shake them while saying, "What's wrong with you?!"

The next concept I found quite interesting about the struggle the students have with their identity, is the notion of "white-washing" or being a wannabe. White-washing means that the students are trying to act white, and acting white includes the following behaviors:

-bringing a backpack to class

-bringing books to class

-trying to do well in class

-getting help or asking questions in class

-speaking English instead of the home language

I have no idea where they came up with these ideas! Basically what they are saying, is if you try to do well in school then you are acting white? That makes no sense at all. It saddens me that so many of the kids are discouraged about continuing higher education after high school. And what blew my mind is that so many teachers have told them to "not even bother" or that "you can never have the grades to go". Maybe what the teachers should realize is that it is because this notion of "white-washing" that students do so poorly in school. They think it's cool if they are in the Skills track of the school because being in the college prep track, they are only placed with white or asian students, with few black and latinos in that category.