Customer Reviews

We Can't Teach What We Don't Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools (Multicultural Education Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book is intended as a "racism 101" for white educators, and it is extremely successful as an introductory text.

What's in the book?

It begins with a personal narrative, explaining how the author (who is white) went from ignorance of racism to being an internationally known anti-racist activist. It continues with a history of how Europeans and their descendants gained their dominant position; an exploration of how this history affects white people and people of color today; suggestions for white awakening and action; a review of psychological literature on "white identity development," followed by a deeper discussion of how this development works; and a final call to share in vision and action.

Who will find it useful?
(1) Antiracist activists seeking to educate white educators will find this book a *very* useful tool. I highly recommend it for this purpose. It is a basic introductory text, as I said a sort of "Racism 101," but unlike many other excellent books with similar scope and goals, this one is well-received by white educators who are new to this field. (More on this below)

(2) White educators who want to fight racism but have little prior exposure to anti-racist literature, and/or those who have reacted with hurt, anger and confusion to anti-racist literature they have encountered, will probably find this book helpful, comforting, eye-opening and inspiring.

(3) Those who have already read extensively on this topic may find the book a bit basic, and at times iffy in its analysis. Howard's historical overview is fine as an overview, but his attempt at historical/sociological theory re the origins and function of racism is a bit superficial and generally not well-grounded in current thinking.

(4) However, there is one section that may be useful to all readers, including those with prior knowledge--the exposition of "white identity development." For readers of all colors who have been perplexed by the reactions of white individuals (including ourselves!) dealing with issues of racism, this section sheds much light! It also can be helpful to white people in monitoring our progress, identifying areas for improvement, and pushing ourselves farther along the path.

Why do I recommend it as an introductory text for white educators?

Over the last 18 months, my cohort of teacher education students (all very good-hearted & intelligent, & almost all white), have read numerous materials on racism in education. Many/most of my classmates experienced anti-racist writers as "angry" and felt that they were being personally "attacked" (a reaction that I have heard in other contexts as well). When we came to this book, however, my classmates responded warmly and eagerly. Perhaps most significantly, one person said (to general nodding & agreement), "Now I feel that I'm ready to go back and re-read Lisa Delpit." Indeed, ever since we read Howard, white students have seemed much more receptive to the message of other anti-racist writers.

Why do people react this way?
I'm not sure, but from my classmates' comments, I'm guessing there are three main reasons:
(1) The author is white, and while it may be frustrating that that would make it easier for some white people to hear his message, it's probably inevitable that it does (although whiteness is not an automatic "in"--I have heard people react just as antagonistically to Julie Kailin as to Lisa Delpit).
(2) The whole concept of "white identity development" seems to help white learners in two ways:
(a) It makes it seem ok to be taking the first steps on the journey; that it doesn't make you a "bad person" if you haven't got it all figured out yet. This may help one to approach future learning less defensively.
(b) Understanding the concept of *institutional* racism is a big stumbling-block for many, but the "identity" framework actually seems to help with that, perhaps because it conveys that this is a collective problem and collective solution.
(3) There is a strong emphasis on hope and vision throughout the book, even though it does not sugar-coat the ravages of racism past and present. I get the impression that this overall tone makes it easier for many people to cope with the painful and distressing aspects of the book.

To sum up, I would strongly recommend this book as a first text for white educators (and others) who are just beginning to explore issues of racism, and/or for those whose past explorations have been distressing and confusing. It would be an ideal book for principals to use in staff development.

All the best to all teachers everywhere who are trying to walk this path!

If you've ever beeen called racist by your students, but you think you're not, than this is a must read for you. Howard takes the reader on a journey of self discovery, helping the reader to understand the subtle and overt elements of racial discrimination that are present in today's schools. While "tools" or quick fixes are not presented, the book efficiently and concretely addresses the underlying assumptions that form the basis of US society and education systems that promote discrimination and maintain the status quo. The author uses his personal and historical experiences to illustrate the nature of white privilege, the assumption of rightness and normalacy. By examining these topics, teachers are able to examine their daily activities, decisions and speech to identify and eliminate the promotion of such values. This book helps us move past "I see all my children the same, I don't care if they are white, black, brown, or purple." To truly accepting that we see each other differently, that we should acknowledge and celebrate the differences, that we can learn from one another and that through acceptance we find our similarities.

The author spent the majority of the book relaying the historical background of races comparing non-white and white perspectives. In reading the book, I did find and begin to understand the assumptions (culture) of the white race and how it is perceived by other cultures. In this perspective the book had value. I was disappointed in that the author did not provide any depth or examples from a teacher's perspective of how best to adjust the white cultural perceptions to the multiracial classroom beyond being aware of the differences. This book is directed towards cultural awareness rather than a teacher's resource tool. Not necessarily recommended for those looking for the "tools."

In that over 90% of teachers in this country are White, Howard's book meets a definite need in the educational community. Seamlessly combining his own experiences with the most current race/ethnicity theory, the author helps Whites understand that we have an ethnicity, also, and how that influences our ability to teach. Step by step, he illustrates what Whites can expect as we begin to discover our own cultural identity. While this experience is often an uncomfortable one, he shows that it is possible to acknowledge our responsibility for oppression of other groups without basing our identity solely on guilt. He deals candidly with the issue of White privilege, but notes that one can be anti-racist without being anti-White, for the "'enemy' is dominance itself, not White people." The greatest strength of this book may be that it provides a way for us to move forward in hope as we seek new ways of living together. While he does not provide specific classroom resources in this book, he refers to his work with the REACH Center for Multicultural Education in making such materials available.

This book was a nice surprise as a pre-service teacher in education classes where the realities of white supremacy is not discussed, the first hand experiences of teachers of color are silenced, black/Latino or "at-risk multicultural" students are demonized, poor white kids are invisible and the issues of other groups are addressed superficially through "practical strategies"mandated by here today/ gone tomorrow popular scholars. This book gave me as an African American educator a space to see how whiteness functions in everyone's lives in the public school system. Each page helped me understand better why white people sometimes act in certain ways.

Thank you Gary Howard for the excellent analysis and methods for all teachers to use as they transform themselves and their schools.

We read Gary Howard's book as part of a class in advanced educational psychology. This particular book is written specifically for White educators but can be utilized by an educator or person of any racial or cultural background. The book encouraged us to go through journeys of personal transformation. It inspired us to question our own beliefs about diversity and to promote positive change within our classrooms and communities. We walked away feeling that we had many useful tools in our roles as teachers and individuals in a global community. As educators in multicultural classrooms, we need to consider the racial identity stages our students may be going through, as well as how thoughts, words, and actions can positively impact student success.

We highly recommend this book as a means for individual growth, reflection, and open dialogue. You and your students will truly benefit!

I know that Gary Howard is white. But his book is still a racist tract that completely demonizes whites. Howard says that whites are inherently racist, no matter what stage of his idiotic "racial identity development" path they are at, and that such a fate is unavoidable. When he stuck to an analysis of the past and presented ideas for how to improve, or basically Chapters 3, 4, and 7 his book was actually decent and presented some interesting ideas. But his Chapters 1, 5, 6 and 8 were despicable pieces in which he extrapolates from an incredibly unusual personal experience to generalize a reality about Whites that I would say does not exist except within his own mind. Not that racism and what he terms "white dominance" are not real, but his book does not do a great job of illuminating anything new in regards to them and strays a little too far into pseudo-psychology and BS to poison the rest of the book.

There are better books and essays out there about how to deal with multi-cultural diversity in your classroom. I would recommend works by Lisa Delpit (Teaching Other Peoples' Children & Acquisition of Literate Discourse) and Patrick Finn (Literacy with an Attitude) for how to address the issue without the frankly bigoted tone of the Howard book.

We read this book for a graduate class on teaching other cultures. While I was disappointed at the lack of practical applications of the book, it did help to open my eyes to the idea of White Dominance. There are factors of a white-dominated culture that are invisible to us whites, and Howard does a good job of bringing those to light.

Much of the book is comprised of personal narratives, about Howard living in an economically-recessed area while attending Yale. It was then that he began to question his assumptions about racism, and the rest is history.

I do, however, believe that he is using this book as a way of marketing his REACH center, which is an organization that trains teachers in cultural awareness, and also designs curricula for schools.

Overall, this book is a good place to start when considering the implications and hazards of teaching other cultures, but just the book by itself does little to enlighten.

This book was required for me to read for a multicultural education class. The only thing relevant to this book is the enlightenment of culture dominance regardless of race; however, Mr. Howard targets only the white race as being dominant. My question is: What happens in a school district that is predominantly black with mostly black teachers and students and some Hispanic and few Asian or white students? Which culture is dominant then? This book sheds no light in these instances, so how does it help pre-service teachers of other races or cultures that are not white? The author only talks about what "white" people/educators should be aware of regarding other races or cultures; therefore I feel it perpetuates racism. It also brings to light other theories within cultures such as superiority.

I expected more from this book. It does nothing to teach a pre-service teacher how to implement multiculturalism within a classroom. I feel the author takes certain situations out of context. I also feel the author was raised without any culture where his first experience of culture occurred at 18 his freshman year at Yale and as a result is extremely angered by it. It appears that this book is more a promotional vehicle to his Reach Center where he teaches his multicultural theories, for many references about the Reach Center are made throughout the book.

Chapter two is, in my opinion, the only chapter that is possibly noteworthy. I do not recommend this book, especially if you want to "learn" about how to incorporate multicultural lessons/education within your classroom.

Three stars just for the "crazy uncle in the attic" metaphor. I intend to borrow that one someday- it captures what I've been trying for years to articulate.

The first two thirds of the book were interesting, though nothing you haven't heard elsewhere. Well, maybe not everyone was blessed with parents as enlightened as mine. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

The last third of the book, which SHOULD have been practical How-Tos instead turned into diffuseness and academic word play. It was very disappointing after how direct the first part was.

All authors claiming to teach me how to do something should first write a draft that lays out their proposals in point form. If you can't put it in point form, it's too academic. I want things I can take to a classroom.