I think a lot of people have read this book with a defensive attitude and have totally misunderstood it. If we want to be better educators, we need to listen with an open mind and humble attitude. Pay attention to Dr Delpit's life story--she is not coming from an anti-white perspective; she is coming from the perspective of one who has made the same mistakes that we as white educators tend to make. She has a lot of relevant life experience AND relevant research and theory. What's more, her words fit perfectly with everything I have observed.
As a white person from upper-class background who has been trying to "make a difference," and has been bewildered when my best efforts still seem to fail to reach some kids, I felt that this book was the answer I have been seeking for years.
If you think you already know everything you need to know, don't bother reading this review or the book. But if you keep questioning why African-American kids fail in such dramatic numbers, and if you refuse to accept that it is someone else's fault or problem, but instead continue to ask how educators can do better--then skip the review and get this book.
I have been working with children of all backgrounds for more than fourteen years and have been trying to understand the riddle of why African-American kids have a hard time in school. I had come to two essential understandings but lacked a third that this book provided.
First, I used to blame Af-Am children's school problems on their parents and communities, but then I came to understand that their parents are as likely to be loving and supportive as anyone else's, and that their community's cultural values dictate that education is essential to success.
Second, I learned more that made me see how schools unintentionally contributed to the problem of academic failure, but I still didn't understand the root. Specifically, I learned that many African-American kids get dumped into special education because they have "behavior problems" (often consisting of things that could be handled just fine if their teachers didn't have 40+ students in class!). This means that children of sometimes high intelligence are stuck in classes designed for IQ's under 70, getting "credits" that won't get them into college. In that discouraging situation, it is hardly surprising that behavior and truancy worsen.
So I came to understand these two pieces of the puzzle, but was still missing a crucial third piece: why *do* African-American kids have more "behavior problems" than others in the first place? Some people told me "it's a cultural thing," but I didn't understand what that could mean. When they would explain, the "blame-the-parents" hints would creep back in. I have spent enough time "round the way" to see that many children who are out-of-control in school are perfectly well able to be polite and respectful to their elders in their own communities. So--why did these children not think that this same behavior was called for in school? I didn't understand.
At the same time, on a personal level I was also starting to "feel" that elusive "cultural difference." Somehow, some of my African-American students didn't "see" me the way that the white kids "saw" me, but why? They seemed to like me, were friendly and personable, but oddly enough, they seemed not to understand what my role was and why I was there--and they continued to learn more slowly than others, even though I could see they were often bright. It was becoming clear to me that somehow, on some level, I was not communicating well with the children. But why?????
The very first part of this book, the "Controversies Revisited," is the part that answered these questions and really blew my mind. I was so excited after reading it that I wrote the author with pen and paper (couldn't wait for my computer to warm up) to thank her. In fact I haven't even finished the book because I couldn't wait to tell more people about it.
Delpit told me exactly what it is about the way I express myself that "doesn't compute" for my African-American students, which finally explains why they do not respond as I wish or expect. I did not take this as blame or "anti-white bias" because I know--I really do the things that she describes, and I know that other white educators do too. I didn't feel that Delpit was blaming us--rather, I felt that she understood that we were trying to nurture and support in ways that are appropriate to our culture, and that we are so bewildered when kids continue to fail.
Delpit is teaching us how to do better across cultures, and it will help us immensely if we can suppress our pride and listen to her, understanding perhaps for the first time that what we are faced with truly is "cultural difference" just as if we were in another country. Just as in another country, we need to withhold our value judgments and seek ways to be effective communicators, so that African-American students can understand our expectations and meet them.
Although I will get "unhelpful" votes, I will make no attempt to summarize the findings of the book here. I don't think that the other reviewers have done justice to the content, and I urge you to read the book for yourself. One really needs to read the book to gain a larger understanding--there is far too much to put into these paragraphs, and any excerpted ideas will sound simplistic and misguided without their explanatory context. Everything she says is well-supported by research and experience, and it fits perfectly with my own observations. This book should be required reading for persons of all backgrounds in the field of education.
