Customer Reviews

Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope

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As to be expected, bell hooks uses direct language to talk about the deficiencies in American culture. What I liked about this book is the hopefulness that is possible to change and be an agent of change. She calls it like it is, which can offend some people. This book is a very good read for anyone interested in creating social justice in education.

I read the previous review before I read the book. I actually agreed with his take before I read it, except "Teaching Community" starts out mostly about the "Teaching Community", meaning the struggles of being a professor.

I think you have to take her opinions with a grain of salt. She was obviously burned out when she wrote this (as you can tell from chapter 2). A lot of the harsh words she uses to describe the environment in America are later explained in later chapters. You see "white supremacist" referred to often, but find out later she also applies it to black people. She is very obviously frustrated about university administrators and the lack of respect her particular discipline receives. Sounds like a lot of professors I've had, especially those teaching non-science and/or psychology.

About the hypocrisy, she also states on page 29 that "In a culture of domination almost everyone engages in behaviors that contradict their beliefs and values." I do get his point though. I'm african american, but I thought some of her statements on race were painful to read. There were some very negative presumptions of others which I found to be gross assumptions although they may have been true in her experience. "Have you ever had a black woman speak to you for thirty minutes" seemed a strange request.

Yet, she is very intelligent and although I found this work to be a bit of personal and cathartic exercise for her it also provided many insights (though few solutions) on the student and teacher relationship. It also provided a few gems on serving others.

If you could see through her issues with men and I'm sure the white faculty at her university, there were many truths on race.

Totally eye opening. Really makes you question yourself and strive to be better. Reassuring that change and progress is still possible. Truly an inspiration. I also recommend Killing Rage, by bell hooks.

I am reading this book for my Introduction to Feminisms class. So far, I have been enlightened by bell hooks' thoughts and experiences as an African American teacher. She clearly and effectively explains her stance on race relations and white supremacy in the context of her life experiences.

bell hooks is a talented, well-educated, assertive, and very hypocritical racist. I was hoping that each successive chapter would get a little bit better, and perhaps not include the expression "imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy" every time she refers to America, but unfortunately it gets worse with each chapter. As I read through the first five chapters, it would seem as though I, being a white male myself, owe Ms. hooks a huge apology for who I am. As it turns out, I was born this way. The lead singer of Nofx once sang "I'll apologize for what I've done, but not for who I am."
hooks commentary on post 9/11 America was very telling. She claims that "everywhere you looked" one would see "white males with guns". One might assume that bell hooks was at a Mississippi alligator farm, but no, she was talking about New York. I was also in New York at that time, and I didn't see ANY white males with guns, besides police officers, and there were plenty of Black, Asian, and Indian officers with guns as well. What part of New York was she in that I didn't see? She also claims that she refused to get her "TV news" from white males, citing that the reporting was "suspect". This racial anxiety is characteristic of the most radical racists.
Throughout these chapters, there was much talk of Black Studies, and White agendas. Consider this; a typical night for me involves sitting around with my girlfriend (Korean) her roommate (Vietnamese) his girlfriend (Irish) their roommate (Israeli) her boyfriend (African) the last roommate (African) and his girlfriend (European). Supposes we all get married and have kids, as we all very well might, having been together many years. What would bell hooks think about our very mixed children? What is an appropriate study to represent them? This ethnic mix is happening everywhere in America. These are our times. I love my Korean girlfriend very much, for reasons entirely unrelated to her ethnicity, and my friends share that sentiment, but if we were all walking past bell hooks, she would, unless she's changed her judgemental, racist ideology, suspect that us white folks were only with the people of color to "spice" up our life with "exotica" as she testifies on page 33. I've never been so offended by an author that claims to endorse anti-racism.
But I am pacified, somewhat, by this; bell hooks either suffers from severe amnesia, or her gross hypocrisy is actually nothing more than an ironic commentary that she doesn't even believe in, she merely writes it to get a reaction. I actually laughed out loud when I read a perfect example of this hypocrisy on pages 26 and 27. In two adjacent paragraphes, she first criticizes white males that deny racism still exists, saying they have a lot of work to do to help the cause. In the VERY NEXT PARAGRAPH, she criticizes white males who try to raise awareness about racism, claiming they are merely trying to gather academic merit for appearing well-informed, and concerned. Quite simply, she doesn't want my help, but I should be ashamed for not helping.
Well, this is one white male that will not deny racism exists. So far, this book is a beginners guide to becoming one.