Today I visited an infants school (Kindy through Grade 2) that people RAVE about. Today was an open day for family of students and I went with a new friend and her son, who is six months older than Small Sun.
When we got there the Grade 2 class was putting on a dance display in the courtyard. As I began to look around and take in the surroundings, I began to notice the song the children were dancing to: Jump Jim Crow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_Jim_Crow (sorry, my hyperlink insert isn't working) Wikipedia says "Jump Jim Crow is a song and dance from 1828 that was done in blackface by white comedian Thomas Dartmouth (T.D.) "Daddy" Rice." Great... Just what I wanted to welcome us to the school!
I also noticed, rather quickly, that the percentage of children of color in the class was quite low and that no children seemed to share Small Sun's ethnicity.
We continued on our school tour, and the woman guiding us was extremely kind and helpful. At the conclusion of our tour I asked her if she knew the percentage that ethnic minority children represented in the school. She became visibly ruffled and explained that she wouldn't know that figure, as it would not be important to the school. She asked whether it would be important to me?
I explained that yes, it was important to me that my child was not one of a very few childed of color in his class. She explained, still flustered, that in Australia, all children are educated equally and that race is not something that they consider relevant in education. She assured me that they learn about different culture and religions and have a multi-cultural curriculum as part of government regulations.
I noted that in a class with a high percentage of children from varying backgrounds, children are less likely to be teased for being different. Finding her footing, she told me with gusto that I needn't worry about that! In their school they are extremely strict and no teasing of any kind is tolerated.
I walked home dissapointed. I have had strangers tell me, glowingly, how they loved this school, including a mother in a interracial relationship with biracial children. I had gotten my hopes up.
There are two things that I'm walking away thinking about: one is how we use this term "multiculturalism" like a big blanket. We throw it over anything we want to bring into our lives to "enrich" us without going to the trouble to understand the history or context. Like the Jump Jim Crow song. I can just imagine it being listed on a children's cd here as "African American Folk Tune" or something, and how teachers here might consider it a multicultural contribution to their curriculum, completely unaware that it is a racist stereotype from inception. I'm sure the teachers haven't done research on each song they played so judge whether or not it was appropriate. Nor have I done so with the "World Playground" cd my children love to listen to. We dance around to songs in other languages, enjoying their rythm and style without ever looking deeper to know what we are treating lightly.
Secondly, I am so tired of the polically correct position of "colorblindness". In efforts to avoid being racist or innapropriate we say "I don't see you as Indian, I just see you as a person", or "when I look at you I don't see brown skin, I just see a human being." We would never say to a colleague "oh, are you female? I hadn't even noticed! I'm so into gender-equality, I didn't realize you were a woman!" We wouldn't say "oh, you're wearing this clothing as part of your religious beliefs? I thought it was just a new fashion!" We don't ignore, or pretend not to see, gender, religious dress, age, etc, but we are trained that it is impolite to notice ethnicity.
Noticing difference is not descrimination. A child's ethnicity is one part of the many parts that make them unique. We recognize differences in learning styles in regards to gender. We are sensitive to teaching students from different religous backgrounds. Yet we deny that ethnicity should be seen in education.
On one hand, I think it is more true here when people say "where you come from doesn't matter, being Australian is what matters." There seems to be less of a divide between "us" and "them" (unless you are Aborigine: the media coverage of Aborigine issues seems very negative to me). There's just so much to sort out here.
When we got there the Grade 2 class was putting on a dance display in the courtyard. As I began to look around and take in the surroundings, I began to notice the song the children were dancing to: Jump Jim Crow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_Jim_Crow (sorry, my hyperlink insert isn't working) Wikipedia says "Jump Jim Crow is a song and dance from 1828 that was done in blackface by white comedian Thomas Dartmouth (T.D.) "Daddy" Rice." Great... Just what I wanted to welcome us to the school!
I also noticed, rather quickly, that the percentage of children of color in the class was quite low and that no children seemed to share Small Sun's ethnicity.
We continued on our school tour, and the woman guiding us was extremely kind and helpful. At the conclusion of our tour I asked her if she knew the percentage that ethnic minority children represented in the school. She became visibly ruffled and explained that she wouldn't know that figure, as it would not be important to the school. She asked whether it would be important to me?
I explained that yes, it was important to me that my child was not one of a very few childed of color in his class. She explained, still flustered, that in Australia, all children are educated equally and that race is not something that they consider relevant in education. She assured me that they learn about different culture and religions and have a multi-cultural curriculum as part of government regulations.
I noted that in a class with a high percentage of children from varying backgrounds, children are less likely to be teased for being different. Finding her footing, she told me with gusto that I needn't worry about that! In their school they are extremely strict and no teasing of any kind is tolerated.
I walked home dissapointed. I have had strangers tell me, glowingly, how they loved this school, including a mother in a interracial relationship with biracial children. I had gotten my hopes up.
There are two things that I'm walking away thinking about: one is how we use this term "multiculturalism" like a big blanket. We throw it over anything we want to bring into our lives to "enrich" us without going to the trouble to understand the history or context. Like the Jump Jim Crow song. I can just imagine it being listed on a children's cd here as "African American Folk Tune" or something, and how teachers here might consider it a multicultural contribution to their curriculum, completely unaware that it is a racist stereotype from inception. I'm sure the teachers haven't done research on each song they played so judge whether or not it was appropriate. Nor have I done so with the "World Playground" cd my children love to listen to. We dance around to songs in other languages, enjoying their rythm and style without ever looking deeper to know what we are treating lightly.
Secondly, I am so tired of the polically correct position of "colorblindness". In efforts to avoid being racist or innapropriate we say "I don't see you as Indian, I just see you as a person", or "when I look at you I don't see brown skin, I just see a human being." We would never say to a colleague "oh, are you female? I hadn't even noticed! I'm so into gender-equality, I didn't realize you were a woman!" We wouldn't say "oh, you're wearing this clothing as part of your religious beliefs? I thought it was just a new fashion!" We don't ignore, or pretend not to see, gender, religious dress, age, etc, but we are trained that it is impolite to notice ethnicity.
Noticing difference is not descrimination. A child's ethnicity is one part of the many parts that make them unique. We recognize differences in learning styles in regards to gender. We are sensitive to teaching students from different religous backgrounds. Yet we deny that ethnicity should be seen in education.
On one hand, I think it is more true here when people say "where you come from doesn't matter, being Australian is what matters." There seems to be less of a divide between "us" and "them" (unless you are Aborigine: the media coverage of Aborigine issues seems very negative to me). There's just so much to sort out here.
You're in Australia. This is what Australia is like. Perhaps you'll find it easier to get used to it here if instead of forcing your values, wants and needs onto this place, you take it for what it is.
I honestly don't know what you expected with the school. You've talked about the voluntary segregation here and how there's no one here that looks like your son, why did you expect a school to be any different? And why did you expect them to anticipate your needs and the needs of your child when the majority of their students are Caucasian? Schools here are colour blind and have strict bullying rules. If you want your child to have a good education he won't be in a racially diverse environment. That's the reality of where you live now.
I'd also like to ask again, why you chose Sydney? You seem to have chosen it as the place you expected to give your children the racially diverse environment you feel they need, but it's just not like that. It's the most racist place in Australia, is home to Australia's KKK and the Cronulla rights happened there not so long ago.
You're frustrations seem to be stemming from your own unrealistic expectations. I don't understand your complaints about the school. You said the lady who did the tour was great. Then you complain the school isn't diverse enough, like what do you expect them to do? Knock back white students? I don't understand what you expect them to do.
I'm sorry this comment is so aggressive. But I was really offended by this post.
Posted by: Sassy | 02 June 2008 at 03:02 AM
Sassy, first of all, let me say sorry for offending you in the post. Second, I want you to know that that post I just wrote "Does an Explanation Void and Apology" was written before I received this comment so I was in no way trying to discount what you wrote here.
I agree with you that things will be easier for me if I "take it for what it is" here. I am in the process of figuring out WHAT it is here. I can't abandon my values, nor can I force them. With time, I will learn how things are here and how my values need to adjust and change to work within the framework of this society.
In regards to voluntary segragation, I do not think that is unique to Sydney by any means. It was the same in Nashville, and in Holland when I lived there. People choose to live with people who are "like them" all over the world. Even though that is not likely to change, it still makes me sad.
I am saddened that a quality education is usually not available to children of color. I am saddened that the neighborhoods where people of color live are usually poorer neighborhoods. Again, that is true whereaver I have been, not just here. It still makes me sad.
We chose Sydney for a number of reasons: its (relative) proximity to the Pacific Rim and the opportunities for innovation that provides for my husband's job, the fact that statistically, it is more culturally diverse than London and Paris, the climate, and the water. There are other factors but those are the biggies. I have never heard that it is the most racist place in Australia. I have consistently heard that it is the most open-minded and accepting of diversity place in Australia, before your comment.
What I hope for in a school for my children, (but understand I might not find) is a shared belief that children's ethnicity and culture is part of their identities to be valued and celebrated, rather than intentionally overlooked. I want an ethnically diverse school because adult transracial adoptees tell us time and time again, that to be one of a very few children of color in school was a difficult and damaging experience. I want to take the input from people of color who have grown up in white families, to do the best I can for my children.
The school I toured is reflective of the neighborhood I live in. The neighborhood or the school might not be the right ones for us. Or, they might be. Time will tell. I appreciate your input and your comments and you've done a great deal to help me sort things out here. I appreciate having an Australian in my audience to act as a sounding board. I DON'T know how things work here, and I don't know when I am being offensive in this culture. I appreciate people helping me to figure that out. Thanks.
Posted by: Kohana | 02 June 2008 at 06:29 AM
I wonder if any of the Australian's that told you Sydney was the "most open-minded and accepting of diversity place in Australia", actually lived outside Sydney?
Have you read about the Cronulla riots on wikipedia? Here's a link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronulla_riots
It happened it 2005 and was very disturbing to see the news footage at the time. I doubt you could get 5000 people to bash middle eastern people in any other capital city.
I don't want to bash Sydney too hard, but I'm really surprised you were told that there are other Australian cities that are less racially tolerant than Sydney. In Melbourne for example, our lord mayor is Chinese. He barely speaks English and you can buy tshirts that say 'John So is my bro'. I doubt you'd get that in Sydney. Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Darwin, are all also places I'd suggest are 'better' than Sydney in that way. Possibly Brisbane, but I've heard there's still a fair bit of support for Pauline Hanson up there, you probably want to wiki her as well for background on racism in Australia.
I don't have the time to get into the rest of your comment now, and I'm not sure there'd be much of a point. But I just wanted to comment on that.
Posted by: Sassy | 02 June 2008 at 07:23 AM
Kohana - I understand why you were disappointed and offended by what you witnessed at the school. Unfortunately the fact that the song was being played and enjoyed was most likely a case of total ignorance, as you insinuated in your post. Do not lose hope. Do not grow weary in doing right. Love, T
Posted by: T | 05 June 2008 at 11:30 PM