The article, "The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children", by Lisa D. Delpit, discusses the interaction between race, power, education, and literacy. She describes a "culture of power" and how it relates to education. Her article takes a stand on the pedagogical strategies employed in the education of poor and minority students. Delpit uses the preexisting discourse of process versus skill oriented education to contextualize her argument. Though she later explains that the process/skill dichotomy is a fallacious discourse in itself, serving better as a subject for debate than for use in improving pedagogy on the whole. Delpit explains that the "silenced dialogue" is the lack of true communication between poor/minority parents and teachers about what is the best way to educate their children. Delpit explains this issue to be effected by and the direct result of a culture of power, in which standard english and its use possesses cultural power due to its connection to white middle and upper class citizens. She concludes that to engage the issue of the silenced dialogue and to improve the way we instruct minority students, we must educate with two principles in mind. First of all, educators are responsible for teaching their students (especially poor/minority students to whom the system does not benefit innately) about the culture of power in the United States, and how it relates directly to the their education in speech, literacy, and composition. Second, that appropriate education strategy for poor and minority children can only be developed through a genuine dialogue between a teacher and the parents of their students.
The article "Your Average Nigga", by Vershawn Young, discusses the interaction between education, race, power, and literacy as well. Young's article takes a unique approach and gives what I believe to be a valid perspective in this complex discourse. Instead of discussing education from a top-down theory combating perspective, Young introduces his subjective experience as a minority (black) student and educator in America. Through an anecdote describing Young's interaction with an intelligent student, he begins his discussion of how race and identity are shaped by the experiences of life. More specifically, Young describes a series of events in his life as a student and educator, and explains how his race and identity not only shaped his experience in education, but also how his peers responded as a result of these factors. What Young's article does that Delpit's does not, is that it addresses how identity on the whole exists both inside and outside of race. Young describes how his experiences pitted his mastery of Delpit's standard english and adherence to the power structure of institutionalized education was seen as an opposition to his "blackness" both by himself and his peers.
What is interesting about Young's article is that he questions the reality of describing identity through race, explaining how American culture creates an archetype of "blackness" that promotes certain aspects of human personality in favor of others. As a child born in 1989, raised in Whitefish (Whitefolks) Bay, WI, a suburb of Milwaukee, oft described as one of the most segregated cities in America, the relationship between language, education, race and identity has long been a part of my life. To begin I will share a memory that has stuck with me from my childhood to this day. I remember in elementary school being confused by, and contemplating the idea of code switching (though I didn't refer to it as such at the time). I had a friend Jordan, who I still know to this day, who I one day discovered to have two completely unique ways or codes of speaking. Being his close friend and seeing his family life is what allowed me to come to this observation. He would speak with his parents in a soft, respectful tone enunciating and conjugating as befits the stereotype of Young's White English Vernacular. While on the playground he would speak with slang, and cuss, and raise his voice to others exhibiting authority and power. This memory alone is intriguing, serving as a personal example of the way in which human's code switch based on context. Not only did young Jordan possess these two unique codes of communication, but he excelled in their use. Based on context he could assert himself as a leader amongst our peers through speech and behavior, demonstrating what we thought was masculinity, as we played games and did what young boys do during recess. In other situations he would subsume the identity of the child, speaking quietly and with WEV to promote the conception of him as innocent and well to do. This example is fascinating in its connection to the two aforementioned articles. It is also important to note that Jordan not only a child of "mixed" heritage both black and white, but he was also adopted by an all white middle-class family. As a result of choice, historical context, and personal experience the an observance of the issues of race and equality in America have long been an important aspect of my identity. It even pains me to use the terms necessary to engage in this discourse. The charged assumptions of words like mixed heritage (the distinction is redundant if we consider all people as human), blackness, and whiteness reflect a perspective of humanity and culture separate from my own. Delpit and Young definitely help me to understand the my own experience: they create a dialogue which I can be a part of. Whether or not I agree with either author's specific arguments it is important that the discourse even exists. Without their work then the "silenced dialogue" would be much larger an issue than it is today.
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