Reggie Barnes and Ashley Johnson

I. Mr. Barnes

            One of the most prominent themes of Reggie Barnes’ talk was “don’t assume anything.” I think that this is a sound and valuable piece of advice for anyone working with kids. Too often, we become so consumed by test scores, by the grind of a routine, by our own pasts, and by frustration that we forget that each student is truly an individual with his or her own story. Working with people, especially youth, requires a more individually tailored approach than a totalitarian can give. While this does not discount the importance of discipline in the classroom, it means that a teacher must be a leader, not just a blind adherent to a set of prescribed classroom rules.  

            Teachers must resist the urge to be a “knight in shining honor,” as Mr. Barnes put it. This seems to be a recurring theme, along with the insistence that teachers become a part of the community. A teacher needs to attempt to integrate into the fabric of the town, to strive to understand it on its terms. I think that the “knight in shining honor” insults his or her community in a way, despite the noblest of intentions, by swooping in with a “holier-than-thou” attitude and the idea that he or she will “save” the community. Although I think this is a natural impulse, teachers must guard against it if they wish to help enact any real change.

II. Ashley Johnson

            Spending six weeks (has it already been six weeks?) in Mississippi has been a process of coming to know what I didn’t know. The reality that still today a railroad track or a river oftentimes separates the “white” from the “black” part of town shocked me when I first learned about it a month and a half ago. The idea that schools are still segregated, that segregation still exists at all, was something that seemed so foreign to me. This isn’t my America, I thought. But in reality this is America (I’m beginning to see that the United States encompasses a wider range of experiences than my six states of New England can show me). My conception of this country was one where there were still horrible injustices, but they were something that didn’t consume me. Down here, it seems that racism and the repercussions of slavery stare me in the face every single day (that’s not to say that the Northeast isn’t racist, but that it’s something that seems easier to ignore). I guess this all relates to Ashley Johnson’s talk, albeit tangentially, because my response to it was fundamentally different than it would have been six weeks ago. Although I still feel frustrated and enraged when confronted with the harsh realities with which children must find a way to cope in the Delta, I didn’t feel like I was hearing about some faraway or nightmarish fantasy. I’ve come to realize that just because I live in the North doesn’t mean these aren’t my problems and struggles too; they are, or at least they ought to be, on the minds of all Americans.

I never idealized America, far from it, but I never understood it either. And now I think I’m beginning to finally do so, after having lived here for nineteen years.