why their lives matter: using social protest to meet the challenges of writing osen f. bowser jr....
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Why Their Lives Matter: Using Social Protest to Meet the Challenges of
Writing
Osen F. Bowser Jr.English Instructor
Community College of Baltimore County
Why Social Protest Writing?
"Though we can't call a strike
or launch a social movement
from a classroom, we can
teach and learn the attitudes,
relationships, and practices
that are the preconditions for
imagining oneself and others
as participants in social
policy making and agents of
social change" (Welch 15).
Why Social Protest Writing?
• Provides students with a reason to write
• Provides a logical connection between the personal and the academic
• Helps students develop a sense of agency
Why Social Protest Writing?
“Pedagogically, students learn that they are supposed to
have something at stake in writing an argument,
academic or otherwise. When we stick to impersonal
topics, students have a hard time making this cognitive
connection. Rhetorically, students who do write when
something is at stake are participating in public discourse;
they expect something to happen as a result of writing.
This profound belief in the possibility of action is the best
prospect we can offer as teachers” (Danielewicz 421).
How Do We Engage Students in Public Discourse?
Unit Introduction
• Unit I: Black Men, Latinos, and Pakistanis: They Don’t Like Who We Be!
Unit I: Black Men, Latinos, and Pakistanis: They Don’t Like Who
We Be! • Short Discussion:
–What feelings, images, or ideas does the unit title and accompanying image evoke?
– Does the unit title and/or accompanying image relate to your own personal experiences in any way? If so, how?
Unit I: Black Men, Latinos, and Pakistanis: They Don’t Like Who
We Be!
• Are We Really “Free”?
• Analysis of "Stop and Frisk"
Unit I: Black Men, Latinos, and Pakistanis: They Don’t Like Who
We Be!
• Short Discussion:
– Is “Stop and Frisk” active polic
ing or racial profiling?
– Is it a threat to personal
freedom?
– What does this mean for the re
st of us? You Decide!
Unit I: Black Men, Latinos, and Pakistanis: They Don’t Like Who
We Be! Group Discussion:
– Do law enforcement officials have the right to scrutinize members of certain ethnic, racial, or gender groups under the guise of protecting all of us? Consider Muslims and the scrutiny they’ve faced since 9/11. What are the risks and benefits of such policies?
– Is this practice unique to New York City, or could this happen in Baltimore? What are the implications for you?
Introductory Analysis Assignment
• Read Tim Wise’s “Membership Has Its Privileges:
Thoughts on Acknowledging and Challenging
Whiteness,” and respond to the following question in
paragraph form via the Discussion Board.
• 1-Using at least two of Wise's points, explain how his
argument connects with the controversial "Stop and
Frisk" practice. How might white privilege lead to
something like “Stop and Frisk”? You must show
that you have read Wise's work by incorporating
quotes from his piece into your analysis.
Introductory Analysis Assignment
• Sample Response:
– Tim Wise's argument that "being white means never
having to think about it" has alot in common with
the issues of the "Stop and Frisk" practice. He used
a personal experience to support his argument, but
it is also an example of the biased "Stop and Frisk"
practice. He also states "that which keeps people of
color off balance in a racist society is that which
keeps whites in control". That statement is enforced
by the "Stop and Frisk" practice.
Introductory Analysis Assignment
The personal experience he uses where "he attended a
party in a white suburb and one of the few black men there
announced he had to leave early because he feared his trip
home" ties into "Stop and Frisk". On a daily basis white
people do not have to remind themselves that they are
white, but black people have to think about where they are
going and what they are doing because there is more of a
chance that they will get stopped then whites will. Wise
gives another example that basic "pretexts of driving" are
used to give cops an excuse to pull over a black person,
but will let a white person continue on their way.
Introductory Analysis Assignment
Wise's statment "that which keeps people of color off
balance in a racist society keeps whites in control" is
enforced by the "Stop and Frisk" practice. Since black
people are the majority of people getting stopped it
can make them hesitate about where they are going
or what they are doing and keeps them off balance.
By keeping them off balance it allows white people to
stay in control and create rules/laws that will help
them stay in control. The "Stop and Frisk" practice is
an example of one of those rules/laws.
Unit Literature
• “Membership Has Its
Privileges: Thoughts on
Acknowledging and
Challenging Whiteness”
• “In Living Color: Race
and American Culture”
• “Acting White”
• “Working Class Whites”
• “Of Cholos and Surfers”
• “Goin’ Gangsta,
Choosin’ Cholita”
• “Being an Other”
Major Topics
• Prejudice
• Americanization
– Identity
• White privilege
• Stereotypes
– White Trash
– Good Country Folk
– Thug
– Other racial and gender
stereotypes
• Discrimination
• Invisibility
• “Acting White”
• Claiming
• Overt and inferential
racism
• Difference or
“otherness”
“Working Class Whites” and “Being an Other” Analysis
• Horizontally, divide a sheet of paper into three
columns with the following categories: white trash,
good country folk, and other stereotypes.
• While watching the clip of Honey Boo Boo, write
examples of “white trash” and “good country folk”
stereotypes you notice in the appropriate columns.
For those stereotypes not categorized as white trash
or good country folk, include those in the “other
stereotypes” column.
“Working Class Whites” and “Being an Other” Analysis
• After completing your stereotype chart, respond to the
following:
• Price asserts that “The hatred and condescension of the
poor seems to be the last available method of prejudice
in our society.” Do you agree or disagree? You must be
able to support your position with examples—refer to
your chart of stereotypes, Price’s essay, and to your
own personal experiences and observations.
“Of Cholos and Surfers” Analysis• Think about your childhood and how you developed a
sense of who you are in terms of your identity. Write
a multi-paragraph account of your childhood
explaining how you developed a sense of your
identity. Has any aspect of the media ever prompted
a desire in you to claim another identity? If so, how
so? If not, explain how the media could influence
one’s identity. Consider Jack Lopez’s “Of Cholos and
Surfers” as you craft your own piece. Be sure to
identify specific, concrete, significant events
that illustrate your developing a sense of your
identity.
Unit Essay Prompts
• Is racial discrimination a societal and
institutional phenomenon, a personal,
individual mindset, or both?
• Should some of us sacrifice our personal
freedoms for the safety and comfort of all
of us? Discuss the implications of your
position.
Your Turn
• How have you or might
you incorporate social
protest into your
composition/literacy
courses to engage
students in writing?
• Volunteers to share!
Works Cited
• Danielewicz, Jane. “Personal Genres, Public Voices.” College Composition and Communication 59.3 (2008): 420-450. Print.
• Welch, Nancy. Living Room: Teaching Public Writing in a Privatized World. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2008. Print.