MADE IN AMERICA: Ch. 3, Demographic Myths Thoughts

MADE IN AMERICA:
The title of this chapter, We Make Eachother Racial, really defined this chapter well. The chapter touched on curriculum and social inequalities in society. The high school, Madison, is a very diverse campus, with a third of it being white. The whites at the school are for the most part working-class, so when the topic of Affirmative Action came up, many of the white students were up in arms! They had a class discussion in which some students chimed in how Affirmative Action gives un-deserving people jobs, and also aids them more than white people. I felt that many of these views were passed along to them via their family or particular company they are around when not in school.
Another issue, curriculum, got the white students a tad peaved as well. They didn't understand why there is a black history month, or latino-cultural clubs, when there doesn't exist a Euro-American club.
The segregation at this high school seems to really be a touchy issue to a lot of the students. I feel that the fault should fall on the administration. Yes, it is likely that groups will be constructed and people tend to hangout with people "like themselves." However, a high school is where students begin to mold and construct their views on the outside world. Therefore, what does a division like the visible one at Madison help to do? It just perpetuates the cycle of segregation to the next generation. I feel the administration should take a more active approach in helping students become more open to new cultures. If you have a school with such an immense pallete, you must embrace each one, whether it be special programs, or reaching out to the junior high schools to create after-school programs where the different schools in the high school district meet and greet. Little steps like that can at least shine a little light to helping find a way of having a more civil school environment.

Demographic Myths:
I found the Chapter of Demographic Myths to be very basic, saying that it's myth that "the number of ELLs is decreasing," or that "mainly you find non-English speakers in urban areas." I found that these myths weren't myths, just more ignorance. It is ignorant to believe that our country is the land of opportunity where everyone can find their dreams of prosperity, but believe that we all speak one universal language, and that is just false. The scenario of the three teachers, beginning with their pre-service teaching, where 2 of the 3 believed that they would never have an ELL, was keeping with that American ignorance that NOOO, this will never effect me because I want to work/or do work in a suburb that is at a higher-SES rate. I feel that I was very critical with this chapter, but as we are all involved with the TESOL field, we would find these myths to be more "thinking inside our own bubble world."