I am tweeking my lesson plans for next year and realized that my new school, an upper SES white school, barely even recognized Black History Month (BHM) this past year. I generally highlight historical figures and important people throughout the year but try to match up the ethnicity during BHM. I then thought of how big of a deal it was at my previous school, a low SES majority black school. Was the emphasis at these schools appropriate or reversed. Shouldn't the emphasis on a minority culture's heritage occur where the minority is the minority? Then I thought, how incenssitive both schools were of latin culture. We only recognize(d) Cinco de Mayo, which really seems to only be a drinking holiday anyway. Doesn't Cinco de Mayo only reference Mexican culture. Aren't there other Latin cultures worth celebrating? Why don't schools celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (NHHM)? And, what about our Asian students?
I basically had a big ethical or moral awakening. Should we celebrate all of these months? Should they be celebrated in all schools, some schools, only in schools where the minority is the minority, or in schools where the majority is the majority? Take a look at the following links if you are interested in when holidays occur and how to celebrate them.
Black History Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
White Heritage Month???? - Doesn't exist... should it... what about in schools where white kids are 1% of the population?
I also found this Youtube video that quite comedically explains why the new Arizona laws promote racial profiling. I doesn't take an idiot to come to this realization.
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