Humans operate on “first impressions.” For those that are blessed with 20/20 vision,
individuals mainly make assumptions based on the outward appearance of people
they encounter. This includes but is not
limited to skin-tone. Young adults and
teenagers often have this blurred vision of making assumptions based on
skin-complexion. Assumptions based on skin-complexions often make individuals
of mixed races uncomfortable and could possibly appear as offensive. Our culture in America is diverse and our
outward appearances can be deceiving so I pose this question: how can
individuals, especially educators, avoid making assumptions and acknowledge
that complexion is not an indicator of one’s identity? In this blog post I will attempt to answer
this complex question.
As a teacher-candidate working in a diverse district and
school, I have come in to contact with mixed-races. Furthermore, growing up in a Hispanic
community, I have been guilty of making the assumption of student’s knowing
Spanish based on their skin color, and Hispanic last name. Back home, I spoke Spanish when I was around
my Hispanic friends and community members in order to make these individuals
feel comfortable speaking in their native tongue. I attempted to do the same
with individuals that appeared to have Hispanic origins due to their last name
and skin color. I did this because I
wanted to establish a positive relationship with these students. Never did I consider that I might have
actually offended these individuals until I came across the article
“Complexities of Complexion” by Nichole Berg.
Berg states her experiences with having a white outward
appearance. She is actually half
Mexican-American and is fluent in Spanish.
She outlines her experiences as being profiled due to her skin
complexion and states how assumptions regarding her identity have affected her
positively and negatively: “My
experience has led me to believe we do not have to choose one identity over the
other. Our various identities serve to make us the complex and unique people we
are today. And, engaging multiple points of view strengthens the one piece of
our identities we all have in common: co-creators of the future.”
Her experiences have enlightened me to avoid such
assumptions in my classroom. It’s only
natural to be observant of the outward appearances of students but we need to
be more observant of the behaviors of our students in order to get an accurate depiction
of their actual identity. As educators we need to ensure that our classroom is
comfortable and inviting. In reading
this article, I plan to observe a student’s behavior and interactions among
other students before I assume that they speak Spanish or any other
language. This is also just another part
of getting to know our students. When we
get to know our students, aside from their outward appearance, we understand
how they work and how they process information.
For my readers, I challenge each and every one of you (even if you aren’t
an educator) to take a step back from making assumptions based on the outward
appearances of individuals that you come in to contact with.
For further reading, explore this article and the resource
Teaching Tolerance
http://www.tolerance.org/blog/complexities-complexion
