Identifying Race and Transforming Whiteness in the Classroom: Fourth Printing

By: Steinberg, Shirley R.

Revised

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0820470686
• ISBN13: 9780820470689
• Release Date: August 1970
• Publisher: Lang AG International Academic Publishers, Peter
• Length: 292 Pages

Customer Reviews

Thought Provoking

If you read the book with an open mind, you will see just how much it speaks to the minority American experience. It's hard for us to see things from others' perspectives, but if you allow yourself to do so, it will open your eyes. I'm about half-way through it and I've found it to be very enlightening. It really does break our system down and show how the disadvantaged have barriers to their social mobility. It's not saying that white people are the root of all evil; instead, it differentiates between "whiteness" and "people who are white". It defines whiteness as "a constellation of social practices, knowledge, norms, values, and identities that maintain a race and class hierarchy in which white people disproportionately control power and resources" (p.14). Yes, there are poor and powerless white people in this country, and no, that doesn't run contrary to the book's message. I think that some of the previous reviewers either (1) didn't read past the first couple of pages and dismissed the book without having understood its content; (2) didn't have an open mind when reading the book; or (3) missed the entire message completely. This book is worth the read. BTW, it's written by two white women, in case you are wondering.

Seeing the World in Colors

Several chapters I found very insightful information that will be pertinent to my teaching and have a lasting impression on me. From the seating of the students to how they view me as "white." One chapter I especially enjoyed was Christensen's Tribal Paradigm she begins by describing the importance of the tribal Elder's knowledge, "Elder knowledge passed through oral tradition is important and even structural in the holistic world of the Indian (Lea & Helfand, 2004, p. 172)." As I teach, I try to bring in real world examples so that the students can have something to think about. Parts of the book were over-generalized. The over-generalization that bothered me a lot is lumping "whiteness" with all people of white color. There are underprivileged white people and rich white people who take advantage of everything. If it were so easy for all white people, then I would not have had to take out student loans to go to college while working two jobs at a time. I think we are all humans and to catalog humans with colors or stereotypes is doing a injustice.

did he read the same book?

This book is an excellent collection of writings by edcators who are attemting to interrogate and de-center whiteness. The previous researcher, based on his other reviews, is clearly trying to RE-center whiteness. I love this collection--great food for thought.