American Portraiture

On a final note, while reading this report I came across a familiar name from my studies with Professor Clark in American Art at Amherst last semester - Sir Isaac Royall. We spent an entire week on the first group portrait painted in North America, the portrait of Isaac Royall, Jr., and his family (below).

Robert Feke, the American Colonial portrait painter owes his reputation to this portrait. I recall the odd details of its creation - the face of the child in the center of then picture was added by an unknown artists after the death of the child painted by Feke. What we did not discuss was the fact that Isaac Royall, Sr., amassed his great fortune from a sugar cane plantation he owned on the island of Antigua. He profited in the great triangle trade of sugar, rum, and slaves.

Some further research revealed that Royall's house in Medford, Massachusettes was once considered "the grandest house in America" and included sweeping slave quarters. Isaac Royall, Jr., was a prominent real estate investor and maintained an assortment of public offices and military positions. He professed to be a Patriot, however, his business interests were undoubtedly tied to Loyalist families and the English crown. On the eve of the American Revolution, he fled Medford for England, where he remained for the rest of his life.

What is most relevant in relation to the Brown report, is that in 1779, the Royall family gave land by will to Harvard University, which was subsequently sold after the War to endow the Isaac Royall professorship. The establishment of this professorship inspired the founding of the Harvard Law School. The school's insignia includes the three sheaves of wheat from the Royall family coat of arms. Having read the Brown report, I cannot help but ask: should Harvard Law School hang the portrait of a slaveowner in a prominent place (like Brown's clock)? Should Harvard even keep such a portrait? And, the professorship?

Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice

October of 2006 was a critical time for the reparations movement. Brown University’s Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, appointed by President Ruth Simmons, released a highly anticipated report on the University’s historical ties to slavery (and I hasten to add, anti-slavery). The report also makes clear suggestions about what to do in the aftermath.

As the report outlines in great detail, there have been several significant events in the reparations movement in recent decades. Perhaps the most significant is the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided monetary compensation to interned Japanese-Americans during World War II (and who survived until 1986). Other noteworthy examples include verbal and written apologies. For example, President Clinton’s 1993 apology for the deprivation of Hawaiian sovereignty in the 1890s; the 1995 apology from the Southern Baptist Convention for the sins of racism; JP MorganChase’s apology, inspired by the Chicago slavery era disclosure ordinance, which requires businesses doing business within the city to divulge their connections to slavery; and similarly, the California Slavery Era Insurance Registry Act (which requires insurance companies doing business in California to make public whatever records they have regarding policies written on slaves). The required disclosure documents are available on the California Insurance Commission’s website. This should make for some rather interesting reading if you happen to be a social historian.

With President Simmons' call for action, Brown University joined the club of institutions studying their historical connections to slavery. The report is as comprehensive and authoritative as you will find. The Committee was inspired, it appears to me, by two events. First, David Horowitz’ ad “Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery Is A Bad Idea--And Racist, Too,” which was published in the Brown Daily Herald in 2001 and stirred up much controversy on campus. Secondly, President Ruth Simmons' push to have a factual account of Brown’s connections to slavery.

The University's Committee did what academicians naturally do: question, investigate, discuss, and document. It is compellingly written, insightful, and informative. Take for example the first line of the report: "Let us begin with a clock." And so follows an engaging vignette about a historical artifact and its ties to the slave trade and to the University... Intriguing. What I especially liked about the report is the careful way in which it harmonizes historical evidence with discussion of contemporary moral and social justice issues. As an Art History major at Amherst, I know that it tends to be unpopular among historians to write for the present. However, I think such an approach is exactly appropriate in this context - what is relevant and what we as readers want to know about is the connections of the past to the present.

Most of the details of the history of Brown University and Rhode Island were entirely new to me. Specifically, the report emphasizes the many ways in which Rhode Island’s economy was tied to the products of an for slaves’ labor (negro cloth) and the convoluted roles that the Brown family (Nicholas, John, Joseph, and Moses) played in the slave trade and the abolition movement. One of the most haunting passages of the report is the discussion of the 1763-64 voyage of the slave trading ship Sally. The records of the disastrous voyage are shocking, to say the least.

Yet, after all of the research, discussion forums, speaker events, and publication of this report by Brown University, the question remains the same: what do we make of this now? Much of what the Steering Committee proposes is further education, k-12 public education to be exact. I do believe there is something beneficial in simply having a fuller, more complete history. That being said, I think it is critical in this case because it outlines the intricate ways in which great institutions of the past (and present) are connected to slavery. When we begin to look further, we see this same system seemingly everywhere. I am left wondering about other institutions - Amherst included - and their connections to slavery and genocide.

The most compelling element of this story is that it is a deeply American story: human beings whose names we will never know labored under horrific conditions and suffered mightly. The profits derived from that inhuman system then funded a university, which–even in the years before the Civil War–was apart of the movement for our liberation. Without a doubt, over a century of Brown University’s graduates have benefitted our country in incalculable ways. Consequentially, the products of an ruthless system have been transformed into a positive use. This may well be a central story for all Americans: suffering, killing, and injustice for the "improvement" of our country. Perhaps we should take a step back from the immediate profits and (in line with Brown's recommendations) invest in the failing system that is public education in this country.

You can read the full report by the Brown Steering Committee here.

A well-written New York Time's article on the report can be found here.

The Main Squeeze

All summer long Hallie, Larissa and I have been wanted to check out the Main Squeeze after work.  Most of the time, the days have just been too hot to make the trek down University Ave., even at five o'clock in the afternoon.  Finally, last Friday Ben asked if we would like to check it out for lunch.

In absolute awe and wonderment of his new iPhone 4, Ben made a video (yes, it is even high definition) of the trip.  Check it out.

Thoughts on the Internship

What did you like?  

I loved being in Mississippi.  The is ironic because my greatest fear initially was that I would have to spend the summer in the hot and humid deep South.  Fear not.  I absolutely adore Oxford, Mississippi.  I do miss the ocean, but this little town really has it all.  I have learned so much about Oxford, the delta, Greenwood, Jackson, and the civil rights movement.  Being apart of this program has really made me realize how little I know about Amherst's history and Portland, Maine's as well.  This has been such an incredible experience.  Each day has brought something new; new people, interesting discussions, historical places, incredible food, and I always managed to laugh each day.  I know some people have nightmare internships - this certainly was not one of those.   

What would you improve?  

I think the internship went much more smoothly once we realized that two interns should stay at the University with Ben, and one at Holly Springs summer school to help Jake.  That was a huge improvement and helped Larissa and connect more and get more work done!  

In an ideal world, I think the hours should be 8-4, with lunch - even just 30 minutes.  I really didn't like the days we worked until five. Five o'clock was the time that all of the evening activities (yoga, volleyball, racket-ball etc.) got going with the first year teachers and many days we missed out.  I realize that is not part of the job, but recreation plays a key role in clearing your mind and connecting with others.

Blogging: I would allow one "freebie" blog for the internship.  If for some reason the interns can't get one in, are having writer's block, or are just plain tired of blogging, they should be allow a free-pass just once.  And, three blogs per week was just one too many.  I know this only happened twice but I was not happy those two times.

What was the best part?  

What's not to like?  The people really make this program wonderful. Ben Guest - so much fun to work with and I have learned so much from him.  Dr. Monroe, Jake Roth, the team teachers... the list goes on and on.  I have never met so many wonderful people in such a short time.  The speaker series was perhaps the next greatest feature of the internship.  I feel like I got a free college course with Prof. Guest and all of the speakers.  This was invaluable.

The food, I cannot forget our gastronomic tour with Ben.  This has been so much fun.  Traveling to new places, trying new things, sitting down and sharing a meal together.  In all nine weeks, we only had one sub par meal which I will not describe here - too nauseating to recollect.  Top three: Yococa in Exile, Honeybee Bakery, and the farmer's markets!!!

Who was your favorite speaker?  

The Barksdales were my favorite.  Perhaps it is because they are such gracious and wonderful people, or because the work they do is so noble, in any event, I just couldn't get enough of them.  The Barksdale Reading Institute is hugely impressive and both Marian and Claiborne have a wealth of knowledge to share, both without the slightest hint of pretension.  It is so difficult to keep my favorite speaker to just one, I loved them all!  John T. Edge was another highlight as was Dr. Winkle and Jerry Mitchell.

Would you recommend it to someone else?

If you are looking to challenge you assumptions and devote yourself to service through education - the answer is a whole hearted yes.  You can't except an easy summer, a lot will be asked of you, but you will benefit enormously as well.  As with any internship, there will be "boring administrative work" - this is just inevitable.  But the benefits far outweigh the costs.  Do this and you will grow as an individual, a student, and a citizen of this country. 

Advice to future interns:

1. Ask questions.  Ben will ask you a lot of questions, but don't be afraid to do the same.  You will have access to some extraordinarily brilliant minds (Jerry Mitchell, Dr. Winkle, the Barksdales, everyone is brilliant, really), so don't let them pass you by!  
   
2. Listen.  Try not to dominate discussions, you will have plenty of opportunities to get your opinion in.  Sit back and soak in what others have to say at times.
3. Be honest.  If that means disagreeing, by all means, disagree.  Don't be the people please-er.
4. Be respectful and let go (as much as humanly possible) of assumptions and stereotypes. 
5. Extend yourself to the first year and second year teachers - you are here to support them in every way possible.  Bend over backwards to lend them a hand - they are going through incredibly challenging circumstances. 
6. READ.  Not just the assigned readings from Ben (do those thoroughly), but go to Square Books or the University Library and read about the history of the South, civil rights, read the news.  Immerse yourself in the literature of Mississippi (Richard Wright & Faulkner).
7. Try new things: be it volleyball after work, spin class (Larissa and my favorite), fried green tomatoes, delta tamales.
8. You are only here for two short months, so don't play it safe, absorb everything you can!  MTC has so much to offer. 

National Civil Rights Museum

Extraordinary. Powerful. Beautiful. Eye-opening.

Saturday's trip to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee was well worth the wait.  We've been anticipating this trip since day one.  Let me begin by saying that this should be a mandatory visit for any citizen of the United States.  

Hallie, Larissa and I ventured up to Germantown Friday afternoon (sans Ben) to stay with a dear old friend of my family's, Mrs. Barbara Apperson.  At the age of seventy-four, she participates in weekly dramatic readings of Shakespeare, studies Jungian Psychology, takes literature courses at the University, and is a tremendous gardener and cook.  We were delighted to have Mrs. Apperson accompany us to the Museum and appreciative of her gracious hospitality.

Where to begin? I think that this museum is a great reminder of the on-going struggle for civil rights in America, and in particular for the important roles that Martin Luther King, Jr. and others played.  The museum is essentially a collection of very detailed and informative summaries of history, film footage, photographs, original documents and newspaper clippings, telephone recordings and text, lots and lots of text.  

 

Our visit began with a viewing of the documentary entitled 'Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306'.  And so it happened, on April 4,1968, the Revered Samuel “Billy” Kyles stood beside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee and bore witness to his brutal assassination.  The film unfolds through Rev. Kyles’ recollections of those last moments and the days leading up to them.  I was reminded again of why Dr. King made that last trip to Memphis and felt as if I was invited inside the last hours of his short life.  The film includes testimony from other civil rights luminaries such as Maxine Smith and Dr. Benjamin Hooks as well as other contemporaries of Dr. King.  I found it a poignant retelling of a crucial turning point in the civil rights movement and a pressing reminder of Dr. King’s impact on the movement and our nation.

On to the exhibit: I imagine a quick run through could be done in an hour or so (if you happen to have young children, we ran into many).  However, we spent a good three to four hours critically reading, watching, listening and digesting all of the information before us.

I especially liked that the exhibits were each separated into the individual protests, which offered me a greater perspective about the movement as a whole.  In my mind, it is easy for the events of the Civil Rights Movement to just sort of bundle up together as one big chunk of history; but to see the movement spread out across time and to see how each protest built upon the last was quite fascinating.  

I found the second half of the museum - located across the street - not quite as effective as the first.  This section focuses mainly on the investigation of James Earl Ray - intriguing for conspiracy theorists, I suppose.

After our tour was complete, I just sort of stood and looked up at Motel Lorraine and the balcony on which Dr. King was shot on an April afternoon, 1968. So often I have seen pictures of Dr. King, Jesse Jackson, and Rev. Abernathy together on that very balcony.  Neither words nor photographs do this event justice.  The best I can do is to encourage everyone to go visit the museum for themselves.

Hot Tamale

All is well and good here in Oxford. My final days are flying past and it's hard to believe that I have less than two weeks remaining.  Where has the time gone?

The week in a glance: Last Wednesday, we met with Dr. Mullins (above, left) who discussed new target regions for plugging in MTC teachers around the state, specifically the Black Prairie.  Saturday night: BBQ at Dr. Monroes. Sunday night: Barksdale's for a 4th of July dinner party followed by prime firework viewing.  I fit right in with the seven and eight year olds "oh-ing" and "ah-ing" and the explosions of light in the dark Southern sky.  

Monday night: trekked over to a local school board meeting after work to get a better understanding of the complexity of the the administration and politics involved.  Tuesday: speaker series with John T. Edge, more on him in a moment.  Lunch at Honest Abe's for delta tamales.  Thursday: to summer school in Holly Springs with Ben one last time.  Treat: fabulous company (Ben & team teacher Austin Walker) and tremendous food at Abbyville's Yocona in Exile for dinner.  Regular work day Thursday with lots of business items to attend to.  I treated Ben to lunch at Honeybee Bakery as payment for a lost bet.  Lesson learned: don't bet with Ben, he usually wins.  Really though, it was a win-win, I will take any excuse to go to Honeybee. Friday: another interview for the oral history project before I head north to Memphis with the other interns for the weekend.

And now back to a real culinary luminary, Mr. John T. Edge.  Quite concisely, John T. is a professional eater, writer, educator, and a fine Southern gentleman.  His intricate knowledge of food and Southern foodways, in particular, is as rich and insightful as you will find.  He is the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance located here at Ole Miss.  His many accolades, among them the nomination of his second cookbook "A Gracious Plenty: Recipes and Recollections from the American South (2000)" for a prestigious James Beard Foundation Award, have contributed to his recent induction (2009) in to James Beard’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America.   This guy is fascinating, are you with me?

As a voracious reader of food writing and cookbooks aplenty, a full-bellied appreciator of good food and good company, and an adventurous student in the kitchen of one of my talented mentors, Elonide Semmes, I was excited for this speaker series to say the least.  

John T. contributes monthly to the The New York Times in his "United Tastes" column and is a longtime columnist for the Oxford American.   He has also served as a culinary curator for NPR's All Things Considered and was a contributing editor to the former Gourmet magazine.  Now you can find his writing in Garden & Gun - curious title, wonderful publication.

I was immediately lulled in by the easy tempo of his verbal cadence - the occasional long, drawn out vowel combined with smart and eloquent speech.  You may be wondering how this all fits in with the MTC internship - the ideas of race, class, and social justice we have been exploring? Let me explain.  John T.’s sweeping knowledge of Southern food and the interwoven culture that drives it extends well beyond the surface trendiness of food and haute cuisine and into the ever more novel insights about the people, places and history of the South.  I am referring especially to his perceptions and observations in our discussion of the delta tamale and its role in race relations.

Long after the abolition of slavery, race continues to be the great vexing issue of the South, this I most certainly understand.  In our meeting Wednesday morning, John T. noted that it is "my deep and profound respect for the South, as well as my anger and loathing of a history of injustice and violence that has lead me to approach issues of race, class and gender through a less threatening medium: food." 

“You can use many avenues of approach to race relations in the South" he says. "I think that it is all part of a continuum and food is a great method to get at race". 

His creativity and good storytelling are affective as well.  My sincere admiration for John T. extends well beyond anything I can eloquently express.  His writing is like okra from the field, "the gifts of this earth made dear by their brief season" as my godmother Susan Hull Walker put it, rightly layered in both past and present, revert with a sense of place.

In the interest of time and leaving the storytelling to the pros, I will leave you with some of our assigned reading and listening in preparation for meeting with John T. - I hope you enjoy.

"In Through the Back Door"

"The Southern Activist"

"Pig, Smoke, Pit: This Food Is Seriously Slow"

"Hot Tamales & the Mississippi Delta"

"Abe's Bar-B-Q" - this is where we ate lunch Wednesday.

Robert Johnson, blues legend who supposedly sold his soul to the Devil to learn to play the blues - here singing about hot tamales.  We visited one of his four suspected grave sites between Greenwood and Money, Mississippi.

NPR piece here.

You can read more about Robert Johnson here and here.

Oral History

Our first week on the job, Larissa and I met with Amy Evans Streeters, a local artist and oral historian for the Southern Foodways Alliance, to receive guidance on our own oral history project.  The Southern Food Alliance (SFA) 'documents, studies, and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the changing American South'.   You may be familiar with Cornbread Nation - the irresistible collections of Southern food writing at its best, which just came out with issue #5.  Streeter, a lover of fresh oysters and a well prepared lemon meringue, has traveled far and wide to collect and document the stories behind southern food traditions.  On the SFA website you can find comprehensive transcriptions of this ongoing oral history documentation project.  

The goal of our initial meeting with Streeter was to simply get the basics for how an oral history is done.  Interviewing, recording, transcribing - the nuts and bolts of the process.  Reason being? Ben let us know that one of our tasks this summer would be to craft an oral history project of our own ambition.  Of course, our subject matter (the Mississippi Teacher Corps) isn't exactly in line with that of the hot delta tamale or gumbo trails, nor Southern BBQ or Kentucky bacon.  So the subject may be a little dry in comparison, and the work, well, altogether tedious, but I'll confess, I enjoy it and I've certainly learned a thing or two about MTC since its creation in 1990.  

One thing that frustrates me is that we have no real 'end product' in mind.  We were given the assignment without clear instructions for what it might look like upon completion or what goal it might achieve.  Today I was assured that it was an ongoing project and that Larissa and I are just laying the foundations for some time to come.  This I found reassuring as one thirty minute interview can take up to four hours to transcribe (Ben would argue otherwise but I am a fast typer and stand by my estimate).  So, I have let go of my own expectations that we will perfectly and comprehensively document the last twenty years of MTC in the little time we have left.  We are simply doing our best and enjoying the chance to talk with perfect strangers from all corners of the United States.  

Here's the gist of the project: Larissa and I are interviewing MTC alumni, program founders, past and current directors, program managers, and anyone else who might give us the time of day.  I have enjoyed the interview process so far, especially learning about how the idea for MTC evolved from a conversation between a Harvard journalism student and an Ole Miss graduate.  Neither of whom had any background in teaching in the Mississippi Delta.

I learned that the program did not originally offer the free masters degree in Education as it does today, this was an added incentive in 1994 and sets MTC apart from other teaching fellowships such as Teach for America.   

I have also learned that interviewing isn't actually all that easy.  I always suspected that the person on the 'asking' side had the easy job - just ask and wait.  But, as it turns out, I get uncomfortable with a pause of period of silence, I want to re-explain my question, rephrase it, ask it again until I am certain that I have communicated clearly.  This is an entirely ineffective way to conduct an interview and I am working hard to refine my technique: be clear, be concise, and be patient.  

We have only completed five interviews to date.  Three more are scheduled for this week, and one the following week.  

We've had some funny exchanges, some deeply insightful, and others altogether awkward.  One piece of advice: if you know you are being recorded, do not bad mouth your co-workers, past or present.  This just doesn't reflect well.  That being said... here are some exchanges I found interesting, inspiring, or just mildly entertaining:

BC - Betsy Critchfield
LD - Larissa Davis
HG - Harry Gaston

BC: Mr. Gaston, could we ask you to introduce yourself and what your position was at MTC?

HG: Yeah, I was the Program Coordinator for the Mississippi Teacher Corps from nineteen ninety-seven through two thousand, if memory serves correctly. I've been in Indianapolis with my wife, Maria, for the last ten years.  Both of us work for Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Company.  I [currently] work, as a business analyst/business integrator with information technology systems.  

LD: Can you quickly describe some of your job duties while you were Program Manager at MTC?

HG:  Um, you-, you said the recorder is on, right?

BC & LD: Yes [both respond together and laugh]

HG: Ha...ha...ahhh... [still laughing] Ha...ha... no, the first thing that jumps to mind was getting Diet Cokes for Dean Chambless. 

I guess some of the duties of the interns never go away.  Not that I have ever been asked to buy diet coke for the boss!  Peanut M&M's, perhaps, trail mix, I wouldn't doubt it.  But, there was substance in that interview, too...

LD: Has the Mississippi Teacher Corps, working here and being a teacher, impacted your professional life in anyway?

HG: Well, most of the people I work with never did anything like this. I now work in the major pharmaceutical company and most of the people I'm working with are very career focused and never took time to pursue something like the Teacher Corps.  I think that it was just the most incredible experience.  I know that everyday, the relationships that I have, particularly with me African American co-workers is greatly benefitted from the time I spent in the Teacher Corps and the understanding I have, racially and economically. The experiences I had in Teacher Corps were just incredible.  The two years that I spent teaching in Tunica and experiencing what it's like to be a minority as a white person gave me a perspective that I most certainly couldn't get any other way.  Getting your hands dirty and getting in there and being apart of, really being apart of the failure -being apart of the system that's not working that well, understanding it, attaching yourself to it. The kids become your love and your interest and everything that you you talk about.  I am a native Mississippian so I wasn't unfamiliar with our education problems, but all of the problems that were academic and philosophical before became associated with these are people that I really care about and it hurts me personally to think that their opportunities are limited and that their choices are limited.  

I'll add one more thing, just the, the experience.... I always thought it was amusing when would be apart of the Teacher Corps and even just after and people always talked about how wonderful it was what you were doing, you know.  And most people, they have no clue how much you gain as a participant, how it changes your entire life, how it changes the way you see people.  

Most of us, and by "us" I specifically mean white middle-class people - my perspective as a white male southern person - we don't even like to talk about race, it's a discomfort.  And, the reason that we don't it that we don't really understand our place in all of it.  And, this program gives a perspective you just couldn't get any other way. 

The program also gave me the opportunity, gave all of us as participants the opportunity to meet some of the people who were making incredible difference in education, in Mississippi society.  Governor William Winter, Andy Mullins, and then Governor Ronny Musgrove.  We got to meet those guys and not just talk to them.  They had so much respect for what we were doing.  They gave us insight into their own work and we were really apart of helping to change the face of education in the state. I've never done anything in my life more fulfilling than than the five years that I spent with the Mississippi Teacher Corps, and I wonder if I ever will.  I'm making an awful lot more money now but I don't have anywhere near the sense of fulfillment that I had when I was working with that program.

This is just a very brief clip of one of our shortest interviews. So, as you can tell, there is a great deal of praise to be given. Still, I am interested to learn more about the program's faults and the areas in which it can improve. I think it may take a bit more probing to uncover as people generally don't like to point out their own weaknesses, but I am certain that if we ask the right questions, we may uncover some equally interesting material. Until next time....

A note on punishment

Consistently over the past month I have heard again and again from the second year teachers, "you must be hard on these students. It isn't easy, but you've got to enforce discipline." At first, I was surprised and unclear by what this meant.  What about compassion and understanding?  "Always question their motives," I remember one teacher saying to me.  In my primary school, discipline meant a one-on-one confidential talk where both sides were expressed and listened to.  It wasn't publicized and usually just involved the student and teacher.  The entire discipline process here in the Mississippi public schools is entirely foreign to me, to say the least.  While I am trying to keep my 'beginner's mind'engaged (a Ben Guest-ism), I can't help but feel upset by an exchange I witnessed between a staff member and a student not too long ago.  

 A young man was sent to the summer school office for detention for talking fresh to his teacher, or something to that effect. Undoubtedly, the student's actions were out of line and it was clear that he was upset.  It was right to remove him from the classroom at the risk of causing greater disruption to the other students, and to give him a chance to cool off. When he arrived at the the Principal's office he was a bit defiant, but certainly non confrontational.  Then, the MTC summer school principal began to scold the student before even listening to the entire store.  And from there, the whole situation went south.

It wasn't the words the Principal chose so much as how he chose to deliver them.  The situation escalated, the child was provoked and defensive, and I couldn't blame him.  Yes, children can ere and make mistakes, talking back without much restraint until through experience they learn better (believe me, I am still learning how to do this, my parents can attest).  But when a figure of authority uses a condescending tone in a provocative way to discipline, isn't he just setting a bad example, perhaps even being hypocritical? 

When the Principal had had enough, he left the room to attend to other issues and I was left alone in the room with the still fuming student.  I could see the hurt and frustration on his face, and it was then that the underlying issue emerged -it was a power struggle.  The student sat scratching at his desk with the tip of his eraser, he was assigned to copy President Obama's inauguration speech.  I could just barely make out what he said as he mumbled under his breath, "I ain't gonna apologize to him. He ain't gonna win. I'll apologize to her [the teacher]...I wanna apologize to her, but not to him."  At this point, I was on his side, if I were picking sides.  The Principal had asked for an apology and he wouldn't deliver.  "My father taught me never to give in to a white man," the boy said, and that's when I knew that this issue was deeper than I'd thought. 

It was a classic power struggle.  And as others have told me, you have to understand where these kids are coming from in order to communicate effectively with them.  I think this applies to teaching and to discipline.  

When I left work that day, several questions coursed through my mind: (1) Was this a male thing that I couldn't understand? (2) Or, could it be an issue of race (black student/white principal)? (3) Could it be a combination of race and gender? 

The student was a black male about to be eighteen - a man by America's definition. The Principal, an MTC employee is white, male, and probably not much past the age of thirty.  He has had years of teaching experience in the Delta and other parts of the South.  

The racial differences were obvious, but could that really be the sole fuel for this confrontation? 
Maybe there is the inherent force of the biological competitiveness of males at play.  And this effect compounded with the socially constructed racial tension served as a fatal calling for disaster. 

I can't say for certain why this confrontation went awry.  I'm no expert and I wasn't present for the initial exchange between teacher and student (white female/black student).  However, from my social psychology class with Professor Sanderson last Spring,  I've come to understand that "history informs behavior".   That is, our present interactions are heavily shaped by past our experiences and exchanges.  

From where I stand, administrators, faculty, staff, and other authority figures should enforce their rules with rigor. Most of the students in the schools that MTC teachers are teaching in come from poverty or low income households.  Maybe they have a single mother for a parent, perhaps a father if they are lucky.  They might be living with a grandparent, aunt, or uncle.  Sometimes there is no figure out authority in their lives.  They are crying out for structure, for discipline, for some kind of regularity and dependability in life.  For this reason alone, those of us in positions of authority must chose our words carefully and make every conscious effort to supply discipline in a respectful way.  When a Principal speaks to a student, black or white, male or female, he ought to bring the student up to a level where they expect them to be.  We can't 'baby' them, but we mustn't beat them down either.  

From the outside looking in - Greenwood, MS

On Saturday afternoon, the three interns guided by Ben and team teacher Ashley Johnson all piled into the University van for our first trip into the Mississippi Delta.  Our first destination was Greenwood - headquarters of the Viking Range Corporation - and then we were on to Money - the now vacant town once home to Bryant's Grocery.  The trip was one I will never forget.  The sights I saw opened my eyes to a part of our nation I could never have imagined, neighborhoods so poor and distressed you might as well think you were in a third world country.  

The small Delta 'city' of Greenwood, Mississippi was first introduced to me by Ashley Johnson, the bright and passionate young MTC Team Teacher who spoke to us about her experience as a teacher at the Greenwood Middle School a few weeks back.  Ashley supplemented her verbal description of the area with a simple diagram; a river (the Yazoo) running parallel to a set of train tracks divided the picture plane in two.  On one side, she indicated the affluent, upper class neighborhoods inhabited primarily by white families and wealthy Viking executives. Across the river and on the other side of the tracks that once rattled day and night with whistling trains piled high with mountains of cotton, she noted the now crime-ridden impoverished black neighborhoods.  Boy, did I not have any idea what the Delta was really going to be like.

The Mississippi Delta is a legendary part of America and its history.  The dark nights of lynchings and burning crosses; the gothic complexity of Faulkner’s tales; the horrific legacy of plantations and slavery; the sweet smell of the magnolia tree on a summer's night; the blazing morning sun rising over endless fields of cotton.  I saw it all too well; battered shacks that house the poverty-stricken descendants of slaves; the riverbanks where water moccasins and fire ants threaten; the calm muddy Yazoo and Tallahatchie rivers that have swallowed countless bodies of murdered black men.  And more still, situated within the decrepit slums, we found Baptist Town - the birthplace of the blues; the place where cicadas sing in cacophonous vocal experimentation all night long; and finally, the overlooked origin of some of the raw beginnings of the civil rights movement right there in Money, Mississippi.  Each of these descriptions is a mere glimpse of the delta that is a inextricably apart of our national mythology.

 

In the Delta I was perhaps most struck by the contrast between the vibrance of the fertile land and the unavoidable sense of decay in the black neighborhood.  "My kids from this neighborhood, they had a particular smell, you knew where they were coming from," said Ashley Johnson as we drove down Broad Street in Greenwood.  She taught many young children from this area just a few ago.  She could still remember their names, which houses their aunts and uncles lived in, and the corners they used to frequent.  Most of these children never make it out, we were told.    

Imagine a small ghetto a world away with ramshackle shot-gun shacks lining the streets, shower curtains for front doors and sheets covering the broken window panes.  There were blocks where virtually every storefront was empty and people were just aimlessly hanging out, as if waiting for something else to happen.  The liveliest pockets in many of these neighborhoods were around children.  A lonesome boy road a flat-tired bicycle in front of a barren Baptist church.  There is at least one liquor store for every church in the area, and there were a lot of churches let me assure you.

 

These are the poorest of the poor, their ancestors once slaves and sharecroppers.  Today they are deliberately cast aside, ignored, not discussed, given little attention or care.  They endure lives of poor education, poor health, limited opportunities, and rampant crime.  There are those who loudly proclaim that the poor of the nation should “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps,” but such proclaimers have most always lived lives of relative privilege.  The desperate poor often don’t even have the boots … and the delta can be an inescapable trap.

As Ben has told us again and again, the Delta, and in particular the small town of Money, was significant in igniting the modern civil rights movement.  In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till, a black boy visiting his family from Chicago, apparently wolf whistled at a white woman while visiting Bryant’s Grocery.  Mrs. Bryant told her husband and in the dead of night Emmett Till was kidnapped, beaten, murdered, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River.  The accused murderers were acquitted in under an hour by an all-white jury.  The story brought outrage across the country and was a tragic start to the march for racial equality over the decades.   

Finally, the last stop on our journey was Bryant's Grocery. As I gazed up at the now crumbling store front, I felt a wave of grief and disgust come over me.  Sadness for a naive Emmett Till, for his mother, his family, and for all those who lost their lives or suffered any kind of social injustice, prejudice, racism, or segregation.  There was no monument, no marker, nothing to indicate the profound importance of this location in our nation's history.  The historical footage we've seen in documentary films shows a bustling town with one store front after the next.  Of course, that was then.  Now, the rotting frame of this one lonely building and is all that's left.