Caste and Color

Today I experienced Mr. Stalinsworth's* 10th grade Magnet class which is actually just a regular-level 10th grade class. The lesson had already begun when I entered so I snuck over to a comfy green chair in the corner. In attempt to open up discussion on Antigone, which they had just finished reading, he asked his class to identify the tragic hero. The blank and twisted looks on their faces did not keep their difficulty in discerning between which character better fit the bill, Creon or Antigone, a secret. Mr. S then began to discuss characteristics of a tragic hero. You know, the ability to provoke both pity and terror, a hero who is not thoroughly good or evil, but a good mix of both, and, of course, the fatal flaw that wipes out any chance of greatness and dooms our heroes to fall.
As the students were determining who fell harder, Antigone or Creon I noticed that all but one of the students in this 10th grade “Magnet” classroom were either black or Hispanic with one white child sitting suspiciously close the to the teacher’s desk. This got me thinking about the structure of class levels within the school and the requirements to be in a class that is on a certain level. So being the curious student teacher-lady that I am, I began asking a few questions…which resulted in interesting answers.
The students need not pass any tests to be a part of the honors or AP classes, their parents must simply sign a waiver stating that their son or daughter is far too brilliant to be in a regular level class. I suppose the school began calling all regular level classes Magnet because the school is a Magnet school…or because even the lowest caste needs a title? To my dismay I realized that the class levels are just another type of systematic segregation. To be perfectly clear, today I learned that just because Mrs. McDiamond may not want her little Winfred Stratham II participating in the same lesson as Marquis and Diego, Jr. gets to move on up in our hierarchy of learning. This blows my mind coming from a school that celebrates diversity. Students are in my classroom from all over the world! I have Romanian students, South African students, students from Brazil and Canada! You know what? I don’t mind, and actually would prefer, also mixing in a few from the 4th ward or Mexico…give me some flavor, some insight, let’s see what they have to bring to the table. I suppose you have to please the community in which you serve. After all, we teachers and teachers-to-be are public servants.

Eventually, Mr. S’s class decided that Creon was the tragic hero in Antigone because he learned the quintessential lesson that Greek tragedies offer and had an identifiable fatal flaw. Observing his 5th period led me develop a new found respect for these heroes and got me thinking about humanities flaws. I have begun to wonder if our fatal flaw will be the inability to stop measuring the worth of people based on frivolous (vocab word today) features. Really, what does the color of a child’s skin tell us about his/her ability or willingness and desire to learn? I don't want to be doomed to failure. Thoughts on progress...



*The names used in this blog are and will always be fictional.