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  Case: White Intern in a Black inner-city school
My sister, Gina, who is a young White girl, started her student teaching in a predominantly Black school in inner-city America. She initially approached her job with optimism and purpose. However, she began to experience her first doubts with the presentation of an emotionally charged poetry reading at an all-school assembly. The poem painted a picture of the oppression of the African Americans by the European American majority. My sister was moved by the poem and accepted the historical truth of its message. At the same, she said she wondered what educational effects of the poem were and whether it would affect her legitimacy as a White teacher in a Black school. She talked to me about her experience. I am an experienced teacher, but I could not answer whether poems like that have any educational value, and whether or not my sister should worry about her legitimacy as a White teacher. I don't what she should do in this specific situation.
Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!)
I'm sure being a white female, which is considered to be part of a majority race, would make me feel uncomfortable while working in a predominantly Black school, especially with the poem being read. I too would probably feel as if everyone were looking at me as a part of the group of people who mistreated African Americans. However, I would have to tell your sister that the poem, or her race, shouldn't affect her legitimacy in the classroom. Her teaching ability has nothing to do with her race, the race of the students she is teaching, or history. It has everything to do with how she is able to handle herself in the classroom. This is a tough situation.