Race among Friends
The Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies
The Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies is dedicated to increasing our understanding of children and childhoods, past and present, throughout the world. Childrens voices and experiences are central. Authors come from a variety of fields, including anthropology, criminal justice, history, literature, psychology, religion, and sociology. The books in this series are intended for students, scholars, practitioners, and those who formulate policies that affect childrens everyday lives and futures.
Edited by Myra Bluebond-Langner, Board of Governors Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University, and True Colours Chair in Palliative Care for Children and Young People, University College London, Institute of Child Health.
Advisory Board
Perri Klass, New York University
Jill Korbin, Case Western Reserve University
Bambi Schieffelin, New York University
Enid Schildkrout, American Museum of Natural History and Museum for African Art
Race among Friends
Exploring Race at a Suburban School
Marianne Modica
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Modica, Marianne.
Race among friends : exploring race at a suburban school / Marianne Modica.
pages cm.(The Rutgers series in childhood studies) Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780-813573441 (hardback)ISBN 9780-813573434 (pbk.)ISBN 9780-813573458 (e-book (epub))
1. Discrimination in educationUnited States. 2. Race discriminationUnited States. 3. Multicultural educationUnited States. 4. Post-racialismUnited States. 5. Suburban schoolsSocial aspectsUnited States. I. Title.
LC212.2.M63 2015
379.26dc23
2015004944
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
I, Too and Harlem (2) from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad with David Roessel, associate editor, copyright 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Additional rights by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.
Material from this book appeared previously in the journal article Unpacking the Colorblind Approach: Accusations of Racism at a Friendly, Mixed-Race School, Race Ethnicity and Education (December 15, 2014).
Copyright 2015 by Marianne Modica
All rights reserved
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For my husband, Joseph B. Modica
Contents
Like other factors that influence human relations, the way that people think, feel, and act about race is dynamic. The open bigotry and subsequent hostility that once formed the foundation of race relations has, for many, subsided and been replaced by the belief that friendly relations among races are the norm. Race among Friends explores tensions that continue to flourish in the midst of those friendly race relations.
Accordingly, I must first thank the students, teachers, and staff at Excellence Academy who allowed me to be a part of their school family. Their honesty and willingness to speak about a sometimes difficult topic paved the way for this work. My special thanks go to students Anthony, Violet, and Lucky, and of course to their teacher, Joann. Her insights during our many hours of conversation were invaluable in helping me to understand all that transpired throughout the hectic days of high school life. My time at Excellence Academy not only resulted in the analysis found in this book but also confirmed something Ive known for years: teachers are among the hardest working, most underappreciated people I know.
This project began during my graduate work in the Childhood Studies Department of Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. I am so grateful for the leadership of the faculty there, and for their patience with a long-time practitioner who was new to the world of broader theory. Thank you to Drs. Lynne Vallone, Dan Cook, Dan Hart, and Charles Watters. My most special thanks to my advisor, Dr. Lauren Silver, whose guidance and support were crucial and whose friendship I continue to value. My time at Rutgers was enhanced by the many friendships I formed with my graduate school peers. Thank you Anandini Dar and Patrick Cox, especially, both for your friendship and for pushing me to think of myself as a scholar. The camaraderie we shared made my graduate school experience so much more satisfying. Thanks, also, to Vania Brightman Cox, for your friendship and support.
Over the years I have received much support from administrators, colleagues, and friends at the University of Valley Forge who are too many to name. (You know who you are.) I continue to appreciate their kindness and encouragement. Special thanks to the fabulous librarians who kept me rolling in research through interlibrary loan.
Thanks as well to Peter Mickulas at Rutgers University Press. His belief in the project and his careful, patient, and quick responses smoothed the way of this process.
Finally, all my love to my family and thanks to my husband, Joseph B. Modica (I didnt forget the B), on whose steady support and encouragement I depend for this and every venture.
Race, Friendship, and Multicultural Literature
On a late summer day I sat in a cluttered classroom with Joann Mitchel, a teacher at Excellence Academy (EA). Joann had invited me to participate as a researcher in her tenth and eleventh grade literature classes the following spring. There I would explore the varied and complex ways that students and teachers think about race and act out racial identity as they read multicultural literature (i.e., literature that expressly investigates the experiences of oppressed or marginalized peoples). Since I was familiar with the school, I knew that EA, a suburban charter school, was predominantly white but more racially diverse than its host and neighboring school districts. I asked Joann what I thought was a straightforward question: What is the racial demographic of your classes?
Joann looked away, frowned, and then squinted as if trying to remember. Instead of answering my question directly, she told me the following story. A few years ago, while driving home from a conference in the nearby city, Joann got lost for several hours. Finally, as evening loomed, she stopped at a gas station and got out of her car to ask for directions. To Joanns surprise, an elderly black man approached her and said, Honey, get back in the car. Joann looked at him quizzically. The man nodded toward other African American males nearby and said, Dont you see where you are? Youre not safe here. Apparently Joann had not noticed that she was the only white person around in a bad neighborhood. She took the mans advice and drove away, and after a bit more meandering she finally found the highway that took her back to the safety of the suburbs.
