Racial Issues in the Classroom

Interesting day in World History today! Our class was discussing the Chinese Civil War when an African American student offered the following observation:

"I think all Chinese people look the same!"

I was a bit shocked by the comment. It seemed to me that an African American student would likely have a basic understanding of the kinds of phrases that might be insensitive or offensive to other racial groups. This assumption, however, may highlight some of my own bias. It's completely unfair to assume that a student of any ethnic background is somehow more "racially aware" than their white, suburban peers. The question did, however, allow me to lead my class into a fairly detailed discussion on how race is perceived differently by different people. My students all agreed that it would be a racist statement for a white person to suggest "All black people look the same." It was more difficult for them, however, to recognize the parallel to their own lives: many of them did not have enough experience with Chinese people to understand that they do, in fact, look different from one another! The lesson was not intended, as one student suggested, to show that "all people are racist." Instead, I hope that students left the class with a better understanding of one major factor in creating racism (ignorance/unfamiliarity with another group of people). By examining issues of race with a critical eye, I flirted with potentially controversial content, but I believe that my students will look at race with a more critical eye in the future.