Last week violence flared up again in Ferguson, Missouri after a
grand jury failed to indict a white police officer who killed the unarmed black
youth Michael Brown. This violent reaction showed once again that black and
white people rarely view race in the same way or agree about how to resolve
racial conflicts.
In an opinion piece in The New York Times on November 30, Michael Eric
Dyson, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University, makes the point that
"the instrument through which one perceives race ---- one's culture, one's
experiences, one's fears and fantasies ---- alters in crucial ways the reality
of what it measures. Dyson goes on to say that "Our American culture's fearful
dehumanizing of black men materialized once again when Officer Wilson saw
Michael Brown as a demonic force who had to be vanquished in a hail of
bullets."
In the same New York Times edition, columnist Nicholas Kristof quotes an
incident when a black man was stopped by six police officers who detained him,
with guns ready, and treated him for 30 minutes as a dangerous suspect. That
young black man was future U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who had been a senior class
president at Stanford University and was a newly selected Rhodes Scholar. Yet
our law enforcement system reduced him to a stereotype ---- so young Booker sat
trembling and praying that he wouldn't be shot by the police.
Nicholas Kristof goes on to say he thinks part of the problem is that
well-meaning Americans who disapprove of racism inadvertently help perpetuate
it. "We aren't racists," Kristof says, "yet we buttress a system that acts in
racist ways. This occurs partly because of deeply embedded stereotypes that
trick us, even when we want to be fair."
So, how can we nurture "one America." Many wise voices have
recommended evidence-based solutions that would boost educational outcomes,
improve family cohesion and connect people to jobs. These ideas seem to have
merit, but they require government action. What can individual citizens do to
bring different worlds together?
For nearly 45 years, Central Presbyterian Church has sponsored a program
called "Elizabethport Tutorial." From early October until the end of March,
each year, we have met on Tuesday nights in the church auditorium, for an
hour.
We bring about 40 grade-schoolers by bus from Elizabethport (a section of
the City of Elizabeth, N.J.), and they meet with 60 or 70 tutors from high
schools local to Summit. Public high schools in Summit, Chatham, Springfield
and New Providence are represented, but also local private schools like Oak
Knoll, Kent Place, Morristown-Beard and Pingry. Our students are
African-American or Hispanic. The tutors are generally white and middle class.
But, it works!
Because the building of personal relationships between tutor and student is
so important to us, each student is assigned a permanent tutor ---- the same
tutor, week after week. Many students have two regular tutors, so that if one
tutor is briefly involved in sports or other activities, there is always
continuity.
As the tutor gets to know his or her student, they will see individual
areas of academic weakness. One student does not like to read aloud because he
doesn't do it very well. Another student has trouble with math, so some number
exercises are offered. Importantly, this teaching and practice occurs through
great amounts of talking. If the student has read a story to the tutor, for
example, the tutor may ask the student now to tell the story again in his or her
own words. Often, the student or the tutor simply talk about things they have
been doing in their daily lives. Our purpose is not just academics ---- we are
mentoring!
Why do the Elizabethport students come to Tutorial each week, when they
could instead be home watching TV, or doing other things? Each child would
answer this question a little differently, but for most of them, as for most
kids, they are happy to be out with their friends on sort of an adventure. As
they begin to bond with their particular tutor, THAT becomes a big draw.
A few parents may push their students to come to Tutorial, but most tell us they
simply hear the kids saying they do not want to miss the Tuesday night Tutorial
session. It may be an exaggeration, but we have been told that some parents
have used Tutorial as a "stick," saying to their child:
"If you do not behave, I will not let you go to Tutorial on
Tuesday evening!"
How is it that we are blessed with so many dedicated tutors? Each tutor
undoubtedly will have his or her particular reasons, but somewhere on their list
is "the personal relationship I have with my student." They are there every
Tuesday because they don't want to disappoint their student. This is not
necessarily what one expects from the typically busy high-schooler. But, over
time the student-tutor relationship grows deeper, as they learn more about each
other, and fondness blossoms, while stereotypes wither ---- on both sides. We
have heard of high-school age tutors who have satisfied any Community Service
requirements their school may have imposed, but the tutor wants to come back to
give a second or even a third year of tutoring. Some tutors have even described
the rewards of their experience as one of our tutors, on their college
application. Some Summit-area parents have encouraged their kids to serve as
tutors ---- we have often had brothers and sisters serving at the same time, or
in successive years.
We see the students and tutors learning things about themselves and
about each other through the Tutorial experience. For the tutors, it brings
home to them how fortunate they are for what they have, and to be sure to use it
wisely. The tutors also discover that their students are much more like them
than they may have realized ---- they didn't just read about this, they now have
experienced it. Both students and tutors can now live beyond the stereotypes
that the media and society may have given us.
For the students, we expect them to see greater opportunities for their own
lives, by just listening to their tutor's own stories and encouragement, and
witnessing the importance of life focus and working hard on their studies.
CPC's Elizabethport Tutorial Program truly brings different "worlds"
together ---- High School youth meet grade-schoolers; suburban middle class
youth meet African-American and Hispanic kids from one of New Jersey's largest
urban centers. We believe that ALL of us are benefiting.
We seek to never have a "Ferguson" experience in our own back yard!
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development
Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal spiritual growth this fall
at CPC.
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