Who Stories Are Told & Whose Stories Remain in the Margin?
After wrapping up the week six lesson we learned that a marginalized person is someone who struggles to gain a voice within society. They lack power and importance to the people around them, due to the labels put upon them and what they identify as. After being present through many history classes/lectures, watching the news, reading articles for assignments, etc. Who is located in and out of the margins becomes very clear and obvious.
Throughout all my lectures and reading, the victory has always been brought to light and praised upon. And the only stories I hear of those within the margin I would say are the stories from the era of slavery or foul treatment against darken skinned people and I’m not just talking about white. vs. black, if I’m being frank. For example, the lessons about Brown v. Board of Education, and Jim Crow just to name a few. But when I was taught about these stories in a predominantly white high/middle school the lessons lack a lot of useful information, but that’s also with any lesson. It’s becoming common for stories to disregard the ‘marginalized’ person’s side of the story or really show how it affects them. It mainly forces on what it did for the world or for the people committing the act.
So to answer the question, the people who gain nothing but victory and praise were the ones above/outside the margin. While the ones that suffered and went unheard and unhelped were the people placed within the margin. But history is known to repeat itself, therefore marginalized people will never gain a voice because when they are given the opportunity the people who believe they are above them will label them back down.
Hi Madyson, I like how you started off by referring to the topic of discussion for this week. Your own experience is very nice to read as it shows your story is not in the margin but open for us to read. The fact that you clarified that the treatment dark skinned people not just white vs. black is very interesting, I never opened my mind to the two examples you listed. Learning these at a young age is very important as it shapes us for the future and prepares us better. In a way it seemed like your blog spoke for those whose stories were in the margin. I think you did a great job.
ReplyDeleteHey Heidi, i wanted to make that clarification because often times people don't realize that other races besides African American receive some type of discrimination, foul mistreatment, etc. Learning these at a young ages does in fact molds us into walking into the future with open minds and hearts because we are hearing the stories of those who fell under the margin. Thank you for all the great commentary!
DeleteHey Madyson! Great job on your blog. You said that during your time watching the news and attending lessons you see that the only historical information that we are being taught is those in the societal margins. You are so right! As I get older I see that history is being taught in a bubble. We may go over the same events every year, but not make time for the history of those that are outside the margins. I like that you mention that part about your experience in a predominantly white high school. I also went to a predominantly white high school and I had the same experience you did while going over the topic of the marginalized community. The lessons were always filled with information that was one sided and it felt extremely uncomfortable. We never discussed the issues that people are still facing today that resonate with the lessons either. It is so upsetting to hear that you and I and most of the class have had these experiences. We as future teachers need to make a change to this flawed system. We have the opportunity to be the voice for these marginalized people and tell their story and give them the recognition that they deserve.
ReplyDeleteHey Megan, I totally agree that it's our role as future teachers to give those marginalized figures a voice. Because oftentimes their stories are in fact golden for example, the amazing story of Ruby Bridges. But I often fear that no matter how hard we try, we will never truly feel succeeded because history is always repeating itself in the favor of those outside the margin. Thank you for all the great commentary!
DeleteHey Madyson! I really enjoyed reading your blog post! I thought that the way you explained marginalized people was great. I had similar experiences throughout high school, where I was never exposed to the other sides of history, and with little exposure to people from different races, cultures, and identities than my own. I think that it is crazy how much information is being left out from what we are taught in schools. Showing students all side to the story with different perspectives, will allow students to have an open mind and help students have more well rounded information on the bigger picture. I really liked your closing sentence to your post and completely agree. When history repeats itself we have to have open minds and give the opportunity for marginalized people to have a voice in history. I think that as future teachers this will start with what we are choosing to expose our students to, and the stories that we will choose to tell.
ReplyDeleteHi Madyson, I really enjoyed reading your blog this week about margins and how they are created in our world. You did a great job in your blog explaining the concept of margins about how they form in society. I completely agree with your statement about how we need to change the way we are teaching our students in the classroom. I believe that it is not fair how students are not getting the proper education they deserve because some teachers don’t share some parts of history that hold significant important in our lives. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions about what happened in history, but it is not fair that we rob students of their opportunity to learn. History needs to be taught the proper way and all of the events and people that our history holds deserve to be remembered and taught to our students. I really enjoyed how you included your own experience with this problem of teaching history. Great job on your blog this week!
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