The Silenced Dialogue by Lisa Delpit

Jointing her own verbiage along with insightful personal experiences of various ethnic minorities, Lisa Delpit paints the picture of how prejudice and discrimination live in our everyday society. She describes what is currently in place "assisting" this issue and how much progress is truly being made today. Providing her personal opinion on the current status of teaching styles to close the ethnic gaps in our society, Delpit explains what the schools should, are, and aren't doing to solve the crisis millions of students face due to their background, whether ethnic or not. I pulled three quotes from this passage: one brings on a great point, one is a vulnerable experience, and the other I believe to be counter-intuitive and a hypocritically racist remark.

"I try to give them my experiences, to explain they just look and nod...They really don't hear me...It becomes futile because they think they know everything about everyone" (Pg 22)

Thoughts: When something benefits us, why would we acknowledge an unfair access to such a thing? Regardless of how progressive you are, it is natural to protect your advantages. Still, when that advantage is unfair throughout society and based on a sensitive subject such as race or ethnicity, the conservation becomes messy. If solving this issue was as simple as all those who are privileged to admit to it, then this staggered societal structure would not exist. Nonetheless, to be ignorant enough to dismiss an underprivileged individual's issues (in the form of, for example, a mindless head nod), what progress can truly be made?

"Those with power are frequently least aware of - or least willing to acknowledge - its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence" (Pg 26)

Thoughts: The major takeaway from this statement is the part of "least willing to". Those in majority power, demographically, socially, politically, etc, even when facing reality, work (either covertly or overtly) to deny their unfair upper hand. It's a piece of the impossible task of solving all socioeconomic issues in the world.

Delpit quotes Heath in Way With Words: "the verbal directives given by the middle-class...By contrast, many black teachers are more likely to say..." (Pg 34)

Thoughts: As I read this passage, I thought that Delpit brought numerous great points to the table, seemingly unbiased, with deep purpose, and backed by good insight. This extended spiel regarding speech on the basis of skin color seemed to undermine the whole message she acted to convey throughout the rest of the chapter. To assume the styles of parenting correlate with skin color is a counterintuitive point that works hypocritically against her other claims, which hold credibility in evidence and history.