White Kids

White Kids

Adult nonfiction
"Often researchers focus on the experiences and conditions of
marginalized groups in order to understand inequality...this book is
instead an ethnographic study of an aspect of inequality from the
vantage point of the privileged, of families and children at the top
of race and class hierarchies. This book focuses intently on
questions related to how comprehensive racial learning operates for
white children growing up in affluent families. But this discussion
is rooted in a broader sociological question: how do ideologies get
reproduced by children who benefit the most from the maintenance of
these ideologies, and how do ideological positions themselves shape
choices involved it raising a child?"
If you don't know what ethnographic study (in the above quote
from Margaret A. Hagerman's White Kids: Growing Up With Privilege In
A Racially Divided America) is, please don't let that deter you from
reading this most excellent book. It means that Hagerman went out in
the field and conducted qualitative research using methods such as
observations and open ended discussions rather than handing out
surveys or conducting experiments under clinical conditions and
wrapping it all up neatly with statistics. For almost two years she
spent a lot of time with 36 middle school children and their families
in three affluent but otherwise different communities. She was able
to totally immerse herself in the communities, observing her subjects
in everything from the privacy of the home to more public venues like
school and sports events. "...I spent countless hours watching video-
game playing, preparing food and eating with kids, monitoring play
dates, hearing phone calls with peers, listening to kids talk about
friendships and fights at school, playing board games, playing
backyard sports, painting nails, practicing the violin, and struggling
through homework assignments..." Because of the depth and breadth of
her investigation, she was able to learn that her topic is a lot more
complex than most of us suspect. Among the themes that she discusses
are:
*A lot of children's exposure to ideas concerning racism and privilege
(including whether they exist in today's world) stems not from
parental discourse and modeling but from decisions they make (such as
where to live and send their kids to school) and subtle behaviors
(such as what neighborhoods they avoid or act more fearful in).
*Communities can cultivate quite different attitudes in kids rocking
very similar advantages--anything from a total belief in meritocracy
and laziness on the part of the poor to percetions of and desire to
change structural inequalities.
*Children don't just absorb parental attitudes. They also are
impacted by peers, siblings, influential adults, media, and their own
agency in actively interpreting and evaluating what they take in.
Again, don't be put off by the fact that the book is sociology
research. Hagerman's blend of observation and interpretation make it
highly readable. In a world in which so much privilege and power are
passed down through generations we need to know what is actually going
on (rather than what our slants lead us to believe) if we are ever
going to change things.
On a personal note, this past week has been highly eventful. Starting
with Wednesday. It had started snowing before I went to bed Tuesday
night. Wednesday I woke up to full on blizzard. I had a mile to walk
down Route 2 to catch my bus. Blasts of wind kept whipping sleet in
my face. A snow plow driver told me I was a tiger to be out in that
mess. The whole scene was eerie. There were so few vehicles it was
like a rapture movie after the "righteous" have been swooped up to
heaven and everyone else left to face tribulations. I was so glad to
see the bus. It would have been a much longer walk if it had been
cancelled. The supervisors were very glad to see everyone who showed
up to work. We were essential personnel because even though school
was cancelled the dorm students needed to eat. For one day at a
research university student workers were more essential than faculty.
I enjoyed working and wishing all our clients a happy snow day. Still
after I made the reverse commute I was happy to be in my cozy home and
revert from tiger to a more house cat persona.
A great big shout out goes out to all who blizzard battled to make
streets and parking spaces safer for all of us and the drivers who
kept the buses running in all the mess.
jules hathaway


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