Dialogues about 9/11, the media and race: lessons from a secondary classroom.

Teaching during a time of war and after 9/11 requires new ways of integrating into our pedagogy themes of social justice, peace education, and reflective thinking. How have middle school and high school students in particular responded to 9/11 and the war on terrorism? Teachers play-an important role in stimulating constructive dialogue with students on these topics, but the curriculum that is generally available to K-12 educators on 9/11 is limited and may conspicuously leave out dialogue on antiimmigrant racism. As a teacher of South Asian origin, I have experienced racism since 9/11 firsthand, and I have observed trends in television, radio, and print media that saturate popular culture with images of terror and war and encourage racial stereotyping. These experiences prompted me to spend some time in my own middle-school classroom trying to break the silence and foster critical discussion on the topic of racial stereotyping and social justice in a time of war. In this article I will reflect upon my experiences teaching the unit and its impact on school culture.

9/11 MEDIA IMAGES AND POPULAR CULTURE

Since 9/11, media images have established the suspect and dangerous "Other" as a brown-skinned, bearded, turbaned male terrorist. This image of terror has most obviously been associated with Osama bin Laden, but it also reflects a broader antiimmigrant ethos wrapped around cultural and religious symbols that have nothing to do with terrorism. In the case of images of the East, the Third World, or specifically Arab nations, media culture has been engaging in a dramatic spectacle and a disinformation campaign that dehumanizes and victimizes Arabs and portrays stereotypical images of the "civilized West" and "barbaric Arabs" that further become part of an oppressive hegemonic discourse. Rallying and mobilizing fear of this fabricated vision of evil, these representations contribute to a discourse of violence against Arabs and others who resemble them.

The Sikh community, in particular, has been victimized by hate crimes after 9/11. The case of Balvinder Singh Sodhi is a prominent example. In the aftermath of 9/11, Sodhi, a gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona, was shot dead by three men who pulled up in pickup trucks and shot him three times. The murder was later determined to be a hate crime. There are thousands of examples of harassment, assault, garbage throwing, pushing and shoving documented by Sikh watch groups. In schools across the country, students have reported incidents of harassment, violence, and name calling. Other South Asian communities have reported incidents of harassment as well. Horrific media images that spur fear and hate are amplified by politicians and authority figures whose commentary encourages and validates violence and hostile attitudes towards targeted communities. Senator James Cooksey, for example, has called Sikhs, who wear turbans, "towel-heads" and "diaperheads." Popular talk show hosts such as David Letterman make bad jokes about Sikh cab drivers as well. Such comments only accentuate difficulties in making America "home" for certain immigrant communities. They shape the images that Americans hold about Arabs, Arab-Americans, and other religious, ethnic, and immigrant groups. The fact that there was a sharp rise in hate crimes against Arabs, Sikhs, and South Asians after 9/11 is a measure of what the public learned to view as a threat. The victims of hate crimes have ranged from youngsters in school to elders in the communities. These complex social processes have become sites of struggle in schools as well where new incidents of harassment and violence are cause for concern.

What is taught in the classroom can have a positive effect in interrupting stereotypes and assumptions about ethnic groups. Painting a more accurate picture of what is happening in the world and understanding the complexity of issues like terrorism, immigration, and cultural difference are integral to achieving this goal. Yet the limited resources and prescriptive curriculum of most schools require educators to be creative in engaging students in such discussions. Values, cultural forms, and traditional knowledge that originate from a Eurocentric perspective form "core knowledge" and create limitations in curriculum. The celebration of core knowledge also excludes the voices and experiences of the immigrant communities of South Asia and the Middle East. For example, Cameron McCarthy, in The Uses of Culture: Education and the Limits of Ethnic Affiliation, states that the production and negative arrangements of the third world in textbooks draws on media language and that media language is powerful and saturates popular culture both in and outside of school (McCarthy 1998). Readings and lessons on the Middle East and South Asia are often excluded or form a minimal part of the curriculum. Moreover, there is a significant failure to disrupt emerging stereotypes. With the absence of an informative curriculum about the factual histories of peoples of the Middle East and South Asia, Sikh and South Asian students (especially those who wear turbans), as well as Arab-Americans, in many ways become forced to "teach" fellow students about their ethnic backgrounds.

DISCUSSIONS IN THE CLASSROOM

My experience in a suburban school in eastern New York demonstrates the manner in which antiimmigrant media language has saturated popular culture in this particular school. In this middle school, the student population is diverse in terms of ethnicity and socioeconomic status, which led me to hope that diverse perspectives would liven up discussions on race and social justice, especially in the aftermath of 9/11. The ethnic breakdown of the school is 60% Caucasian, 16% African-American, 19% Latino, 3% Asian American and 2% Other. Students came from different socioeconomic backgrounds, from affluent, middle-class to lower-middle class. Parental occupations ranged from business owners, attorneys, and doctors for the affluent group to store clerks, domestic help and unemployed for the lower-middle class. However, I soon came to realize that the majority of the students, despite this economic and cultural diversity, expressed discomfort in regard to immigrants of Arab and South Asian background. This discomfort was expressed equally by White, Latino and African-American students.

In the short aftermath of 9/11 there was a brief moment in our school when teachers and students came together and created a memorial in the form of a bulletin board to commemorate and promise to never forget the tragedy and its victims. The bulletin board included a myriad of paper clippings of the twin towers, pictures of Osama bin Laden, images of men in turbans, and words such as "terror," "fear," and "war." This bulletin board was regarded as a "great work" and a wonderful way to remember by school staff. Students passed by this visual display day in and day out and in essence its images served to "teach" about that tragic day. "Unspoken" tragedies excluded from this memorial included the intensifying of stereotyping, fear, and antagonism about groups of people who seemed somehow associated with the images of terror. Three years later, the large commemorative 9/11 bulletin board still exists and perpetuates the sensationalism of the event.

Other than the problematic bulletin board, 9/11 was not talked about in social studies classes or in other subjects. Teachers in my school simply did not teach about it, and this silence allowed racist beliefs and practices to flourish in the school. For example, when students wrapped their t-shirts around their heads and yelled out that they were from India and were terrorists, teachers did not intervene--the students' behavior was merely seen as amusing. On one occasion a social studies teacher found it amusing to joke with students about Muslim names such as Mohammad and All. Students in the hallways would often tell South Asian students "to go back to your country" and "you attacked us." Two students who had been targeted in this way spoke to me about the harassment that was taking place in their daily school experiences. Fellow students had told them to go back to the Middle East and become terrorists. Students would put their arms over their mouths as if to imitate the traditional Muslim headdress (the headdress that covers the entire face but the eyes) as they walked by.

When I spoke to members of the school administration, I was assured that these issues would be looked upon with careful scrutiny. I also learned that students had attempted to speak with the guidance counselors at the beginning of the school year, yet months went by and things remained the same. This silence further created an uncomfortable atmosphere that was apparent to me and to those students who were affected. It was unsettling to know that the victimized students had silenced themselves and were dealing with harassment daily. I had to follow up aggressively, and I was only somewhat satisfied when interventions occurred and consequences were issued for the students responsible for the harassment. Incidents of racism between Black and White students, for example, were dealt with in a strong manner; school suspensions were given out. But when it came to anti-Arab and South Asian incidents among my students, only after school detentions were ordered. Taken together, the lack of discussions on the topic and the absence of follow-up on incidents of racial harassment signaled the institutional indifference to this kind of racism that existed.

Given this institutional climate, it was important for me to take ownership of my classroom and initiate a dialogue about these issues since I believe they should be every teacher's responsibility. This step required risk taking and dealing with possible criticism from parents and school administrators. It was then, in my Spanish language classroom, that I took the opportunity to engage my students in discussions about their views and assumptions. During a week that was designated annually as World Languages Week, I initiated in-depth discussions with my students about stereotypes, tolerance, and respect. I chose this particular week because it was considered acceptable by school administrators to put aside the regular curriculum and provide students an opportunity to cook food, listen to music, and read about famous figures from French, Italian, and Latino/a cultures. This was my chance to try something new. My curriculum for the week was considered unusual, since teachers have always focused their lessons on Spanish, French, and Italian languages and cultures. My lessons brought in discussions about cultures from South Asia and the Middle East. The goals of my lesson were to engage students in exercises that would require critical and reflective thinking about personal beliefs and viewpoints and, most importantly, to encourage students to understand the concepts of racial categorization and social justice. For my class, World Languages Week activities consisted of a climate study, paired interviews, large group discussions, and finally a short reflective essay.

During the week prior to World Languages Week, I asked my students to conduct an informal climate study. They understood that this activity was being conducted in preparation for further discussions during World Languages Week. This climate study activity gave students initial insight into the general atmosphere in the school building. It provided an informal evaluation of the degree of tolerance and understanding of cultural, social, and religious difference among them. They conducted this informal evaluation through a short questionnaire that I had put together. The questionnaire contained questions about 9/11 and about racial categories and stereotypes. Students were to interview two other students in school, outside of the class. They asked interviewees to write down their answers on the questionnaires. Students were given a week to gather their data. Sample questions included:

* Do you feel comfortable telling other students about your background?

* How do students form groups in your school?

* Are these groups related to specific similarities and differences that they share?

* Describe these different groups.

On the first day of World Languages Week, students were asked to bring the results of their questionnaires to class. The class sat in a large circle as individual students shared their results with the class. When asking others about the categories South Asian and Muslim, students recorded comments such as terrorism, attackers, turbans, Al Qaeda, Taliban, and Osama bin Laden. In the categories for Latino/a and African-American, students recorded more positive comments such as Spanish-speaking and Martin Luther King, Jr. Overall, the climate study demonstrated that many non-Caucasian students did not share with others at school aspects of their personal backgrounds (i.e. religion and culture). Students also tended to congregate in groupings based on similar race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Racial tensions did indeed already exist in the school, but it was important to note that new stereotypes about the South Asian and Muslim populations emerged and reflected stereotypes that were presented by the media. As a homework assignment, I asked students to reflect on the findings of the climate study that had been shared.

The results of the climate study provided a good basis for a more intimate discussion on these specific stereotypes the following day. For that discussion the students engaged in paired interviews that used questions about each other's backgrounds and their ideas about classifications of people as African-American, Latino/a, Asian American, Native American, Arab-American and White. These categories were provided to students on a sheet of paper. Students were to write down what came to mind regarding these racial categorizations. I also wrote the same categories on the chalkboard. Students were asked to write down their responses under the appropriate category on the chalkboard as well. After the paired activity we had a large group discussion. In all five of my classes, many 7th and 8th grade students immediately spoke of Arab-Americans as terrorists who wore turbans, were evil, and came from India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Many students had left the other ethnic categories such as Latino and African-American listed on the blackboard blank, yet in the space after Arab-Americans I saw comments such as:

* All turbaned men are terrorists.

* All cab drivers in New York City are Osama with their turbans.

* I saw Osama the other day with this long white beard and turban.

* No one should wear turbans in America.

* Everyone over there in the Middle East wants to kill us.

* Osama and all terrorists wear turbans.

Clearly the word "Osama" was being used as an epithet for terrorism and fear. Students were associating the turban with images of Osama bin Laden that have been sensationalized by the media.

These assumptions about South Asian and Arab-Americans spanned socioeconomic differences and the racial divide between the Latino, White, and African-American students in the classroom and reflected the general attitude in the school building. These statements confirmed that students were not critically evaluating the racist assumptions that were emerging from the experience of 9/11. The atmosphere of the school indirectly supported their feeling that it was alright to speak of all those from the East as evil and to assume that stereotypes can be asserted as fact. Students also told me that they had not discussed these issues in any of their other classes. AS we approached the end of the second day, I asked them to think about what we had discussed in class and to write a short paragraph for the next day about their own experiences with racism, feeling left out, or being made fun of.

The next day, I spoke to the students about how 9/11 had had an impact on my own life and worldview. I explained that I had family members who wore turbans and that I myself was from India. I told them about my family's experiences of humiliating searches at airports, about receiving death threats, about being chased through the streets, and about my younger siblings' experiences of harassment in school and about being chased off the road while driving. I also brought in newspaper clippings of the various hate crimes including murders that had occurred in the United States after 9/11. Hearing that, the students positioned me as the "voice" for Arab-Americans and all turbaned men, and this positioning was my opportunity to personalize the discussion and encourage trust building. I then prompted a discussion with students about how stereotypes served to "dehumanize" groups. We discussed how stereotypes are unfair, simplistic generalizations about groups of people that turn them into objects of hatred. This further can lead to a denial of someone's human rights. I then asked them to offer their own experiences and thoughts about racism and stereotypes.

Though the discussion became emotional, I continued with the dialogue. Students began to share very personal details of their experiences with stereotypes and racism. Sharing my personal experiences with students encouraged them to share theirs, and it was a powerful exchange. The discussion of experiences with racism provided a bridge for understanding because students shared their personal stories. Students spoke about their experiences with racism and their memories of feeling left out. African-American students turned the discussion to the racism that they had experienced and the need to educate people about their history. They spoke about being judged because of their skin color. Jewish students spoke about the Holocaust and the tragedies that their ancestors had faced. The Jewish students mentioned the religious discrimination they faced and spoke about family members that were Holocaust survivors. Students shared examples of what was happening in school between different racial groups. In the middle school, students grouped themselves according to their racial background. At the high school, there had been violent outbreaks between the Black and White students, and my students brought these incidents into the conversation as well. There were one Muslim and two South Asian students in my classes who shared their experiences. The Muslim girl mentioned a house raid that took place at her uncle's house for no apparent reason. The South Asian students spoke about a Sikh parade that took place in Queens where onlookers threw garbage at the Sikh families.

As we empathized with one another, we became individuals and not stereotypes. It was important for us to hear different viewpoints. It became urgent for us to discuss ineffective and effective ways to deal with conflict. I then asked students to survey the media that evening and to count the number of times they saw images of Osama bin Laden or the words "fear," and "terror." I also asked them to look for stereotyped images and language that targeted other groups as well.

The next day, students were eager to speak about what they had seen in the media the night before. They said that they learned about what was really going on.

* There were so many images from fighting.

* When I would see pictures of Osama bin Laden, things would race through my mind.

* The terror alert level is always being flashed on the bottom of the screen. It is always saying high or elevated. That makes me scared.

* There were many people always talking about the War on Terror.

* There are frequent images of the twin towers being hit.

Not much to our surprise, students counted fifty or more images of Osama bin Laden, other turbaned men, and heard the words "fear" and "terror" repeated within a two-hour frame gleaned from various channels. This was an important observation that further strengthened my emphasis on the role of the media in sensationalizing and generalizing fear.

However, since I also wanted to present positive media images of Sikhs to the students, I ended the week by showing students the movie Bend it Like Beckham which concerns a Sikh family in England and their soccer playing daughter. There are many moments in the movie where the audience is exposed to music, Sikh traditions, Punjabi clothing, Sikhism, the Punjabi language, and the struggle of immigrant families to balance between two worlds. Students' reactions to the movie ranged from empathy for the characters to a continuing resistance to the turbaned men. Some students enjoyed the music and even danced while others continued to be troubled by images they associated with terrorism. One student asked if the bearded and turbaned men, both the actors and the framed picture on the wall were images of the Ayatollah or of Osama bin Laden. Others continued to ask why the Sikhs and Osama bin Laden wore the blue-colored turban and said that they looked alike. These moments were opportunities for me to explain to students that the framed picture on the wall was of Guru Nanak Dev, who is considered the God for the Sikhs. I brought in a book from the school library on the Sikhs and passed it around as well.

At the end of World Languages week, students were asked to write a short reflective essay discussing their own reactions to the numerous discussions that we had.

Some sample student responses were:

* I think it is nice to know the teacher is from India and that she is very friendly. This helps me be more open to people of different backgrounds.

* It is wrong to judge people. I think if you know someone, like you meet them and get to know them, we can all get along. I think turbans are cool and that even if you wear them it doesn't mean that you are bad or that you are a terrorist. I am glad that we talked about this and I even told my other friend when he called someone Osama that it was wrong.

* We should not judge others so fast. I remember in 3rd grade that I was made fun of because my morn brought food from Mexico and everyone was saying it was gross and they made fun of me for a long time. I felt really bad. I think others probably feel that way too when we make fun of them.

* Things still go through my mind when I see a man in a turban. I get worried if they will hurt me.

* I still am confused, I don't know who the men in turbans are.

The reflective essays were very thoughtful and it was evident that a few students were reevaluating their viewpoints. This was perhaps a small victory. There were students, however, who continued to fear men in turbans or who were resistant to changing their minds. Overall, the most important objectives achieved within a short time span of just one week were that the class learned to think critically about stereotypes, built empathy and trust, and developed a healthy criticism of the media and a more complex understanding of world events and people.

CONCLUSION

The value of engaging in discussions on controversial issues, according to Diana Hess, correlates with powerful educational outcomes and the encouragement of effective participation of secondary students in democratic processes. Hess notes that many teachers may not engage in such discussions due to a fear of reprisal. In my experience, speaking about stereotypes and the growing animosity towards targeted groups did spark an emotional discussion in my classroom. But I felt compelled and responsible to engage my students in such dialogues despite the discomfort that I suspected I would feel. I placed myself in a position for the students, however, where it was acceptable to ask questions and I was approachable.

As I reflected on the value of the lesson within my larger curriculum, I realized that it is important to have such lessons more often and within more classes. I began to share the lessons from my unit and student essays with fellow teachers. I was pleasantly surprised to find that although there was only a handful of interested teachers, we could all try to engage our students in critical thinking activities that deal with issues of social justice. We decided that it was important to strategize and integrate these discussions into our lessons, even though our subjects were generally not seen as a forum to discuss current events. During the following year, I integrated themes of peace building and envisioning peace into my basic curriculum and began to build a small coalition of teachers in the school who shared a similar vision. In addition to analyzing stereotypes after 9/11, one fellow Italian teacher of Italian immigrant background taught her students to analyze the representation of current events in the media through essays and weekly discussions. A fellow art teacher also began to encourage students to depict world events and visions for peace through artistic expression. These are steps in the right direction.

It is important to encourage students to search for facts, challenge their own assumptions, and envision what a peaceful world would look like. Addressing student fears and encouraging them to think about ways to engage in global understanding form important elements of peace pedagogy. Building a vision for peace and encouraging students to be futurists, where they envision a peaceful world, is valuable pedagogy. What is required is teacher initiative to promote discussions on issues of prejudice and stereotyping and to encourage media analysis and awareness of the powerful messages that the media emit. In this particular case, my perspective as a South Asian created a particular experience for the students. This does not have to be a limitation, however, for other educators. As we can see for example, during Black History Month teachers of various backgrounds have been reaching out and providing students an opportunity to learn about the important contributions of African-American people. This often becomes a schoolwide celebration as well. Students should, however, be engaged in these types of discussions throughout the year, instead of in isolation. In a similar vein, opening up discussions about the contributions of Asian-American, South-Asian, Sikh and Arab-American communities is also valuable. These lessons can also be taught by teachers of all backgrounds. A larger goal of developing a schoolwide commitment to peace and multicultural education would also serve to humanize education, and would provide greater focus on conflict resolution skills, peacemaking, and peer mediation at school.

Resisting elements of "bad sense" in popular culture requires teachers to work against the grain and take a risk as I had to. Numerous websites have been developed to provide resources for teachers and parents in order to disseminate knowledge and understanding and to explode myths and stereotypes that are currently being fabricated by the media. Websites such as tolerance.org provide lesson plans for teachers on Sikh immigrants and Arab-Americans. Sikheducation.com also provides resources for teachers and stories for students such as, "The Sikh Next Door" and ADC.org has been established to disseminate information and resources about anti-Arab-Americanism. Such information helps begin the cycle of understanding and knowledge. Educators for Social Responsibility at esrnational.org is also rich with resources for educators. I would urge that teaching the student body and staff about issues of respect and compassion should be addressed at assemblies and in classes. As the pressures for high-stakes testing increase, peace and social justice education is increasingly seen as peripheral, whereas I would argue it should be central.

WORKS CITED

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