HomeMy WebLinkAboutCultural Salad-1995 Cultural sad
That denial was followed b
second stage,Croce said in which
ling to the grain of the thing?
ch
civil rights activists such as Mal- Ethnic culture is not a static
salad cohn X emphasized cultural dif-
ferences. ituation; it's an evolving situa-
tion," she said. "It changes
"Those who ascribe to this view historically, depending on who
believe it's better for minorities to
on menu v curs it and how they see to
keep their identities than lose An elementary schoolteacher
them and become second- told the group that fourth- and
citizens,"Croce said. class fifth-graders at her school study
El Teachers are trading He said such views created their families. the lineage of
the melting pot theory for "identity politics,"in which "what
is being - "Before they can appreciate dif-
one in which cultures
g said is not as important ferences elsewhere, they have to
mix yet keep their as who is saying it." learn to appreciate their own dif-
Y P Croce, who conducted a work- ferences,"she said.
identity. shop on intellectual nonviolence, A middle-school teacher said
used the beating of Los Angeles that when such groundwork is
B motorist Rodney King in March g
Y Jim Abbott 1991 as a springboard for discus- laid at the elementary levels, 14
sion. Too often, differences be- complex are more open to discuss
OF THE SEMINELSWP tureen races are reinforced complex cultural issues.
through violence,he said. If you empower them to start
DELAND — To foster a better To thinking on their own, they will
understanding of cultural better prevent such situations, surprise you," she said. "They
ty among students, educators are
abandoning the traditional melt- Crocetalked with educators about
don't like to be lectured to. They
like to learn it on their own."
ing pot metaphor for a new cull- teaching students that diverse cul-
nary image: tural backgrounds are not limited
The salad bowl, to recognizable minorities such as
That was the message delivered blacks,Asians and Hispanics.
to more than 200 educators from Or, as Croce said, "Everyone is
throughout Florida who attended other."
a one-day multicultural confer- One seventh-grade geography
ence recently at Stetson Universi- teacher said it is a common mis-
ty. conception among her nonminor-
Sponsored by Stetson's Multi- ity students that studying cultures
cultural Education Institute, the means "we're going to study ev-
fourth annual event offered more erybody but me."
than 25 workshops designed to
promote diversity at elementary, Sanwa San Semi lead social
middle and secondary levels. School District,the Seminole to main
Workshop leaders agreed that School District, said the main
di-
the healthiest way to do that is Problems that tent area teach rather
with the "salad bowl," where stu- varsity as a mutant arel experi-
dents acknowledge the existence ence through multculturelexperi-
of cultural differences and the en'At
way they shape American society. At too many schools, there is
A theory by Paul Jerome Croce, Kin ]er o about Martin Luther
Moth
an American Studies professor at King Jr.e something Black History San MI-
Stetson, considers the salad bowl or something lios that," sag Mi-
part of "integrated multicultura- pica said. "M those efforts are et-
lism," the last of three stages of predated, but are we really get-
multicultural evolution.
"It does not deny diversity,"
Croce said. "It recognizes that dif-
ferences interact and shape each
other."
The theory's first stage is equal- .5-62/0? ,
ity,which Croce said was based on
the denial of cultural differences
prevalent before the 1900s civil
rights movement.
Walt Disney's "It's a Small
World"exhibit at the 1964 World's
Fair represented a world in which
"it was plausible for the average
American to surmise that differ-
ences could be overcome," Croce
S ?
••
JIM
d
C,
s6 7 Y
. ..
1""
a.. a :w p.> g -
R
• e
e� \ *
4
irMN a
a .
'ilia: �. .
EIIID!$MIELSONT€E ORIIMO SENIMFI
Janice Richards(left),Winter Springs Elementary School,discusses cultures with vendor Charlotte Manna.
9 5o / e 9