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In chapter 1, ACB asserts white people are exhausting. How have her experiences informed this perspective?

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Prompt 1- Ellie S
ACB's perspective that white people are exhausting is shown through multiple personal experiences throughout her life. For example, ACB's real name (Austin) is most commonly viewed as a name for a white male, not a black female. ACB explains how frustrating it is when everyone is shocked after meeting her in person for the first time. ACB also explains how white people are "exhausting" because a majority of them automatically assume that she is less than capable of a white person, especially a white male.

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In chapter 4 "Ain't No Friends Here", ACB speaks of her intention to be a "change agent". What are ways you can do this in your personal/professional lives?

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Prompt 2- Ellie S
To be a change agent, I think it is important to always be willing to learn. I try to keep this mindset in my own life, especially as someone who plans to be a teacher in the future. Keeping an open mind and being constantly willing to hear new ideas and perspectives is vital. While this is important, on the other hand, it is equally as important to stand up for what you believe and address issues or concerns that you think need changed. As a change agent, I wouldn't settle for anything less than what I think is deserved and appropriate.

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Reference at least one specific way the ACB book and textbook connect (confirm ideas presented, strengthens ideas, and/or challenges ideas).

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Prompt 1: TBD March 28

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Prompt 2: TBD March 28

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Textbook Connections: Reference at least one specific way the ACB book and textbook connect (confirm ideas presented, strengthens ideas, and/or challenges ideas).

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Free Responses (optional): Examples you could discuss/post: *new ideas or impressions from the book that extend your thinking.
*what's challenging or confusing that you read from the book.

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Prompt 1: TBH April 18

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Prompt 2: TBD April 18

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Textbook Connections : Reference at least one specific way the ACB book and textbook connect (confirm ideas presented, strengthens ideas, and/or challenges ideas).

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Free Responses (optional): Examples you could discuss/post: *new ideas or impressions from the book that extend your thinking.
*what's challenging or confusing that you read from the book.

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Examples you could discuss/post: *new ideas or impressions from the book that extend your thinking.
*what's challenging or confusing that you read from the book.

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In Chapter 1 there are many examples where ABC states how she finds white people exhausting. There are many ways but there were a few that stuck out to me. The first one was when she was in the library and the librarian didn't believe that it was her card. The reason she believed the librarian didn't believe her was because she did not match the stereotype that her name had. The next was when she was in church, even though she had been going to church every Sunday for a couple of years. But each time that she goes into church they in a way belittle her when she goes. They do not recognizer her even though she sits in the same seat. These are just two examples that she gives, but the fact is these are just the two that she remembers. The fact that we have stereotypes with names is quite sad. Along with the fact that people that she sees on a regular bases don't even remember her, but are able to remember everyone else. Yes, these events happened a while ago it still should not be excused, we should all take responsibility and make sure that the future kids do not have to go through what she had to go through.

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In the chapter she mentions how her class went on a trip to multiple different plantations and at each plantation there was a wedge being driven between the African American students and the white students. Each white student made excuses for themselves. But only one white student took responsibility. To me what a change maker is, is someone that no longer makes excuses for what happened. They own up to what happened and take responsibility and acknowledge that it was wrong and help stand up for African Americans, and any other minority. A change maker is someone who no longer just steps aside and accepts that this is how it is. A change maker stands up and speaks up for the inequality.
Ways that someone can be a change maker is starting by speaking up about the inequality. Going to protests, teaching the future generation to not be ok with everything that is going on, all the hate crimes that are happening, having the students start to notice things from different perspectives, not just what the news and others want to see like ABC's one professor did. There are so many things that you can do and be to be a change maker.

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I believe being a change agent takes a lot of courage and strong willed. Along with that you have to have a strong belief in your own ideals but you can't be so caught up in your own ideas and beliefs that you are closed minded and don't hear other peoples perspectives. To create a change you have to take everyones ideas and beliefs into consideration and understand you aren't always going to be right. I struggle with realizing sometimes I am wrong and that's is ok, everyone is going to be wrong sometimes. There are so many things going on today where people refuse to hear someone else's ideas and I believe if you take the time to listen and put yourself into their shoes it will change your outlook too. By understanding all sides I think you will make the biggest change because you can discuss and compromise in ways a closed minded person couldn't. With this however you can't be scared to stand up for what is right and make your voice heard to make a change.

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In chapter 5 she goes over what it is like for her in the work place. How she was expected to be white but give the work place the diversity look. Or how she would do everything that her white coworkers would do but it would be perceived differently. Students now a days I feel are expected to act like school is work. I remember multiple times through my schooling teachers saying you wont be able to get away with this at work, or you wouldn't be able to do this at work. Children are being told that school is their job, they should do everything that they would be expected to do in a job. This is something that all the students notice. All through school you experience different teachers, they all are on different walks of life from different places. Some I really connected to while others I didn't like. School prepares students for the future. The further that you go in school the more you are told about the expectations of a workplace. School teaches you how you are different, no matter if it is in a good way or not. You find out how you are different. School teaches you how you cope with the differences and how you make it through to the next day, next week, and eventually to the next grade.

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What she means by "being a priest for the white soul" is that she is the one that gets the burden of their racist comments or past. She is the one that is burdening all of the unintentional hate from others. Some things that I will do differently is making sure that I do not do the things she states in the chapter specifically but also throughout the book. I will also try my best to correct people when they are saying hurtful things and try and educate everyone about how they may not intend to be racist or hurtful but they really are.

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I completely agree that she is taking on a burden of being expected to take all of the racist comments, especially the unintentional ones that no one thinks are hurtful. I like your use of the word 'burden' because I think it is a great way to put it. Educating people of their unintentional hurtful comments is very important because many people don't even realize that what they are saying is hurtful. I completely agree.

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This chapter talks about how blackness is continuously expected to conform to whiteness. It talks about how she is expected to do as her white coworkers. I feel like schools are similar but differ in some ways. I think schools do expect all students to act in a specific manner not just those of a different color. I think because a lot of schools have more white students and teachers than that of color the students who are in the BIPOC community feel as though they need to assimilate. I think schools expect all students to be the same and that way they can prepare them all for after graduation without having to single anyone out. I think schools just try to give everyone the same type of foundation and preparation for life after school, I don't think they teach or prepare BIPOC students any different than they do white students.

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I think you make a great point that many schools expect all students to act the same way while they're at school. I definitely agree that many schools attempt to prepare students for life after graduation as if they are all going to do the same things in life. There needs to be more diverse preparation techniques in place for BIPOC students.

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In chapter 5, ACB discusses how blackness was expected to conform to whiteness, and even though she represented diversity in the workplace, she was still expected to "act white." Personally, my PK-12 schools did not have many people of color. I think a lot of schools do a decent job of attempting to prepare students for their future after graduation, as a whole. However, they do not necessarily teach their students about the BIPOC community (at least in my case). Because my school consisted of mainly white students/faculty, I feel as though the BIPOC students did not receive the proper amount of preparation for their own personal future after graduation. Schools tend to treat all students as if they are the same, and as if they have the same plans/goals in life. Overall, I think schools do a good job preparing students for the workplace after graduation, but there should be more diverse teaching methods in place and they should try to prepare students on a more personal level.

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When ACB explains she is a "priest for the white soul" I think she means that she is constantly taking on the responsibility of being the "face of diversity" in the workplace, although she is having to take on many racist comments. She is expected to suddenly rid them of guilt and punishment of racism, but that is not her job. To make a change, I will stop someone who I hear making racist comments, whether they are intentional or not. I will also try to inform others of these unintentional things that they don't even realize they are doing. Becoming aware of unintentional racism is a huge step because many people don't think they are doing or saying anything wrong. ACB's comment "I am not a priest for the white soul" was a huge eye opener and I think many people need to think about that.

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I think that it is wrong to have a use a person to be the face of diversity. I think work places need to be diverse but not just by hiring one person of a different race. I think that puts them under a lot of pressure and would make that person very uncomfortable. I also think that it is wrong to make racist comments in the work place especially. It doesn't matter if the person is doing it unintentionally, I think they should be informed of their actions.

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There are tons of ways that we can continue to move forward. One of which is to constantly bringing up the problems and holding people accountable. Personally when reading the book I have learned a lot about how I want to teach and how I hope to change the thinking of the future generation. Going through this course has been eye opening. When talking about moving forward I think the most important thing is to make the children aware, if they are not already aware. We should be educating the students, not just about the topics they need to learn, but we should be integrating the real world into the assignments, making the children more aware of what is going on.

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I definitely agree with you that this class and this book has been very eye-opening. It has also showed me how I want to be as a future teacher and how I want to teach my students. I think that holding people accountable is a huge step towards equity; if people aren't aware of their personal biases, how will they ever change them? We need to make people aware of these issues and educate students in order to ever see a change!

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I think a way we can combat these associations is by putting ourselves into their shoes. Acknowledge the problem and help fight to change the way that things are now. We should be educating the students with no biases. We should not see color especially in a classroom. All students should be treated as equals. If we do not know how to be an advocate for not just people of different color but everyone that we may consider different from us; than we should be honest about it and ask what can I do to help you? We should be doing this both in and outside of the classroom, because without action we will get no change. It is not far for any human to get hate for the things they can not control, like color of skin.

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I completely agree that putting ourselves in others' shoes is a huge step to equality. People think that forming these associations don't have an impact on others, but if we just take a minute to think about things from someone else's perspective, we can all start making a change in the way we associate race. I agree that all students and people, regardless of their race should be treated equally.

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There are so many ways we can combat the associations people make between whiteness and blackness. Things like this are learned and taught, so as future educators, we need to teach equality and equity. There should be no associations of white=good or black=bad. The only associations people should be making is that blackness and whiteness = equality. Teaching this in the classroom is just the start, but educating people outside of the school setting is also how we can enforce change. These biases may be things that people don't even recognize, but they are things that we all need to become aware of so that we can make a change. Recognizing that these biases are actually present in the world is how we start combatting these bad associations.

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It can be difficult to continue to advocate for equity when you do not see an immediate change, but persisting is key to making a difference. America has come a long way in racial equity, but there is still a very long way to go. Reading this book has brought light to that for me. As a future educator, teaching my students about these issues and integrating them into the learning material is important to make students aware of the oppression that still exists. Continuing to educate children, and adults, and staying aware of these issues will continue to move the needle in the direction of change. Although it might not be in the immediate future, we all have to keep educating ourselves and advocating for equity across the world because if we don't, then there will be no change at all.

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I totally agree. I think that is is very important to teach and educate children at a young age. Young students are very easily influenced which could be used in a positive way. If you start teaching students about equality early they will have that knowledge for the rest of their lives. Like you said people may be unaware of these biases and I think a great way to help end this is to educate everyone.

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I agree, it is hard to feel like you are making a change when you don't see immediate results. I think it is very important to understand that things take time and you have to continue to put in effort to make a change. Things don't always change over night but the key is to keep trying and in the long run they will pay off. Like you said educating students as well as adults is very important. Bringing attention to this topic even to adults is crucial because they may not always see their actions the way others do.

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I think there are many was to combat these associations. I think something that is a big step in the right direction is in education. I know personally my school never really talked about biases and equality. I think that is very wrong. It is very important to teach kids right from wrong in the beginning. Teach them about equality, tell them about their actions. I learned a lot about how I hope to teach my students one day.  Students should never have to feel different from others, especially not because of the color of their skin. Students should be taught that everyone is equal.

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A change needs to be made no matter how difficult or long it takes. I think educating not only students but adults of their actions is very important. Adults may not always see the problems in their actions and I think holding people accountable is very important. You need to advocate a change. Just as adults need to be aware I think students need to be as well. Most students may not even be aware this is a problem. Teaching the students about these problems is a start to the change. If a students learns right for wrong they can also be an advocate for change without even knowing it. I think everyone needs to educate themselves on this topic to make a change.

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I completely agree. Teachers should stop focusing on the color of skin and start focusing on the level of education provided. The fact there are teachers out there that see color in a classroom and automatically make assumptions is sad.

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I also agree. There are so many instances that I have seen people making excuses for themselves or their friends. Like in the book when they were on the bus, they were not associating themselves for what happened, but did nothing to put themselves in the others shoes. Or when she was talking about when she spoke at seminars and people would come up to her and tell her stories as a way of taking the burden off. I feel we need to start with keeping people accountable not just in the classroom but outside of it.

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1. In chapter 1, ACB asserts white people are exhausting. How have her experiences informed this perspective?

The author sees white people as exhausting because of how they are constantly treating her differently. She talks about how she still gets greeted at church as if it is her first service when she has been attending the same church for years. Austin also talks a lot on the subject of her name. She was given a male name by her parents for a reason and has been treated strangely her whole life because of it. She knows exactly how people are going to react to her before she walks in a room because white people always have the same reaction to a black woman with a white mans name.

2. In chapter 4 "Ain't No Friends Here", ACB speaks of her intention to be a "change agent". What are ways you can do this in your personal/professional lives?

I think the most important line from this chapter was when the white girl on the  Sankofa trip said "Doing nothing is no longer an option for me." The way people are "change agents" is by doing something instead of sitting around and doing nothing. Speaking up about racism we see around us is not just something we should do; we must speak up about it because there is no other option. We must support our black coworkers and friends when they come to us with issues and we must believe their stories. People need to believe black people when they tell stories of the bias they face in every day life.

Textbook Connections: Reference at least one specific way the ACB book and textbook connect (confirm ideas presented, strengthens ideas, and/or challenges ideas).

When ACB speaks of the first black professor that she had, she says that the professor used an analogy to a relaxing treatment for curly hair. The white people in the room were confused by her metaphor while Austin was the only one in the room who knew what the professor was talking about. This professor is doing a great job of using different kinds of metaphors for different people. In the book, it says, "We know that education must be relevant to students' previous experiences and cultural backgrounds." and, "...effective teachers have a significant repertoire of instructional strategies..." When using metaphors teachers must remember that not all students have experienced the same things growing up. Different students participated in different things so it is not useful when a teacher only uses sports metaphors, for example. Varying educational strategies ensures that all the students have an opportunity to relate to the lecture and understand on a deeper level.

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1. ACB repeatedly mentions the idea of whiteness=goodness, with blackness being its opposite. She uses the phrase "truest offense" (chapter 11, pg 146) in "A God for the Accused." How can we combat these associations?
Now more than ever, with the George Floyd murder and consequential trial, we must recognize that some people truly do believe that being black is a true offense. As white people, it is our job to hold those people accountable for the beliefs they hold. As teachers, we must combat these associations at the source and create good citizens out of our students. It is important to teach kids about their own biases as well as the history of discrimination different groups of people have experienced throughout our history. In order for them to understand why black people are still fighting for equality, they must understand the past and all black people have been through up to this point.
2. In the final chapters, ACB demonstrates several ways in which America pays a lot of lip service about the distance it has come. How do we continue to move the needle on issues of racial equity, while knowing that seeing true change may not be in our immediate future?
One of my favorite parts of these few chapters was when she said she doesn't praise America for accomplishing things that should have always been that way. I had never taken that perspective before but it makes so much sense. Why would we praise this country for allowing black people to vote? That is just common sense and a law that always should have been around. Racism is something that should not exist and as such, there is no reason to praise someone or something for making "progress". At the end of the day, America is and has been horribly racist towards numerous minority groups and needs to do better. I also had never thought about the fact that we won't see a future where equality is achieved. It was a very sad thought that took me aback for a minute. Then I thought about the Stonewall riots and how many decades it took before gay people could even get married in the United States. Those brave men and women fought for an equality they would never see as well but they still fought and gave me my rights eventually. We need to be the change for the next generations. We must teach the children so that they fight for the same cause.
Textbook Connections:
Reference at least one specific way the ACB book and textbook connect (confirm ideas presented, strengthens ideas, and/or challenges ideas).
ACB talks about having hard conversations with her son as he will be growing up as a black man in the United States. I think we can extend this idea to the idea of having hard conversations in the classroom with our students. We may be hesitant to bring up topics that make us uncomfortable such as race with our students. But I would argue that these are the most important conversations to have. The conversations that that make the biggest impact are always going to be the hardest. The textbook stresses being a multicultural educator even when it makes us uncomfortable. As teachers, it's out job to give our students the education they deserve and that includes the hard topics.

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I agree that as future educators it is important for us to be "change agents". We are influencing the next generation and must be a good example for them to look up to. With that influence, we are on our way to a better future for everyone.

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I am so happy that you are willing to admit you make mistakes. I think one of the most important things we can do as teachers as well as change makers is admit mistakes that have been made in the past so that we can grow from them instead of making excuses. We all make mistakes and will continue to do so our whole lives. That is part of what makes us human. What makes us good humans is the ability to learn from our mistakes and correct them in the future.