Dennis Carlson: Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community

1.“I want to suggest that public schools may play an important role in helping build a new democratic, multicultural community, one in which sexual identity (like other markers of difference including class, gender, and race) is recognized, in which inequities are challenged, and where dialogue across difference replaces silencing ad invisibility practices.”(page 223)

This quote stood out to me because I feel that if people are not part of the valued culture than they are not as valued as much. I feel it does not matter what type of person you are, we are all human but society makes people who are not the considered basically part of scwamp less than what they really are, especially gays.I relate this to Johnson because in a way Johnson said about how males who are heterosexual are the ones who succeed and the others really do not matter.

2."Popular culture may represent identity, but identity also is represented in corporeal form, as individuals actively "live" their identities and make these identities visible in their everyday relations with others. Identity formation in this sense involves several processes."(page 244)

I felt when I first looked at this quote I thought it was very true. I feel that some people really cannot live their lives and your true identity in a way does involve several processes. I feel that only certain people make their identities visible because of the ways things are in society. Certain people cannot be themselves because of society having the cultural of power and how Delpit described it as being less valued than everyone else.

3."One thing we can conclude about the emerging shape of community in America is that because it is more fragmented, it is becoming more difficult to construct a "public"curriculum that as broad-based support."(page 249)

This is true because the shape of community in America has become more fragmented. I feel that it is becoming more difficult to construct in a way a public curriculum that is broad based support because of society today. Everyone is different from everyone else and the support may happen but it might not depending on the type of person you are or where you came from. This really has not been successful however, none of the social movements on the political have left.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
This reading to me really connected to other readings because this talks about the gayness in communities. I feel that you should not be judge on the type of person but the person itself. I really think that people do judge if your gay, lesbian and so forth. I feel that it was eye opening to me because it shows the inequality that is in our society without really noticing it. I feel that celebrities are gay and what not and people look at that as the same as people like you and me. People who are gay really cannot be themselves because they do get judged on how they act and basically anything they do because of their gayness. Society really needs to stop putting a bad image on gays, they are human just like everyone else.