Concerning Outliers Gladwell Summary

While going through the PBS website called Power of Illusion, we found many things that were new to us and that surprised us. The things that were new to us was the idea of race is actually a modern idea. Ancient societies did not divide people according to physical differences. Another idea that was new to us, was the adding of race to our census was not added until 1790, additionally the race of “Mexican” was not added until 1930. What surprised us the most was that us as humans actually have not been around long enough to put ourselves in subcategories based on our race or ethnicity. In 400B.C. the differences amongst people was defined off of someone’s wealth, social class and their language. The last thing that surprised us was that
it wasn’t until 2000 that one could identify with more than one race. Though we knew this was true, we were surprised that it has only been available to us for the last fifteen years. As teachers, it’s very important for us to know these thigs, because we create a bias by the generalizations that we put on people. While doing the sorting activity, we looked at skin color, there eye shape and hair to put them into their categories. We need to realize as teachers that even though we are all unique individuals that we are actually more the same than different.
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Concerning Outliers, author Gladwell writes on the subject of his family and how they identified with skin color on the basis of advantage.
He first speaks on the behalf of his grandmother, who was bought on the slave trade in Jamaica. She regarded her lighter color of skin as an advantage, because the slave owner treated her better because of it. Gladwell believes that his family never escaped this perception, as he tells the story of his mother’s close relative- whom he refers to as Aunt Joan. Joan had married a man with darker skin than hers, and because of this their child was born with darker skin than hers. She felt that she was light enough that she attracted more attention from lighter skinned men, and without realizing her intentions she realized one day that she had pretended her daughter wasn’t hers- because she felt that if men knew she had given birth to a daughter with dark skin that they would perceive her as less desirable. Gladwell goes on to write about his mother, and her feelings about her skin color. She is Jamaican, and her husband was not. One day they found a house to move into, and they were very excited. But once the landlady noticed that Gladwell’s mother was Jamaican, they were turned away. She never got over the embarrassment, and she found herself resenting her skin color because it put her at such a disadvantage. In her own words, “We [landlady and her] were both guilty of the sin of self-regard, the pride and the exclusiveness by which we cut
some people off from ourselves.”
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Human relations has taught me a lot about how diverse our world is, and how this will directly influence my role in education. Concerning all the topics of diversity discussed in this class, along with today’s topic on racial diversity, communication is key. Talking to your students, along with their parents, and allowing them to openly express their thoughts and feelings is important to provide a supportive learning environment. Ensure the children that it’s alright to ask the question, “Why?” Especially in America’s history, racial injustice is a common occurrence and this can be very confusing for a child. One of the best strategies an educator can present in the classroom is to always be sensitive and respectful, and to not allow any hidden biases to weave themselves into the environment. It’s our job as teachers to provide equal and quality education for our students.