blog post #2- The silenced dialogue by: Lisa Delpit

 Based on "The Silenced Dialogue" By Lisa Delpit, we see the lack of communication between white and black educators, as well as educators of educators when it boils down to the issues of race. This is due to the disparity and reliance on theory between African American, and white people. The author goes into depth with the communicative strategies as well as the presentation of self. 

This is the ways of talking, walking, acting, as well as dressing and interacting. She brings up many points that I found important. One was the misinterpretation of directions due to cultural differences. Pointing out how black children might end up getting in trouble more because they seem to disobey white teacher’s directives, when in fact they followed the orders exactly as stated, was incredibly interesting. She stated that many black children come from homes where commands were explicit and direct, and in some classrooms of white teachers the “commands” were more of a question. In addition, the black teacher is often seen as overly authoritative. 

These interpretations of language show how meaning can be lost in translation. The point that we need to listen to our black educators about how to educate our black students seems obvious, but the fact is that she states they are often ignored. These educators seem to have been silenced. The parents of black students also go unheard.