Adrian Herrera/ Round Up
Latino and Black students must maintain their culture, while at the same time valuing their education, Professor James McKeever told
McKeever is an assistant professor of sociology at Pierce. It is his first semester on campus.
“We must keep our cultural identity while going through college,” McKeever told the crowd of about 140, “We are more than just stereotypes.”
“Ain’t Nothing White About Being Educated: Maintaining Cultural Identity while Navigating College” was a lecture put together by the Pierce’s Black Student Union and Sociology Club with McKeever serving as the guest speaker.
McKeever’s speech touched on issues regarding cultural authenticity and as he put it, “quote un quote, keeping it real,” while still being able to get educated.
“This isn’t a topic that’s touched on a lot in class,” said 19-year-old student Michael Maghakian, “the speech was well spoken and organized,” he added.
McKeever believes many myths exist about Black and Latino education, the major one being that they don’t value it or simply just don’t care.
“Latinos in Los Angeles fought for desegregation of schools in 1946 and Blacks did the same, leading up to Brown v. Board of Education in 1954,” said McKeever, “How can you say we don’t value our education when we have fought for it.”
McKeever also spoke about Black and Latino stereotypes that exist in the classroom, such as appearance and lexicon, which can have an affect on how one is viewed and judged by others in this type of setting.
“He really touched on the contradictions and stereotypes,” said student Gio Valdivia, 18. “He got the audience to see that there are problems with stereotypes and we should break them.”
While striving to stick to their Latino and Black identity, students must also assimilate into a classroom structure which is rooted in a ‘white’ education system because as McKeever said, “White is the norm.”
McKeever used himself as an example when he spoke about how to balance your identity and your education at the same time.
“Even though I was in gifted classes, I hung out with the black kids in the playground,” said McKeever. “I spoke proper English in the classroom and didn’t act like a smart-ass to the other Black kids.”
This brought smiles and made heads nod in the audience as McKeever was finishing the sentence.
He also stressed for teachers to think about the biases they might hold.
“For academic we should be culturally sensitive,” McKeever said. “Not just to Latinos and Blacks, but also Asian and Middle Eastern ethnic groups, which are all visible on our multi-ethnic campus.”
“It’s okay to represent your race, but just do it in a positive way.”
Pizza and refreshments were served to those in attendance.
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