If I was Wolf-Wind parent I would feel so emotional angry, I don't know if I could keep calm. Wolf-Wind is only five years old, how can he be slow? he is just entering the world of formal education. The teacher is suppose to teach him that's her job, that's what she getting paid for, and this is the career she choice to be in. I think his father is dealing with the is situation really well but I guess you have to, especially in this time and town that's run by white people. He has to keep calm because if he shows anger they may think he's a savage but in all reality, he's well educated, you know this by reading he's letter to the teacher.
I feel for Wolf-Wind because he's only five years old having to go through bullying, teased, and questioning what he knows from his own culture. He tries so hard to fit in. And because he's only five years old no one can expect him to make a stand or deal with this abuse. The teacher is a horrible person. this teacher should be protecting this child and talking to the children about Wolf-Wind background. Telling them that they can learn from each other, Embracing both cultures, showing that they can learn from other's and it's okay to be different.
I liked both the article and Jen's take on it. What is really strange about this entire encounter is that Wolf-Wind is actually the smartest kid in the room. Think about the nature of his Tribal Education, What do they teach him? How to read the signs of changes in the weather in order to survive. He learned first hand from watching his Family and Tribal members from all of the various discussions, tribal dances, and all things pertaining to survival and watching and understanding nature. Wolf-Wind did all of this while his fellow classmates were playing video games. Of all of the class, only Wolf-Wind at age five would know how to survive in extreme climates, while his classmates would all perish.
ReplyDeleteFurther, I am amazed that his college-educated Father kept his temper, and acted in a calm and collected manner. I do not think that I would act that calm if one of my sons had been treated so badly by his teachers, principle, and fellow classmates and his classmates parents.
Also, there is the pain and suffering that Wolf-Wind has had to go through personally. He got to feel like so much of an outsider in school that he cut his own hair. The parent of one of his classmates that made the racial remarks about having to mingle with them in school, but not required to have them in their homes, should be ashamed of herself. Racism is an illness of the mind and can not be cured by drugs or antibiotics. Racism can only be made by changes in and of the heart. Racism kills from the inside out and the person does not even know that he or she has been infected with a fatal disease. Nice article Jen.