The Persistence of Difference

Todd Taylor’s article, “The Persistence of Difference in Networked Classrooms: Non-negotiable Difference and the African American Student Body” is not one that I understand fully why it was written. According to Taylor, Online attention has been predominantly given to differences in gender and those of various sexual orientations, but not enough attention has been given to racial differences. Taylor believes that these “electronic and networked learning environments” can provide cues to “teachers and students to become more responsive to racial differences” and can help “the teaching of writing in general.” I think that Taylor wasted time arguing over the definition of difference in order to explain “the debate over assimilation versus reverse acculturation.” He goes on to discuss the need for white educators to have a better understanding of black students. I guess, in order to successfully teach them. What does this have to do with computer literacy? I ask. Blacks are just as interested in going Online as Whites. I think that this difference is an economic dilemma, not a racial one. When Taylor talks about body language and cues teachers interpret from students as they use the computer, I fail to see what it has to do with race. To me, it has more to do with multiple intelligences, or learning styles. He says that teachers can read student body language better when students are on the computer and therefore can tell if they’re on task or are having difficulty than they would have if they were in a regular classroom setting. Again, what does that have to do with race? Taylor makes too many, what I consider racist, assumptions. “[Chris] is less comfortable speaking in class than…Stephanie, perhaps due to self-consciousness about his predominantly black spoken dialect.” I’m offended!!! What does dialect have to do with participation? Did he conduct a survey on this theory???? He can’t read minds!!! Maybe Chris had a zit or forgot his Tic-Tac.:) Maybe the black students have more of a problem with the professor than the class. The rumor may go as such: “That professor is weird!!! He’s always staring at the black kids and writing things down.” That’s probably why the black students are so timid. Maybe Stephanie is a nark. Or maybe Stephanie just has high self-esteem, and Chris and Felicia have less confidence. This has nothing to do with race. While I disagree with points mentioned in this article, I do have to agree with Taylor’s final thoughts about the fact that in the end “[w]e need to consider individuals as individuals…”