Book Club

I read the book Honky by Dalton Conley. For my discussion on this book, I have decided to include my largest points—themes and ideas—of disruption from Honky, listing and describing them below. Below each of my disruptions (and major themes and ideas from the novel), I have explained why these ideas are disruptive to me as well as cited examples from the book where these ideas are portrayed. In some cases where I felt the quote was self-explanatory, I have left just the quote. For others, I have explained more of the story and background behind the quote as well as added extra insight from class vocabulary and discussion. In reading the following quotes, it is important to recognize that the narrator, Dalton, is white but grew up in “minority neighborhood,” among many blacks and Hispanics. He experienced a lot of diversity in school and through his various experiences. Throughout the book, he reflects on his experiences, portraying the inequality, prejudice, and oppression that exist in our society today. 

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o   We often categorize minority groups first by their minority group (instead of seeing them as human beings). However, whites are rarely viewed by their race.

§  This is very disruptive and uncomfortable to me because it feels unfair to me that some groups are privileged while others are not. It also makes me feel guilty to realize that I have never been oppressed because of my race whereas others have had to face difficulties and challenges their whole lives. As a future educator, I need to make sure that I never place students in categories or groups. I think that doing that can lead to deficit thinking and lead me to favor certain groups over others. Thus, I need to do all I can to be aware of the dangers of passive racism and do what I can to prevent it personally so as to see each student for their potential.

§  “Ask any African American to list the adjectives that describe them and they will likely put bl ck or Afric n Americ n at the top of the list. Ask someone of European descent the same question and white will be far down the list, if it’s there at all” (xi). I think this shows the tendency in our culture to stereotype and cast judgment to create prejudice. I think that often whites cast these stereotypes because they want to feel that they are part of the “privileged” group to boost their pride, so they unknowingly cast others into categories like this.

o   Minority groups have much less chance and opportunity to succeed in life simply because of group from which they come. They are never given the “benefit of the doubt” and are much more often accused than whites. Whites are always given special privileges above other races.

§  This is disruptive to me because it hurts my pride—realizing that because of my situation in life, I have been offered every possible chance to succeed. It hurts me to realize that that opportunity does not exist for everyone. It makes me realize what I need to do as a future educator in order to get rid of “white supremacy” so that all can thrive in my classroom.

§  “Walter, who had spent his entire life cultivating his taste in clothes, books, and women, plowed into a man who had none of the above and not a cent to his name. This incident always came to mind first whenever I thought of my grandfather—perhaps because it intrigued me that he actually killed someone, or perhaps because I wondered how he got away with it” (31). Because of his grandfather’s race, his situation was far different than it would have been had he been “black” or “Hispanic.”

§  “Title I kids, as we were called, benefited by getting better educations, while the schools themselves won out financially. The losers in the arrangement were the local schools, which lost not only funding but also the students whose parents enjoyed the most ‘social capital,’ that is, connections” (53). This is so evident in society today—overall, those with the most social capital receive the greatest opportunities and get into the best schools and the best jobs.

§  “The they who made up these policies were, on the surface, quite different in character from the they who stole car radios…Beneath the surface, however, these state behemoths were no different in nature from the spirits who stole; they were just as arbitrary, random, and mysterious” (53). This is evidence of white supremacy. Those in charge got away with oppression and with injustice because they were white.

§  “It seemed possible to get whatever you wanted as long as you knew the magic words and when to say them” (53). This is evidence of social and cultural capital. Those with knowledge of the system, the tools and skills necessary to navigate the system, and connections in society got what they wanted.

§  “Being a honky may have made me twitch back at the Mini School, but it gave me a certain freedom to act however I wanted, since people’s reactions never reflected anything about me in particular but could always be brushed off as a racial thing” (73). When he attended a school with many racial minorities, his “whiteness” allowed him to be treated differently and to act with greater privilege because of his race.

§  “I can’t imagine that a black kid growing up in a poor white neighborhood would have gotten off so lightly” (119). During his growing up years, he was a victim to violence. However, he was fine in the end and faced much less violence than he would have had he been from a minority race growing up among a white minority in the same type of environment.

§  Things in his family changed when his dad started working…he had pencils, pens, paper, and other ‘courtesies’ like Time magazine that he didn’t enjoy before. He felt proud of those new things, new knapsack, etc. (150) He experienced many of these luxuries because of the greater privilege provided to his family.

§  “The fire taught me one of the most subtle but powerful privileges of middle-class status: the change to work problems out informally, without the interference of the authorities. Poor minorities get no such allowances. But we were lucky—for Raphael’s family represented the right class and I the right race” (200). Raphael was a friend from school, he was Latino but was well off. They were playing a game “fireman, waterman,” that Raphael had introduced. Dalton threw 2 matches, and the 2^nd match started the building on fire. They worked out the situation and shared the blame between their families, and Dalton ultimately received no intense harsh punishment for what had happened. Because of the race and social class represented between the families, they received greater privilege, as they did not face harsh consequences for what had happened. These privileges would not have been provided had they both been of a minority race and both in poverty.

§  “Not only does the government deprive low-income families of the opportunity to take care of their own kids and their own mistakes, it actively goes after them” (201). Through drug raids, weapon sweeps, etc. low-income families are ‘gone after’ and attacked by the government. This is evidence of white supremacy and discrimination against low-income families.

§  At the end of the book, Dalton reflects on his old home. ”For residents who have lived there for generations, stones may have a different connotation—namely the red, brown, and yellow bricks that serve to keep them back, away from the American dream, to ghettoize and warehouse people of color who don’t fit into the new America” (225). He recognized the many forms of racism—passive racism, stealth racism, institutional racism—as well as discrimination and bias that exist that impede the success for these minority groups.

o   Race and social-class impact almost every situation we confront in life. Discrimination, segregation, racial prejudice, and inequality are around us on a daily basis.

§  This is disruptive to me because I wish that we could all just see one another as children of God rather than the race/social-class from which we come. It is costly to accept the large way that race and social-class influence my own interactions with other people as well. I understand that I often am at fault for allowing race to impact my interactions with others, and I realize that I need to change (and that is part of the disruption for me).

§  His sister would tell a story of how he kidnapped a black child because he wanted a baby sister—he was aware of race at a young age and felt it was an innate part of life (he grew up as pretty much the only white kid among many blacks and Hispanics).

§  “No one questioned her as she rushed around the hallways—but a frantic black or Hispanic woman might have drawn greater scrutiny” (17). No one thought his white mom was crazy for running, but had she been black, the situation perhaps would have been completely different.

§  “Race was not something mutable, like a freckle or a hairstyle; it defined who looked like whom, who was allowed to be in the group—and who wasn’t. But for Alexandra and me, race was turned inside-out. Notwithstanding the Barbie incident, the cornrows, and the images we saw on television, we had no idea that we belonged to the majority group, the privileged one. We merely thought we didn’t belong” (42).

§  “It would have seemed absurd if the black teacher had tried to integrate me into that class. Racial groupings were about domination and struggles for power; what’s more, race barriers were taken as both natural and insurmountable” (50). Dalton was treated differently in the black classroom because of his race. Even in the black classroom, he was privileged above other students and treated differently.

§  At a music assembly he attended, he noticed that minorities were seated apart from the other white students. There was segregation among the seating of the students. “Seeing the races separated out this way, it struck me just how different the two groups at I.S. 70 were from one another” (157).

§  “Though ours was an integrated school, minorities were still just that—minorities, outnumbered by the white kids in the population” (161).

§  Jerome visited his family in a wheelchair and asked why they had moved. Mom replied, ‘We moved here because of you.’” (217) To me, this made me so sad because Jerome was such a close friend of Dalton. This statement that his mom made reflected the divide between Jerome and their family because of race. This demonstrated discrimination in his family and the feeling that they had of white privilege and supremacy

§  “When I add up all these particular experiences—as I have done in this book—the invisible contours of inequality start to take form” (227).

o   Whites often seek ways to increase their own popularity by portraying a “view of acceptance” and association with minority groups.

§  This is disruptive to me because I can recognize this in my own life. I think I sometimes “praise myself” for reaching out to minority groups. However, this book helped me to realize that doing this only contributes more to white supremacy and a deficit view of minority groups (by feeling that we are so great when we help them). As a teacher, as I help minority students, I need to be cautious of this. I need to treat each student with respect and not think I am “greater” for treating minority students in a certain way…or this will be even more detrimental for my classroom.

§  He was proud about Jerome’s story (of when he was a gunshot victim) and used it to promote his own pride/popularity (179).

o   Whites view themselves as superior, and other races also catch onto this oppressive view. Even little children see the difference in skin color and because of the way our culture is, often see “whiteness” as the optimal color.

§  This was so disruptive and uncomfortable to me because I know that Heavenly Father does not view us as “superior” or less superior. This honestly makes me feel angry. This view is hegemonic. As whites view themselves as superior, they cast their own views and influence on others. It is costly to accept because I understand that in my future classroom, these feelings may exist, and it will be my job to help to change these views. I understand that this begins with myself—I need to get rid of the view that whites are superior—to be able to help each student truly succeed.

§  “The idea that a ‘real’ Barbie could only be white was left for the parents of the other children to sort out. It wasn’t our problem; after all, we were the color of Barbie” (40).

§  “The class consciousness I’d begun to acquire at P.S. 41 made me feel extremely grateful for the advantages I had over my neighbors back at home… I felt humbly thankful for the opportunities I was enjoying at P.S. 41 yet simultaneously was developing a sense of superiority over my old neighbors” (80). At home, he lived among the minority groups and his experiences going to his new school made him feel superior (white supremacy) and led him to develop a deficit view of the minority groups.

o   We often care more about our own personal pride and being on the “in-group” than actually doing what is right or being proud of who we are.

§  This is disruptive to me because it hurts my pride to realize that sometimes I have done things the “white” way to be on the “in-group.” In order to help my future students, I need to foster a culture of acceptance and cultural pride in my class so that students feel proud of who they are and free to express that in class.

§  “It did not override by joy at being on the right side, with the in-group… I resisted falling into his camp since it would have meant ostracizing myself” (72).

§  At first, Dalton did not invite Michael over to sleep over—“I was ashamed of my neighborhood” (90). When he finally did invite Michael to sleep over, he felt angry at his neighbors and felt that it was their fault for being poor. (93) This is an example of deficit thinking. He blamed the minority groups for being in the minority. This is also an example of white supremacy, thinking that he was better than his minority neighbors.

o    We hold preconceived ideas and stereotypes about certain races and socio-economic classes.

§  This is disruptive to me because I understand that I have stereotypes and ideas that I need to change, and this is costly because that requires work. In order to get rid of deficit thinking and view each student as full of potential, I need to practice viewing people without any attached stereotype, and I need to essentially get more involved in minority groups so that I can effectively detach stereotypes. This takes work, effort, and time, but I know it will bless my future classroom in the end.

§  “In my life, which contrasted minority, poor home neighborhood with rich, which school district, race and class had overlapped to such a great extent that it was difficult for me to separate poverty from dark skin color or to entertain the possibility of impoverished whites” (89).

o   We act differently around different races and classes.

§  This is disruptive to me because though I want to be consistent and act consistently among all groups of people, I do not always do this. Among other races and cultures, I sometimes act differently. I need to change. As I learn to

§  “I never mentioned this annual vacation to anyone in the projects and just disappeared quietly at the end of each June. Across town, however, I played it up, knowing that leaving New York in summer was part of the status game that went on at school” (111).

o   Due to the different backgrounds of students, they will view and approach the world in different ways. Each student has a unique primary discourse.

§  As I learn to adapt a culturally responsive pedagogy to my future classroom, I will most effectively be able to draw upon students’ unique backgrounds and experiences. As a future educator, I need to realize that diversity of situations from which my students come and draw upon the strengths that come from diversity. I need to also have an inclusive pedagogy to promote the well-being of each of my students by teaching and assessing in diverse ways.

§  “An open door came to have the same association with death that a hat on a bed does for many people” (5). To him, it meant that something was very wrong—“that a woman was fleeing an abusive husband, that a robbery or even a murder had taken place.”

§  He felt more similar culturally to his peers on the playground than his ancestors. He spoke like his peers on the playground—with an accent that combined Spanish, New Yorkese, other English accepts, etc. This helped me to realize that language has a lot to do with children’s comfort level in school. I need to value each students’ primary discourse in order to help them feel included and appreciated in class.

§  During Dalton’s childhood, a family had been robbed and killed by people who got in by dressing up as policemen. His family also experienced a huge robbery while growing up, which led to nightmares growing up (57-58).

§  “Manhunt was not a strange game for us to be playing. Unlike baseball or football, it taught us important skills for life in the ‘ghetto.’” This is a situation/game unique to students from this background, as it trained them to evade criminals/police. (62) As a future educator, I need to recognize even the diversity in games that my students play. I need to really know them and understand their situaitons to be able to help them.

§  His karate instructor was shot (he had taken karate to try to feel more safe), this was a pretty scaring event. (65)

§  “Compared to what befell Jerome, it is a small scar to carry through life” (189). After Jerome was a victim of gunshot, it wounded Dalton. He became obsessive-compulsive about 2s—chewing twice on each side, kissing twice on the cheek, etc. Students in our classrooms may carry burdens like these and do things because of experiences in their past that have led them to depressive, anxious, or OCD tendencies.

As I have noted throughout my discussion above, these stories and themes powerfully influence my thinking about my future work as a teacher. Throughout the novel, italicized words were included without the letter “A.” I reflected on this as I read the novel and realized that prejudice, racism, and discrimination lead us to view people (words) as less than people (less than words). It is absolutely essential that as a future educator, I get rid of my own biases and discrimination in order to effectively love and serve my students. I need to get rid of my deficit thinking and hegemonic practices (thinking that my “white” way is better than the minority voice) in order to adapt an inclusive and culturally responsive pedagogy to my teaching. I need to be aware of the social and cultural capital (or lack thereof) that students carry to class in order to know how best to provide unique opportunities for each student. I need to draw upon the strengths of the primary discourses of each child as they build onto their secondary discourses. I am grateful for the way Honky opened my mind to the prejudices and inequality in society so that I can more effectively foster a culture of acceptance in my future classroom.