Thursday
I started my morning with Géraud’s 4ème class. They’re generally pretty good, but there are a few students I have problems with. They’re a couple of boys that like yelling across the classroom with their friends and refuse to sit near the front of the room. The lesson for the day was pretty serious and I wanted to get on with it, but that was difficult with them misbehaving in the back of the room. I decided to send the ring leader back to the main class. He left in a huff, exclaiming, “I didn’t do anything!” and peeking back into the room as if to check if I’d changed my mind. Without him we were able to have a good conversation. I learned that the kids did not know that the KKK existed and continues to exist. At first, they thought that it was a humorous group and that they were clowns. I explained that they were a white supremacist group with views similar to N*zis. I shared photos of Emmett Till and explained that white supremacist violence against the black community affected everyone, even people their own age. They were shocked.
My next classes was another 4ème group with Noury. We work together for the entire hour instead of switching out half groups. This works really well for the two of us. He studied in the US and knows a lot about our culture and history. He is able to answer questions I can’t get to or explain things in a way that fits the French cultural framework in a way that I just can’t. Kids were surprised to learn about segregation. They did not know that a person of color could be arrested for using white facilities, sitting in the wrong place, or just going about their business. I introduced them to MLK and his message of non-violence and civil disobedience. I also shared images of the Black Panthers and explained their use of armed self-defense to the students. They had no clue as to why it would be necessary for the black community to have armed self-defense. I introduced them to the KKK, as well. We went through Google Images and saw many black and white photos from the 60s. However, we also saw recent photos. One featured someone dressed as Tr*mp standing beside hooded figures. I felt embarrassed when one student asked if the president supported this group. I had to explain that while he had not explicitly said yes, he also did not rebuke them when David Duke promoted his candidacy.
At the pause, I got the opportunity to speak with Noury about his experiences with discrimination and racial issues in France. His parents arrived in France during the first wave of Moroccan immigration and raised him here. As a Muslim, he experienced discrimination from his teachers and neighbors constantly. He recalled a poignant moment where a French teacher told him it would be better for him to stop studying because he would amount to nothing and it was a waste of his time. He told me that his wife proudly wears the hijab and that she experiences more intense discrimination than him. She was also a teacher for many years, but was forced to quit her job when the 2011 law was passed that made wearing the hijab in schools illegal.
We discussed the French attitude towards diversity. Frequently in France, national unity is ranked above individual identity in importance. I find that it is the opposite in the US. Both systems have drawbacks, obviously. Noury argued that the French framework can be harmful when thinking about learning tolerance. Students aren’t taught about different religions. It is entirely plausible that Christian classmates would have no knowledge of Islam or Judaism. If you don’t understand a religious belief system, can you be truly tolerant towards it? It is much more likely that you would harbor misconceptions and that those misunderstandings could lead to prejudice.
Similarly, France does little to teach students about history and other cultures. My coworker explained that many of his students do not know the historical context that surrounds them because they are given just 3 hours of history instruction each week. He also said that many of his students do not consider themselves French. Instead, they refer to their family’s country of origin to identify themselves. While a student might have been born here, they might say that they are Algerian or Afghan. Many students here are immigrants and they come from many different countries. Yet, there is no cross-cultural education or discussion. This leaves room for prejudice to grow within the community, especially among people who have been in France for several generations (side-eye towards the white French folks). Noury told me that the National Front is especially powerful in this region. This is France’s far-right party, led by Marine le Pen. Her father Jean-Marie le Pen started the party after WWII and advocated unity between the mainstream and N*zi collaborationists.
Noury was impressed by the US mentality toward diversity. He appreciated the frank conversations he had with folks in the US about religious and cultural differences. In his opinion, there was less discrimination towards Muslims in the US than in France. I found this striking because he was here after 9/11, when anti-Muslim sentiment was incredibly high. I recall many Islamophobic statements made by conservative teachers and adults during that period. Still, he said that he’d love to retire either in the US or in Morocco.
If you’d like to learn more about the secularism laws in France, I’m linking the Wiki page here.
My next class of the day is one of my favorites. They have some rambunctious students, but I like them because they are involved and ask great questions. I love a student that asks questions. They were really curious about the Civil War. They called it “the war of secession” which was interesting because you don’t hear that phrasing super often. They didn’t understand why the South wouldn’t give up slavery. I explained that much of the southern economy relied on slavery, while in the North there was a high degree of industrialization.
The last class of the day was the 6ème. Catherine sits in the back for this class the same way that Noury does. She’s really helpful with handling questions and adjusting the response for the age level of the students. The presentation posed some problems with these kids because they had so so many questions. I apparently was the first person to explain slavery to them. The kids had no idea that slavery in the US was race-based. They did not understand what it meant to be a slave in that they did not know slavery was often lifelong and full of arduous labor. I wondered if they were too young for this content and pondered when it was introduced to me. Probably 4th grade in the classroom, but I was certainly reading about it in 2nd or 3rd in my American Girl Doll books. Explaining segregation and the Civil Rights movement was also difficult because there were so many questions. We decided that we would come back to the lesson next week. I’ll be able to suggest media to the kids and answer some more questions.
I was particularly struck by one question I couldn’t answer. One boy described a shooting in the US that he had seen on the internet. He described a traffic stop where a black man was pulled over and his family was in the car, filming the incident. The man was shot and killed as his wife begged for the officer to calm down. The student asked me why that would happen if America was supposed to be moving beyond racism. I was at a loss for words. How can you explain systematic racism and hateful ideologies to a 6th grader? I don’t know.
I feel like I learned more Thursday than I have in a long time. Talking to my students about their perspectives on the US and talking with my coworkers was so eye opening. I took the rest of the day to process and reflect. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done back home.
Mary-Est-En-France 