Before the Bleach Gets Us All

Michelle Fine discusses the differences of performance in classroom on black and white students. She notices that there is an a priori belief that white students have to do better than black students, and this belief causes poor participation in class for black students. The experiment they do is a very interesting one, because they discuss situations in different stories that do not have to do with race, but with more universal concepts such as life-death. From the discussion about this situation, however, she notices that there are some patterns that are usually seen in either in black and white students specifically. For instance, in the native American story about the old woman, black students tend to talk about hope, whereas white students talk about goals/ambitions. Fine explains that It is seen in this society that white people are more likely to achieve their dreams than black people are, thus the later ones have more a sense of hope than ambition. Towards the end of the experiment, Fine notices that some black students that were usually shy in class changed and would speak out more. They have learned to use their voices and opinions to empower themselves. I think it is great that Michel used universal concepts to demonstrate the equality of the capability of students regardless their race or ethnic background. By discussing stories that refer to universals, the students’ thinking goes beyond the social limitations or prejudices and gets into their humanity.