4. Different Cultures Collide

4.  Lisa Delpit explained how children come from different cultures at home. Delpit explains that at home children from non-middle class families are taught a culture different from the “culture of power” that middle and upper class families teach their children. The culture that is taught in the non middle class families, helps them to survive in their own community, but doesn’t prepare them to succeed in the culture of power.

This difference in culture is something I have personally experienced, but with a twist from what Delpit was explaining. In my 8^th grade language arts class, I was the only white middle-class student. Everyone else, including the teacher, was either Black or Hispanic, and the majority of them were from a lower socio-economic class. Opposite of what Delpit discusses in her article, I was the one who felt out of place and confused. The lingo was different, the mannerisms were different, the expectations of classroom behavior were different. For the first half of the year instead of trying to learn the culture I retreated in the back corner of the room in silence. The only time I would speak was when the teacher was teaching this “culture of power” with grammar and reading lessons. I felt comfortable in this area unlike the rest of the class that would grow quieter.

Although my experience is not exactly what Delpit was talking about, I can empathize with her argument and feel like the difference needs to be taken into account.