We all know Iowa went red this year (800,467 Trump; 652,820 for Hillary). But in Cass County where I teach, the split was a whopping 68 percent forTrump, and only 27 percent for Hillary.
This is Trump Country, Iowa. About 40 percent of our students are assisted with free and reduced lunch. Our once-proud agricultural community has suffered the decline seen across rural America. According to census.gov, we dropped another 3.8 percent in population between 2010 and 2015.
We are 97.6 percent white. Our median household income is $43,960. Although 92 percent of our adults have high-school diplomas, only 20 percent have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Almost 22 percent of our residents are over 65, and 13.1 percent of our people are identified as living in poverty.
The Washington Post is running a frequently-updated collection of comments from Trump voters explaining their decisions. Reading them is simultaneously frustrating and enlightening. I hear the humanity--the sincerity--in their voices. And this is tough because the result of their heart-felt concerns is a presidency that terrifies me.
I have been blogging like a firehose this past week, trying to wrap my head around what America will be(come) under the leadership of a person who has trampled the core rules of civility. But mostly I've blogged because I'm re-evaluating my classroom teaching.
My students (whom I love dearly!) had they voted, likely would have checked the Trump ticket. Like the voters in the WP story, they would have shrugged off the abhorrent rhetoric, the demeaning sexual assault language/action, the denigration of the media, and the scary nepotism and cozy alliances with alt-right hate-mongers--not to mention an ignorance of democracy tenets that is stunning.
Why would these factor not weigh more heavily in the decision-making? Is it because we've allowed subtle (and not so subtle) racism and hate-thinking to go unchecked? How often to we wink at good ol' boy comments in the teachers' work room, silently watering the seeds of sexism? Am I consciously teaching empathy and enlarging my students' understanding of the world beyond Cass County?
I cannot change the election results, or the or economic concerns and left-behind fears that seem to have inspired Trump votes. But I can be more deliberate in holding myself and my students to high standards of kindness, acceptance, critical thinking and bravery.
Yesterday a student came to me with a concern about an unkindness she had witnessed. As we talked through her options for addressing it, I realized again how unprepared my students are for finding civil, assertive ways to speak up--even when they know they "should."
As a teacher, I have daily opportunity to model and guide students toward the behaviors Sonia Sotomayor called for in her ABC interview yesterday--and each day I'm waking up with renewed resolve to do it. Here in Trump Country.
Thank you for this, Allison. I'm coming to similar conclusions.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading, Haley. I appreciate your kindred spirit.
ReplyDeleteSo much truth here, Allison. How did we get here? I think many fingers are unfortunately pointing back to faults in our educational system as well as how we as a society get informed these days. It's a scary world, but I feel better knowing there are teachers like you doing the hard work.
ReplyDeleteAnd I, you. You always make me think--and feel. Keep writing.
DeleteThanks, Allison. You are helping me every day to deal with the emotional turmoil I feel concerning this election. You are my teacher also. :)
ReplyDeleteMarijo, thank you so much for your connecting words here. I think we need all the shared light we can get right now. If you keep reading, I'll keep writing ;-).
DeleteI share your dismay at the apparent lack of critical thinking skills amongst the populace at large. It's not a new thing. Nearly 70 years ago Richard Hofstadter lamented the anti-intellectualism that dominates the American character. It would seem that anti-empathetic inclinations are a close cousin to that trait. It doesn't bode well for different results in the future.
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