"American Tongues" revisited

[Bethany K. Dumas]

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003, Mai Kuha wrote:
>It seems to me that, given the asymmetric relationship between the
>instructor and the students, students are not truly free to withhold
>permission to show the video. I've run into this in another situation: at
.... >be nice". And in the video permission situation, it would be obvious
to them >that you would be inconvenienced if they say no--you'd have to
re-plan the >whole class meeting. Still, you did consult them, and
obviously that's >vastly different from business as usual.

Yes - I think it is the act of asking that is important. Clearly, there is
a great power inbalance. But - for the record - I was prepared to hear
no, and I had worked out a plan - my situation is made easier by the fact
that the video is available to all students in our library's Media Center
(until recently, our AV Center).

>Your comments made me think again of a question I wonder about from time to
>time. What if non-African-American students are offended at the racial slur
>on the video on behalf of African Americans? Is that offense less important
>than that of group members themselves, or should we consult everyone?

Good question.

I sometimes think that the best solution is simply to mention the
availability of the film, then forbid everyone to watch it! Or engage a
student's help, one who would ask about the film, so I could tell
everyone not to watch it under any circumstances!

(I AM kidding - my students are generally much more mature than that.)

Bethany