religious community, I participated in a week-long social outreach project in the Appala-
chian region of Kentucky. These experiences exposed me to diversity in human circum-
stances and made me personally aware of material and spiritual poverty for the first time in
my life.
During my sojourn in Kentucky, I had a religious and social epiphany when I spotted the
face of a small child longingly peering out of the grimy, cracked window of his dilapidated
house. This image stayed with me and stirred in me the desire to change the life chances of
children who feel trapped and resigned to their lives. I want to use my life to “help them find
the light within themselves,” as Paulo Freire writes. Through use of my time, energy, and tal-
ents, I hoped to help them reach their full potential.
After college, I worked as a youth placement counselor in a rural, economically depressed
area. I tutored low-income youth and created a mentoring program that paired teens at risk
of dropping out of school with other members of their community. During this job, I realized
the awesome potential and great responsibility teachers have to influence their students’
lives. This was my calling—to take action, to be a good teacher, to have a classroom of my
own where I could promote social change.
At that point, the only missing piece was the confidence of knowing whether as a White,
suburban-born female, I could handle the challenge and be effective as a teacher of urban,
minority students. To help me make this decision, I enrolled in a course with a teacher who
gave me the opportunity to spend 2 weeks in his high school in Brooklyn. Attending classes,
interacting with students, and getting a general sense of the atmosphere and organization of
school life in the city dispelled my qualms and stirred a deep emotional chord within me. I
headed out for the summer break content and confident. I decided that I wanted the chance
to teach my own sets of beautiful, happy, young faces, and have been honored with that op-
portunity ever since.
Paulo Freire says that “dreams are the movers of history” and “there is no dream without
hope.” These words by Paulo Freire capture my feelings as a teacher. Dreams and hope have
motivated, challenged, sustained, and rewarded me.
***Race and U.S. Politics and Education
By Howard Fuchs
Howard Fuchs grew up in a religious Jewish family in a White, upper middle-class suburban com-
munity. Until eighth grade, he went to a private Jewish day school. After graduating from high
school, he attended a small private liberal arts college. When he completed college, his parents
expected him to become a lawyer. Instead, he decided to teach high school.—Alan Singer
As a child I was sheltered from what life is like in urban America. I was taught that if the Jews
could come to this country after all the hardships they have experienced throughout their
history and live the American dream, anyone could. I believed that those who were poor or
claimed discrimination were people who did not want to work hard. These were people who
were just trying to take the easy road.
While at college, my experience and opinions began to change. I was a politics major and
would sit in classes about race and U.S. politics. These were the most uncomfortable classes
I have ever taken. Here we were, a group of mostly White students, one Black student, and a
White teacher talking about racism in America. It would frustrate me to watch the White stu-
dents in the class picking their words carefully when answering questions and looking at the
18 CHAPTER 1