Incorporating Mixed-Race Rhetoric into Issues of Race and Ethnicity in Basic Writing Nalisha Rangel Northern Arizona University

As issues of race and ethnicity continue to surface in the writing classroom, through student writing and discussion, instructors may find it useful to create a productive forum for these and other similar issues, such as mixed-race rhetoric. In this essay I would like to specifically address the issues of mixed-race rhetoric and its uniqueness in students’ personal narratives.

Too often when personal narratives are read by instructors, we may find ourselves unfamiliar with some of the descriptions students use to characterize themselves culturally, racially, or ethnically. It may be difficult to decipher which description represents race, culture, or ethnicity in a student’s paper. Perhaps, though, we might step away from the categories that our society familiarizes with racially and ethnically (i.e. White, Caucasian, Black, Hispanic, etc) and focus on what unique ways the student chooses to describe her/himself without using any constricting, historic, racial labels.

I speak from experience in this regard, as a self-identified Latin-Ire (my father from Latin America and my mother from Ireland), I feel it necessary to acknowledge both cultures as a unified whole in what I refer to as my own mixed-race rhetorical title. I was inspired to create this title as a result of my own frustration to fill out any racial-check box or cultural background information. Having the opportunity to represent both became more satisfying for me. In the research I conducted during my Master’s thesis I interviewed other students who also identified as mixed-race. Similarly, they were in search of other ways to rhetorically represent themselves on paper as well as linguistically.

As people of mixed-race become more the norm rather than the exception we, as instructors, are placed in the unique position of facilitating students’ own racial constructs. The mere fact that for the first time in 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau allowed people to fill out more than one race reminds us that our racial rhetoric is ever-changing and perhaps we as instructors can help reflect these accordingly. Specific examples of these kinds of narratives can be seen in the innovative pages of MAVIN Magazine. The MAVIN Foundation publishes letters, stories, discussions, and more from self-identified mixed-race people. The language used within these articles is groundbreaking as far as race and ethnicity are concerned. It facilitates a nationwide forum for all ages to share their experiences, hardships or even suggestions for previously published articles with questions.

In freshman composition classrooms we should be inclined to reflect and acknowledge this growing sociopolitical phenomenon. So how do we accomplish this? Student writing and Personal Narratives are a significant part of this process. Self-identification allows the students to go above and beyond the traditional racial jargon as well as challenging them to explore the complexities of their own, as well as their peers’, racial and ethnic backgrounds.

As some instructors have discovered, students can be hesitant to discuss these issues aloud. However, their writing may provide the opportunity to recognize and explore the diverse language used to depict a self-identified mixed-race person. This is key because when they are confronted with or asked to delve into their narratives, they may find more freedom in the search and discovery of their own, personal descriptions than they might in recycling the historic racial, cultural, and ethnic labels that have been used over and over throughout time. Exploring new descriptions for race and ethnicity may provide the creative inspiration students need to break free from the familiar hesitancies we all have faced in the classroom when confronted with issues as important as these.

Helpful Exercises:

1. Handout articles from Mavin Magazine to your students prior to them

writing their personal narratives. (It may be helpful to introduce

Scott Lyons and Gloria Anzaldua. *Even Golf Pro, Tiger Woods, would be a great example: he identifies as “Cablinasian- a mix of Black, Asian, Thai, and Caucasian)

2. Have students write their personal narrative as if they are their

only audience, not even the instructor will see it. Let them know they have the expressed freedom to invent and explore new ideas on how to describe their unique selves-racially and ethnically.

Questions:

How can we help spark the creative process for those students who either do not wish to participate or have trouble doing so?

What are some helpful hints to keep this exercise creative instead of  becoming political?

How can we introduce the mixed-race issues surfacing in our country in our classrooms? How could we initiate a comfortable discussion and/or forum for debate?

            (Min Zhan Lu’s Contact Zone may be applicable in discussions like this, based in race and ethnicity.) When I interviewed students for my thesis, two of them from the same English class mentioned how one “racist” [to use their exact words] student dominated the discussion on race and ethnicity. In an attempt to dissolve the tension building in the class, the teacher insisted that a “minority” student speak up for all other “minority” students present. This was not welcomed and in fact it made the tension in the classroom rise to a high level of discomfort. Every discussion on race and ethnicity was tainted for these two students.

How can we keep a very vocal student from dominating the opinions of others while allowing a fair amount of participation?

How can we help students, who may have a lot to say in their writing, feel comfortable enough to be more vocal about their unique ideas.

How might we, as instructors, introduce the mixed-race movement (like those seen in MAVIN) to our students using other resources from the media, history, or society in general?

Which specific texts can be used for essay analysis within issues of race and ethnicity?

Resources

Teaching Basic Writing

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