February 9, 1999

Hopes

• Learn more about affirmative action
  • pros and cons associated with it
  • see the logical, fact-based arguments for both sides
  • be able to present a case for both sides, including from a "lawyer's state of mind"
  • get new material and knowledge about such topics
  • be able to discuss and argue these issues with people of different races
• Learn more about current/future state of the United States
  • trends in U.S in terms of support/disapproval for a.a. programs
  • deeper understanding of racial issues facing the country
  • new ideas or possibilities for this country
• University of Delaware
  • why there are few African Americans attending
  • reasons for the racial behavior of UD students
• Learn more about racism, prejudice, sources of racial hostility
• Get better understanding of self and others
• Possibility of rational debate and discussion, openness to other ideas
• Have an interesting class

Concerns

• Writing will be difficult!
• Discussion
  • overcoming shyness in discussion
  • setting off raging debates and creating more hate
  • people feeling threatened and not speaking up (class would be a bust)
  • fear lack of differing viewpoints
  • beating an issue to death (variety of subjects would be great)
• Lack of variety in readings and other materials/methods
• Class too hard
• Getting a bad grade
• None yet

My Response

• Learning more about racial issues: There are many separate issues we could discuss and there is a mountain of writing on most of them, so I have had to sample only a few in designing the course. We will be discussing many of the topics that you mention, at least somewhat. As I said in class, however, we can be flexible in the specific issues we pursue, and in what depth, especially toward the end of the course.
• Writing: This will indeed be hard for most of you, especially at first. But, as many of you hope, you will improve--for some people, a lot. You will be getting considerable feedback on your writing to help you improve it. If you are worried about the grades you are getting or if something happens during the semester (family crisis, etc.) that interferes with your work, please see me sooner rather than later to get help.
• Grades: It may help to know that I take improvement into account. Also that effort can make a big difference.
• Discussions: You have zeroed in on the major concern I have too--that people will not feel comfortable sharing their views even though everyone seems very interested precisely in exploring those views. We can talk about this more in class, but I'll say a few things here. One is that the course provides an unusual opportunity, a relatively safe one, to discuss some difficult issues. You are all here to do it in good faith, and I am here to make it as safe and rewarding as possible. It's become hard these days to know what the "right" thing to say is, so people have clammed up. Any idea is game in this class, however. My only prohibitions are to not call people names (racist, etc.) and to not gang up on people. A second thought is that a rise in tension and anxiety would be perfectly normal and there is no reason for it to get out of hand. Fear may be the worst barrier--I don't think that 16 (?) thoughtful people are going to generate hate. The biggest risk you actually face is becoming unsettled in your views and having to concede that the other side has a point. In any case, the idea would be to learn from any tension and get past it. I welcome all suggestions, concerns, etc. as we go along.
  A more serious concern to me (and something one of you mentioned) is that we might not actually have much diversity of opinion in the class. But there are ways to increase it, as we will see.