My Presentation

The past few days I have been in Agadir, Morocco for the yearly teachers' conference for our center.

On Tuesday evening I presented my American Culture Club to an audience of 30 or 40 other teachers. Despite some technical difficulties, the talk seemed to be well-received.

I explained the motivation behind the club (greater cultural understanding and the nuancing of stereotypes). Then I quickly surveyed my curriculum, showing clips of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech as well as Barack Obama's.

Afterwards, one teacher asked me how I handled a certain issue:

"So how did you handle it when students asked about the different terms: 'Negro', 'African-American', 'Colored', 'Black', etc."

I began to respond with a fairly detailed analysis, "Well, 'negro', which comes from the Spanish for black, was used in earlier times, but more recently 'African-American has become the more accepted term..."

"I know the history." At that point I suddenly realized that the man questioning me was an African-American.

"Well, I just write down all the terms on the board and say that they all have been used at different points in time. It's the simple answer to a complex question."

We agreed that the subject could be discussed at length but that in the classroom setting, a quick answer sufficed.

The questions continued, although we soon ran out of time in the question and answer period.

But then, that is probably a good sign for my presentation.