Read other Slice of Life writers at The Two Writing Teachers
While reading about Gabby Douglas this weekend in the USA Today, I felt a connection between the “significance” of her accomplishments to those of other African American sports heroes.
One of my favorite middle grade novelists is Christopher Paul Curtis. He wrote the Newbery winner, Bud, not Buddy, and Newbery Honor Book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. Both are in my classroom library. His latest novel is The Mighty Miss Malone. Like his other novels, Miss Malone is set in historical context, the Great Depression. Deza’s family is struggling to make ends meet. Her father is injured and is unable to work. The town is all tuned in to the big fight starring Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber. I have to admit, I did not know that Joe Louis was a real hero until my husband told me about it. He looked up an article for me on ESPN.
I enjoyed reading about Joe Louis. One quote stood out for me. His son said, “What my father did was enable white America to think of him as an American, not as a black. By winning, he became white America’s first black hero.”
In The Mighty Miss Malone, Deza asks her father what “a credit to your race” means. He says that it has to do with intentions. What he points out to her is that someone who says that is probably not to be trusted.
Gabby Douglas said she didn’t think about being the first African-American to win the title. She didn’t, but others have, even so far as to argue about her hair. What century are we in, people? I think Gabby Douglas is a sports hero, like Joe Louis, as an American.
I wish everyone could see people as just people and not the color of their skin. Great!
The book sounds terrific…I’m getting it today! I love his other novels so much. You will make a difference this year and our books definitely help us ! xo
Best wished for your new school year! With your insights, it will be a great year!
Gabby is such a role model in so many ways. Thanks for a great connection to this book. I hope to read it soon.
I think this is both as simple as you’ve described here… and a bit more complicated. (This with the caveat that I haven’t seen a lot of the news coverage described here!) Expecting Gabby Douglas to automatically feel like a role-model to other African Americans is ridiculous. Some in her shoes might, some might not. But, so-called “color-blindness” can be a dangerous trap. Not considering the bias and discrimination others may face on a daily basis may lead to another, completely wrong set of assumptions or conclusions… Maybe the lesson here is to reach as broadly as we can across all of our information when talking with or reading about others, while being as careful as we can to avoid assumptions!
I agree with you that assumptions should not be made and certainly the issue of race is a complicated and often misrepresented one. But I do find it interesting that we are still identifying sports heroes by their race as we did in the 1930’s.
I like the fact that you are deeply thinking about the new common core standards and realizing that we need to seriously up the anty in comprehension skills. We will be doing a lot more comparing and contrasting texts, themes and ideas. I appreciate that you have given teachers some texts (and real life people) to consider when modeling what this looks like! 🙂
Have you read Lucy Calkins Pathways to the Common Core book? It’s fabulous!
Thanks for the book suggestion. I am familiar with Lucy Calkins’ work but not this particular book.
I will get the books you suggested for my daughter who is in fifth grade next year. I LOVE the bold typeface on the word American in your last sentence. Yes.
I just finished reading “The Mighty Miss Malone” tonight and loved it. I was really struck by the book and particularly by the author;]’s afterword. Very powerful.
I so enjoyed Gabby’s routines. What an inspiration to any young girl!