Takaki - Chapters 1-2

I found the opening chapter of A Different Mirror to reflect what tends to be wrong with many of our school's History textbooks - that they don't look at and analyze the true scope of the American population. Instead, the textbooks tend to narrow in on the larger minority groups, more specifically black Americans. However, the majority of History textbooks retell History from the white American perspective as opposed to the minority viewpoint. While the majority of classroom curriculums call for the use of a selected textbook, I feel that it will be extremely important to begin any class covering United States History by looking at the background of the class itself in order to better understand that there is more than one perspective on most stories.

To begin the lesson, I would have each student write on a piece of paper their ancestry. I would then collect their papers, and tally on the blackboard the class' ancestry. In order to protect their interests or any parts of their ancestry that they may be ashamed of, I would keep this an anonymous process. If the class has a majority white European background, then I would make clear to the class that not all Americans are of this representation. If the class makeup is diverse, then this would help to demonstrate the importance of reading Takaki's book and understanding American History from the often overshadowed perspective.

Takaki ends the first chapter with a powerful message which quite nicely sums up what seems to be the entire point of this book. At this point, before moving any further with the lesson I would read this quote aloud to the class. If technological capabilities allowed, I would also display this to the class in order to meet more than one learning style.

• "While the study of the past can provide collective self-knowledge, it often reflects the scholar's particular perspective or view of the world. What happens when historians leave out many of America's peoples? What happens, to borrow the words of Adrienne Rich, 'when people with the authority of a teacher' describes our society, and 'you are not in it'? Such an expression can be disorienting - 'a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing.'" (Takaki 16)

In order to break some of the underlying assumptions that most students have about American History before reading any more of the book or reading any of the classroom textbook, I would also display the following statistics, whether on the blackboard, the overhead projector, or through a PowerPoint, depending upon my classroom's technological capabilities.

• Jamestown, which was the site of the first English settlement in 1607, was also the home of the arrival of the first twenty Africans. Those twenty Africans were brought to Jamestown a year before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock. (Takaki, 2).
• Currently one third of Americans do not trace their origins to Europe. By 2056 most Americans will trace their descent back to pretty much anywhere but white Europe. (Takaki, 2).
• Minorities are quickly becoming the majority. They are already the predominate in many major cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. (Takaki 2).
• The United States is a multiracial society and can no longer be defined in terms of black and white. (Takaki 5)
• Today, Asian Americans represent the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. (Takaki 8)
• Race is a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups. (Takaki 10)