I found Stacey Lee's essay, "Asian Americans: The Absent/Silenced/Model Minority" extremly thought provoking. I've obviously heard the stereotypes - like all Asians are good at math - or science, etc., and for a while (at least in highschool) I definitely didn't think that there was any harm in a flattering stereotype. Recently I've begun to see that any type of stereotype can be harmful and usually just represents one groups ignorance about another, however I never knew that the "flattering" Asian stereotypes (the model-American) stereotypes were specifically instituted to silence black people. It makes sense though, singling out one group and making them out to be really good at something in the face of adversity does hinder another group's issues with the same adversity - even if it's all bullshit. The essay said that this "singled out 'model' behavior" in essence killed two birds with one stone by silencing Asian Americans from speaking about what they actually experienced in American societies and making every problem in the black community seem like it's 'their' fault.

One more thing that I wanted to touch on was from the other essay, (Capter 20) and it dealt with teachers having an attitude. A black student was interviewed and he pointed out that the teachers would display the same attitude problems with him (raising their voice, being antagonistic, etc.) that they got him in trouble for. I'm sure this happens all the time (I can even remeber it happening to me in school) and I think we will all have to work extra hard so that we aren't 'that guy' in as teachers. I think what it in essence comes down to is controlling your temper and not taking things personally. Easier said than done, however.