Re: Individual activity, motivation, progress & diversity

SMAGOR who-is-at aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu
Mon, 30 Oct 1995 06:57:50 -0600 (CST)

In response to Eugene's posts that reference my RER article on
the social construction of data: I think you've done a good
job of characterizing my position. I haven't read Moll, and
have never been to South Africa, so I'll accept your perspective
on his work as well. One point that might be relevant: I grew
up in Virginia where I attended segregated schools (and lived
in a legally segregated society) until I was in the seventh
grade--our governor at the time threatened to close the whole
state school system rather than integrate, but threats of
national guard action finally led to enforcement of the Civil
Rights Act. In many ways, I grew up in an apartheid state.
Integration was not an easy process--although there was a new
legal goal of racial equality, it was not a goal shared or
practiced by all. The boys I grew up were just as full of
hatred after the laws changed as they'd been before--perhaps
moreso in that they were newly threatened by the specter of
equality. This is probably where I would disagree with Moll:
the cultural constructs held by different people seemed,
if anything brought into clearer relief after the Civil
Rights Act--compliance with the laws was grudging at best
for many people, and often highly resistant. Racism was
still practiced widely, as has been well documented.

And now I'd need to turn to Eugene to ask, how does Moll
explain such phenemona, which I can only assume are taking
place in present-day South Africa? Even though blacks
constitute a majority there, thus making the situation
fundamentally different, the problem still remains of
accounting for the persistence of cultural beliefs in times
of legal change.

Thanks for helping to clarify this.

Peter Smagorinsky smagor who-is-at aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu