Tuesday, March 30, 2010

On Cultural Legacies and Outliers

In chapter 6 of Outliers Malcolm Gladwell provides an entry into a larger discussion about cultural legacies. He opens with disturbing descriptions of how longstanding cultural patterns and beliefs influenced violent conflicts among generations of families in Kentucky during the 19th century.

The compelling research findings concerning long-term and deeply held values led Gladwell to the conclusion that
Cultural legacies are powerful forces. They have deep roots and long lives. They persist, generation after generation, virtually intact, even as the economic and social demographic conditions that spawned them have vanished, and they play such a role in directing attitudes and behavior that we cannot make sense of our world without them.
He goes on to note the possibilities of “taking cultural legacies seriously” in order to learn “about why people succeed and how to make people better.”

It’s worth noting that highlighting cultural legacies can easily give way to problematic racial and gendered generalizations—generalizations we have necessarily been inclined to critique or avoid.

Having said that, how might taking cultural legacies seriously hurt or hinder our understanding of high academic achievement at SIUE? That is to say, how would a concentrated focus on cultural legacies enhance or limit our view of those who succeed in college?

18 comments:

Elizabeth Flores said...

In my opinion, I think concentrating on cultural legacies would greatly limit our view on those who suceed in college. In the past, women and less fortunate people were never able to obtain an education. Women were obligated to raise the kids, and take care of their homes. This has definitely change; women are now heads of companies, and acheiving the same degrees as men. Keeping this generalization in today's society would greatly underestimate the capabilities of women. As for less fortunate people, they were not able to afford an education, and now we have systems today to help with that. Less fortunate people are just as successful as anyone. I think that we should learn from our countries cultural legacies, to find ways to improve our culture, and not assume that these legacies will live on.

Unknown said...

Chapter six, "Harlan, Kentucky", revealed how culture and where we come from is greatly reflected in how we communicate or react to various situations. The author discussed the life of the residents of this town during the nineteenth century. It was like reading the script of an old western. The author compared these stories to the research which was conducted at the University of Michigan. This study reinforced the idea of cultural legacies and how significant they are in forming each generation.

I found this chapter to be very interesting. It basically states that we are not just ingrained with the attitudes, customs, and beliefs of our familial ancestors, but from the surrounding culture as well. This is a pretty simplistic and obvious way to look at it, but it may not be something people often think about. Even if you live somewhere different from where you grew up, more than likely, you will still have the culture of that area ingrained in you. I am from St. Louis, but have lived in rural and urban areas. However, I have only lived in the Midwest. I can see a pattern of how people react to various situations and notice the subtle and not so subtle differences in people from other states and other countries. It makes me appreciate the dynamic of uniqueness and similarity from person to person, and culture to culture.

Phillip Leatherman said...

““Stop that!” Will Turner’s mother snapped at him when he staggered home, howling in pain after being shot in the courthouse gun battle with the Howards. “Die like a man, like your brother did!”” When I read that, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was if I were listening to Olivia Carter, my grandmother (God rest her soul).

My family has deep roots in the south. I was raised with a sense of pride that meant that I would not hold my head down or be “beholden” to no one. Miss Olivia and Mr. Jimmy raised some strong seed. Not all that was handed down would be considered beneficial especially in today’s environment, but for the time they came up in and what they had to endure, it was a way of survival. We can trace our family back to the first generation out of slavery. We are a very proud and strict, no excuses type of people.

I, along with just about everyone I’ve met thus far at SIUE have brought in grained attitudes and beliefs with them. Some have been watered down with the passage of generation some are just as strong as they were generations ago. I would love to see a dialogue about belief structures at the school, especially in light of the resurgence of some very negative attitudes with the election of the first “real” black President.

I believe in the first amendment and will defend anyone’s right to free speech, no matter how offensive I find it. If we disagree, let’s do it respectfully. No one wants to rock the boat, however, and I feel that as long as people keep their attitudes just below the surface no dialogue will ever take place.

Megan Dennis said...

The concept of cultural legacy is quite interesting. Like Elizabeth stated earlier, focusing on these legacies from only the standpoint of the observer will only allow us to continue along the same path that we are on. It is only until realize that cultural legacies provide us with a history of activity that we can choose to alter or leave alone as we see fit is when true change can occur. Like the saying says, "Hindsight is 20/20." If we look at what was done in the past we can avoid making mistakes in the future. This can lead to our personal success because we can learn not only from our past mistakes or experiences, but also from others.

Carrington Pool said...

Cultural legacies have changed so much over time. Like everyone stated earlier about women and less fortunate people, but also with black and white. I am mixed and have grown up around all white people, so it is hard for me to be put into a general category as to white or black. If we were to look into cultural legacies it would limit views on how people succeed throughout college. The line is so hard to draw now because people nowadays have grown up so much different. The culture is still there, but people that were never supposed to succeed back then are now CEO's of companies.

Jasmine Coleman said...

I understand the point Gladwell is making and I do see some truth in his argument. However, cultural legacies do not always have to be a major factor in why a student succeeds. I have friends who come from well established families and I have friends who come from families who have always struggled to make ends meet. I have friends from the suburbs and friends from the hood. Some of my friends from both groups are successful regardless of their background. Yes, sometimes their cultural legacies will still appear in some form, but their success depends on personal choice. I feel that you can always break from culture, not everyone is going to be the same as their mother or grandmother. We our the beholders of our future. "If we say, "I'm acting this way because of culture" we are hindering ourselves from personal growth.

Mitchell Martineau said...

Chapter 6 was quite interesting to me in the sense of cultural patterns affecting our education styles. Of course, I imagine most of the students at SIUE were raised on the standard fall-spring school with a long summer break. The talk of shortening summer break has existed for a while, but it is extreme unpopular because of the massive nation wide change that would need to occur, and kids would probably hate it. If we take the "cultural legacies' seriously, I think that things could change, for the better, it'd be rough, but better. In retrospect, I think that the are some culturally rooted traditions we should change, like schools. If a student can learn more and unlearn it less by shorten his summer andpushing him a little harder, then maybe he'll have better chance to succeed.

As noted in the chapter, our system is based off old farming practices, where farming was the only real future most kids had. In modern society like ours, kids will need every chance they can get to life comfortable lives, and it should be our job to encourage that, and give them the chance.

Sherrie Jayne said...

I think the concept of concentrating on cultural legacies is inevitable. Our past does affect and influence our futures whether it be positive or negative.We can't help but see our history, we learn about it in our schools and in our homes. But for the most part I would hope people would learn and grow from looking back and not dwell on it so heavily. Looking back should be insightful and educational but shouldn't be the main motivation or concentration. Many things have changed over time, society is progressing forward and so should we.

Anonymous said...

Dino Anagbogu

I understand the point Gladwell is making on cultural legacies, and he does make very good points. The points that he makes are some of the same things my parents made to me and have pushed to be better than what was expected of me. I feel as being black, in general, society feels there is very little chance of getting far. But for someone like Obama who is black and is the president, thatch the highest one can be so although we have wild history behind I don't think that should limit how far we can exceed as people, being black, white, Asian, male or female I feel everyone still has the chance to succeed.

Kimber B said...

Cultural legacies are powerful and I found the beliefs discussed in the “Harlan, Kentucky” were interesting, yet extreme. Violence, while not the best way to solve things, worked perfect in their world – we have grown as a culture to care about court and a judicial system. I took a different look at things: at that time period, the culture was more about family and self. In my opinion, our culture today has slowly moved from the individual to the group. Now, more people care about what other people think instead of just being themselves. More than ever, people seem to have two different personas – the community one and the actual one. I see a lot of this at SIUE, students will act one way with their friends another way with their teachers, and a completely different way at home.

With that being said, I feel like this idea of different persons can cause conflict with education. I am in charge of the Chemistry club and it amazes me that with thousands of students interested in chemistry, biology, medicine, dental medicine, and pharmacy at SIUE, we only have roughly 35 members in our club, and only about 10 that are actually active. My thoughts are 1) students are just not interested, 2) they are too busy, or 3) the club is too nerdy and would be embarrassing if friends knew they were involved in something like chemistry club. If the third is true, it could be due to our current cultural legacy hindering our academic achievements.

Amy Crabtree said...

If we only concentrated on cultural legacies it would not only limit us greatly at siue, but life in general. As those stated before, think about the women, poor, people of all different races, and handicapped. We can not fall back into things, that with changed, have made our society so great. Women and men, no matter the race, can get an education and have that chance to be what they want to be. This is also including the not so well off, who now have so many different options so that they can get the money to go.
I believe we should not concentrate on cultural legacies, however, i feel we should remember them. I think we should look back and remember how we came to be the place we are today.

Sheleia Phillips said...

I agree that focusing on cultural legacies would hinder us greatly. However, Gladwell makes an excellent point when he said it will help us learn about others. Personally, I believe that it’s always good to recognize and appreciate our cultural legacies. But with that said, it is up to the individual person what to do with it. In my family I am one of the first out of my grandmother's line of children and grandchildren to be in college. If I focused on solely on that to define my success in college it would be too much to handle. But I took that cultural legacy and used it as a drive to create a new one for the generations to come after me. In a general sense, the world we live in has changed so much. Everyone is uniquely different. People have broken so many barriers. We should observe but not focus the legacies of those who succeed in college and come up with ways of our own to improve.

Unknown said...

I think cultural legacies must be taken seriously in higher education. While some cultural legacies are good for society and others detrimental, we must know and understand them in order to create a successful learning environment. We must try to change the legacies that hinder progress and are either no longer useful or valid while we embrace those that foster good work ethics and the good of society. my pastor always says,"eat the meat and spit out the bones." When it come to cultural legacies, that is what we must do.
therefore, as someone above mentioned, while having a long summer break served its purpose well a long time ago when most people were farmers, there is no longer any reason to continue this legacy and new norms should be created that are more efficient and better serve the needs of our community and increase the overall education of our population.

Anonymous said...

Christian Bias...I am also in agreement with disregarding our ideologies and rational beliefs of cultural legacies. Howver, like stated in the book if you come from a certain background or (culture) you have a better chance of success, but like mentioned women and minorities have broke the barriers of cultural legacies. Even though discrimination lingers in our society, diverse backgrounds have proven to link success with many other circumstances, not culture legacies.

kimCHI said...

Cultural legacies can be beneficial, but at the same time it can be devastating to a university. It really depends on the situation at hand. The media focuses on the horrible blood curling news to make a profit, but good happy news hardly ever make it into the papers. Yes, occasionally there are some decently pleasantries, but a whole paper of happiness would cause most people in the world to vomit. With each individual success story, people mutter gossip of incriminating into. No matter what race or gender, put a bunch of people in a run down part of town, make then poor, and make them feel like they have no say in anything and yes, there is going to be conflict. There is always going to be conflict, until everyone is educated and fully understand what a waste violence and the repercussions are. With that said, cultural legacies would be more beneficial to grade schools than universities. College students are expected to learn something out of four years, but students that have only been in school for twelve are considered "uneducated." If a scholastic achievement is what is desired, then impose it on the younger students, instill a thirst for knowledge at a young age to ensure a higher university attendance in the future.

Anonymous said...

I think that sometimes college student experience 'culture shock' when they first attend a college. Coming from a small town to a seemingly huge campus has been a shock to me. There is always something to do here, always more people to meet, including people of more ethnicities than I have ever seen. It has been a struggle learning to accomodate everyone at one time. I know everyone has different backgrounds and cultural legacies, and seeing them all come together in one place has been a lesson in itself.
-Jes.

Lawandria said...

I think that cultural legacies can both hinder and help our success in life. If a student comes from a family that has no goals or aspirations, that student may want the same future that their family has. But if that student is willing to step outside of their family legacy, he/she will pursue more in life and ultimately become a successful person.

I believe in the saying, "You have to know where you've been to know where you are going." It is important to know your past because understanding what inhibited your culture from success will help you avoid the same misfortune in your present and future. Basically it all boils down to personal perception. If a student views failure as an insurmountable feet, he/she will not prosper. In contrast, if the student views failure as a means to success, he/she will flourish.

Kim Lee said...

I believe that being bound by cultural legacies would both enhance and limit our views on those who succeed in college. It would enhance it by giving us a sense of "cultural identity" that helps motivate us to succeed. It would limit us also though because we would be bound to only a certain cultural legacy.