The Hustle: One Team and Ten Lives in Black and White DAC Book Read Discussion 11/5/13
How does class show up in the players lives?




One example is how well students adjusted to being a student at Lakeside; even those who were lower
middle class struggled to feel a part of the community. Similar issues occurred for the students who
attended other private schools, such as Seattle Prep. Example sited of how some of the low income
students took money from other students in the locker room to get money to buy lunch, since the school
had no free lunch. Other issue was that the lower income students taking the bus to Lakeside from the
South end spent a long time on the bus, so they had less time for homework.
In the chapter called “Lakeside Revisited” raises the issues about whether the institution has to change to
accommodate a more diverse population, and the push back and criticism of those who traditionally
attended the school.
Discussion about the history of the Seattle in terms of racial discrimination in housing options leading to the
kinds of segregation based on race seen I the book. Page 24 discusses some of this history. These kinds of
red-lining and discrimination were legal and common throughout the country until legally prohibited. Even
after legal changes happened, historical and cultural discrimination continued. Page 15 also relates this
history, and a participant mentions the recent series about being black in Seattle and how our AfricanAmerican population is declining. The city is still very segregated by race and class. People of color
experience racism here in ways that are less explicit, perhaps more unconsciously perpetuated.
Discussion about systems and institutions that set people up to fail (i.e. Lakeside key chant “That’s alright.
That’s okay….”)
Evaluate


Who is the “master” or “the man” according to the Lorde quotation: the system, privilege, etc. Discussion
about the relationship of race and class. Not only white privilege but also the privilege of wealth in the
context of Lakeside. Talked about different teaching experiences at public vs. private institutions due to a
difference in student attitudes – recognizing education as a privilege vs. a right. The international students
talked about this from a Chinese perspective – urban (from Beijing) vs. rural. Those from Beijing might
have more opportunities/privileges than those from rural communities. They discussed the cost of living in
Beijing and the economic factors affected their culture.
Lakeside’s efforts to increase access to privilege failed. How can we learn from their mistakes? They
brought people in without changing the institution itself; they didn’t take into consideration other
philosophies, worldviews, cultures, etc. Not everyone wanted to change within Lakeside’s institution. One
idea is that change requires sacrifice – are individuals willing to make sacrifices to change?
Reflection


Student recommendations: “I think the college is good.” No specific recommendations. As an
international student, I felt welcomed here, so I think that the college is doing a good job. All students
(regardless of race) are welcome here.
Faculty, Guest recommendations: Build relationships with each other. Learn where your “blinders” are.
Guest commented that the library is welcoming and that the rotating exhibits expose people to different
topics, which is helpful. Interaction of staff and students is positive. Reminder to connect with people as
individuals – putting aside own prejudices. We all come from different backgrounds, and we can learn
from each other. Can we look at the way the institution is set up to make it better?









The Hustle: One Team and Ten Lives in Black and White Book Read Discussion 11/13/13
Analysis
Issues of class – page 69 regarding Doug’s embarrassment about his house and family wealth. Page 242 – in
chapter regarding Lakeside Revisited, lots of issues of class show up. Doug reflects on how the private school
versus the public school mind set preparation impacts their future job roles – skills in convincing others about your
views/privileged attitudes in private schools. On page 52, notice the way that the kids introduce themselves to
each other, with eye contact approaches being different. May be something that we see differences in when folks
introduce themselves in our classrooms.
Reflections about the white culture of education and academia, and how challenging it is for students at our
college are similar to the experiences in the book, with kids getting an opportunity and yet the barriers based on
race and class culture limits the ability of students to become successful in school and financially. The boys from
the poor families did get the chance to attend private schools, yet did not necessarily have the resources and
support to be successful there. There is a difference between how much money you have and class culture – skills
and attitudes to relate to educational and mainstream culture. How do we define “underprepared” as it relates to
class culture? How can we look at our own cultural perspectives to better welcome students from differing
backgrounds. Page 249 – Rainier Scholars program – related to gaining the skill sets expected in the education
system. Mt Zion school is another example, with the funding to make access to educational skills to lower income
families. Interesting to see the similarities and differences of these programs. They don’t have the patronizing
aspect to deal with that we see at Lakeside.
The book shows that these efforts to change the individuals opportunities, but the systemic issues are so
entrenched with housing and education being so oppressed. The example of the African American teacher who
tries to bring issues of power and privilege around race is shut down and leaves Lakeside due to the challenges
from students and parents. The administrators end up backing down from their good intentions of addressing
diversity. Whites and those with economic privilege become uncomfortable and shut down the conversation
about looking at structural bias issues. Several of the successful students of color talk about how uncomfortable
they were at Lakeside, relating to the entrenched structural issues.
This book demonstrates how even in “progressive” Seattle there are structural, entrenched biases. He shows how
the city developed over history that shows the power of these impacts of race and class.
Recommendations
Students – Important to be able to take classes like “Beginnings” at the beginning of a student’s time here. Student
mentions how she is taking it towards the end of her time here, but would have been better to have it at the
beginning. Helpful to have the chance to learn and talk about the issues of race, class and gender. This book is a
good one to explore the issues of race and class.
Employees – Important to remember that pedagogy/how we teach is steeped in cultural attitudes about what a
good student is. We should be more aware and make it more visible to ourselves and our students is important.
For example, we don’t necessarily teach reading very intentionally because most of us have been good readers
since childhood. Our own years of institutional knowledge can lead to assumptions. We may need to provide more
in the way of scaffolding, and try to learn more about our students diverse backgrounds as it relates to how we
teach, rather than just what we teach.
We can get students who haven’t had experience taking notes. We may need to model such skills intentionally and
talk about it in our classes, acknowledging how students come from different backgrounds and experiences in
these areas.
Some students may need basic “college skills” classes to learn some of these skills.
Using “Universal Design” methods such as modeling note-taking skills help all students.
The Hustle: One Team and Ten Lives in Black and White Book Read Discussion 11/19/13








Analysis
Issues of class – In the chapter on Lakeside Revisited (page 228), you see the challenge for the African American
teacher who wanted to make a difference, yet she is treated disrespectfully by the rich white kids. Growing up in
the privileged environment, these students have the cultural capital to function in the world with the attitude of
the right to question. “People Like Us” video is an example of class. The students who weren’t from that world,
students on scholarship, were invisible to the other students. They did not fit in culturally as well as financially,
being able to participate in the social events with other students. One example of class’ impact is the experience of
the student whose mom went to rehab, and during that time he excelled at a private school, then she gets out and
he returns to the same school and neighborhood. The chaos of children’s lives when their basic needs are not
being met, such as being hungry, not getting baths, etc. Example given that teachers often judge these children
because they don’t do homework, behave well, etc. The difference in access to good food at school versus home.
The class system seems to keep almost all of the kids feeling like they are on the outside, trying to fit in. Those who
have no sense of what it is like to not have what they have, i.e. those with wealth still see themselves as “middle
class”. Page 79, at the bottom, mentions “white people, especially those with money and privilege, … don’t have to
know what it is like for people of color and those without money.”
Page 210 – students of color talk about how they were tolerated, never really felt like they were a part of the
group. Lakeside tried to be multicultural by hiring faculty of color, but there was no willingness to examine the
issues of race and class, and the biases in their our institution. The people at the top look to blame those who are
impacted by race and class biases in our systems, rather than taking responsibility for the institutionalized
privileges that they have.
This book shows how Seattle views itself as progressive, non-racist, and yet the systems in place in our city still
perpetuate race-based and class-based advantages for some and disadvantages for others. People in Seattle are
shown here as struggling with these issues in our current culture/time. At our college, we provide education and
opportunities for our students who are struggling, and we need to also address the soft skills, the skills of the
cultural norms to fit in to get hired. There are still the systems in place that provide the advantages based on who
you know.
Another aspect of racism is that the student of color is always seen as a representative of their race, and the white
student who fails is seen as an individual. The white, privileged students at Lakeside always knew that they would
succeed no matter what they did, whereas the students of color had to struggle to fit in to the private school
settings both academically and culturally.
Recommendations
Students – How do students turn what they learn at our college into a career path? Students need support for
moving into career steps. We no longer have a career center. Students need to know who to talk to get support. In
order to have personal success, students need some workshops and opportunities to navigate for a career. How do
students find out about the resources we do have, which are available in many of our professional technical
programs.
Issue of retention also goes to more advising and support to keep students in the college, how to navigate the
system here, and support for navigating the systems beyond here to move into the career path students want to
find.
Employees – The training we had about “The Danger of a Single Story” was so valuable so that we can keep in mind
that we always have limitations based on our own experience and perspectives. Instructors struggle with getting
homework turned in on time, yet we need to be aware of the reality of our students lives in terms their work,

family and school lives; and their financial limitations. Best to come into the classroom with the question of “I
wonder why that is happening?” rather than judging students as lazy, etc. Another question is how to balance
compassion with student struggles with setting clear and high expectations that do inspire students to succeed.
Instructors can set up systems so that students can “apply” for special accommodations based on something
besides “special needs” such as providing something such as three opportunities to turn in something late, etc.
How can we as instructors bring up the concepts around institutionalized bias such as racism and classism, and
what our role is to help teach students to “soft skills”. There is a challenge in terms of having to teach these
cultural practices versus trying to change the culture and institutions so that the way to succeed is not as limited
culturally.