A New Perspective

Joanne Kilgour Dowdy ‘s interview with Christina McVay’s gives a new perspective on Black literature and what it means to someone who is not of the African-American race. Her views on the Black oral and written works are interesting and give light to the thoughts of African-American students.

The interview begins with McVay talking about how she began to teach in the English Department. She says, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” (McVay, Kilgour Dowdy 88). This statement caught my eye, because it gave me a glimpse into who McVay was as a person. English teachers are usually seen as being uptight and straitlaced. From this point into the interview McVay changed my mind about the English teachers. It also surprised me when she said she felt uncomfortable teaching Black literature in front of White students, being a White teacher. Going to a predominantly White school, I felt as if some of my teachers felt uncomfortable teaching Black literature in front of the few African-American students that they did have.  Reading her interview gave me insight into a White educator who felt the opposite of what I was accustomed to.

Christina McVay goes into detail about the relationship she has learned to develop with her students. “Students frequently say that they come away from my class with a new and different perspective on things” (McVay, Kilgour Dowdy 89). McVay taught her students that African-American dialect is an oral tradition from Africa and that the Black community is creative. She strives to show Black students that they like English. She explains that the school system has “brainwashed” Black students that they don’t like English. McVay presents English in a way that her students both come to appreciate their own literature and heritage and learn something about themselves. She also she learns something from her students in the process.

Christina McVay gave me a new perspective on English teachers and White educators. She teaches Black students to value their traditions and learn to love English. Just by reading her interview I am inspired to read more Black literature. Her quote, “So to me literature is not just an academic thing. It really is not. It’s a life thing”(McVay, Kilgour Dowdy 94), says a lot about her teaching style and encourages me to delve into more literature.