Weaving Colors into a White Landscape Unpacking the Silences in Karen Hesse’s Children’s Novel Out of the

Lisa Simon

The children’s novel Out of the Dust academic scaffolds to other historical and experience of many who grew up in a home (Hesse, 1997) is an evocative portrayal literary texts. headed by a divorced mother with minimal of the and dust storms that dev- As a result of all that this celebrated financial assistance from a professionally astated Midwestern farms in the . children’s text offers, it is much more successful father. The covert financial un- Through the voice of her 13-year-old nar- likely to be singled out for acclamation certainty of my childhood, wherein we tried rator, Hesse intertwines history and free than critique. It is my stance in this ar- not to look poor at the same time we were verse poetry to create what many readers, ticle, however, that using Hesse’s novel receiving federal food subsidies, has made including myself, find to be a moving depic- in the classroom is problematic without a me intensely aware of the many social and tion of the Dustbowl experience. critical literacy framework (Janks, 2000; cultural experiences and struggles that are The novel’s power has been widely recog- McDaniel, 2004). That novel, like many hidden from view or politely ignored. nized, winning a number of prestigious current and classic texts, depicts the 1930s For a great deal of my life, this aware- honors, including the Newberry medal. Dustbowl exclusively in relation to White ness led me to focus on experiences involv- In addition to its critical success, experiences. Using that novel without ing economic struggles. However, in the Out of the Dust is a valuable text in the questioning the limitations of those repre- past ten years that focus has expanded to classroom (King & Nisbet, 2002; Simon sentations serves to privilege White experi- include examinations of marginalization & Johnson, 2003). With the same setting ences and to marginalize the experiences of in relation to racism. Living in an urban as the opening of Oklahomans of color as well as significant area, working, socializing with, and teach- (Steinbeck, 1939) and with a writing style aspects of Oklahoma and U.S. history. The ing people from an immense range of cul- and vocabulary that make it immensely process of uncovering those marginalized tures, I have had invaluable opportunities readable, Out of the Dust helps build stories with the goal of problematizing the to learn about stories that my education background knowledge for students’ un- dominant depiction of the Dustbowl is the left out, dominated as it was by the White derstanding of Steinbeck’s novel (Wilhelm, focus of this article. perspectives of my community and the Baker, & Hackett, 2001). mainstream. Moreover, Hesse’s novel offers readers The Position of the Narrator This learning has been pivotal, pain- historical context and complex characters ful, and addictive. In this article, I seek to Stories are always framed and limited that flesh out the stories Steinbeck tells describe the results of one experience with by their narrators’ positions in the world. about the experiences, as well as stories that have been historically margin- My focus on the histories of Oklahoma, a those presented in other iconic Dustbowl alized. My hope in doing so is to encourage state I have never visited, is influenced texts like ’s photographs other educators to extend or begin their by my positionality as are my accounts of or ’s music. By using Out of work in challenging the dominance of the the stories I present. In recognition of this the Dust, teachers offer students not only White experience present in so many of the influence, I preface my narration of these an engaging text, but one that can provide texts used within their classroom. histories with an account of my positional- ity in relation to this article’s focus. Privilege and Marginalization Lisa Simon is an assistant professor I am a White female educator who in Historical Depictions in the Transformative Literacy Program identifies economically as coming from of the School of Education at City College a struggling background but socially as As scholars have pointed out for years, of the City University of New York, middleclass. As contradictory as that historical accounts generally highlight the , New York. statement may seem, it is the common accomplishments and experiences of White

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 22 men. More recently, stories of individual Representations of the Dustbowl tive, the father’s taciturnity is not noble men and women of color and individual in Out Of the Dust but borders on selfish. His silence leads White women have begun to appear, but others to blame Billie Jo for the accident The story in Out of the Dust is told they are typically presented as exceptions, that killed her mother even though his through dated journal entries written in a framing that serves to reinforce the per- carelessness was a contributing factor. free verse poetry that cover the 1934-1935 ception that history is primarily the stories Yet, this father is a complex character, time span. The poems, narrated by Billie of White men (McIntosh, 1986). committed to farming his land, longing for Jo, a 13-year-old girl living on a farm in Outside of references to the 1960s a son rather than the daughter he has, and the , depict aspects Civil Rights and Feminist movements, so lost in sorrow for his dead wife and son of daily life during those years. The entries presentations of the accomplishments of that he can’t see his daughter’s physical interweave events of that time period with groups of White women, women and men of and emotional pain. a young girl’s attempts to make sense of her color, struggling economic classes, or var- world, particularly the people who populate I have given my father so many chances ied immigrant status appear infrequently. it and their struggles to establish equilib- to understand, to Although the stories of women and men of rium in a world of drought, dust storms, and reach out, to all races and classes are available for those love me. He once did. migrating neighbors. The following excerpt who look for them, they are consistently I remember his smile, presents some of these elements: marginalized in the presentations of U.S. his easy talk. history found in textbooks and educational Ma has rules for setting the table. Now there’s nothing easy between us. content (Nieto, 1999; Spring, 2001). I place plates upside down, Sometimes he takes notice of me, like coming after me in the dust. Despite great strides on the part of glasses bottom side up, napkins folded over forks, knives and spoons. But mostly I’m invisible. educators in recent years, the majority Mostly I’m alone... of texts used in school curricula continue When dinner is ready, (Hesse, 1997, pp. 195) to be dominated by representations of we sit down together White experiences. When texts represent- and Ma says, Billie Jo’s character also challenges ing people of color are incorporated into “Now.” the stereotype of Dustbowl children who are presented as either helpless, as in the curriculum, it is often without any We shake out our napkins, exploration or discussion of race (hooks, spread them on our laps, Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother (Lange, 1994). Generally, discussions of racism and flip over our glasses and plates, 1936a), or mutely enduring the most are confined to Black History Month and exposing neat circles, desperate circumstances (see e.g., Lange, learning about the Civil Rights Movement round comments 1936b). These depictions of childhood or Martin Luther King, Jr. on what life would be without dust. vulnerability and disempowerment are Students who do not do independent (Hesse, 1994, p.21) turned on their head by Billie Jo’s narra- research or do not learn about counter- Early in the story, Billie Jo’s pregnant tion. While she endures terrible losses and narratives from their families, friends, mother is badly burned, as are Billie Jo’s suffering, she is never portrayed as help- or teachers will likely come to have one hands from her attempts to save her moth- less. Even when the situation is terrifying, or more of the following misconceptions: er. Soon, Billie Jo’s mother and new baby Billie Jo’s strengths are evident: racial tensions are primarily between brother die, leaving her alone with her The piano is some comfort in all this. Blacks and Whites; institutionalized rac- father “who wanted a boy” (Hesse, 1994, I go to it and I forget the dust for hours, ism was exclusively in the South; move- p.3). The remainder of the novel explores testing my long fingers on wild rhythms, ments to address racial inequities were this father-daughter relationship and but Ma slams around in the kitchen primarily urban movements; and what their separate and collective struggles to when I play and after a while she sends me to the store. was in the past has little to do with our survive in the environmental and economic Joe De La Flor doesn’t see me pass him by; understandings today. Using texts like disasters faced by Oklahoma farmers. he rides his fences, dazed by dust. Out of the Dust without critiquing the Their experiences parallel those that I wince at the sight of his rib-thin cattle. absence of race serves only to reinforce were depicted in literature, photography, But he’s not even seeing them. those distortions. documentaries, and music during the I look at Joe and know our future is It is a central premise of this article 1930s drought. Many of those representa- drying up that not noticing race is an act of social in- tions, like the photographs of Dorothea and blowing away with the dust. justice, as is not noticing or addressing the Lange and Russell Lee or the music of (Hesse, 1997, p. 39) absence of race. Oklahoma in the 1930s was Woody Guthrie, have assumed canonical, With Out of the Dust, Hesse has cre- not populated exclusively by White people even iconic status in popular understand- ated characters who add dimension and and, although at that time the population ings of that time period. complexity to the dominant depictions of was predominantly White, the ways in Out of the Dust’s narrative frame both 1930s Oklahoma; yet, because there is no which that dominance developed speak relies upon and disrupts those famous exploration of race, the novel serves both to some of the most complicated and trau- texts’ representations of the Dustbowlers. to increase the spotlight on White experi- matic racist themes in our country’s history For example, adult male Dustbowlers are ences and to present that focus as natural. (Stein, 2004). As I go on to explore, these typically depicted as dignified and stoic In the world of the novel, Billie Jo and her hidden stories challenge us to re-examine farmers, fighting against environmental family are enfolded within White privilege our understanding of the Dustbowl and the odds that have been exacerbated by the even as their Whiteness and its accompa- appeal that depictions like Out of the Dust incompetence, selfishness, or cruelty of nying privilege are unmarked. have for so many people in the U.S. businessmen and/or the government. The extent to which privilege influ- Hesse problematizes that depiction with ences their lives is suggested only by Billie Jo’s father. imagining how different the story would Portrayed through Billie Jo’s perspec- be if it involved a family of color. As White

WINTER 2008 23 farmers, Billie Jo’s family had access to fed- The Critical Literacy process of critical literacy research allows eral support that complicated citizen tests Inquiry Process us to complicate and expand such foci. denied many Mexican American families Looking for absent stories is the sec- The first step in the critical literacy who had worked in Oklahoma for years and ond step of the critical literacy research research process is the recognition that generations. Native American families were process. In this step, the availability, via marginalized stories are available and segregated to land next to the Panhandle, the on-line databases, of multiple sources can be found. While this step may seem the setting for Out of the Dust. in a range of modalities is immensely obvious, in the face of historical depic- This area comprised less than half of important. By typing key words into an tions focusing on White experiences, that the territory given to them when the Five internet search engine’s command line, recognition is crucial. Scholars in history Southern Tribes were forced to move from a researcher can quickly access sources and in education have long recognized that the southern . And the many that will allow her/him to begin answering the information presented in textbooks and African American families living in Okla- initial questions and/or offer additional key in cultural representations tell only part homa at that time were constrained by Jim terms for an increasingly refined search. of the story. Crow laws and prevented from voting by For example, by simply typing into Those interested in critical literacy notorious literacy tests. Yet none of these Google “Oklahoma + African American” I (see e.g., McDaniel, 2004; Janks, 2000) realities enter into the depictions of Billie was linked to several entries on Oklahoma argue that the stories that are presented Jo’s daily life and, as a result, recognition Black towns. Each source that I found pro- are there to serve particular interests. of the social injustices faced by many Okla- vided additional information and allowed Understanding that power is held and homans is also omitted. me to add to my knowledge, focus on gaps maintained by dominant groups and that In the following section, I describe the and questions, and refine my search by this power is present in the construction steps involved in doing critical literacy identifying additional key terms. of texts (Janks, 2000), allows us to look for research, the process that I used in order After developing a general overview of what has not been presented, to question to uncover narratives that countered the the histories of Oklahomans of color and gaps and absences (Stewart, 1994). silences in Out of the Dust (see Figure 1). identifying specific questions to explore In this first step, it is helpful to ask: In this, my concern is to show how this more deeply in relation to my focus on the Whose experiences do I have information process is relevant not only to that text Dustbowl, I turned to the historical data- about and whose are absent? In Out of the or its time period but to all research that base available through JSTOR to access Dust, the stories depict White men and seeks to challenge the inequities of histori- academic, peer-reviewed journals devoted women who are economically struggling. cal depictions. to historical analyses. However, because in Other emphases that dominate historical I then present some of the histories of a critical inquiry it is important to remain depictions are the experiences of men of Oklahomans of color accessed as a result of aware of the limits on what gets published all races, political leaders or “winners” the research process before going on to ex- in scholarly journals (hooks, 1990), I also (Crocco, 1997), groups that are economi- plore the ways I addressed the additional sought to include sources written for the cally comfortable, heterosexuals, English challenges that emerged. I conclude with layperson and those directly addressing an speakers, and relationships between Afri- an examination of the pedagogical implica- audience of color rather than the primar- can Americans and White Americans. The tions of this process. ily White audience to which the academic writers were accountable. This movement Figure 1: The Critical Literary Process between multiple databases made it pos- sible to triangulate information and find Steps in the Critical Literacy Research Process information that challenged dominant Step 1: Recognize that the information presented in a text is incomplete and that marginalized stories are avail- depictions. able and can be found: Ask: whose experiences do I have information about and whose are absent? For example, In my research process on Oklahomans the Dustbowl accounts depict only White farmers and migrant workers. African American, American Indian and of color, these first two steps of the process Latina/o stories are omitted. allowed me to access some of the complex Step 2: Look for absent stories: A good place to begin this search is an internet search engine. Use key words and layered histories of Native Americans that describe the groups whose stories you’ve identified are absent. Start with the most general terms, continually and African Americans. While the research refining your search as you access sources relating to missing stories. For example: African American + Oklahoma process continued as I organized my under- + 1930 leads to links which give an overview of the Tulsa Riot in 1921 and the Black town movement. These standings in the write-up (Step 3), the bulk links provide new key words that lead to greater specifics about those histories. Continue to follow these links to of the historical research was completed by access additional sources (including print, images, music). relying on secondary sources. Step 3: Organizing information: Organize the information with a goal to sharing the counternarratives you’ve However, researching the Latina/o accessed from Steps 1 and 2. Note where there are gaps in your information or additional marginalizations and experience in Oklahoma was a strikingly consider factors that could contribute to these absences. Continue researching to address those gaps by repeating different experience.1 In the following sec- Step 2 and/or moving on to Step 4. tion I present the histories that emerged Step 4: Primary sources: Analyze the gaps in the information you’ve gathered. What stories or depictions domi- from the first two steps of the research nate? What is missing? For example, do you have information only about economic struggles? Men? Immigrants? process and consider the potential they Consider the kinds of primary sources that would allow you to flesh out and complicate the information you’ve offer for addressing the inequities inherent gathered. For example, look at the U.S. Census breakdowns, newspaper accounts, contemporary photographs, to Out of the Dust. I then go on to present and songs lyrics. the additional steps to the critical literacy Step 5: Create a new text: Using the information gathered through the secondary and primary sources, construct research process that I developed in order a text that depicts the counternarratives you have tapped into through your research. These creations might be to address the challenges encountered in expository essays or historical fiction or might involve several media. Their goal is to tell the stories you have searching for the stories of Mexican-Ameri- uncovered, complicate the mainstream depiction and point to the interests which are threatened when marginal- can Oklahomans. ized stories are highlighted.

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 24 Histories of Oklahoma after the Civil War, the land that made up and Douglass supported the movement, and previously deemed Douglass writing in a letter to one of the A quick look at the demographics worthless by the White settlers and gov- movement’s leaders in 1892: throughout Oklahoma’s history reveals ernment was seen as desirable by both that since European contact in 1541, the It is good that Oklahoma opens its gates Whites and newly free African Americans. White population has always had a strong and spreads its rich lands to welcome him In response to this changed view as well presence. What that quick look obscures is home, to welfare, freedom, independence as to punish the Five Southern Tribes’ and happiness. (quoted in Hamilton, that from the 1830s through the Civil War lack of support for the Union, the federal 1977, p. 275) a significant portion of what became Okla- government forced the tribes to cede great homa was recognized as Native American Excerpts from Douglass’ letter were amounts of their territory. Indian Terri- land. Even this description is problematic, published in one Black town’s newspa- tory was reduced to the area next to the conjuring up as it does the image of in- per. A few months later, Ida B. Wells Oklahoma Panhandle, the setting for Out digenous Native American communities, responded in the same paper with argu- of the Dust. roaming and farming the for ments against the emigration movement, The opening of Indian Territory of- generations. stating her view that: fered land runs where, for a minimal While the in- fee, individuals could grab plots of land [Oklahoma] did not offer sufficient induce- cludes the influences and stories of many formally belonging to the Five Southern ments to warrant an indiscriminate exo- indigenous tribes who came and left and Tribes. This opportunity to own land in dus of our people, in that there appeared returned again, it also includes the forced a territory without an institutionalized to be no ready employment to be had. migration of several Native American com- (quoted in Hamilton, 1977, p. 274) history of slavery made Oklahoma an at- munities from Southeast U.S. In the 1830s, tractive site for many newly emancipated By 1907, 15 years after this debate, Oklahoma’s Native American population African Americans: Oklahoma had became a state and by 1910 increased as a result of the federal govern- African Americans were the largest group ment’s decision, under Andrew Jackson, [In the 1880s,] many Blacks immigrated of color living in Oklahoma, their number to forcibly relocate , Chickasaw, into [Oklahoma] territory. They came of 137,612 almost double the population Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes to mainly from in the West and from Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mis- of Native Americans (U.S. Census, 2002). the area that became Oklahoma. These souri, Mississippi, Tennessee and However, the dream of Oklahoma as an communities are commonly referred to as in the South. They came as unorganized all-Black state had vanished with state- the Five Southern Tribes. individuals and as planned colonies. They hood. Despite the success of the towns and The Cherokee relocation from Georgia, rode the trains, if they could, and when the political power of African Americans known as The , resulted in they could not they either rode horses or within them, Black Oklahomans were de- the deaths of over 1,000 people. The forced walked. Some walked to Oklahoma from nied political power outside town boundar- migration of the other four groups was as far away as Little Rock and Memphis. ies (Thornbrough citing Crockett, 1979). less numerically devastating but no less (Hamilton, 1977, p. 272) White factions had sought to write traumatic. By the early 1840s, the Five For some African American leaders, segregation laws into the new state’s con- Southern Tribes were settled in Indian pre-state Oklahoma offered a possibility stitution. Although such restrictions were Territory, an area that comprises all of greater than land and freedom—the po- kept out of the state constitution, they were what is today Oklahoma. tential of creating an all-Black state. This soon written into state law. When the 1910 Oklahoma’s African-American popu- promise, augmented by the real estate grandfather clause was passed, African lation also increased as a result of that opportunity in the opening of Indian Ter- Americans were effectively denied the right relocation. Many in the Five Southern ritory, became a key selling point for those to vote (Littlefield, Jr. & Underhill, 1973). Tribes participated in slavery and brought promoting the development of all-Black By 1915, many of the Black towns “were with them African Americans as enslaved towns in Oklahoma. dead or dying” (Cohen, 1980, p. 944). persons (Doran, 1978). By 1860, enslaved The Black town movement was pro- While some Black towns did survive, African Americans outnumbered Whites pelled by several African-American men, the majority failed and their residents in the Indian territories by 3 to 1 (Doran, often working with White financers, who left Oklahoma or moved to the cities. In 1978). marketed plots of Oklahoma land to the the 1920s, Oklahoma City and Tulsa had Thus, woven into the origins of this African-American community in the South thriving African American communities; state, a hundred years before the time pe- (Hamilton, 1977). The marketing sought however White racism, which reached riod of Out of the Dust, are the complicated to encourage the emigration of African a horrific peak during the Tulsa riots in strands of European colonization, abuse Americans with enough money to sustain 1921, continued to affect those communi- of indigenous people, and the enslave- themselves for the time it would take ties and the density of the African-Ameri- ment of African Americans. Moreover, for farms and the town to develop; those can population. In Paradise (1999), Toni these strands challenge simplified under- without sufficient funds were discouraged Morrison entwines this history with the standings of the relation between Native (Hamilton, 1977). mainstream depictions of the Dustbowl Americans and African Americans. In Although this movement has been and the : Oklahoma/Indian Territories, few Whites historically marginalized, it was at the had the economic means to participate in time significant enough to become a de- From Haven, a dreamtown in Oklahoma slavery whereas many in Native American bate in the African American community. Territory, to Haven, a ghosttown in Okla- homa State. Freedmen who stood tall in communities did (Doran, 1978). Moreover, Celebrated African American leaders like as Doran points out, the majority of those 1889 dropped to their knees in 1934 and Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, and were stomach-crawling by 1948…. One participating in slavery were descendents Frederick Douglass were drawn into the thousand citizens in 1905 becoming five of White-Native American unions. debate on the wisdom of migrating to what hundred by 1934. Then two hundred, These complexities increased when, was still seen as the frontier. Washington then eighty as collapsed or railroad companies laid their tracks elsewhere.

WINTER 2008 25 Subsistence farming, once the only bounty plicated when questions about Latina/o of Black communities and their multiple a large family needed, became just scrap Oklahoman’s experiences are introduced. and powerful resistances to White racism farming as each married son got his bit, For, although American Indian and Afri- help make coherent the narratives framing which had to be broken up into more pieces can American histories are marginalized the Black town movement. for his children, until finally the owners of the bits and pieces who had not walked off in general accounts of Oklahoma, infor- While there are significant gaps in in- in disgust welcomed any offer from a white mation about them is easily accessible to formation about female experiences in the speculator, so eager were they to get away anyone doing a database search using the African American and Native American and try someplace else. (pp. 5-6) terms “Black Towns” or “Native Ameri- communities, the presentations of male cans” in conjunction with Oklahoma. experiences recognize a range in class, With its focus on African American ex- Moreover, those histories fit narra- education, and wealth in both groups—in periences in Oklahoma, Morrison’s novel tives that are becoming increasingly domi- fact, that diversity is a key element in the offers a powerful example of the ways in nant. The U.S. government’s repeatedly narratives depicting both communities’ which a text can incorporate both mar- broken promises to and abuse of Native histories. ginalized and mainstream histories. In American communities frame the experi- However, when the critical literacy her novel, the stories of African American ences of the Five Southern Tribes in Okla- inquiry process expands to ask about the Oklahomans intersect with the Dustbowl homa. The leadership and self-sufficiency experiences of Latinas/os in Oklahoma, it history presented in Out of the Dust. But the reverse is not true. The experiences of Figure 2: Mexico and Oklahoma’s Inter-woven History African Americans are invisible in Hese’s novel and, as a result, 1930s Oklahoma 1541 Coronado and his troops are the first Europeans to enter the area that will become Oklahoma. is depicted as if inhabited exclusively by For the next 300 years, Spain and then Mexico claimed all or parts of the area that would become Oklahoma. White people. 1601 Juan De Onate crosses the Canadian River into Oklahoma. Although the population of African Coronado’s and De Onate’s visits supported Spain’s claim of the North American territories; however, Americans and Native Americans con- most Spanish settlement and colonization were far to the South of what became Oklahoma. tinued to increase between the 1920 and 1763 Treaty for the Seven Years War (a war between France, Spain, and England over the territory which included 1930 Census, Oklahoma seems not to Oklahoma). The treaty gives Spain Louisiana which includes the area of Oklahoma. have been viewed by either community 1800 Treaty of San Ildefonso: Spain agrees to cede Louisiana to France. It is not clear what the boundaries of the as an area in which their people or hopes territory are and so Oklahoma remains under Spanish control. could dominate. Between 1930 and 1940, 1803 The : France sells Louisiana Territory to U.S. The border of the territory remains unclear. the time period for Out of the Dust, both At this point, it has not been determined whether the area that will become Oklahoma is part of this land transfer groups’ populations declined and this or not. The area remains under Spanish control. decline undoubtedly contributed to the 1812 Spanish Constitution of Cadiz: everyone living on land under Spanish rule is given full rights of citizenship, marginalization of their experiences dur- regardless of race. Thus, all living in have full rights no matter their race. In the U.S. only “free ing the Dustbowl. Whites” have such rights. However, also marginalized is the in- 1819 Adans-Onis Treaty or Transcontinental Treaty: U.S. and Spain agree that Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle stitutionalized racism that was a key cause remains with Spain but all other territory including the remaining areas of Oklahoma are controlled by the U.S. in the diminishing numbers of these com- munities. Moreover, because the histories 1821 Mexico wins independence from Spain. of African American and Native American 1836 Texas revolts against Mexican rule. Oklahomans are consistently presented as 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the U.S.-Mexican War. Mexico cedes Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle to separate rather than integrated aspects of the U.S.. Mexicans and Indians living in formerly Mexican territories are allowed to stay and become U.S. citizens. their state’s history, it becomes possible to By international treaty, those living on ceded lands maintain the rights they had under their previous government. overlook the contributions they made and However, in actuality those living on formerly Mexican lands lose or risk their rights as citizens. This resolution has the inequities they faced. little direct effect on Oklahoma because no Mexican citizens were living in the Panhandle. Questioning the dominance of White 1882-1912 A period of significant construction on railroads crossing the United States towards Mexico. “No experiences in Out of the Dust led to the immigrant group in American history has been so intimately tied to the railroads as the Mexican” (Smith, 1980, highlighting of themes and perspectives p. 35). Many men from Mexico come to Oklahoma and areas near to work on the railroad. High labor need for that are consistently marginalized in workers lead to wages that are higher than other employment opportunities as well as relaxed restrictions on immigration from Mexico. mainstream historical accounts. The his- tories of the Black town movement and 1890 Increasing numbers of Mexican-origin workers employed in Oklahoma coal fields. In 1929, 61 coal workers the participation of Native Americans in are killed in a McAlester coal mine. Over half are Mexican-American. slavery challenge representations that 1910 Mexican Revolution begins. Many Mexicans immigrated to U.S., including to Oklahoma. Population numbers present people of color exclusively in rela- continue to increase until the Great Depression. tion to White oppression. These histories Great Depression Employment opportunities for Mexican Americans are even more severely curtailed than also make it impossible to ignore that laws for Whites. “Aliens” can not be employed in programs. During the Great Depression and the Dustbowl designed to restrict members of certain drought, Mexican Americans who could not fulfill complicated citizenship requirements were denied employment races were passed in the Southwest as relief from the WPA. well as the Southeast, and with the goal 1930s “Mexican Repatriation”— an extensive deportation program of Mexican immigrants including their Ameri- of disempowering communities of color can-born children from U.S. to Mexico. who had both wealth and political savvy. 1931 Three Mexican college students driving home to Mexico are approached by two Anglo Oklahoman po- By uncovering marginalized stories, our licemen. Two of the students are shot and killed. The murders receive international attention with presidential understanding of the history that continues involvement from both countries. The jury returns a verdict of “not guilty.” to influence us becomes more complex and 1940 In the census, Latino/a U.S. residents are counted as a separate race for the first time. textured. (Kiser, 1975; Mecheca, 1993; Smith, 1980; Sonnichsen, 1994) Our understandings are further com-

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 26 becomes clear that marginalization has usually classified as temporary residents. of U.S. colonization and the political com- gradations. Although parts of the land that Most had taken no steps toward natu- plexity of defining Latinos/as as a distinct now make up Oklahoma were controlled by ralization, and only a slight faction had race. Spain or Mexico for over 300 years (1541- become American citizens. Frequently In 1819, the Adams-Onis /Transcon- they did not speak or read English; even 1848), Steps 1, 2, and 3 of the research those born in the United States often did tinental Treaty transferred most of the process resulted in only a list of events not read or write the language. Although land that is Oklahoma from Spain to U.S. and forces involving Mexican-Americans the extreme hostility and segregation control, and in 1848, the Treaty of Guada- in Oklahoma (see Figure 2) and general Mexicans experienced in Texas were not lupe Hidalgo gave the U.S control of the information about economically struggling as severe in Oklahoma, racial prejudice Oklahoma Panhandle as well as the land Mexicans immigrants. These results were was always present. When most Ameri- that today makes up the Southwest U.S. a sharp contrast to the narratives involv- cans found it difficult to survive the These transfers directly affected the lives ing charismatic leaders, tragic episodes crisis—witness the thousands of “” of Mexican citizens living in the areas which who fled the state—it was understand- and cameos of celebrated figures like Fred- able that few Mexicans could endure the had been ceded. Both treaties dictated that erick Douglass, Andrew Jackson and Ida tribulations of the period. (p. 51) inhabitants of the transferred lands be ex- B. Wells which emerged through searches tended U.S. citizenship. However, by stay- on African American and American Indian In this excerpt, Smith contrasts Mexican- ing on their land, inhabitants of formerly experiences. origin Oklahomans with “Americans” and Mexican lands faced the possibility of los- My first interpretation of this dif- describes them solely in relation to citizen- ing significant civil rights. As Menchaca’s ference was that I had not done enough ship, education, language, and economic (1993) research into legislation and court research and so I increased my efforts. struggles. That depiction’s limitations cases in relation to the 1848 treaty dem- But even sources which directly addressed are exacerbated by his focus on what onstrates, “Anglo American legislators the Mexican American experience in Mexican-origin Oklahomans were not or violated the treaty and refused to extend Oklahoma (e.g., Smith, 1980), or included did not have rather than what they were Mexicans full political rights” (p. 584). interviews with Mexican immigrants to or did. As a result, although the informa- The primary justification for violat- the U.S. (Gamio, 1931), left me with more tion provided is directly relevant to my ing the treaty was that Mexicans were questions than answers about the Mexican question about the marginalized histories people of Indian descent “and therefore Oklahoman experience. Even given the of Mexican-origin Oklahomans, its biases could not claim the political privileges of language barrier which prevented me from are as problematic as those noted above in White citizens” (Menchaca, 1993, p. 584). accessing sources not translated into Eng- Out of the Dust. At the time of the treaty, anyone in the lish, the lack of information was striking. Smith’s presentation highlights the U.S. constructed as Native American was By organizing the information I had and need to maintain a critical stance even vulnerable to being imprisoned and even discussing and reading about other critical with information that relates to the enslaved. While Mexico had done away literacy inquiries (see particularly Norton, marginalized histories we are seeking. A with legalized racial barriers in 1812, 2005), I began to understand that the sto- critical reading reveals that, throughout in the U.S. it would be more than half a ries of Mexican Americans in Oklahoma his book devoted to documenting Mexican century before anyone other than “free involved a more extensive marginalization Oklahomans’ history, he refers almost Whites” was allowed full protection. As than appeared to be true for African Ameri- exclusively to the “Mexican-born residents a result, many Mexicans protected them- can and Native American Oklahomans. of Oklahoma” (p. 52). His few references selves by identifying as White to maintain Recognizing this marginalization led to the children of these immigrants are the civil rights they would otherwise lose to the development of Step 4 of the critical casual and never explored further. as a result of the 1848 treaty’s land trans- literacy research process: analyzing the As in the above passage, his focus is fer (Menchaca, 1993). kinds of information that were available, on the struggles, particularly in relation The focus on immigration that domi- considering the factors that were contrib- to employment, faced by immigrants nates the discussion of Mexican-origin uting to the absence of information, and who are consistently depicted as poor, Oklahomans serves to marginalize the searching for primary sources which could uneducated, and unable to speak or read stories about the Mexican families who fill in the gaps. That work with primary English. The resulting generic depictions inhabited land in those transferred areas sources then led to Step 5: creation of new are a contrast to the complex depictions of as well as the institutionalized racism that texts. In the following section, I describe Native American and African American they and other Oklahomans had to negoti- these steps accompanied, as above, with Oklahomans presented earlier which ate. Challenging the historical emphasis examples that speak to the silences in Out highlight the range of education, wealth, on the Mexican Americans immigration of the Dust. and political power represented in the experience offers access to a range of sto- respective communities. ries involving wealth, land, and the fluidity Critiquing Secondary Sources The few secondary sources that dis- of race. Only by marginalizing such stories cussed Mexican-origin Oklahomans were In The Mexicans in Oklahoma, Smith can the dominant construction of Mexicans dominated by stereotypes about poor, un- (1980) provides the following information as economically struggling outsiders to the educated, illegal immigrants. Questioning about the time period in which Out of the U.S be maintained. this dominance was a significant step in Dust is set: However, identifying the ways in that it spurred me to speculate about who which that dominant framing could con- The depression years were severe times that privileging might serve and, equally tribute to marginalizing complex histories for Mexicans in [Oklahoma]. Many had important, whose stories were overshad- did not automatically result in finding come during or after and had owed by the emphasis on immigration those stories. Using the new angle led to little time to adjust to American culture. (Janks, 2000; Norton, 2005). With this Unquestionably most had arrived penni- secondary sources that either documented focus I was able to see how the immigration less, and a majority lived on the edge of Mexican-American experiences only in the poverty even in good times. Mexicans were narrative served to marginalize the history Southwest or highlighted the immigration

WINTER 2008 27 narrative in relation to Oklahoma. Yet, in towns. Although I could not locate infor- begun in dialogue with Out of the Dust, I the latter’s depictions, as in the following mation about the towns in the Oklahoma wrote a text that paralleled the style of that excerpt, was evidence that more complex Panhandle, census information was avail- novel, poetry, and which also engaged with stories existed: able for a southeast of Out of the the social inequities Hesse had left out: Dust’s setting (McIntosh County Census The Mexican miner’s average annual The Census Taker income was about $379, but a few earned Records, 2005). Locating these records, I Wynona Swafford came over $600 per year. Almost all Mexican searched through the “color” category for to our door today to families had to supplement the father’s the “m” that indicated the individual was take our census. She wages. In some cases children worked in of Mexican descent. I double-checked this didn’t recognize us the mines and contributed all or a portion search by also looking for Spanish-sound- even though we’ve of their income for family expenses. About ing surnames. lived in Checotah as long as she. 20 percent of the Mexican households In the town of Checotah, I found Jim kept lodgers or boarders, and women fre- Sanchas, who the census enumerator, I think that’s why quently took in washing and ironing from my mother got so nervous. the single Mexican men. (Smith, 1980, p. Wynnona Swafford, had identified as Mexican. I saw that the names that came Because at first she smiled. 43, emphasis added) But when before and after, including those with In this passage, although his focus is on Miz Swafford looked at her like a stranger, Anglo-sounding surnames, had also been when the men born in Mexico, Smith’s references identified as Mexican and that they were my mother offered her a glass of water to their children serve as reminders that the related to Jim Sanchas through blood, my mother forgot experiences of Mexican Americans include marriage, or housing (see Figure 3). how to speak English generations of life in the U.S. While second- To go further in finding information ary sources were not available to flesh out She called my father but he about the experiences of Mexican Ameri- must have forgotten those stories, primary sources were. Thus, I can Oklahomans during the time of the how to hear and my aunt Bennie developed a fifth step to the critical literacy Dustbowl, I needed to interpret this data just laughed and shook her head research process: combining the awareness by creating a new text. I sought to do this So then she called me that had emerged through questioning tex- in a way that responds to Janks’ (2000) call tual biases with the slim pieces of historical With that look that told me not to say no for the creation of texts that embody the even though information I could find. insights that emerge from critique. Doing I was supposed to be watching Carlo. The goal in this step was to create so takes advantage of the power of produc- So a text that both addressed the gaps and tion and creativity to challenge and change I picked up Carlo challenged dominant narratives. In this dominating and limiting narratives. and came to stand beside her I was inspired by Alford’s (1999) social I therefore created two texts. The first Miz Swafford asked the questions so quickly studies curriculum work incorporating organized the census information into a hand gripped tightly around the pen the writing of historical fiction and Janks’ family tree which demonstrated the long anxious and (2000) call for including in textual critique U.S. residence of the individuals the cen- doubtful about the production of new texts that seek to sus identified as Mexican (see Figure 4). having to write my answers down on the challenge marginalization. While this text challenged the immigra- forms, tion narrative, I also wanted to create a yellow-white with thick black lines and boxes Constructing Historical Fiction text which could more fully address the To Challenge Social Inequities But the questions were easy: complexity and contradictions of Mexican “Seven years old,” and “Oklahoma,” To locate primary sources that could American Oklahoman’s experiences, in- I told her. challenge the immigrant narrative that cluding the racism that was part of their “And where was your mother born?” dominated secondary sources, I turned experience. “Here,” I said. She wrote it down to the 1930 Census data for Oklahoma Because this research project had but she looked at my mother

Figure 3: From Checotah’s 1930 Census

Page Line Household/ Surname Given Relationship Sex Color Age Marital Age When Birth Birth Birth Number Number Family Name (Yr/Mo) Status First Married, Place Place Place of Person of Father of Mother 43 85 23/24 SANCHAS Jim Head M Mex. 66 Married 25 Mex Mex Mex 43 86 23/24 SANCHAS Juanita Wife F Mex. 59 Married 18 OK Mex TX 43 87 23/24 SANCHAS Bennie Daughter F Mex. 17 Single TX Mex OK 43 88 23/24 MARTIN Charles Son/Lodger M Mex. 30 Married 24 OK Mex TX 43 89 23/24 MARTIN Terry Daughter F Mex. 23 Married 18 OK TX OK 43 90 23/24 MARTIN Martina Granddaughter F Mex. 7 Single OK TX OK 43 91 23/24 MARTIN Mio Grandson M Mex. 2/3 Single OK TX OK 43 92 23/24 MARTIN Catarina Granddaughter F Mex. 4 Single OK TX OK 43 93 23/24 MARTIN Sartas Grandson M Mex. 5 Single OK TX OK 43 94 23/24 MARTIN Cedra Granddaughter F Mex. 0/7 Single OK TX OK 43 95 23/24 PADINEZ Joe Lodger M Mex. 45 Single OK TX OK

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 28 convey specific understandings. Each of Figure 4 these skills are consistently named as valu- The Sanchas-Martin Family Tree able to students’ literacy development and bemoaned as absent from the repertoire Jim’s Father Jim’s Mother Juanita’s Father Juanita’s Mother of too many students’ literacy strategies b. Mexico b. Mexico b. Mexico b. Texas (Keene & Zimmerman, 1997; Schoenbach, Greenleaf, Cziko, & Hurwitz, 1999). Jim Sanchas Juanita Sanchas But the critical literacy research pro- b. Mexico b. Oklahoma cess offers something else that is equally important. Like Out of the Dust, many critically acclaimed and school-sanctioned Charles Martin Terry Martin Bennie Sanchas texts distort or marginalize the experi- b. Oklahoma b. Oklahoma b. Oklahoma ences of some while glorifying others, particularly those of the mainstream. The reality faced by our students is that Marina Martin Sartas Martin Catarina Martin Mio Martin Cedra Martin school curricula and texts marginalize too b. Oklahoma b. Oklahoma b. Oklahoma b. Oklahoma b. Oklahoma many experiences in relation not only to race but sexuality (Raible & Nieto, 2003; Sadowski, 2003), religion (Zine, 2000), eco- nomic status (Brantlinger, 2003), gender and I knew she was wondering why, some of the uncovered narratives that (Orenstein, 1994), and English language if she was challenge and add complexity to Out of fluency (Valdés, 1996; Valenzuela, 1999). born here, she couldn’t talk. the Dust’s depictions of 1930’s Oklahoma, Moreover, many students are intense- I have sought to document the critical But she did talk when Miz Swafford ly aware of the gaps in the texts they are pointed to Carlo. literacy research process which allowed required to read and, as a result, suspi- “And this one?” me to access those histories. My goal was cious of the content they are being taught. “Two,” I told her. threefold: (1) to demonstrate the impor- The critical literacy research process offers “Mi hijo,” my mother explained tance of consistently questioning what but Miz Swafford heard Mio. educators one method of addressing those has been left out in relation to historical Wrote that down in the name box, marginalizations and helping students use texts used in our classrooms; (2) to inspire and I didn’t say a word. the power of literacy, particularly histori- educators to extend or begin their work in cal fiction, to create texts that speak to and April 10, 1930 critiquing class texts and in incorporat- challenge those biases. ing marginalized perspectives into their In creating Out of the Dust, Karen Conclusion teaching; and (3) to offer specific steps Hesse used her immense talent to explore for educators interested in using a criti- It would be hard to find a setting and complicate understandings of the cal literacy research process with their in U.S. history more removed from my White experience of the Dustbowl. While students. experience of living in New York City in the resulting text ignores issues of social There is tremendous value in address- the beginning of the second millennium injustice, it is intriguing to imagine the ing the inequities embodied in school-sanc- than the Oklahoma Dustbowl. Yet the possibilities that would result if a writer tioned texts, particularly those which em- research process that I’ve documented in of her skill chose to address them. phasize only one group’s experience. When this article repeatedly demonstrated to me Through such a work, readers would this process was done with Out of the Dust, the relevance of that state’s history to my be able to explore, to empathize, and to it became clear that what has been hidden life and historical understandings. Events see with new eyes the themes of injustice are stories that challenge racist visions of like the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican that are woven into our country’s history. communities of color as well as those that Revolution, and the Civil War became Through such a text, perhaps one created point to some of the most shameful and meaningful when my goal was to learn by a student in a classroom that incorpo- traumatic themes of U.S. history. how those events related to the lives of the rates the critical literacy research process It also highlighted some of the agen- communities I sought to understand. described in this article, social injustice cies and forms of resistance enacted by of Each clue I unearthed pointed to could be not only examined but addressed Oklahomans who faced institutionalized another and multiple texts emerged to in a way that leads to transformation. racism. Such explorations of history are remind me of the presence of these mar- consistently marginalized in school text- ginalized stories. Flora Thompson, the Note books, but as I have sought to demonstrate, central figure of Lange’s Migrant Mother the reading, questioning, seeking for and 1 The experience of Asian-Americans in had a Cherokee heritage and had grown writing of narrative continues to offer a Oklahoma remains to be explored by histori- up in Indian Territory (Stein, 2003), the place for engaging in that complexity. ans with greater expertise than I. According to backdrop of Toni Morrison’s Paradise was Critical literacy research is valuable Census figures, the Asian-American population Oklahoma’s Black town movement, and a because it offers students the opportunity to numbered 187 in 1910, 344 in 1920 and 339 in children’s novel, Esperanza Rising (Ryan, 1930 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). use and develop literacy skills in a purpose- 2002), described the Mexican American ful and engaging way. To uncover stories Dustbowl experience. Each link involved References that are at first and even second glance me in another layer or dimension of his- hidden, students must take on the stance Alford, K. (1999). “Yes, girl, you understand”: tory, making it difficult to stop my search of a sleuth: reading critically, questioning History logs and the building of multicul- for more stories of 1930’s Oklahoma. and monitoring their understandings, tural empathy. In S. W. Freedman, E. R. In this article, in addition to sharing linking ideas across texts, and writing to Simons, J. S. Kalnin, A. Casareno, & the

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