Blog Post #2 - The Silenced Dialogue by Lisa Delpit (Argument)

In The Silenced Dialogue, Delpit explains the five parts of “the culture of power”. She then argues that people from different cultures perceive power and authority differently. Delpit observed the difference between white and black educators. White teachers were more likely to use veiled commands, they would ask their students a question instead of telling them to do something. This leads to children not understanding how to interpret the teacher’s instructions. They genuinely thought the teacher was giving them a choice of what they wanted to do. And because the students didn’t understand power in the same way the teacher did, there was a disconnect. Alternatively, Delpit gave examples of how black teachers would explicitly tell their students exactly what they needed to do. They gave the students structure and clear directions. There was no disconnect because the students knew the teacher was telling them rather than asking them to do something.

I think Delpit wanted to bring awareness to how different people think. We all grow up with different experiences. And even though we are learning the same things, in this case, what power is, we are learning them in different ways. You may think power is earned while the next person thinks power is given. As Delpit says, people of color see authority as something earned through hard work. She then says that people from a middle-class culture think authority is something that comes with a new role or job.

This thinking doesn’t just stop at power, it can be applied to many other aspects of life. The article I’ve linked provides another take on the culture of power. It discusses understanding how the culture of power operates and how we can effectively identify patterns of power.

The Culture of Power by Paul Kivel