White Bread Weaving Cultural Past into the Present

by Christine Sleeter

In White Bread, readers accompany Jessica on a journey into her family’s past, into herself, and into the bicultural community she teaches but does not understand. Jessica, a fictional White fifth-grade teacher, is prompted to explore her family history by the unexpected discovery of a hundred-year-old letter. Simultaneously, she begins to grapple with culture and racism, principally through discussions with a Mexican American teacher. White Bread pulls readers into a tumultuous six months of Jessica’s life as she confronts many issues that turn out to be interrelated, such as why she knows so little about her family’s past, why she craves community as she feels increasingly isolated, why the Latino teachers want the curriculum to be more Latino, and whether she can become the kind of teacher who sparks student learning.

The storyline alternates between past and present, acquainting readers with German American communities in the Midwest during the late 1800s and early 1900s, portraits based on detailed historic excavation. What happened to these communities gives Jessica the key to unlock answers to questions that plague her.

White Bread can be read simply for pleasure. It can also be used in teacher education, ethnic studies, and sociology courses. Beginning teachers may see their own struggles reflected in Jessica’s classroom. People of European descent might see themselves within, rather than outside, multicultural studies. White Bread can also be used in conjunction with family history research.

Genres: Education

283 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Christine E. Sleeter is a researcher, teacher, and writer who is best known for her work in critical multicultural education, and her insights into white people grappling with race. Author of about 20 academic books, she is also author of two novels. She holds the title of Professor Emerita in the College of Professional Studies at California State University Monterey Bay, where she was a founding faculty member. She is a sought-after speaker both in the U.S. and internationally. She has been honored with awards that include the American Educational Research Association Social Justice in Education Award, the Chapman University Paulo Freire Education Project Social Justice Award, the National Association for Multicultural Education Research Award, and membership in the National Academy of Education

Reviews

[Diana Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author’s love of family and curiosity about her ancestors' history is inspiring! White Bread raises the questions: Do we really know our parents? And, how does family history impact our own identity? White Bread is a story of encouragement, support, and hope. The audience for White Bread is much wider than those who are searching their family roots or for teachers of ethnic studies. All readers who want to understand prejudice, narrow-mindedness, fear of the unknown, and institutional and cultural bias will find the world described in White Bread compelling!

[Liz Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for all teachers and teachers to be. This is a fictional story from renowned educational scholar Christine Sleeter. This book serves as a powerful entry point to Sleeter's work examining Whiteness and multicultural education and all teacher ed programs should have this on their curriculum.
The story follows Jessica, a White teacher in a predominantly Latino school, and her growing awareness of Whiteness as a political structure. This is presented in an easy to read formula which also makes it a great read for people outside the educational world who would benefit from understanding more about White privilege and its insidious roots.

[Logan Heraly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was suprisingly entertaining for a book I was required to read for a class, the ending was nice as everything came together although it wasn't terrible suprising. The characters were fairly well developed although I still don't like Jessica that much :/. The main issue with the book was due to the fact that it was meant to be about cultural issues it sort of shoved the idea/issue down your throat every opportunity it got. Once again for a required reading this was really good!

[Brandee Shafer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was required reading for one of my graduate courses. The protagonist, Jessica, is an educator trying to determine how to reach students of different cultures than her own. As part of this process, she delves into her own geneology. Jessica is also trying to find community and figure out what is going on with her marriage (and an attractive teacher down the hall). There are thought-provoking aspects to the book, but Jessica is annoyingly immature. I think the last straw for me was when she has a conversation with her brother (who is also struggling in marriage) and reflects upon how annoying his children are and how, if she were in his shoes, she would be tempted to leave the kids, too. As I think about the book, I think the problem lies in the fact that the author tried to spice up the storyline with marital drama, a crush, etc. when it's interesting and dramatic enough to face a classroom of children and the nearly impossible (if not entirely impossible) task of reaching them all. Also? There are typos.