Gardeners Tale
Please post your response to the metaphor using the following questions to guide your critical thinking:
What is the main message of “A Gardener’s Tale,” and how does the story explain the development of inequality over time?
The main message of “A Gardener’s Tale” is how the environment that is cultivated because institutionalized racism fuel internalized and personally mediated racism. The story illustrates this by showing us how the pink flowers, which are representative of marginalized races, are held back from growth because of the weak environment they were put in out of their control and how that effects the gardener’s view of them and their view of themselves.
In the allegory, what do the red and pink flowers represent? What does the gardener represent?
The red flower represents white people. The pink flowers represent marginalized communities. In the context of the USA, I believe the pink flowers represent African-American and Indigenous communities the best because of the initial historical inequalities of slavery, ethnic cleansing, and segregation. The gardener represents the U.S government because they are the ones who imposed the initial inequalities, like how the gardener imposes them by giving the red flowers better soil.
How does “A Gardener’s Tale” help explain the difference between individual prejudice and institutional or structural inequality?
The tale explains the difference between individual prejudice and institutional inequality by showing the differences between the gardener’s actions as opposed to the effects of the soil. The gardener’s individual prejudice may lead them to pick the red seed over the pink seed because they prefer the red seed, which explains the individual prejudice, however, the effects of the red seed being given the resources to flourish and the pink seed being set up to fail by the soil is meant to show structural and institutional inequality.
How does the story connect early advantages or disadvantages to long-term social patterns?
The story shows the progress of the flowers and their seeds over a ten year period from the initial choice to give the red seed stronger soil than the pink. Since the red seed starts off with stronger soil, the effects of that stronger soil will produce in their seed as they will always have the advantages of stronger seed. Furthermore, the red flowers will continue to have the chance to flourish as it will always be given stronger seeds because of its history of flourishing. The pink seed will never have the chance to flourish because it continues to fail, not of any fault of its own. To the gardener, it has not proved itself to be worthy of good soil even though it was never given the chance to flourish because the historic inequality was never corrected.
Why do you think the gardener eventually believes one type of flower is “naturally” better than the other?
The gardener eventually believed one flower was naturally better than the other because the red flowers flourished more than the pink. The gardener was aware of their preference of the red flower and did not care enough to treat the pink flower as an equal. Despite this, the gardener, whether they were blind to it or not, did not acknowledge that this preference will affect the pink flower long term as it is difficult to rise above the bad soil. Since the gardener refuses to acknowledge this, they will think the red is better because it grows better than the pink despite this key difference.
How does the story challenge common explanations that blame individuals for unequal outcomes?
The story challenges individual blame by showing that even the strongest pink flowers will not grow as much as the red flowers because of the bad soil that sets them back. This shows that even the “excellent” out of the marginalized will never be able to rise to the level of the “preferred” race since they are not given the resources to rise to equality.
What does the allegory suggest about the relationship between environment, opportunity, and perceived ability?
The allegory suggests that environment affects the opportunities someone is given, and that this lack of opportunity will affect how others perceive their ability to achieve and how they will internalize those negative feelings about their ability. In the story, the pink flower’s environment deprives them of the opportunity to grow. This leads the gardener to believe that they are no good, and the pink flowers internalize this and tell the bee to pollinate them with red flowers rather than pink.
Can you think of real-world examples (from school, neighborhoods, media, or history) that reflect the patterns described in the story?
The historical practice of redlining best reflects the patterns in the gardeners tale. Redlining was a historic practice where black households were zoned in areas away from white households. The neighborhoods that the black households were in had worse infrastructure, schools, and employment as a conscious choice by the government to neglect those families. This effected the success of the family and their children as they were not given the opportunity to grow because of their environments. Even the most successful black families (middle class, well earning) were essentially forced into these neighborhoods that were designed to fail. Even as the practice phased out, many black people remain in these neighborhoods, and the infrastructure, education, and job opportunities never improved because the government does not acknowledge or correct the inequalities in the environment.
How might the story apply to institutions such as education, housing, or employment?
The story applies to education in multiple ways. For one, during school segregation, majority black schools were not given the same resources as white schools. This disparity remains in black neighborhoods, which affects students ability to succeed. This is why white students are more likely to go to college than black students today. Furthermore, because more white students attend college than black students, educator’s perceived ability of black students is that they will be less successful, even if they are in the same environment as white students. In housing, redlining has effected black families by putting them in environments with worse infrastructure and job opportunities, which will effect the success of their children.
What part of the story stood out to you the most, and why?
The part of the story that stood out to me the most was the part where the pink seed refuses the pink pollen from the bee, and demands the red pollen that they believe is better. This was an amazing way to show how racism is internalized by marginalized communities. It creates an inferiority complex, and if marginalized communities are not aware how their environment affects their success, they will begin to believe that it is something biological in their failure. As a black student, I see this happen in my community all of the time. It is unfortunate, however, it is understandable if someone does not know the structural reasons for their failures.
Did this explanation change the way you think about how inequality develops? Why or why not?
This does not change the way I think about how inequality develops because of my lived experiences. As someone who has lived in historically white environments while having family that live in historically black environments, I see how structural racism affects success. Furthermore, as someone who is interested in history, I know of the historical practices that create and maintain inequality.
What questions did the reading raise for you about society today?
The reading’s discussion of internalized racism and structural racism made me question what systemic inequalities have I internalized to believe are the failures of an individual rather than a concerted effort of an institution to put that individuals community down?