carrying the Whiteman’s burden!

I have been having an amazing time at the group discussions I run as a teaching assistant for ‘cultural anthropology’. Initially I was a little anxious because unlike the other T.A Anna I am an Indian and all my students are American. I knew dealing will cultural anthropology would mean bringing in the ‘west and the rest discourse’ and the undergraduates would have to grapple with the ‘Whiteman’s burden’. I did not know if they would think I was ethnocentric and hate me if I would be bashing the west and modernity. I came up with one strategy and crossed my fingers that it would work. Most of the students are well read and cool but there sure are 2-3 overtly ethnocentric jerks so I came I asked them if they would like to volunteer to lead discussions and I would facilitate it when they get stuck. The strategy worked like magic, because now when the bunch of jerks question ethnic cultures the other bunch of kids counter it. The funnest thing was on the first day I gave them a form asking them how they think that the others perceived the Americans. Out of 25 students, only one person had half a decent thing to say the rest had only negative things!