Black educators at Blair push back on MCPS's ham-fisted antiracist PD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of studying the facts of history, this kind of manichean thinking has reduced all the facts down to one simplistic--and dangerous--narrative. I mean, not only does it have the potential to pit kids in a diverse environment against each other due to their ancestry, it's intellectually lazy. They're not actually learning anything if all thats the only fact they need to know, the one that explains everything.

Sadly, MCPS has always had the students self-segregate and they continue to. Instead of bring students and families together they are pushing them further apart. Kids shouldn't be blamed for their ancestry as they had nothing to do with it nor can change what happened.

The kids can change what happens going forward, but the right doesn’t want them to do it frightens white and Asian parents with the DEI boogeyman.

Do you raise how much racism is against Jews and Asians in mcps. Why does it scare you to admit racism is more than just white people being racist against blacks. And minorities are the majority at many MoCo’s schools.

Where do you see a statement about being racist against Black people? Seems like all YOU can think about is Black and white.

Judaism isn’t a race. There’s anti-Semitism in MCPS, but it’s against Jews of all races.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm torn on whether the teacher who first spoke up, Collier, is a very smart troll or someone I don't want teaching my kids.

He does a great job of eviscerating the presenter, but then again, phrases like, "someone who looks like my captors" (that might be a misquote on my part), isn't someone I necessarily want teaching my kids anything, whether they also look like his captors or not.

I think there's a lot of middle class posturing going on here about race and oppression, a lot of it from people who've never had to face real, systemic issues, and I think this posturing has the potential to do a lot more damage than the people throwing it around seem to realize.

My own kid already hates history because, as they told me the other day, "it's just the story of white people being bad to other people over and over." I'm sure there are some of you who are now like, "yes! What's wrong with that?" Well, a lot. You are fortunate and sheltered people who have never had to deal with the consequences of what thinking like that does.

For one thing, it's now common in style guides to capitalize "White." The only people who used to do that were white supremacists, who believe there is such a thing as a "white race." Good job there! For another thing, everyone who is not white is not the same. They're also not all good, or oppressed, or martyred. Again, a point that should be obvious.

There’s something wrong with a person who doesn’t want their child to be aware of major historical events from the Middle Ages onward that involved racism, imperialism, and genocide.

How do you justify sanitizing the past?

There has been racism, imperialism and genocide (a totally overused word, BTW) among all racial groups. A real World History teacher would be able to communicate that aspect of the human condition. There is also a lot to celebrate in history, especially US history. That thread has been lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of studying the facts of history, this kind of manichean thinking has reduced all the facts down to one simplistic--and dangerous--narrative. I mean, not only does it have the potential to pit kids in a diverse environment against each other due to their ancestry, it's intellectually lazy. They're not actually learning anything if all thats the only fact they need to know, the one that explains everything.

Sadly, MCPS has always had the students self-segregate and they continue to. Instead of bring students and families together they are pushing them further apart. Kids shouldn't be blamed for their ancestry as they had nothing to do with it nor can change what happened.

The kids can change what happens going forward, but the right doesn’t want them to do it frightens white and Asian parents with the DEI boogeyman.

Do you raise how much racism is against Jews and Asians in mcps. Why does it scare you to admit racism is more than just white people being racist against blacks. And minorities are the majority at many MoCo’s schools.

I've heard some posters claim the race-blind magnet selection process that picks mostly Asians is racist against Asians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of studying the facts of history, this kind of manichean thinking has reduced all the facts down to one simplistic--and dangerous--narrative. I mean, not only does it have the potential to pit kids in a diverse environment against each other due to their ancestry, it's intellectually lazy. They're not actually learning anything if all thats the only fact they need to know, the one that explains everything.

Sadly, MCPS has always had the students self-segregate and they continue to. Instead of bring students and families together they are pushing them further apart. Kids shouldn't be blamed for their ancestry as they had nothing to do with it nor can change what happened.

The kids can change what happens going forward, but the right doesn’t want them to do it frightens white and Asian parents with the DEI boogeyman.

Do you raise how much racism is against Jews and Asians in mcps. Why does it scare you to admit racism is more than just white people being racist against blacks. And minorities are the majority at many MoCo’s schools.

I've heard some posters claim the race-blind magnet selection process that picks mostly Asians is racist against Asians.

Well, the magnet selection process was changed to increase the number of black and Hispanic kids in the program. Instead of harming white people like they wanted to, Asians were caught in the crossfire and took almost all of the impact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of studying the facts of history, this kind of manichean thinking has reduced all the facts down to one simplistic--and dangerous--narrative. I mean, not only does it have the potential to pit kids in a diverse environment against each other due to their ancestry, it's intellectually lazy. They're not actually learning anything if all thats the only fact they need to know, the one that explains everything.

Sadly, MCPS has always had the students self-segregate and they continue to. Instead of bring students and families together they are pushing them further apart. Kids shouldn't be blamed for their ancestry as they had nothing to do with it nor can change what happened.

Moving here from... How shall I say, a "northern" state, I was shocked at how self-segregated people are, how much they want their kids only associating with the right sorts, how unwilling they are to quite say it, and how many gymnastics routines they go through to cling to class they think they are (and that they think is important). Some of it is about race, but mostly in the sense that the working class members of every race are seen as potentially dangerous, unenlightened, and avoidable.

I used to try and bridge those divides, but I've given up. I got tired of being lectured by those who thought I needed schooling, and tired of feeling like an unwelcome visitor at someone else's gathering. Perhaps to many of you I would always be both, but I've done what I can to take my kids out of mess of it.

You don’t need to lecture. You need to live by example. Ranting about it living in a million dollar house is pretty tone death. Most people are superficial and only care to put on a show.

I don't live in a million dollar house. Our kid goes to a moco public high school that most posters here consider bad. It's not bad, aside from the racial spin they put on every discipline. I'm not thrilled about that, but at least there it almost makes sense as it's giving the populations of the school a voice and visibility, whereas a W school would be ridiculous, exoticizing oppression that most of its students will never see.

My kid is learning to filter signals through the noise. I prefer that to learning how to parrot the party line while living in a world that does the opposite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm torn on whether the teacher who first spoke up, Collier, is a very smart troll or someone I don't want teaching my kids.

He does a great job of eviscerating the presenter, but then again, phrases like, "someone who looks like my captors" (that might be a misquote on my part), isn't someone I necessarily want teaching my kids anything, whether they also look like his captors or not.

I think there's a lot of middle class posturing going on here about race and oppression, a lot of it from people who've never had to face real, systemic issues, and I think this posturing has the potential to do a lot more damage than the people throwing it around seem to realize.

My own kid already hates history because, as they told me the other day, "it's just the story of white people being bad to other people over and over." I'm sure there are some of you who are now like, "yes! What's wrong with that?" Well, a lot. You are fortunate and sheltered people who have never had to deal with the consequences of what thinking like that does.

For one thing, it's now common in style guides to capitalize "White." The only people who used to do that were white supremacists, who believe there is such a thing as a "white race." Good job there! For another thing, everyone who is not white is not the same. They're also not all good, or oppressed, or martyred. Again, a point that should be obvious.

There’s something wrong with a person who doesn’t want their child to be aware of major historical events from the Middle Ages onward that involved racism, imperialism, and genocide.

How do you justify sanitizing the past?

There has been racism, imperialism and genocide (a totally overused word, BTW) among all racial groups. A real World History teacher would be able to communicate that aspect of the human condition. There is also a lot to celebrate in history, especially US history. That thread has been lost.

Do you really expect a real World History teacher to engage in Whataboutism so a child feels it isn’t all that bad that Europeans enslaved, raped, forcibly converted, and murdered millions of people of color since other groups did it, too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of studying the facts of history, this kind of manichean thinking has reduced all the facts down to one simplistic--and dangerous--narrative. I mean, not only does it have the potential to pit kids in a diverse environment against each other due to their ancestry, it's intellectually lazy. They're not actually learning anything if all thats the only fact they need to know, the one that explains everything.

Sadly, MCPS has always had the students self-segregate and they continue to. Instead of bring students and families together they are pushing them further apart. Kids shouldn't be blamed for their ancestry as they had nothing to do with it nor can change what happened.

The kids can change what happens going forward, but the right doesn’t want them to do it frightens white and Asian parents with the DEI boogeyman.

Do you raise how much racism is against Jews and Asians in mcps. Why does it scare you to admit racism is more than just white people being racist against blacks. And minorities are the majority at many MoCo’s schools.

I've heard some posters claim the race-blind magnet selection process that picks mostly Asians is racist against Asians.

Well, the magnet selection process was changed to increase the number of black and Hispanic kids in the program. Instead of harming white people like they wanted to, Asians were caught in the crossfire and took almost all of the impact.

Why do you think the intent was to harm Whites? That’s a wild claim considering that the number of White boys with disabilities greatly increased under the new process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of studying the facts of history, this kind of manichean thinking has reduced all the facts down to one simplistic--and dangerous--narrative. I mean, not only does it have the potential to pit kids in a diverse environment against each other due to their ancestry, it's intellectually lazy. They're not actually learning anything if all thats the only fact they need to know, the one that explains everything.

Sadly, MCPS has always had the students self-segregate and they continue to. Instead of bring students and families together they are pushing them further apart. Kids shouldn't be blamed for their ancestry as they had nothing to do with it nor can change what happened.

The kids can change what happens going forward, but the right doesn’t want them to do it frightens white and Asian parents with the DEI boogeyman.

Do you raise how much racism is against Jews and Asians in mcps. Why does it scare you to admit racism is more than just white people being racist against blacks. And minorities are the majority at many MoCo’s schools.

I've heard some posters claim the race-blind magnet selection process that picks mostly Asians is racist against Asians.

Well, the magnet selection process was changed to increase the number of black and Hispanic kids in the program. Instead of harming white people like they wanted to, Asians were caught in the crossfire and took almost all of the impact.

Why do you think the intent was to harm Whites? That’s a wild claim considering that the number of White boys with disabilities greatly increased under the new process.

It was none of these things. This is just crazy talk. They made it more open to the entire county by using things like universal screening and eliminating the advantages of outside enrichment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of studying the facts of history, this kind of manichean thinking has reduced all the facts down to one simplistic--and dangerous--narrative. I mean, not only does it have the potential to pit kids in a diverse environment against each other due to their ancestry, it's intellectually lazy. They're not actually learning anything if all thats the only fact they need to know, the one that explains everything.

Sadly, MCPS has always had the students self-segregate and they continue to. Instead of bring students and families together they are pushing them further apart. Kids shouldn't be blamed for their ancestry as they had nothing to do with it nor can change what happened.

The kids can change what happens going forward, but the right doesn’t want them to do it frightens white and Asian parents with the DEI boogeyman.

Do you raise how much racism is against Jews and Asians in mcps. Why does it scare you to admit racism is more than just white people being racist against blacks. And minorities are the majority at many MoCo’s schools.

I've heard some posters claim the race-blind magnet selection process that picks mostly Asians is racist against Asians.

Well, the magnet selection process was changed to increase the number of black and Hispanic kids in the program. Instead of harming white people like they wanted to, Asians were caught in the crossfire and took almost all of the impact.

Why do you think the intent was to harm Whites? That’s a wild claim considering that the number of White boys with disabilities greatly increased under the new process.

Because MCPS openly talks about whiteness as being bad, wants to decenter whiteness, and lessen white privilege. And several MCPS schools held up CRT author Kendi as the answer to racism. If you're not familiar with Kendi, he says discrimination against whites is a necessary component of anti-racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of studying the facts of history, this kind of manichean thinking has reduced all the facts down to one simplistic--and dangerous--narrative. I mean, not only does it have the potential to pit kids in a diverse environment against each other due to their ancestry, it's intellectually lazy. They're not actually learning anything if all thats the only fact they need to know, the one that explains everything.

Sadly, MCPS has always had the students self-segregate and they continue to. Instead of bring students and families together they are pushing them further apart. Kids shouldn't be blamed for their ancestry as they had nothing to do with it nor can change what happened.

The kids can change what happens going forward, but the right doesn’t want them to do it frightens white and Asian parents with the DEI boogeyman.

Do you raise how much racism is against Jews and Asians in mcps. Why does it scare you to admit racism is more than just white people being racist against blacks. And minorities are the majority at many MoCo’s schools.

I've heard some posters claim the race-blind magnet selection process that picks mostly Asians is racist against Asians.

Well, the magnet selection process was changed to increase the number of black and Hispanic kids in the program. Instead of harming white people like they wanted to, Asians were caught in the crossfire and took almost all of the impact.

Why do you think the intent was to harm Whites? That’s a wild claim considering that the number of White boys with disabilities greatly increased under the new process.

It was none of these things. This is just crazy talk. They made it more open to the entire county by using things like universal screening and eliminating the advantages of outside enrichment.

Lol. They also take the top kids from every school even though most of them don't qualify while leaving out some of the brightest kids in the county because equity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm torn on whether the teacher who first spoke up, Collier, is a very smart troll or someone I don't want teaching my kids.

He does a great job of eviscerating the presenter, but then again, phrases like, "someone who looks like my captors" (that might be a misquote on my part), isn't someone I necessarily want teaching my kids anything, whether they also look like his captors or not.

I think there's a lot of middle class posturing going on here about race and oppression, a lot of it from people who've never had to face real, systemic issues, and I think this posturing has the potential to do a lot more damage than the people throwing it around seem to realize.

My own kid already hates history because, as they told me the other day, "it's just the story of white people being bad to other people over and over." I'm sure there are some of you who are now like, "yes! What's wrong with that?" Well, a lot. You are fortunate and sheltered people who have never had to deal with the consequences of what thinking like that does.

For one thing, it's now common in style guides to capitalize "White." The only people who used to do that were white supremacists, who believe there is such a thing as a "white race." Good job there! For another thing, everyone who is not white is not the same. They're also not all good, or oppressed, or martyred. Again, a point that should be obvious.

There’s something wrong with a person who doesn’t want their child to be aware of major historical events from the Middle Ages onward that involved racism, imperialism, and genocide.

How do you justify sanitizing the past?

There has been racism, imperialism and genocide (a totally overused word, BTW) among all racial groups. A real World History teacher would be able to communicate that aspect of the human condition. There is also a lot to celebrate in history, especially US history. That thread has been lost.

Do you really expect a real World History teacher to engage in Whataboutism so a child feels it isn’t all that bad that Europeans enslaved, raped, forcibly converted, and murdered millions of people of color since other groups did it, too?

No. We expect ALL history to be taught including black African slavers being the source of most slaves and the 300,000 (mostly white) Union soldiers who died trying to end slavery. We'd also like the fact that slavery existed in every corner of the planet well before N. American slavery. In fact the term slave is from the word Slav who were white enslaved people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm torn on whether the teacher who first spoke up, Collier, is a very smart troll or someone I don't want teaching my kids.

He does a great job of eviscerating the presenter, but then again, phrases like, "someone who looks like my captors" (that might be a misquote on my part), isn't someone I necessarily want teaching my kids anything, whether they also look like his captors or not.

I think there's a lot of middle class posturing going on here about race and oppression, a lot of it from people who've never had to face real, systemic issues, and I think this posturing has the potential to do a lot more damage than the people throwing it around seem to realize.

My own kid already hates history because, as they told me the other day, "it's just the story of white people being bad to other people over and over." I'm sure there are some of you who are now like, "yes! What's wrong with that?" Well, a lot. You are fortunate and sheltered people who have never had to deal with the consequences of what thinking like that does.

For one thing, it's now common in style guides to capitalize "White." The only people who used to do that were white supremacists, who believe there is such a thing as a "white race." Good job there! For another thing, everyone who is not white is not the same. They're also not all good, or oppressed, or martyred. Again, a point that should be obvious.

There’s something wrong with a person who doesn’t want their child to be aware of major historical events from the Middle Ages onward that involved racism, imperialism, and genocide.

How do you justify sanitizing the past?

There has been racism, imperialism and genocide (a totally overused word, BTW) among all racial groups. A real World History teacher would be able to communicate that aspect of the human condition. There is also a lot to celebrate in history, especially US history. That thread has been lost.

Do you really expect a real World History teacher to engage in Whataboutism so a child feels it isn’t all that bad that Europeans enslaved, raped, forcibly converted, and murdered millions of people of color since other groups did it, too?

No. We expect ALL history to be taught including black African slavers being the source of most slaves and the 300,000 (mostly white) Union soldiers who died trying to end slavery. We'd also like the fact that slavery existed in every corner of the planet well before N. American slavery. In fact the term slave is from the word Slav who were white enslaved people.

This, but not all whites were involved in slavery or owned slaves. Nor, did all have relatives in the us at the time so blaming everyone based on skin color is absurd. Blame those who participated, who are long dead.

[Anonymous]

I really hope other educators in other middle and high schools follow in Blair's footsteps and let the Equity Team and Dr. McKnight and her staff know how garbage and trash this PD was and that they want and demand better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really hope other educators in other middle and high schools follow in Blair's footsteps and let the Equity Team and Dr. McKnight and her staff know how garbage and trash this PD was and that they want and demand better.

if only Mcknight and the CO were more focused on educating children than these societal issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm torn on whether the teacher who first spoke up, Collier, is a very smart troll or someone I don't want teaching my kids.

He does a great job of eviscerating the presenter, but then again, phrases like, "someone who looks like my captors" (that might be a misquote on my part), isn't someone I necessarily want teaching my kids anything, whether they also look like his captors or not.

I think there's a lot of middle class posturing going on here about race and oppression, a lot of it from people who've never had to face real, systemic issues, and I think this posturing has the potential to do a lot more damage than the people throwing it around seem to realize.

My own kid already hates history because, as they told me the other day, "it's just the story of white people being bad to other people over and over." I'm sure there are some of you who are now like, "yes! What's wrong with that?" Well, a lot. You are fortunate and sheltered people who have never had to deal with the consequences of what thinking like that does.

For one thing, it's now common in style guides to capitalize "White." The only people who used to do that were white supremacists, who believe there is such a thing as a "white race." Good job there! For another thing, everyone who is not white is not the same. They're also not all good, or oppressed, or martyred. Again, a point that should be obvious.

NP. I have wondered before whether a lot of DEI programs that come from management in unionized workplaces like MCPS are actually subtle anti-union efforts. I think there is a reason DEI programs do not focus on establishing class- and labor-based affinity but instead focus on diversity characteristics that are going to divide the class of union members pretty sharply. If management can convince union members to distrust all fellow members who aren’t the same race, that’s a win for management.