Blessed Sacrament DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here. We are a black family and considering BS in a couple of years. We live in Silver Spring/Rosemary Hills. Our child is a very attractive, likeable, social toddler. Sadly, I've begun to see that this really matters. I SAH and DH is a lawyer.

We are not Catholic. We want a private school and really don't want to pay big 3 money. DH and I both attended a preppy SLAC and I think I get the culture of a place like BS. I'm not worried about other moms not wanting to be my friend. But, will my kid be ok?

Your child will probably be fine.

But you should really do more homework to understand just who these Catholics really are and what their history has been (especially the Irish that are the dominant group). There are any number of books you can read. Your daughter will be surrounded by this sub-culture.

There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a little different.

What are some of those books? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here. We are a black family and considering BS in a couple of years. We live in Silver Spring/Rosemary Hills. Our child is a very attractive, likeable, social toddler. Sadly, I've begun to see that this really matters. I SAH and DH is a lawyer.

We are not Catholic. We want a private school and really don't want to pay big 3 money. DH and I both attended a preppy SLAC and I think I get the culture of a place like BS. I'm not worried about other moms not wanting to be my friend. But, will my kid be ok?

Your child will probably be fine.

But you should really do more homework to understand just who these Catholics really are and what their history has been (especially the Irish that are the dominant group). There are any number of books you can read. Your daughter will be surrounded by this sub-culture.

There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a little different.

What are some of those books? Thanks!

Lots and lots of books and articles including:

“The Irish Catholic Diaspora in America” by Lawrence J. McCaffrey
“How the Irish Became White” by Noel Ignatiev
“Roman Catholicism in America” by Chester Gillis

Until the Irish arrived in the 1840's and 1850's, Roman Catholicism was just another Christian sect. It was the Irish who insisted on their own schools, their own clubs, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here. We are a black family and considering BS in a couple of years. We live in Silver Spring/Rosemary Hills. Our child is a very attractive, likeable, social toddler. Sadly, I've begun to see that this really matters. I SAH and DH is a lawyer.

We are not Catholic. We want a private school and really don't want to pay big 3 money. DH and I both attended a preppy SLAC and I think I get the culture of a place like BS. I'm not worried about other moms not wanting to be my friend. But, will my kid be ok?

Your child will probably be fine.

But you should really do more homework to understand just who these Catholics really are and what their history has been (especially the Irish that are the dominant group). There are any number of books you can read. Your daughter will be surrounded by this sub-culture.

There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a little different.

What are some of those books? Thanks!

Lots and lots of books and articles including:

“The Irish Catholic Diaspora in America” by Lawrence J. McCaffrey
“How the Irish Became White” by Noel Ignatiev
“Roman Catholicism in America” by Chester Gillis

Until the Irish arrived in the 1840's and 1850's, Roman Catholicism was just another Christian sect. It was the Irish who insisted on their own schools, their own clubs, etc.

Is that true? Interesting. I'm going to look up those books! Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI - BSS is, for the most part, a neighborhood school and pulls the vast majority of it's students from Chevy Chase, DC and Chevy Chase, MD. These populations are majority white (as is most of upper NW, DC). The school has successfully been trying to increase it's diversity and that number has grown over the past few years.

And let's not kid ourselves the Big 3s are majority white as well. When they claim 25% diversity that equates to 75% white.

The poster asking about it is black. His/her children will be one of less than 10 students in the whole school checking that box on a demographic form. They have a long way to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI - BSS is, for the most part, a neighborhood school and pulls the vast majority of it's students from Chevy Chase, DC and Chevy Chase, MD. These populations are majority white (as is most of upper NW, DC). The school has successfully been trying to increase it's diversity and that number has grown over the past few years.

And let's not kid ourselves the Big 3s are majority white as well. When they claim 25% diversity that equates to 75% white.

The poster asking about it is black. His/her children will be one of less than 10 students in the whole school checking that box on a demographic form. They have a long way to go.

Why would anyone be surprised that a Catholic school in an upscale neighborhood be overwhelmingly white?

The people that send their children there are doing so because it reinforces their religion and because they are committed to Catholic education. Diversity and it's hard-to-quantify benefits are low on their priority list.

[Anonymous]

I'm the black PP from earlier. I appreciate the reading list. I am just concerned about it being a neighborhood school PLUS us being black as a barrier. Many of my friends from college are southern, country club types (members both here and back home) and I feel like I am confident and secure enough that I am fine if the people are friendly to me and fine if they aren't but I am worried about my kid. Will social opportunities not be there because we don't live in the neighborhood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here. We are a black family and considering BS in a couple of years. We live in Silver Spring/Rosemary Hills. Our child is a very attractive, likeable, social toddler. Sadly, I've begun to see that this really matters. I SAH and DH is a lawyer.

We are not Catholic. We want a private school and really don't want to pay big 3 money. DH and I both attended a preppy SLAC and I think I get the culture of a place like BS. I'm not worried about other moms not wanting to be my friend. But, will my kid be ok?

Your child will probably be fine.

But you should really do more homework to understand just who these Catholics really are and what their history has been (especially the Irish that are the dominant group). There are any number of books you can read. Your daughter will be surrounded by this sub-culture.

There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a little different.

What are some of those books? Thanks!

Lots and lots of books and articles including:

“The Irish Catholic Diaspora in America” by Lawrence J. McCaffrey
“How the Irish Became White” by Noel Ignatiev
“Roman Catholicism in America” by Chester Gillis

Until the Irish arrived in the 1840's and 1850's, Roman Catholicism was just another Christian sect. It was the Irish who insisted on their own schools, their own clubs, etc.

Is that true? Interesting. I'm going to look up those books! Thanks!

Definitely read about it. Add in the "No Irish Need Apply" during the same time and you will see how the schools and clubs became central to the Irish American community.

Signed,
proud 2nd generation Irish Catholic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question here. We are a black family and considering BS in a couple of years. We live in Silver Spring/Rosemary Hills. Our child is a very attractive, likeable, social toddler. Sadly, I've begun to see that this really matters. I SAH and DH is a lawyer.

We are not Catholic. We want a private school and really don't want to pay big 3 money. DH and I both attended a preppy SLAC and I think I get the culture of a place like BS. I'm not worried about other moms not wanting to be my friend. But, will my kid be ok?

Your child will probably be fine.

But you should really do more homework to understand just who these Catholics really are and what their history has been (especially the Irish that are the dominant group). There are any number of books you can read. Your daughter will be surrounded by this sub-culture.

There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a little different.

What are some of those books? Thanks!

Lots and lots of books and articles including:

“The Irish Catholic Diaspora in America” by Lawrence J. McCaffrey
“How the Irish Became White” by Noel Ignatiev
“Roman Catholicism in America” by Chester Gillis

Until the Irish arrived in the 1840's and 1850's, Roman Catholicism was just another Christian sect. It was the Irish who insisted on their own schools, their own clubs, etc.

Is that true? Interesting. I'm going to look up those books! Thanks!

Definitely read about it. Add in the "No Irish Need Apply" during the same time and you will see how the schools and clubs became central to the Irish American community.

Signed,
proud 2nd generation Irish Catholic

Black PP again. This is totally believable. It's like current white Americans are just so unaware of how nativist and racist America has always been. Each new wave of immigrants has been met with resistance and discrimination and had to form their own communities and networks. They had to take care of their own because they could not depend on anyone else to treat them fairly.

[Anonymous]

PP wrote,"Black PP again. This is totally believable. It's like current white Americans are just so unaware of how nativist and racist America has always been. Each new wave of immigrants has been met with resistance and discrimination and had to form their own communities and networks. They had to take care of their own because they could not depend on anyone else to treat them fairly."

The Irish as a group are particularly aware of the past and possibly for that reason are a little clannish. And they don't view that as a problem.

Consider the oft repeated joke about Irish Alzheimers. It's where you forget everything but the grudges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP wrote,"Black PP again. This is totally believable. It's like current white Americans are just so unaware of how nativist and racist America has always been. Each new wave of immigrants has been met with resistance and discrimination and had to form their own communities and networks. They had to take care of their own because they could not depend on anyone else to treat them fairly."

The Irish as a group are particularly aware of the past and possibly for that reason are a little clannish. And they don't view that as a problem.

Consider the oft repeated joke about Irish Alzheimers. It's where you forget everything but the grudges.

That made me LOL.

[Anonymous]

a good way to get a vibe would be to go to a 1030 mass on a sunday in the gym. you will get a strong sense of the culture there. lots of families with students at bs at that mass.

[Anonymous]

To the poster who suggested BSS has less than 10 black students in the school, you must not be a current parent. There are far more, likely double currently. Still a minority compared to the white students, but way more than 10. Also other racially diverse groups represented, not all diversity is black.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:a good way to get a vibe would be to go to a 1030 mass on a sunday in the gym. you will get a strong sense of the culture there. lots of families with students at bs at that mass.

It is also the mass that most of the Sunday school families attend since it is right after SOR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the poster who suggested BSS has less than 10 black students in the school, you must not be a current parent. There are far more, likely double currently. Still a minority compared to the white students, but way more than 10. Also other racially diverse groups represented, not all diversity is black.

Your white cluelessness is showing. In any case, this is where PP got the stats.


http://www.usaschoolinfo.com/school/blessed-sacrament-elementary-school-washington-district-of-columbia.105544/enrollment

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but YOUR cluelessness is showing because you believe everything your read on the internet. If you were a current parent and actually had first hand knowledge about the school you would know this info is incorrect or outdated.

Also, nice that you categorize my cluelessness as "white". You have no idea what my racial make-up is. Get your head out of the sand, please, and think before you speak. Ignorance is not attractive and gross generalizations are offensive no matter what side of the fence you are on. I recommend a little education and sensitivity training - you might find it helpful.