Wash Post: Michael Eric Dyson reports 6 yo grandson called a racial slur at Mann

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The principal backed off & has said the word was used - and there's no legal recourse here....

Both the Mann & Key issues & the passionate reactions here show that despite whatever the specifics of the incidents, there's a need for a better response and set of policies around race issues (and religion and sexism etc) within the schools.

I have difficulty understanding what was wrong in what the school did in response. They contacted the involved families immediately, set up a meeting, and sent out a note to parents in that grade.

They did not contact the families immediately and only set up a meeting after the family requested it and the note was sent after that... So it was because the family took the action that they responded.

... but the bigger point is not having a systemic effort to address the issues for a more inclusive community - the discipline numbers alone paint the picture that at 85%ish white schools, there is a highly disproportionate amount of the discipline and encouragement to pursue other schools is directed at students of color.

Not sure that if I was a principal this would rise to the level that a note should be sent out that same day- we all have to juggle priorities in our jobs. May have been waiting to talk with the involved families first. A principal has a lot going on, and something that may seem to others to be something that needs to addressed RIGHT NOW could seem to be important but done tomorrow.

I don't know anything about this school or its culture or statistics. Your quoted stat appears to be general, which I think is correct- there are fundamental issues in American schools of how minority children (primarily boys) are disciplined. There are ways to improve on that and address it. I would not assume at every individual school that those steps are NOT being taken. I guess I don't know why the worst is assumed about the school's response and previous work.

Recall that an incident happened at nearby Key Elementary involving 5th graders. One of the criticisms of the Key response was that they kept the discussion just to those families involved initially. The Mann community had talked about the Key response, what good policy looks like, and what the school would do in case somehting similar happened at Mann. This was all done over the last several months. So, when the incident happened, one of the first actions was to inform the entire school community .

This last bit, about Mann school’s response if the Key incident, seems like good handling of the situation. As a future parent in the school, I’m interested to hear if current parents agree?

This could be its own thread. A racial slur was used in our school and the intent seemed to be to handle it and contain it to the classroom. The kids were older so they talked and at least at the grade level, it seems most students knew about it. If our school has a policy on how to handle reported racial incidents it's never been shared with the school community.

The DCPS letter and the principal in person has walked back saying they cannot confirm the word was not used... One child threatened another about using a gun, in 2019, in the context of multiple recent community and school shootings around the country. That requires and immediate action. At Key, they did NOTHING at first, and then only contacted the child who made the statement, the families whose children were on the other side of the incident (which was vitriolic and aggressive not just using the word one time) only found out more than a month later and not by the school.

the point is that even if the principal at Mann handled it relatively well - although only after the family contacted her (per Mr. Dyson's twitter posts) - overall, with patterns of behavior where families of color are expressing concern - and regardless, there's no harm in figuring out how to proactively build more tolerant and inclusive school environments.

[Anonymous]

I don’t get this stuff about Dyson saying the school only did something after his family demanded it.

He tweeted about it during the same school day it happened! They were told about it *before* the grandson got home from school.

Clearly the school thought it was important to promptly contact the parents!

[Anonymous]

The above post is incorrect in several key ways. Dyson does not get to write the narrative as he chooses without regard for what actually happened and the timing involved.

[Anonymous]

I meant that two posts above is incorrect.

[Anonymous]

14:10 is FAKE news.

14:17 is correct, and it's all verifiable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The principal backed off & has said the word was used - and there's no legal recourse here....

Both the Mann & Key issues & the passionate reactions here show that despite whatever the specifics of the incidents, there's a need for a better response and set of policies around race issues (and religion and sexism etc) within the schools.

I have difficulty understanding what was wrong in what the school did in response. They contacted the involved families immediately, set up a meeting, and sent out a note to parents in that grade.

They did not contact the families immediately and only set up a meeting after the family requested it and the note was sent after that... So it was because the family took the action that they responded.

... but the bigger point is not having a systemic effort to address the issues for a more inclusive community - the discipline numbers alone paint the picture that at 85%ish white schools, there is a highly disproportionate amount of the discipline and encouragement to pursue other schools is directed at students of color.

Not sure that if I was a principal this would rise to the level that a note should be sent out that same day- we all have to juggle priorities in our jobs. May have been waiting to talk with the involved families first. A principal has a lot going on, and something that may seem to others to be something that needs to addressed RIGHT NOW could seem to be important but done tomorrow.

I don't know anything about this school or its culture or statistics. Your quoted stat appears to be general, which I think is correct- there are fundamental issues in American schools of how minority children (primarily boys) are disciplined. There are ways to improve on that and address it. I would not assume at every individual school that those steps are NOT being taken. I guess I don't know why the worst is assumed about the school's response and previous work.

Recall that an incident happened at nearby Key Elementary involving 5th graders. One of the criticisms of the Key response was that they kept the discussion just to those families involved initially. The Mann community had talked about the Key response, what good policy looks like, and what the school would do in case somehting similar happened at Mann. This was all done over the last several months. So, when the incident happened, one of the first actions was to inform the entire school community .

This last bit, about Mann school’s response if the Key incident, seems like good handling of the situation. As a future parent in the school, I’m interested to hear if current parents agree?

This could be its own thread. A racial slur was used in our school and the intent seemed to be to handle it and contain it to the classroom. The kids were older so they talked and at least at the grade level, it seems most students knew about it. If our school has a policy on how to handle reported racial incidents it's never been shared with the school community.

The DCPS letter and the principal in person has walked back saying they cannot confirm the word was not used... One child threatened another about using a gun, in 2019, in the context of multiple recent community and school shootings around the country. That requires and immediate action. At Key, they did NOTHING at first, and then only contacted the child who made the statement, the families whose children were on the other side of the incident (which was vitriolic and aggressive not just using the word one time) only found out more than a month later and not by the school.

the point is that even if the principal at Mann handled it relatively well - although only after the family contacted her (per Mr. Dyson's twitter posts) - overall, with patterns of behavior where families of color are expressing concern - and regardless, there's no harm in figuring out how to proactively build more tolerant and inclusive school environments.

According to the letter that went out to all Mann parents, as soon as the incident happened "We responded immediately by removing the student from his peers and taking a number of actions that included communicating directly with the parents of the three students involved"

- ALL Parents were called right away. Whoever is saying otherwise is lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The principal backed off & has said the word was used - and there's no legal recourse here....

Both the Mann & Key issues & the passionate reactions here show that despite whatever the specifics of the incidents, there's a need for a better response and set of policies around race issues (and religion and sexism etc) within the schools.

I have difficulty understanding what was wrong in what the school did in response. They contacted the involved families immediately, set up a meeting, and sent out a note to parents in that grade.

They did not contact the families immediately and only set up a meeting after the family requested it and the note was sent after that... So it was because the family took the action that they responded.

... but the bigger point is not having a systemic effort to address the issues for a more inclusive community - the discipline numbers alone paint the picture that at 85%ish white schools, there is a highly disproportionate amount of the discipline and encouragement to pursue other schools is directed at students of color.

Not sure that if I was a principal this would rise to the level that a note should be sent out that same day- we all have to juggle priorities in our jobs. May have been waiting to talk with the involved families first. A principal has a lot going on, and something that may seem to others to be something that needs to addressed RIGHT NOW could seem to be important but done tomorrow.

I don't know anything about this school or its culture or statistics. Your quoted stat appears to be general, which I think is correct- there are fundamental issues in American schools of how minority children (primarily boys) are disciplined. There are ways to improve on that and address it. I would not assume at every individual school that those steps are NOT being taken. I guess I don't know why the worst is assumed about the school's response and previous work.

Recall that an incident happened at nearby Key Elementary involving 5th graders. One of the criticisms of the Key response was that they kept the discussion just to those families involved initially. The Mann community had talked about the Key response, what good policy looks like, and what the school would do in case somehting similar happened at Mann. This was all done over the last several months. So, when the incident happened, one of the first actions was to inform the entire school community .

This last bit, about Mann school’s response if the Key incident, seems like good handling of the situation. As a future parent in the school, I’m interested to hear if current parents agree?

This could be its own thread. A racial slur was used in our school and the intent seemed to be to handle it and contain it to the classroom. The kids were older so they talked and at least at the grade level, it seems most students knew about it. If our school has a policy on how to handle reported racial incidents it's never been shared with the school community.

The DCPS letter and the principal in person has walked back saying they cannot confirm the word was not used... One child threatened another about using a gun, in 2019, in the context of multiple recent community and school shootings around the country. That requires and immediate action. At Key, they did NOTHING at first, and then only contacted the child who made the statement, the families whose children were on the other side of the incident (which was vitriolic and aggressive not just using the word one time) only found out more than a month later and not by the school.

the point is that even if the principal at Mann handled it relatively well - although only after the family contacted her (per Mr. Dyson's twitter posts) - overall, with patterns of behavior where families of color are expressing concern - and regardless, there's no harm in figuring out how to proactively build more tolerant and inclusive school environments.

According to the letter that went out to all Mann parents, as soon as the incident happened "We responded immediately by removing the student from his peers and taking a number of actions that included communicating directly with the parents of the three students involved"

- ALL Parents were called right away. Whoever is saying otherwise is lying.

This thread believes the letter on one hand at the same time saying it's false (and then misspreading things about the Key incident all around) wanting to defend the school and school system and vilify Dr. Dyson at all costs. There is a pattern of race issues at the WOTP schools that haven't been well addressed - and it's only Dr. Dyson's raising them that they are getting attention. Hate the hate. Don't be hater.

[Anonymous]

...except that the 6-year old almost certainly didn't use the word, according to reports. Who's baiting whom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The principal backed off & has said the word was used - and there's no legal recourse here....

Both the Mann & Key issues & the passionate reactions here show that despite whatever the specifics of the incidents, there's a need for a better response and set of policies around race issues (and religion and sexism etc) within the schools.

I have difficulty understanding what was wrong in what the school did in response. They contacted the involved families immediately, set up a meeting, and sent out a note to parents in that grade.

They did not contact the families immediately and only set up a meeting after the family requested it and the note was sent after that... So it was because the family took the action that they responded.

... but the bigger point is not having a systemic effort to address the issues for a more inclusive community - the discipline numbers alone paint the picture that at 85%ish white schools, there is a highly disproportionate amount of the discipline and encouragement to pursue other schools is directed at students of color.

Not sure that if I was a principal this would rise to the level that a note should be sent out that same day- we all have to juggle priorities in our jobs. May have been waiting to talk with the involved families first. A principal has a lot going on, and something that may seem to others to be something that needs to addressed RIGHT NOW could seem to be important but done tomorrow.

I don't know anything about this school or its culture or statistics. Your quoted stat appears to be general, which I think is correct- there are fundamental issues in American schools of how minority children (primarily boys) are disciplined. There are ways to improve on that and address it. I would not assume at every individual school that those steps are NOT being taken. I guess I don't know why the worst is assumed about the school's response and previous work.

Recall that an incident happened at nearby Key Elementary involving 5th graders. One of the criticisms of the Key response was that they kept the discussion just to those families involved initially. The Mann community had talked about the Key response, what good policy looks like, and what the school would do in case somehting similar happened at Mann. This was all done over the last several months. So, when the incident happened, one of the first actions was to inform the entire school community .

This last bit, about Mann school’s response if the Key incident, seems like good handling of the situation. As a future parent in the school, I’m interested to hear if current parents agree?

This could be its own thread. A racial slur was used in our school and the intent seemed to be to handle it and contain it to the classroom. The kids were older so they talked and at least at the grade level, it seems most students knew about it. If our school has a policy on how to handle reported racial incidents it's never been shared with the school community.

The DCPS letter and the principal in person has walked back saying they cannot confirm the word was not used... One child threatened another about using a gun, in 2019, in the context of multiple recent community and school shootings around the country. That requires and immediate action. At Key, they did NOTHING at first, and then only contacted the child who made the statement, the families whose children were on the other side of the incident (which was vitriolic and aggressive not just using the word one time) only found out more than a month later and not by the school.

the point is that even if the principal at Mann handled it relatively well - although only after the family contacted her (per Mr. Dyson's twitter posts) - overall, with patterns of behavior where families of color are expressing concern - and regardless, there's no harm in figuring out how to proactively build more tolerant and inclusive school environments.

According to the letter that went out to all Mann parents, as soon as the incident happened "We responded immediately by removing the student from his peers and taking a number of actions that included communicating directly with the parents of the three students involved"

- ALL Parents were called right away. Whoever is saying otherwise is lying.

This thread believes the letter on one hand at the same time saying it's false (and then misspreading things about the Key incident all around) wanting to defend the school and school system and vilify Dr. Dyson at all costs. There is a pattern of race issues at the WOTP schools that haven't been well addressed - and it's only Dr. Dyson's raising them that they are getting attention. Hate the hate. Don't be hater.

There are absolutely race issues at DCPS, but this does not sound like one of them, by far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for both kids involved, honestly. I feel bad for Dyson's grandson for having to be on the receiving end of the comment (regardless of whether it involved only a threat or also the N word), and for having a bunch of media attention focused on him. I feel bad for the other kid, because as a 6 year old, he likely had no idea of the gravity of what he said (regardless of whether it involved only a threat or also the N word), and for having a bunch of negative media attention focused on him.

Agreed

Well, Dyson took it "next level" by blowing it up in the media. Should he apologize for the stress he's brought on the young ones?

He should be sued.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get this stuff about Dyson saying the school only did something after his family demanded it.

He tweeted about it during the same school day it happened! They were told about it *before* the grandson got home from school.

Clearly the school thought it was important to promptly contact the parents!

Yup. Some posters on here are making up stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get this stuff about Dyson saying the school only did something after his family demanded it.

He tweeted about it during the same school day it happened! They were told about it *before* the grandson got home from school.

Clearly the school thought it was important to promptly contact the parents!

Yup. Some posters on here are making up stuff.

He posted from the road on the way to school at 12:14pm. The incident probably happened within an hour of that time. He knew about it because the school immediately called the families.

[Anonymous]

And here's what happens next.

Principal and all involved in an effort to be open and constructive likely apologized profusely for everything. Dyson says that N-word was used. School indicates that it wasn't, but they bend over backwards to accommodate his claim since, after all, something bad to happen. (Note, of course, that two kids were threatened, not just Dyson's grandson.)

Dyson bloviates ad infinitum about racial injustice. DCPS promises to leave no stone unturned pursuing truth on his behalf. Ultimately, they find evidence that no slur was used but they opt to say they cannot confirm either way. They don't want him attacking the school "system," which he already shifted to talking about yesterday.

Dyson then runs with two things: the principal trying to accommodate him by saying that she cannot be absolutely sure no slur was used, so she probably shouldn't have said no slur was used (despite any and all evidence saying no slur was used). Again, the school wants to move on productively, so there's no place for ego. And then DCPS fails to say conclusively that no slur was used. He claims righteous victory and becomes emboldened to do it all over again. One hell of a lesson learned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And here's what happens next.

Principal and all involved in an effort to be open and constructive likely apologized profusely for everything. Dyson says that N-word was used. School indicates that it wasn't, but they bend over backwards to accommodate his claim since, after all, something bad to happen. (Note, of course, that two kids were threatened, not just Dyson's grandson.)

Dyson bloviates ad infinitum about racial injustice. DCPS promises to leave no stone unturned pursuing truth on his behalf. Ultimately, they find evidence that no slur was used but they opt to say they cannot confirm either way. They don't want him attacking the school "system," which he already shifted to talking about yesterday.

Dyson then runs with two things: the principal trying to accommodate him by saying that she cannot be absolutely sure no slur was used, so she probably shouldn't have said no slur was used (despite any and all evidence saying no slur was used). Again, the school wants to move on productively, so there's no place for ego. And then DCPS fails to say conclusively that no slur was used. He claims righteous victory and becomes emboldened to do it all over again. One hell of a lesson learned.

Yeah, but he still cannot prove that the racial slur was used. I feel terrible for both kids and parents of the offender. They are both classmates of my kid. What about the third kid? How come there is no talk about him? As someone mentioned, the offender was threatening both boys.

[Anonymous]

Because the third boy is white and doesn't have a grandfather making stuff up and shouting it.

As parents of a 5 y.o. boy, I can only imagine that the other parents aren't particularly surprised by language about shooting. If you have a boy, everything becomes a gun. My family is pretty extreme pro gun control (2A be damned), and yet, still, everything is a gun. I never once thought my 5 y.o. is actually threatening me while calling me poopyhead and threatening to throw me in the trash or shoot me. I assume other parents are similar.