Nice White Parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I couldn't believe the first episode! I thought it was going to be totally different based on the reviews.

I don't think these white parents did anything wrong except not being more inclusive to the parents who were already there. But a. the school was struggling to attract new students, b. the media is telling white people how bad and racist we are all the time, how wrong it is to move to the suburbs (white flight), how wrong it is to send your kids to 40-50k a year private schools etc. etc. and here these parents actually send their kids to the neighborhood school, c. they fundraise on their own to put into place the new program they want. At least they weren't using the PTA's money for it.

What do you want white parents to do? We're bad if we move to the suburbs, we're bad if we send our kids to private school, and now we're also bad if we send our kids to the neighborhood school and get involved in it.

You answered your own question.

But that's just the personalities of the particular people involved, that fundraiser Rob and some of his friends. That's not a "white people" problem.

Look, here was a school struggling to attract new students and worried about closing due to low numbers. The principal wants to attract new students. She ok's their idea of a new French program as long as they can find a way to pay for it, which they do.

She should have communicated that to the rest of the parent body. "Hey, we're starting a new French program with this funding through the French embassy, it's open to everyone, woo hoo."

If the parent body had wanted a Spanish or Arabic program (honestly doesn't sound like it was even on their radar), that's when it should have come up, that's when they should have started discussing how to fundraise for those individual programs. Not after the French program was already put into place and the students were enrolled.

It blows my mind how poorly she handled this and how it's now being translated into a "white person" thing, as if we're all assholes who don't know how to be inclusive of others.

Why shouldn't people think this. Folks have no problem painting all minorities with the actions of the poor, ill-behaved ones.

That may be but you're obviously racist if you do so.

But it's not racist to paint all white people with the same brush?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of that was meant to be addressed.

But that’s the whole point, is that it? I wanted to know whether ALL the kids were better off. Did they get the new microscopes and gym clothes that were mentioned at the start? Are the original kids doing the IB program, maybe with Spanish instead of French, and is that degree helping them?

Instead we get just TWO parents who don’t get along. A dad who can’t coordinate with anybody else and a pta president who is sulking so badly about being knocked off her cozy perch (even if she was doing nothing when the school was at 35% occupancy) that she refuses to attend a funding meeting she was definitely invited to.

I wanted to hear from more/different parents and more kids about how this actually affected them. Not an hour about these two feuding bozos.

100%

Two parents didn't get along. News at 11. Why is this considered interesting to a national audience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I couldn't believe the first episode! I thought it was going to be totally different based on the reviews.

I don't think these white parents did anything wrong except not being more inclusive to the parents who were already there. But a. the school was struggling to attract new students, b. the media is telling white people how bad and racist we are all the time, how wrong it is to move to the suburbs (white flight), how wrong it is to send your kids to 40-50k a year private schools etc. etc. and here these parents actually send their kids to the neighborhood school, c. they fundraise on their own to put into place the new program they want. At least they weren't using the PTA's money for it.

What do you want white parents to do? We're bad if we move to the suburbs, we're bad if we send our kids to private school, and now we're also bad if we send our kids to the neighborhood school and get involved in it.

You answered your own question.

But that's just the personalities of the particular people involved, that fundraiser Rob and some of his friends. That's not a "white people" problem.

Look, here was a school struggling to attract new students and worried about closing due to low numbers. The principal wants to attract new students. She ok's their idea of a new French program as long as they can find a way to pay for it, which they do.

She should have communicated that to the rest of the parent body. "Hey, we're starting a new French program with this funding through the French embassy, it's open to everyone, woo hoo."

If the parent body had wanted a Spanish or Arabic program (honestly doesn't sound like it was even on their radar), that's when it should have come up, that's when they should have started discussing how to fundraise for those individual programs. Not after the French program was already put into place and the students were enrolled.

It blows my mind how poorly she handled this and how it's now being translated into a "white person" thing, as if we're all assholes who don't know how to be inclusive of others.

Why shouldn't people think this. Folks have no problem painting all minorities with the actions of the poor, ill-behaved ones.

That may be but you're obviously racist if you do so.

But it's not racist to paint all white people with the same brush?

Welcome to anti-racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it wrong for parents to prioritize their own children?

M[b]y question is, why do these schools have such low test scores? It's established fact that cities often spend more (often much more) per student than suburbs do. Why does that extra money do nothing to raise test scores?![/b]

Were you born yesterday? I am pretty sure my 1st grader could answer this question for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that personal responsibility is now viewed as a conservative viewpoint is so sad (I truly don't mean that to be argumentative). We now have a large segment of our society that not only believe that it is ok for the government to be more responsible for the health and well being of their families, but that society OWES them support in all aspects of their lives.

"Personal responsibility" became a conservative viewpoint because the people who push a "personal responsibility" viewpoint largely ignore the system-wide issues of racism and class segregation that make it very difficult if not impossible for impoverished people to "pull themselves up by their boot straps" and take "personal responsibility" for their situation. The reality is that people who are born into generational poverty and live in economically decimated communities do not bear responsibility for those conditions, nor are they able, as individuals, to overcome decades of marginalization.

Society does not "OWE" anyone support in all areas of life, but public education is a right that all children have in this country. So yes, people feel entitled to support in education. Please listen to episode 2 of this podcast for description of what "separate but equal" schools were like, and if you still do not understand why personal responsibility is inadequate to address the magnitude of the problem, maybe you should go back to school yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of that was meant to be addressed.

But that’s the whole point, is that it? I wanted to know whether ALL the kids were better off. Did they get the new microscopes and gym clothes that were mentioned at the start? Are the original kids doing the IB program, maybe with Spanish instead of French, and is that degree helping them?

Instead we get just TWO parents who don’t get along. A dad who can’t coordinate with anybody else and a pta president who is sulking so badly about being knocked off her cozy perch (even if she was doing nothing when the school was at 35% occupancy) that she refuses to attend a funding meeting she was definitely invited to.

I wanted to hear from more/different parents and more kids about how this actually affected them. Not an hour about these two feuding bozos.

No, the point is to increase class and racial tensions as much as possible and make white people so frustrated and fatigued with constant accusations of racism and malice and inherent evil and seflishiness that most of them shut off and stop caring about racism even when there are obvious examples right in their faces.

If that's the point, then they are nailing it. This November I'm voting Republican for the first time in my entire life, for what I believe is the worst president we've ever had. And I'll be voting a straight Republican ticket. I've had enough of the race BS.

The hilarious thing is that Trump did better with black Americans than Romney, and he is on track to do better with this demographic than any Republican president in decades.

If that is true, talk about shooting oneself on the foot!

“All this race bs” came to a head during this administration. So why are you giving them 4 more years? Trump has done nothing to make minorities heard or feel respected. No snark intended, what are the Republicans doing and will do for the next four years to help us repair this?

[Anonymous]

Do they touch on how school districts are drawn especially in NJ, NY and CT? People are very deliberate in how they choose where to lve based on school district. If you could dissolve that system, that would go a long way to redistributing resources.

Yes, white parents will still try to mobilize resources, but at least poorer students wouldn't be concentrated in certain schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they touch on how school districts are drawn especially in NJ, NY and CT? People are very deliberate in how they choose where to lve based on school district. If you could dissolve that system, that would go a long way to redistributing resources.

Yes, white parents will still try to mobilize resources, but at least poorer students wouldn't be concentrated in certain schools.

This could be a slippery slope... many parents with resources will opt for private schools, similar to what happened in the South (Segregation Academies). Once that happens, those with resources lose all interest in investing in public education and will vote against tax initiatives to fund public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of that was meant to be addressed.

But that’s the whole point, is that it? I wanted to know whether ALL the kids were better off. Did they get the new microscopes and gym clothes that were mentioned at the start? Are the original kids doing the IB program, maybe with Spanish instead of French, and is that degree helping them?

Instead we get just TWO parents who don’t get along. A dad who can’t coordinate with anybody else and a pta president who is sulking so badly about being knocked off her cozy perch (even if she was doing nothing when the school was at 35% occupancy) that she refuses to attend a funding meeting she was definitely invited to.

I wanted to hear from more/different parents and more kids about how this actually affected them. Not an hour about these two feuding bozos.

No, the point is to increase class and racial tensions as much as possible and make white people so frustrated and fatigued with constant accusations of racism and malice and inherent evil and seflishiness that most of them shut off and stop caring about racism even when there are obvious examples right in their faces.

If that's the point, then they are nailing it. This November I'm voting Republican for the first time in my entire life, for what I believe is the worst president we've ever had. And I'll be voting a straight Republican ticket. I've had enough of the race BS.

The hilarious thing is that Trump did better with black Americans than Romney, and he is on track to do better with this demographic than any Republican president in decades.

If that is true, talk about shooting oneself on the foot!

“All this race bs” came to a head during this administration. So why are you giving them 4 more years? Trump has done nothing to make minorities heard or feel respected. No snark intended, what are the Republicans doing and will do for the next four years to help us repair this?

You don't know because you aren't paying attention. Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of that was meant to be addressed.

But that’s the whole point, is that it? I wanted to know whether ALL the kids were better off. Did they get the new microscopes and gym clothes that were mentioned at the start? Are the original kids doing the IB program, maybe with Spanish instead of French, and is that degree helping them?

Instead we get just TWO parents who don’t get along. A dad who can’t coordinate with anybody else and a pta president who is sulking so badly about being knocked off her cozy perch (even if she was doing nothing when the school was at 35% occupancy) that she refuses to attend a funding meeting she was definitely invited to.

I wanted to hear from more/different parents and more kids about how this actually affected them. Not an hour about these two feuding bozos.

No, the point is to increase class and racial tensions as much as possible and make white people so frustrated and fatigued with constant accusations of racism and malice and inherent evil and seflishiness that most of them shut off and stop caring about racism even when there are obvious examples right in their faces.

If that's the point, then they are nailing it. This November I'm voting Republican for the first time in my entire life, for what I believe is the worst president we've ever had. And I'll be voting a straight Republican ticket. I've had enough of the race BS.

The hilarious thing is that Trump did better with black Americans than Romney, and he is on track to do better with this demographic than any Republican president in decades.

If that is true, talk about shooting oneself on the foot!

“All this race bs” came to a head during this administration. So why are you giving them 4 more years? Trump has done nothing to make minorities heard or feel respected. No snark intended, what are the Republicans doing and will do for the next four years to help us repair this?

What will dem mayors and politicians do to stop the Eric Garners and Freddie Grays and George Floyd's from dying at the hands of their police departments?

Oh nothing, just blame republicans.

How does Klobuchar still have a political career when she is responsible for Chauvin still being on the force to even be in a position to kneel on someone's neck?

Now you want Brahmin Kamala Harris, who famously locked up a poor black woman with a chronically ill child for truancy, as your VP candidate (if not the top spot if /when Biden succumbs completely to his rapidly progressing dementia).

Obama went to Flint to laugh in the faces of the poor blacks there and tell them the water is fine!

So much racial justice. And y'all clueless dummies will keep right on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they touch on how school districts are drawn especially in NJ, NY and CT? People are very deliberate in how they choose where to lve based on school district. If you could dissolve that system, that would go a long way to redistributing resources.

Yes, white parents will still try to mobilize resources, but at least poorer students wouldn't be concentrated in certain schools.

Dissolve it and replace it with what? Every system I've seen that went beyond a marginal change resulted in significant amounts of white flight.

Driving the people with money out of your school system doesn't bode well in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they touch on how school districts are drawn especially in NJ, NY and CT? People are very deliberate in how they choose where to lve based on school district. If you could dissolve that system, that would go a long way to redistributing resources.

Yes, white parents will still try to mobilize resources, but at least poorer students wouldn't be concentrated in certain schools.

Dissolve it and replace it with what? Every system I've seen that went beyond a marginal change resulted in significant amounts of white flight.

Driving the people with money out of your school system doesn't bode well in the long run.

Let's see what they do. FCPS promises radical change to its STEM school and at least one board member is determined to draw boundaries and compose schools based on race and income. Most of the rest of them backed away from this idea during the election. Maybe they will draw inspiration from current events and take it up again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea why the focus is on the behavior of white parents in the 60s when we can see Asian families today using every tool in the book to preserve their kids’ dominance at selective magnet schools like Stuyvesant and TJHSST. It obviously is not the case that white parents are the only ones trying to maximize their own kids’ advantages.

The 60’s was 60 years ago. New examples please. And also we are all humans who suffer from a negative bias. If there are examples to the contrary our brains tend to ignore those examples because it doesn’t fit with what we have already assumed to be true of white patents. I’m sorry but this is really bullshit in so many areas. Yes, there are quite a few people Who try to use the system to their advantage but they are not ALL whites people and white people as a whole should not be viewed this way. A minority group such as African Americans as a whole are roughly 13 percent of the population so it would be impossible for there to be AA people in all gifted classrooms across the country, etc even if all tested into them. It gets tiring to hear things twisted and made into bigotry that isn’t. There is a lot of bigotry and racism in this country, making assumptions and generalizations about any racial group doesn’t help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that personal responsibility is now viewed as a conservative viewpoint is so sad (I truly don't mean that to be argumentative). We now have a large segment of our society that not only believe that it is ok for the government to be more responsible for the health and well being of their families, but that society OWES them support in all aspects of their lives.

"Personal responsibility" became a conservative viewpoint because the people who push a "personal responsibility" viewpoint largely ignore the system-wide issues of racism and class segregation that make it very difficult if not impossible for impoverished people to "pull themselves up by their boot straps" and take "personal responsibility" for their situation. The reality is that people who are born into generational poverty and live in economically decimated communities do not bear responsibility for those conditions, nor are they able, as individuals, to overcome decades of marginalization.

Society does not "OWE" anyone support in all areas of life, but public education is a right that all children have in this country. So yes, people feel entitled to support in education. Please listen to episode 2 of this podcast for description of what "separate but equal" schools were like, and if you still do not understand why personal responsibility is inadequate to address the magnitude of the problem, maybe you should go back to school yourself.

This right here is bullsh*t. Somehow Asian immigrants can break out of poverty in a single generation. Why can't blacks? The answer is that they do not recognize education as the vehicle of change and support it at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far white parents are guilty of considering their own children's needs first.

I do think the fundraising situation with the French immersion program was shady.

This maybe the dumbest comment ever. Who doesn’t think of their child first...in everything?? I don’t know of a parent who doesn’t have their child’s well being at the top of mind....black, white, red, yellow, green....ya know...everything doesn’t have to be about race.

How do you explain the decision Ruby Bridges’ parents made then? Or any of the other children who desegregated schools