Antiracist System Audit

[Anonymous]

Btw the notion that the Spanish language isn't part of our nation's heritage is absurd. I guess they just use Spanish names for all those US cities because they thought they were pretty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the Spanish language isn't part of our nation's heritage is absurd. I guess they just use Spanish names for all those US cities because they thought they were pretty.

This idea that Spanish needs to be the dominant part of our nation’s heritage is absurd.

Especially in an area that has an incredible amount of diversity that is NOT of Spanish descent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the Spanish language isn't part of our nation's heritage is absurd. I guess they just use Spanish names for all those US cities because they thought they were pretty.

This idea that Spanish needs to be the dominant part of our nation’s heritage is absurd.

Especially in an area that has an incredible amount of diversity that is NOT of Spanish descent.

Who is advocating for this? I completely agree that MCPS should design its curriculum with the full diversity of the student body in mind (the MCPS student population is 25% White). But Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the US and in Montgomery County, which means you are going to encounter more Spanish than other non-English languages in MCPS and in your daily life. Sorry that reality offends you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the Spanish language isn't part of our nation's heritage is absurd. I guess they just use Spanish names for all those US cities because they thought they were pretty.

Spaniards were indeed all around back in the day. It was quite the battle for the various Americas!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the Spanish language isn't part of our nation's heritage is absurd. I guess they just use Spanish names for all those US cities because they thought they were pretty.

This idea that Spanish needs to be the dominant part of our nation’s heritage is absurd.

Especially in an area that has an incredible amount of diversity that is NOT of Spanish descent.

Who is advocating for this? I completely agree that MCPS should design its curriculum with the full diversity of the student body in mind (the MCPS student population is 25% White). But Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the US and in Montgomery County, which means you are going to encounter more Spanish than other non-English languages in MCPS and in your daily life. Sorry that reality offends you.

I’m fluent in Spanish; it isn’t real Spanish nor Spanglish in most of the uneducated, illiterate, unschooled MoCo communities you think are speaking clearly to eat other. And no, it’s not an Incan dialect either. It’s how one grasps at Spanish and grammar when one was never taught it nor how to read or write.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw PP, you are trying to argue that books with White authors should account for 88% of the MCPS curriculum in a school system that is 25% White. Do you not see how you are upholding White supremacy?

Yes, I am saying that this country, with its foundations in the Enlightenment and the English language, will by necessity need to teach from that heritage if it expects people to value the things that made it successful.

I would like my kids to learn about things that made this country successful, but also about areas where it wasn't so successful.

The only people saying this needs to be an either/or decision are the people saying we should excise all white people from the curriculum. No one advocating that kids learn about Thomas Paine and John Locke are saying kids shouldn’t also learn about Frederick Douglass and Ralph Ellison.

This was in reference to a PP's agreeing with "White authors should account for 88% of the MCPS curriculum."

Wouldn't it be better if they focused less on an author's race and more on a book's content?

THIS

Focusing on the race of the author is dumb and useless.

I find this idea of classifying something as white literature as if all white authors are the same kind of racist.

Black literature is categorized as such all the time. You just find it offensive when White literature is marked as such, because you think of Whiteness as the standard and everything else as different/other.

Not the PP but I find both offensive since they encourage judging people based solely on their race instead of ideas.

Color blindness is not antiracist. People know when they are reading a White author's book just like they know they are watching a White writer's movie. They just don't label it as such. Do you really read James Baldwin and think race doesn't matter, that his race doesn't matter? No you pay yourself on the back for reading a Black book. Let's stop pretending we are colorblind when the only color we are "blind" to is White.

As long as people are so focused on just race, racism will persist.

No, racism persists because the impacts of explicit discrimination from the past (slavery, redlining, etc) affect people,'s wealth today dramatically, and because people today treat Black people worse than White people in almost every sector (health, education, the job market) in ways that are well documented if you bother to educate yourself.

Exactly and that stems from people who are focused on just race!

There is more hate and distrust happening today than ever. Why? Because culture wars have become such a hot topic that everyone has to tiptoe around everyone to not risk offense. It's ridiculous. we cancel certain books that offend but fight to keep certain books alive that also offend. we all need to take a chill pill and stop blaming the past for eternity. I work in a minority majority office with several POC in senior positions. I know most companies are doing what they can to embrace diversity. is t that enough? We cant fix every issue out there and some aren't even fixable by outside influences. yet we keep spinning our wheels trying as we dig ourselves deeper and deeper into a position where we cant get out.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is discriminated against at school because she is fat and pimply. Teachers and kids shunned her. But no one is out there trying to protect her or give her a leg up on anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw PP, you are trying to argue that books with White authors should account for 88% of the MCPS curriculum in a school system that is 25% White. Do you not see how you are upholding White supremacy?

Yes, I am saying that this country, with its foundations in the Enlightenment and the English language, will by necessity need to teach from that heritage if it expects people to value the things that made it successful.

I would like my kids to learn about things that made this country successful, but also about areas where it wasn't so successful.

The only people saying this needs to be an either/or decision are the people saying we should excise all white people from the curriculum. No one advocating that kids learn about Thomas Paine and John Locke are saying kids shouldn’t also learn about Frederick Douglass and Ralph Ellison.

This was in reference to a PP's agreeing with "White authors should account for 88% of the MCPS curriculum."

Wouldn't it be better if they focused less on an author's race and more on a book's content?

THIS

Focusing on the race of the author is dumb and useless.

I find this idea of classifying something as white literature as if all white authors are the same kind of racist.

Black literature is categorized as such all the time. You just find it offensive when White literature is marked as such, because you think of Whiteness as the standard and everything else as different/other.

Not the PP but I find both offensive since they encourage judging people based solely on their race instead of ideas.

Color blindness is not antiracist. People know when they are reading a White author's book just like they know they are watching a White writer's movie. They just don't label it as such. Do you really read James Baldwin and think race doesn't matter, that his race doesn't matter? No you pay yourself on the back for reading a Black book. Let's stop pretending we are colorblind when the only color we are "blind" to is White.

As long as people are so focused on just race, racism will persist.

No, racism persists because the impacts of explicit discrimination from the past (slavery, redlining, etc) affect people,'s wealth today dramatically, and because people today treat Black people worse than White people in almost every sector (health, education, the job market) in ways that are well documented if you bother to educate yourself.

Exactly and that stems from people who are focused on just race!

There is more hate and distrust happening today than ever. Why? Because culture wars have become such a hot topic that everyone has to tiptoe around everyone to not risk offense. It's ridiculous. we cancel certain books that offend but fight to keep certain books alive that also offend. we all need to take a chill pill and stop blaming the past for eternity. I work in a minority majority office with several POC in senior positions. I know most companies are doing what they can to embrace diversity. is t that enough? We cant fix every issue out there and some aren't even fixable by outside influences. yet we keep spinning our wheels trying as we dig ourselves deeper and deeper into a position where we cant get out.

I agree this is an issue and as a society we need to do better, but I don't think this is something MCPS can address. The best thing they can do is try and educate the children in their charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw the notion that the Spanish language isn't part of our nation's heritage is absurd. I guess they just use Spanish names for all those US cities because they thought they were pretty.

This idea that Spanish needs to be the dominant part of our nation’s heritage is absurd.

Especially in an area that has an incredible amount of diversity that is NOT of Spanish descent.

Who is advocating for this? I completely agree that MCPS should design its curriculum with the full diversity of the student body in mind (the MCPS student population is 25% White). But Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the US and in Montgomery County, which means you are going to encounter more Spanish than other non-English languages in MCPS and in your daily life. Sorry that reality offends you.

I’m fluent in Spanish; it isn’t real Spanish nor Spanglish in most of the uneducated, illiterate, unschooled MoCo communities you think are speaking clearly to eat other. And no, it’s not an Incan dialect either. It’s how one grasps at Spanish and grammar when one was never taught it nor how to read or write.

Oh God you sound like my racist relatives who refer to anyone who isn't rich as "gente fea"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is discriminated against at school because she is fat and pimply. Teachers and kids shunned her. But no one is out there trying to protect her or give her a leg up on anything.

You know Black people also suffer from obesity and acne right? And yes there are people trying to protect her. The problem is you want people to only protect her and not anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Btw PP, you are trying to argue that books with White authors should account for 88% of the MCPS curriculum in a school system that is 25% White. Do you not see how you are upholding White supremacy?

Yes, I am saying that this country, with its foundations in the Enlightenment and the English language, will by necessity need to teach from that heritage if it expects people to value the things that made it successful.

I would like my kids to learn about things that made this country successful, but also about areas where it wasn't so successful.

The only people saying this needs to be an either/or decision are the people saying we should excise all white people from the curriculum. No one advocating that kids learn about Thomas Paine and John Locke are saying kids shouldn’t also learn about Frederick Douglass and Ralph Ellison.

This was in reference to a PP's agreeing with "White authors should account for 88% of the MCPS curriculum."

Wouldn't it be better if they focused less on an author's race and more on a book's content?

THIS

Focusing on the race of the author is dumb and useless.

I find this idea of classifying something as white literature as if all white authors are the same kind of racist.

Black literature is categorized as such all the time. You just find it offensive when White literature is marked as such, because you think of Whiteness as the standard and everything else as different/other.

Not the PP but I find both offensive since they encourage judging people based solely on their race instead of ideas.

Color blindness is not antiracist. People know when they are reading a White author's book just like they know they are watching a White writer's movie. They just don't label it as such. Do you really read James Baldwin and think race doesn't matter, that his race doesn't matter? No you pay yourself on the back for reading a Black book. Let's stop pretending we are colorblind when the only color we are "blind" to is White.

As long as people are so focused on just race, racism will persist.

No, racism persists because the impacts of explicit discrimination from the past (slavery, redlining, etc) affect people,'s wealth today dramatically, and because people today treat Black people worse than White people in almost every sector (health, education, the job market) in ways that are well documented if you bother to educate yourself.

Exactly and that stems from people who are focused on just race!

There is more hate and distrust happening today than ever. Why? Because culture wars have become such a hot topic that everyone has to tiptoe around everyone to not risk offense. It's ridiculous. we cancel certain books that offend but fight to keep certain books alive that also offend. we all need to take a chill pill and stop blaming the past for eternity. I work in a minority majority office with several POC in senior positions. I know most companies are doing what they can to embrace diversity. is t that enough? We cant fix every issue out there and some aren't even fixable by outside influences. yet we keep spinning our wheels trying as we dig ourselves deeper and deeper into a position where we cant get out.

I agree this is an issue and as a society we need to do better, but I don't think this is something MCPS can address. The best thing they can do is try and educate the children in their charge.

For the tens of millions MCPS has poured into these initiatives over the past few decades what good has come out of it? Was it worth these millions or would that money have been better spent on teachers?