My daughter is the only white girl in her grade: ask me anything

[Anonymous]

16:29 again. My DC got highest scores possible on DC CAS and PARCC so I won't say that the HRC didn't teach math well. But we never 'supplemented' and didn't ask or push for more acceleration or challenge.

But apparently others were - or there are a LOT of math prodigies at one small charter school.

[Anonymous]

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

[Anonymous]

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

That is precisely how some non-black/Latino families view it. OP is speaking to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

That is precisely how some non-black/Latino families view it. OP is speaking to them.

Yes, and I think OP is quite measured in how she discussed her experience. I can totally understand why it would be painful to read, but OTOH, I don't think it's OP that should bear the brunt of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

No, it really does not. But by attacking her repeatedly, you pretty much destroy all of your own credibility. Are you offended because she used the words black and white? Ate you offended that she dared send her child to a school where child is the minority? Becauase in the same position as the op, I actually met several moms just like you. Thankfully, not all, or even most.

I don't think it makes YOU a bad parent. Just one that I personally find unpleasant. But your issues are your own. They have nothing to do with my family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

No, it really does not. But by attacking her repeatedly, you pretty much destroy all of your own credibility. Are you offended because she used the words black and white? Ate you offended that she dared send her child to a school where child is the minority? Becauase in the same position as the op, I actually met several moms just like you. Thankfully, not all, or even most.

I don't think it makes YOU a bad parent. Just one that I personally find unpleasant. But your issues are your own. They have nothing to do with my family.

Whoa, I think you need to exercise a little empathy here. I think the offended PP is wrong AND right at the same time. Wrong, in that there is basically no way for OP to discuss this subject without highlighting the "otherness" of the kids in the school (as opposed to her own child's otherness). But, she's also wrong because there's no other way to discuss the issue, and without people like OP being willing to discuss it, we'll never learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

OP here.

The target audience of this post, specifically, was white families of PK students who are apprehensive about their white children being in a majority minority school for social reasons. This is something that comes up on almost every post about a majority minority school: what will the social experience of a white child be in a majority minority classroom? What sorts of issues will children have in those situations, etc.

For what it's worth, I talked to DD about this last night. I asked her if there was anything she'd noticed about school, whether she was different from other kids in some way. She said, "Well, a lot of them speak Spanish. I wish I spoke more Spanish." I told her we could work on that if she wanted to, and she was excited. I asked her if she'd noticed that she was the only white kid in her class, and she said yes. I asked her what she thought of that, and she kind of rolled her eyes and was like, "Mom, they're just my friends. Some of them are black and some of them are Hispanic. But they're just my friends." I told her that there were people who wondered if things felt different for her because she's white and the rest of the class isn't and asked if anyone had ever teased her because of that before, and she said no, nothing like that had ever happened. Then she launched into a monologue about a problem she had with a boy in her class last year (who is in her class this year too), and ended the story with, "But it's not because he's black. It's because he has bad behavior. White kids have bad behavior too."

[Anonymous]

I exercise a lot of empathy, but I am not a doormat. Nor is my child. We need to discuss these issues. Discussing them is not making anyone an "exotic," it is the only way we will move on, the only we will actually move forward. I am horrified at how segregated education has become in this country, how complicit we all have become in making it so. But I have as little tolerance for parents who tell me that I am only making my child an exotic by sending her to school with theirs as I do for the white ones cowering in Chevy Chase, who sigh and say, "what can be done?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

OP here.

The target audience of this post, specifically, was white families of PK students who are apprehensive about their white children being in a majority minority school for social reasons. This is something that comes up on almost every post about a majority minority school: what will the social experience of a white child be in a majority minority classroom? What sorts of issues will children have in those situations, etc.

For what it's worth, I talked to DD about this last night. I asked her if there was anything she'd noticed about school, whether she was different from other kids in some way. She said, "Well, a lot of them speak Spanish. I wish I spoke more Spanish." I told her we could work on that if she wanted to, and she was excited. I asked her if she'd noticed that she was the only white kid in her class, and she said yes. I asked her what she thought of that, and she kind of rolled her eyes and was like, "Mom, they're just my friends. Some of them are black and some of them are Hispanic. But they're just my friends." I told her that there were people who wondered if things felt different for her because she's white and the rest of the class isn't and asked if anyone had ever teased her because of that before, and she said no, nothing like that had ever happened. Then she launched into a monologue about a problem she had with a boy in her class last year (who is in her class this year too), and ended the story with, "But it's not because he's black. It's because he has bad behavior. White kids have bad behavior too."

Aw, this is sweet, OP. Sounds like you guys are doing a good job.

Of course, views may change as kids get older, and they become more aware of the negative connotations associated with some groups. But, it sounds like you'll be ready to discuss appropriately when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

I am horrified at how segregated education has become in this country, how complicit we all have become in making it so.

Our school is 60 percent white and 40 percent African American and Latino. So the school itself is not segregated, but the experience of the children there is, for the most part, segregated. Most of the white children are affluent and most of the African American and Latino children are not. There are absolutely some exceptions to that, and those affluent Latino and African American children socialize mostly with white children, probably because they are involved in the same sports leagues, afterschool activities, laser tag birthday parties etc, all of which cost money, and are part of how friendships are formed. Nevertheless, It is enormously disturbing how segregated the school actually is, given how diverse it would appear on paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I exercise a lot of empathy, but I am not a doormat. Nor is my child. We need to discuss these issues. Discussing them is not making anyone an "exotic," it is the only way we will move on, the only we will actually move forward. I am horrified at how segregated education has become in this country, how complicit we all have become in making it so. But I have as little tolerance for parents who tell me that I am only making my child an exotic by sending her to school with theirs as I do for the white ones cowering in Chevy Chase, who sigh and say, "what can be done?"

White parent of reasonably means here -- I can comfortably say that I would feel like a total outsider in Chevy Chase. Not everyone is comfortable on race alone. There's culture too. I don't begrudge Chevy chase folks but I'm not one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

OP here.

The target audience of this post, specifically, was white families of PK students who are apprehensive about their white children being in a majority minority school for social reasons. This is something that comes up on almost every post about a majority minority school: what will the social experience of a white child be in a majority minority classroom? What sorts of issues will children have in those situations, etc.

For what it's worth, I talked to DD about this last night. I asked her if there was anything she'd noticed about school, whether she was different from other kids in some way. She said, "Well, a lot of them speak Spanish. I wish I spoke more Spanish." I told her we could work on that if she wanted to, and she was excited. I asked her if she'd noticed that she was the only white kid in her class, and she said yes. I asked her what she thought of that, and she kind of rolled her eyes and was like, "Mom, they're just my friends. Some of them are black and some of them are Hispanic. But they're just my friends." I told her that there were people who wondered if things felt different for her because she's white and the rest of the class isn't and asked if anyone had ever teased her because of that before, and she said no, nothing like that had ever happened. Then she launched into a monologue about a problem she had with a boy in her class last year (who is in her class this year too), and ended the story with, "But it's not because he's black. It's because he has bad behavior. White kids have bad behavior too."

OP, sorry but the way you titled and framed this thread is deeply disingenuous. If most/ all students are Hispanic, some of them will surely be white--as white (if not more) than your DD.

So what's the deal exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As an African American parent, I find this post very troubling- the freak show aspect of it (come talk to me about what it is like to be surrounded by those black people) and the parents that are asking the most inane questions. This anonymous board just allows people to do things they would never do in real life.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was thinking.

PP- Still not reading ... School is majority Hispanic not black.

It doesn't matter, that's irrelevant. The issue is that this post portrays the situation like her child is in some crazy, exotic situation.

OP here.

The target audience of this post, specifically, was white families of PK students who are apprehensive about their white children being in a majority minority school for social reasons. This is something that comes up on almost every post about a majority minority school: what will the social experience of a white child be in a majority minority classroom? What sorts of issues will children have in those situations, etc.

For what it's worth, I talked to DD about this last night. I asked her if there was anything she'd noticed about school, whether she was different from other kids in some way. She said, "Well, a lot of them speak Spanish. I wish I spoke more Spanish." I told her we could work on that if she wanted to, and she was excited. I asked her if she'd noticed that she was the only white kid in her class, and she said yes. I asked her what she thought of that, and she kind of rolled her eyes and was like, "Mom, they're just my friends. Some of them are black and some of them are Hispanic. But they're just my friends." I told her that there were people who wondered if things felt different for her because she's white and the rest of the class isn't and asked if anyone had ever teased her because of that before, and she said no, nothing like that had ever happened. Then she launched into a monologue about a problem she had with a boy in her class last year (who is in her class this year too), and ended the story with, "But it's not because he's black. It's because he has bad behavior. White kids have bad behavior too."

OP, sorry but the way you titled and framed this thread is deeply disingenuous. If most/ all students are Hispanic, some of them will surely be white--as white (if not more) than your DD.

So what's the deal exactly.

I think this was actually addressed very early in the thread. I don't think that any reasonable person would consider my school to be 60% white, 30% black and 10% other races (including non-Latino white people). While you are technically correct that Latino students are classified as "white", I think you are missing the point, which is that the people I hoped to answer questions for were the non-Latino white parents who are apprehensive about sending their non-Latino white child to a school with a student body that is 60% Latino, 30% black, and 10% other races.

Also, you're not sorry, so don't preface your comments with "sorry."