Is it possible to teach kids to be inclusive and not racist when

[Anonymous]

No you can’t teach diversity in that environment.

You can only teach cultural sensitivity. You have to meet racist comments, etc harshly.

[Anonymous]

The kids who express racist views at the majority white MoCo middle school where I teach learn it so early they don't really understand it. Then, when their beliefs are called into question they become incredibly defensive because accepting that those beliefs are wrong means rejecting their parents and the people at their country clubs. It's really tragic, all the more so because the few students of color inevitably accept and excuse the behavior of their friends in order to fit in. Personally, I'm really glad Whitman's principal is focusing on character education, but I agree with others: it's hard to combat what kids are learning at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids who express racist views at the majority white MoCo middle school where I teach learn it so early they don't really understand it. Then, when their beliefs are called into question they become incredibly defensive because accepting that those beliefs are wrong means rejecting their parents and the people at their country clubs. It's really tragic, all the more so because the few students of color inevitably accept and excuse the behavior of their friends in order to fit in. Personally, I'm really glad Whitman's principal is focusing on character education, but I agree with others: it's hard to combat what kids are learning at home.

Their parents move heaven and earth to buy into a W school specifically because of demographics. That speaks volumes about their beliefs and values.

This thread prompted me to check out the demographics of other schools. Wooton has a rather sizable Asian demographic. Interestingly, I've had friends from down county criticize our high school as being "too white/not diverse," yet it seems far more diverse than the Whitman. (Talking about Sherwood.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids who express racist views at the majority white MoCo middle school where I teach learn it so early they don't really understand it. Then, when their beliefs are called into question they become incredibly defensive because accepting that those beliefs are wrong means rejecting their parents and the people at their country clubs. It's really tragic, all the more so because the few students of color inevitably accept and excuse the behavior of their friends in order to fit in. Personally, I'm really glad Whitman's principal is focusing on character education, but I agree with others: it's hard to combat what kids are learning at home.

I had the same problem with AA kids with comments about gays and Asians. It really ingrained in the culture of families from an early age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there are essentially no black kids in their school? It's my understanding that the few black kids at whitman are leaving for private, AND that the principal has made it a mission to create an inclusive student body that doesn't target anyone because of their differences. This is a laudible goal, but is it possible for him to be successful in that goal when there's no diversity to speak of at the school? I'm hoping he can make progress, obviously, but am upset that the little diversity there was is now basically nonexistent.

It's 33 percent minority; how is that "basically nonexistent "?

15% Asian
fewer than 5% black
about 9% Hispanic

It's not the Asians who are complaining, and they are the largest minority group.

OP - Why did you pick Whitman if you're worried about diversity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids who express racist views at the majority white MoCo middle school where I teach learn it so early they don't really understand it. Then, when their beliefs are called into question they become incredibly defensive because accepting that those beliefs are wrong means rejecting their parents and the people at their country clubs. It's really tragic, all the more so because the few students of color inevitably accept and excuse the behavior of their friends in order to fit in. Personally, I'm really glad Whitman's principal is focusing on character education, but I agree with others: it's hard to combat what kids are learning at home.

Their parents move heaven and earth to buy into a W school specifically because of demographics. That speaks volumes about their beliefs and values.

This thread prompted me to check out the demographics of other schools. Wooton has a rather sizable Asian demographic. Interestingly, I've had friends from down county criticize our high school as being "too white/not diverse," yet it seems far more diverse than the Whitman. (Talking about Sherwood.)

It's most likely a hidden "FARMs" comment. Sherwood HS has fewer FARMs than any DCC school. I agree that SHS has grown in diversity. It's now about half white, half minority - but only 15% FARMs.

Northwood, for example, is over 50% FARMs.

[Anonymous]

When you have wealthy parents complaining about redrawing school boundaries and making snarky comments about how how poor black/brown kids won't do any better in school with richer white kids, then you can see where their kids get it from. OP, it's only possible to do what you ask if the parents re-enforce that learning at home (like other things). My guess is many white/wealthy parents are going to do that.

[Anonymous]

^sorry.. that should read... "many white wealthy parents are NOT going to do that".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended a meeting in June about diversity in MCPS, where a black Whitman parent presented the situation very powerfully. The (white) Principal also spoke, and he seemed motivated and engaged, as were the central admin representatives (all black).

Apparently they are implementing a series of trainings and meetings for the various stakeholders (students, staff, parents) over the course of this coming school year, which they hope will turn the atmosphere around. I wish them well, but the weakest link here are the (non-black) parents who think that all this does not apply to them because "they are not racist". If everyone doesn't engage in the conversation about what's appropriate behavior and what's not, someone will end up doing something stupid once again. The easiest people to reach is the choir. It's the hard=to-reach folk who need the most training.

What exactly are the white parents supposed to do about it? They should encourage their kids to be friends with everyone but reality is kids self-segregate at all schools. If I was a minority there is no way I'd move to an area and send my child to a school where there was little diversity. Same a when I worked in DC, I was hired to be the diversity and it was very difficult. Some treated me very well and others were clear I was not welcome.

You clearly don't know what happened there. There were three racial incidents in the past school year, the last of which was a white student posting a photo of herself in blackface with the n-word in a sentence.
There are non-black families who clearly don't understand what's so wrong about this, and even for the ones who do understand, most probably didn't think to spell it out to their kids. So this is about EDUCATING youth in a connected world, where they find inspiration online, outside their immediate circle, to do dumb things, and being specific about it.

No I don't get it as I would never send my white child to a school like that. You cannot blame all the white kids/parents for the actions of a select few. We choose a diverse community and school and in all reality those also have racial issues and segregation with the parents and kids. There is no idea utopia for any school. But, if I was a minority parent, there is no way I'd even consider a community with those statistics. Most of those people move there to self-segregate and are proud of themselves for doing so. Anyone moving to that community does't care about diversity.

The white parents with students still at Whitman are choosing to keep their kids there. That's not supportive of the AA community. It's an action that speaks for itself.

We chose a diverse school--both economically and racially. I think the world is better when we force ourselves to cross bridges and meet with others who are not our race, religion or of our same SES. It's not always easy, yet I think it's worth it.


I think the lessons have to be woven into the educational framework.

[Anonymous]

If you haven’t already done so, read White Fragility. It really helps to define the issue and talk about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended a meeting in June about diversity in MCPS, where a black Whitman parent presented the situation very powerfully. The (white) Principal also spoke, and he seemed motivated and engaged, as were the central admin representatives (all black).

Apparently they are implementing a series of trainings and meetings for the various stakeholders (students, staff, parents) over the course of this coming school year, which they hope will turn the atmosphere around. I wish them well, but the weakest link here are the (non-black) parents who think that all this does not apply to them because "they are not racist". If everyone doesn't engage in the conversation about what's appropriate behavior and what's not, someone will end up doing something stupid once again. The easiest people to reach is the choir. It's the hard=to-reach folk who need the most training.

What exactly are the white parents supposed to do about it? They should encourage their kids to be friends with everyone but reality is kids self-segregate at all schools. If I was a minority there is no way I'd move to an area and send my child to a school where there was little diversity. Same a when I worked in DC, I was hired to be the diversity and it was very difficult. Some treated me very well and others were clear I was not welcome.

You clearly don't know what happened there. There were three racial incidents in the past school year, the last of which was a white student posting a photo of herself in blackface with the n-word in a sentence.
There are non-black families who clearly don't understand what's so wrong about this, and even for the ones who do understand, most probably didn't think to spell it out to their kids. So this is about EDUCATING youth in a connected world, where they find inspiration online, outside their immediate circle, to do dumb things, and being specific about it.

No I don't get it as I would never send my white child to a school like that. You cannot blame all the white kids/parents for the actions of a select few. We choose a diverse community and school and in all reality those also have racial issues and segregation with the parents and kids. There is no idea utopia for any school. But, if I was a minority parent, there is no way I'd even consider a community with those statistics. Most of those people move there to self-segregate and are proud of themselves for doing so. Anyone moving to that community does't care about diversity.

The white parents with students still at Whitman are choosing to keep their kids there. That's not supportive of the AA community. It's an action that speaks for itself.

We chose a diverse school--both economically and racially. I think the world is better when we force ourselves to cross bridges and meet with others who are not our race, religion or of our same SES. It's not always easy, yet I think it's worth it.


I think the lessons have to be woven into the educational framework.

They are in the new SS curriculum for US History. Unfortunately, some teachers are refusing to teach the new lessons although they are teaching in the schools that need it the most. When I attending training this summer, the woman sitting next to me said that she skips the lessons she thinks will make parents angry because she doesn’t want to have to waste time defending them. I told her that she should teach them and forward any angry emails to her principal to handle. No one is going to get fired for teaching lessons from the curriculum development teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids who express racist views at the majority white MoCo middle school where I teach learn it so early they don't really understand it. Then, when their beliefs are called into question they become incredibly defensive because accepting that those beliefs are wrong means rejecting their parents and the people at their country clubs. It's really tragic, all the more so because the few students of color inevitably accept and excuse the behavior of their friends in order to fit in. Personally, I'm really glad Whitman's principal is focusing on character education, but I agree with others: it's hard to combat what kids are learning at home.

Their parents move heaven and earth to buy into a W school specifically because of demographics. That speaks volumes about their beliefs and values.

This thread prompted me to check out the demographics of other schools. Wooton has a rather sizable Asian demographic. Interestingly, I've had friends from down county criticize our high school as being "too white/not diverse," yet it seems far more diverse than the Whitman. (Talking about Sherwood.)

Sherwood may be classified as down county but they are not downcountry nor very diverse and many downcountry move out there for the same reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you have wealthy parents complaining about redrawing school boundaries and making snarky comments about how how poor black/brown kids won't do any better in school with richer white kids, then you can see where their kids get it from. OP, it's only possible to do what you ask if the parents re-enforce that learning at home (like other things). My guess is many white/wealthy parents are going to do that.

They are also insulting the white kids. But, as a downcountry parent, its a non-issue. We can afford to move. We don't want our kids in that environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids who express racist views at the majority white MoCo middle school where I teach learn it so early they don't really understand it. Then, when their beliefs are called into question they become incredibly defensive because accepting that those beliefs are wrong means rejecting their parents and the people at their country clubs. It's really tragic, all the more so because the few students of color inevitably accept and excuse the behavior of their friends in order to fit in. Personally, I'm really glad Whitman's principal is focusing on character education, but I agree with others: it's hard to combat what kids are learning at home.

Their parents move heaven and earth to buy into a W school specifically because of demographics. That speaks volumes about their beliefs and values.

This thread prompted me to check out the demographics of other schools. Wooton has a rather sizable Asian demographic. Interestingly, I've had friends from down county criticize our high school as being "too white/not diverse," yet it seems far more diverse than the Whitman. (Talking about Sherwood.)

It's most likely a hidden "FARMs" comment. Sherwood HS has fewer FARMs than any DCC school. I agree that SHS has grown in diversity. It's now about half white, half minority - but only 15% FARMs.

Northwood, for example, is over 50% FARMs.

Sherwood is not in the DCC cluster. Sherwood is its own cluster. Sherwood when DH was a student was primarily white, a few black faces, very little Latinos or Asians. Is Sherwood a smidge more diverse? Sure. But Sherwood is in Olney, which has the small town feel and can be cliquey depending on who you ask. Kids can be taught to be racially sensitive and inclusive but make their own paths as we saw with the Charlottesville riots. The parents of one kid explicitly stated on TV that they taught their kid about inclusiveness and they have friends of varying backgrounds. Every child/person must choose a path that they feel most comfortable with, whether it is inclusiveness or exclusiveness. I’m not sure why the OP of this thread even has this thread. I’m a MCPS teacher and we’ve had every kind of divesirty training that I can think of and varying ways to get kids to be inclusive......However, again it is up to the individual child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids who express racist views at the majority white MoCo middle school where I teach learn it so early they don't really understand it. Then, when their beliefs are called into question they become incredibly defensive because accepting that those beliefs are wrong means rejecting their parents and the people at their country clubs. It's really tragic, all the more so because the few students of color inevitably accept and excuse the behavior of their friends in order to fit in. Personally, I'm really glad Whitman's principal is focusing on character education, but I agree with others: it's hard to combat what kids are learning at home.

Their parents move heaven and earth to buy into a W school specifically because of demographics. That speaks volumes about their beliefs and values.

This thread prompted me to check out the demographics of other schools. Wooton has a rather sizable Asian demographic. Interestingly, I've had friends from down county criticize our high school as being "too white/not diverse," yet it seems far more diverse than the Whitman. (Talking about Sherwood.)

Sherwood may be classified as down county but they are not downcountry nor very diverse and many downcountry move out there for the same reason.

People on this board are so misinformed and like to make ignorant uninformed comments. Sherwood is NOT classified as Downcounty, nor has it ever been.
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04503.pdf