DCPS Presenter at Deal made a racist remark and crowd erupted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious...i am assuming he was not AA. If he were, I'm imagining there wouldn't be so much outrage. Am I right?

AA teacher here. The outrage (at least from me) would be worse. I'm sick of self-loathing black people who feel they need to curry favor with the powers that be by spouting tired old lies and myths about the black community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He said "not just those kids in south east from broken homes."

What?! Who still uses this term?

Many people. It's very accurate.

[Anonymous]

The presenter was not AA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious...i am assuming he was not AA. If he were, I'm imagining there wouldn't be so much outrage. Am I right?

AA teacher here. The outrage (at least from me) would be worse. I'm sick of self-loathing black people who feel they need to curry favor with the powers that be by spouting tired old lies and myths about the black community.

Please point out one lie or myth that was stated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He said "not just those kids in south east from broken homes."

He was actively refuting that stereotype! I agree that broken homes is a ridiculous term, but he was referring to that having been said in the past by other people and saying that it was false.

Could the presentation have been done more skillfully? Absolutely.

Was the reaction appropriate? Not even remotely.

[Anonymous]

The Washington Post wrote on this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-teachers-meeting-turns-tense-after-comment-about-those-southeast-children/2017/08/16/2046b460-82b9-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html?utm_term=.90362bd17093

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He said "not just those kids in south east from broken homes."

What?! Who still uses this term?

Many people. It's very accurate.

How exactly is a home "broken"?

If you have at least one adult who loves you and is dedicated to meeting your needs with the resources they can access, you're better off than the Duggar children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He said "not just those kids in south east from broken homes."

He was actively refuting that stereotype! I agree that broken homes is a ridiculous term, but he was referring to that having been said in the past by other people and saying that it was false.

Could the presentation have been done more skillfully? Absolutely.

Was the reaction appropriate? Not even remotely.

That's what it sounds like to me: he was repeating wrong-minded stereotypes for the purpose of illustrating that point, but wasn't very good at that type of self-consciously ironic delivery. It is very hard to pull off. Preachers tend to be very good at that. But also, many people aren't very good at picking up on this nuance unless it is extremely exaggerated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He said "not just those kids in south east from broken homes."

He was actively refuting that stereotype! I agree that broken homes is a ridiculous term, but he was referring to that having been said in the past by other people and saying that it was false.

Could the presentation have been done more skillfully? Absolutely.

Was the reaction appropriate? Not even remotely.

That's what it sounds like to me: he was repeating wrong-minded stereotypes for the purpose of illustrating that point, but wasn't very good at that type of self-consciously ironic delivery. It is very hard to pull off. Preachers tend to be very good at that. But also, many people aren't very good at picking up on this nuance unless it is extremely exaggerated.

I agree. Ironic "air quotes" approach to refuting stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He said "not just those kids in south east from broken homes."

He was actively refuting that stereotype! I agree that broken homes is a ridiculous term, but he was referring to that having been said in the past by other people and saying that it was false.

Could the presentation have been done more skillfully? Absolutely.

Was the reaction appropriate? Not even remotely.

That's what it sounds like to me: he was repeating wrong-minded stereotypes for the purpose of illustrating that point, but wasn't very good at that type of self-consciously ironic delivery. It is very hard to pull off. Preachers tend to be very good at that. But also, many people aren't very good at picking up on this nuance unless it is extremely exaggerated.

I agree. Ironic "air quotes" approach to refuting stereotypes.

Agree. The air quotes are around "those SE kids". Many upper NW parents DO think 'those other kids'-never their own- have certain needs. All kids do. I think the presenter was saying 'don't be so quick to judge'- and got judged for it.

Irony is a cruel bitch.

[Anonymous]

I read the Post article about the speech and it sounds like he was attempting to describe how others see SE DC kids, not trying to stereotype them himself...

As an aside, as the parent of an incoming pre-K student in DCPS, this type of story makes me wary of being involved in my son's new school. I've seen it firsthand on the listserv: everyone is waiting to pounce on anything that someone somewhere could theoretically construe as potentially racist. No one will give you the benefit of the doubt or try to figure out what you intended--it absolutely must be the worst possible interpretation and it must be proclaimed to the entire school that you are a racist. Better to lay low, not get involved, and not risk the wrath of the mob...

[Anonymous]

Chancellor Wilson showcased this social-emotional initiative in a recent email to parents. I agree this is needed, based in part on my DC's experience at a wotp school where parents were, for the most part, quite wealthy. ?

I understand some of the participants may have been offended if they took the speaker's words at face value. But are there any comments on the substance of the presentation? Any thoughts on this new social-emotional piece? I imagine it's still a work in progress, and successful implementation is going to take time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He said "not just those kids in south east from broken homes."

He was actively refuting that stereotype! I agree that broken homes is a ridiculous term, but he was referring to that having been said in the past by other people and saying that it was false.

Could the presentation have been done more skillfully? Absolutely.

Was the reaction appropriate? Not even remotely.

The reaction wasn't appropriate on either end - from what I heard, other Central Office staff ran up and in trying to quiet people and get them to move on just dismissed what was said and made it all worse. I don't think teachers' initial reactions were to shout and leave, it sounds like it escalated after no one would listen to them explain why they had an issue with what was said.

At the end of the day, hopefully everyone learned from it. I thought the article on this in the Post was very good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read the Post article about the speech and it sounds like he was attempting to describe how others see SE DC kids, not trying to stereotype them himself...

As an aside, as the parent of an incoming pre-K student in DCPS, this type of story makes me wary of being involved in my son's new school. I've seen it firsthand on the listserv: everyone is waiting to pounce on anything that someone somewhere could theoretically construe as potentially racist. No one will give you the benefit of the doubt or try to figure out what you intended--it absolutely must be the worst possible interpretation and it must be proclaimed to the entire school that you are a racist. Better to lay low, not get involved, and not risk the wrath of the mob...

Sorry, but that's a cop out. There are abundant issues that would benefit from parent involvement that you can get involved in without having to comment on race or politics. I don't even know what school you're talking about, but that is true for every single DCPS school, from the most challenged to the most well-resourced.

If you're planning to avoid human interaction altogether so as to avoid offending anyone, that's a different level of "avoidance"... but it's not true at all that you can't do good things for your child's school or get involved in what's happening there without commenting on race or class or other political hot buttons.

[Anonymous]

Yawn since when is saying facts racist......

I swear yall are your own worst enemies precious snowflakes right at home on DCUM