Teacher told kids on zoom class to write about their white privilege

[Anonymous]

If this is not a troll then holy crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher is Muslim, the class is very small and is a mix of white and non -white. She pointed out the kids who were non -white by name and stated that they must know how it feels to be bullied just like she does. She told the kids to write about their privileges and the kids were confused. She said write down that you are white and European looking and not transgender. Is this appropriate? 5th grade.

Uh huh. She said this verbatim?

Color me skeptical as well. "Totally suss," as my kids say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh please don’t be so dramatic no pearl clutching about. I don’t even own any . That may have been your experience but I bet if you speak to many other white people say In rural meth infested West Virginia they would not have had a similar experience. Love the generalizations

I grew up in a town of fewer than 1,000 people in rural Idaho. Our town was absolutely decimated first by the 1980s timber crash, then by meth. Our schools were terrible, to the point that we actually had to sit on one side of the room one year because the ceiling was caving in on the other side, and eventually enrollment dropped so low that they combined the MS and HS. There was about a 30% drop-out rate, and a quarter of the graduating class was either pregnant or already had a baby. Every single family was impacted by either drugs or alcohol or both, and gun violence was distressingly common. I am the person you are talking about above, or the PNW equivalent.

So, yes, I know something about rural poverty, drugs, lack of opportunities, and just how hard it is to break free from a cycle of poverty.

You know what, though? If I were to make a list of my privileges, white would still be on the list. I experienced many other marginalizations, but my race wasn't one of them. Don't use me, and people like me, to prove your rhetorical point because you don't know us and I'm confident you don't care to.

[Anonymous]

That's not appropriate for any teacher to demand that. She has no idea what hardships a child might have been through. She'd hate to hear my child's story. My child would not be participating in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a White person I have benefited from white privilege and I continue to do so. There are enough resources in the world for every one to live with dignity and freedom. I see no reason why I should not use my privilege to acknowledge racism and fight for justice. I don't think that life will become harder for me if this becomes a more equitable society. I fail to understand where the fear is coming from?

You don’t see anything wrong with telling a bunch of 10 year olds there’s something wrong with them for being white?

Acknowledging that being white, or even white presenting, is a privilege is not the same as saying there is "something wrong with them for being white."

I'm guessing that the teacher had all of the kids list their privileges, including the kids of color. Having parents who can pay for private school, or with the resources to navigate financial aid, seems like an obvious one that's going to be true for every kid in the class. Being able bodied, being cisgendered, having attentive caregivers, on and on and on. The point of this exercise is probably to look at how each child experiences both privilege and marginalization, that you can have privilege in one area but experience marginalization in another, and that someone who experiences multiple marginalizations is going to have a harder time than someone who only experiences a few.

But, yes, it would be ridiculous for the white kids to not note being of European descent on a list of privileges.

Your post is really offensive and WHY we are divided. Some people may benefit from their ski color - but that goes for all races but the majority of us it has very little impact on jobs and life.

[Anonymous]

If you aren't comfortable writing about "white privilege" then flip it - I don't think it would be too hard for my elementary or middle schooler to write about all the ways in which life can be harder when you're black. Do you really think that's not true? Do you really not want your kids to be aware of it?

[Anonymous]

I don’t want to say much because I think I know this school and teacher because I used to work there. The school has made it a priority to teach a lot of super privileged kids that they are privileged. I don’t disagree. People who are really hurt or offended by this should ask themselves why they are. I suspect it is because they believe firmly that they deserve everything they have, and no luck was involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you aren't comfortable writing about "white privilege" then flip it - I don't think it would be too hard for my elementary or middle schooler to write about all the ways in which life can be harder when you're black. Do you really think that's not true? Do you really not want your kids to be aware of it?

That is still equally inappropriate especially for that age.

Not all white kids have privilege and not all black kids have terrible lives and depending on the child have a lot more privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want to say much because I think I know this school and teacher because I used to work there. The school has made it a priority to teach a lot of super privileged kids that they are privileged. I don’t disagree. People who are really hurt or offended by this should ask themselves why they are. I suspect it is because they believe firmly that they deserve everything they have, and no luck was involved.

That is not the schools job and that is on the parents.

I am offended as we have zero privilege based off our skin color.

My kid is has had some very horrible things happen and nothing most people could understand so having him pretend he has this great privileged and forcing him to agree when he doesn't makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Ugh, I'd lose that private school

[Anonymous]

I still don't see how little kids - elementary age kids - face such privilege. I live in a diverse ethnic neighborhood, but we're all around the same socio-economically.

Kids of color under 10 aren't faced with being pulled over just for driving, denied jobs, being followed around in a store or any of these situations traditionally faced by people of color.

In my neighborhood, the kids all play together, have pretty much the same level of toys, bikes, etc (there's not much of a discrepancy in income in my neighborhood) and go to the same school.

If the teacher expects the kids in that class to point out that the white kids go to a private school, all the kids in that class have that privilege. It just seems wrong on so many levels to ask that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want to say much because I think I know this school and teacher because I used to work there. The school has made it a priority to teach a lot of super privileged kids that they are privileged. I don’t disagree. People who are really hurt or offended by this should ask themselves why they are. I suspect it is because they believe firmly that they deserve everything they have, and no luck was involved.

If this is a private school then don't all students that go there - white and black - have a privilege others don't?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still don't see how little kids - elementary age kids - face such privilege. I live in a diverse ethnic neighborhood, but we're all around the same socio-economically.

Kids of color under 10 aren't faced with being pulled over just for driving, denied jobs, being followed around in a store or any of these situations traditionally faced by people of color.

In my neighborhood, the kids all play together, have pretty much the same level of toys, bikes, etc (there's not much of a discrepancy in income in my neighborhood) and go to the same school.

If the teacher expects the kids in that class to point out that the white kids go to a private school, all the kids in that class have that privilege. It just seems wrong on so many levels to ask that.

You may not see it but it’s there.

Black students are subject to much harsher discipline than white students for similar behavior: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/17/8255

Black children are viewed as older than they really are and thus more of a threat and/or more sexually available: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/study-black-girls-viewed-as-less-innocent-than-white-girls/2017/06/27/3fbedc32-5ae1-11e7-a9f6-7c3296387341_story.html And https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/03/black-boys-older

I am white and I recently let my 10-year-old run around the neighborhood having a nerf gun fight. If your child were black, would you honestly let him do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want to say much because I think I know this school and teacher because I used to work there. The school has made it a priority to teach a lot of super privileged kids that they are privileged. I don’t disagree. People who are really hurt or offended by this should ask themselves why they are. I suspect it is because they believe firmly that they deserve everything they have, and no luck was involved.

If this is a private school then don't all students that go there - white and black - have a privilege others don't?

Yes, didn’t I just write that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want to say much because I think I know this school and teacher because I used to work there. The school has made it a priority to teach a lot of super privileged kids that they are privileged. I don’t disagree. People who are really hurt or offended by this should ask themselves why they are. I suspect it is because they believe firmly that they deserve everything they have, and no luck was involved.

I am offended because it perpetuates stereotypes which we keep preaching we need to get rid of in society. This just teaches the stereotype that all whites are privileged (with an assumption that their life is easy and blacks always struggle). Don't make assumptions about peoples lives based upon their skin color. People have hardships and struggles in different aspects of their life for many different reasons - poverty, hunger, broken homes, drugs, disabilities, abuse, tragedy, health issues, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, etc.

The goal of the exercise might be for kids to examine their life and determine what factors might be a privilege but NOT for a teacher to tell them their race is always a privilege. This just perpetuates a belief that certain races think the other is better off or worse off when in reality, the course of anyone's life is a combination of luck, hard work, and how you respond to what life deals you.