Was Thinking of Applying to Holton Arms But Then Saw This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was at Holton and have to admit there are issues for students of color. For instance, all the white girls get invitations to ballroom classes on Friday. Jewish and students of color do not. On the other hand, they are trying. For example, in the 8th grade, they changed world history class into African history. I get the sense that there is a heightened awareness to try to do better. As MLK said, the arc of history is Long.....but it bends towards justice. That is Holton. The arc is long, slow and incremental. But the vector is a good one. In the lobby, there is a hallway of photos depicting graduating senior classes going all the way back to the 1920s. In the 1930s-1960s, its all white. But slowly....very slowly....you start to see it diversify. Change comes slowly but it does come. Hopefully

That's not the school's doing.

[Anonymous]

Yes and no to the contention that this is not Holton's doing. Some schools like Norwood made the commitment that they would not engage in this type of racist, xenophobic organizations like Simpsons. Holton's white families continue to embrace it. Why? How does Mrs. Simpson get the list of all the non-jewish white girls in the class? It has to be from the white families who go through the directory like some kind of Kommandant in an Arbeitslager. Lets not be naive folks. We are all educated here. As stated in a n old Washington Post article, "But she never received any material. When she asked the other mother about it later, the woman's face reddened. She said that the dance class committee, which decides who will and who will not be "invited" to join, had decided "we don't want too many Jews."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/06/21/a-class-unto-itself/c6a97ff1-1c4f-48f3-9ce9-dd9789097d1a/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes and no to the contention that this is not Holton's doing. Some schools like Norwood made the commitment that they would not engage in this type of racist, xenophobic organizations like Simpsons. Holton's white families continue to embrace it. Why? How does Mrs. Simpson get the list of all the non-jewish white girls in the class? It has to be from the white families who go through the directory like some kind of Kommandant in an Arbeitslager. Lets not be naive folks. We are all educated here. As stated in a n old Washington Post article, "But she never received any material. When she asked the other mother about it later, the woman's face reddened. She said that the dance class committee, which decides who will and who will not be "invited" to join, had decided "we don't want too many Jews."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/06/21/a-class-unto-itself/c6a97ff1-1c4f-48f3-9ce9-dd9789097d1a/

Old article…as in 1993! Really, PP?

[Anonymous]

The Lady Doth Protest Too Much. Citing age of article but not addressing substance speaks volumes. Everyone knows its racist and anti-semetic. Its traditions are seeped in a proud segregationist past. Who selects? Who goes through the directory and weeds out jews and students of color? How is that coincidental every year after year after year? Please, dont patronize us.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/13445.page

some choice posts from more recent days if that is your preference:

Mrs. Simpson is a straight up racist

I am a Beauvoir parent. My 3rd gradeer has not yet received an invitation to participate in the Capitol Cotillion. I thought these went out to everyone in the class. Is it possible that we have been purposely excluded? Is there anyone we can contact to see why that would have happened?!

Just a reminder, years ago, Mrs. Simpson was sued for discrimination and was completely unapologetic. Our school just had an incident where things got really awkward because the families of color did not attend. A few white parents about the lack of diversity and then got upset because they weren't informed about her past legal issues.

[Anonymous]

I have no doubt she's racist. But I still don't see how the school is responsible.

[Anonymous]

Dont know for sure but I think the point being raised is that a substantial number of white (non-jewish girls) go and give access to Mrs Simpson to the directory. It creates this weird insular white girl clique (especially on Friday eve). And a non-white girl clique. Two worlds that are cordial but separate. Kind of weirdly Plessy v Furguson-esque. Its not overtly racist or segregated but, at the same time, it is. Other schools have made the decision to not participate as a result. Either let everyone in or nobody. Instead, Holton and its white parents embrace the tradition with both arms; close their eyes' and dream of the segregationist south that lives only in these weird Friday eve balls. Yuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dont know for sure but I think the point being raised is that a substantial number of white (non-jewish girls) go and give access to Mrs Simpson to the directory. It creates this weird insular white girl clique (especially on Friday eve). And a non-white girl clique. Two worlds that are cordial but separate. Kind of weirdly Plessy v Furguson-esque. Its not overtly racist or segregated but, at the same time, it is. Other schools have made the decision to not participate as a result. Either let everyone in or nobody. Instead, Holton and its white parents embrace the tradition with both arms; close their eyes' and dream of the segregationist south that lives only in these weird Friday eve balls. Yuck.

How do other schools make the decision not to participate? Have they set some policy about what families do outside of school hours? How do they enforce that? What has Holton done to suggest it has embraced Mrs. Simpson?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dont know for sure but I think the point being raised is that a substantial number of white (non-jewish girls) go and give access to Mrs Simpson to the directory. It creates this weird insular white girl clique (especially on Friday eve). And a non-white girl clique. Two worlds that are cordial but separate. Kind of weirdly Plessy v Furguson-esque. Its not overtly racist or segregated but, at the same time, it is. Other schools have made the decision to not participate as a result. Either let everyone in or nobody. Instead, Holton and its white parents embrace the tradition with both arms; close their eyes' and dream of the segregationist south that lives only in these weird Friday eve balls. Yuck.

How do other schools make the decision not to participate? Have they set some policy about what families do outside of school hours? How do they enforce that? What has Holton done to suggest it has embraced Mrs. Simpson?

It’s enough to know that Holton is the type of place that is attractive and comfortable for so many families that are also comfortable in the current Mrs. S environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dont know for sure but I think the point being raised is that a substantial number of white (non-jewish girls) go and give access to Mrs Simpson to the directory. It creates this weird insular white girl clique (especially on Friday eve). And a non-white girl clique. Two worlds that are cordial but separate. Kind of weirdly Plessy v Furguson-esque. Its not overtly racist or segregated but, at the same time, it is. Other schools have made the decision to not participate as a result. Either let everyone in or nobody. Instead, Holton and its white parents embrace the tradition with both arms; close their eyes' and dream of the segregationist south that lives only in these weird Friday eve balls. Yuck.

How do other schools make the decision not to participate? Have they set some policy about what families do outside of school hours? How do they enforce that? What has Holton done to suggest it has embraced Mrs. Simpson?

It’s enough to know that Holton is the type of place that is attractive and comfortable for so many families that are also comfortable in the current Mrs. S environment.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dont know for sure but I think the point being raised is that a substantial number of white (non-jewish girls) go and give access to Mrs Simpson to the directory. It creates this weird insular white girl clique (especially on Friday eve). And a non-white girl clique. Two worlds that are cordial but separate. Kind of weirdly Plessy v Furguson-esque. Its not overtly racist or segregated but, at the same time, it is. Other schools have made the decision to not participate as a result. Either let everyone in or nobody. Instead, Holton and its white parents embrace the tradition with both arms; close their eyes' and dream of the segregationist south that lives only in these weird Friday eve balls. Yuck.

How do other schools make the decision not to participate? Have they set some policy about what families do outside of school hours? How do they enforce that? What has Holton done to suggest it has embraced Mrs. Simpson?

It’s enough to know that Holton is the type of place that is attractive and comfortable for so many families that are also comfortable in the current Mrs. S environment.

+1

And what evidence do you have that the other schools don't have the same sort of parent subgroup? With whom are these Holton families socializing? Where are the boys coming from? The other girls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dont know for sure but I think the point being raised is that a substantial number of white (non-jewish girls) go and give access to Mrs Simpson to the directory. It creates this weird insular white girl clique (especially on Friday eve). And a non-white girl clique. Two worlds that are cordial but separate. Kind of weirdly Plessy v Furguson-esque. Its not overtly racist or segregated but, at the same time, it is. Other schools have made the decision to not participate as a result. Either let everyone in or nobody. Instead, Holton and its white parents embrace the tradition with both arms; close their eyes' and dream of the segregationist south that lives only in these weird Friday eve balls. Yuck.

How do other schools make the decision not to participate? Have they set some policy about what families do outside of school hours? How do they enforce that? What has Holton done to suggest it has embraced Mrs. Simpson?

It’s enough to know that Holton is the type of place that is attractive and comfortable for so many families that are also comfortable in the current Mrs. S environment.

+1

And what evidence do you have that the other schools don't have the same sort of parent subgroup? With whom are these Holton families socializing? Where are the boys coming from? The other girls?

What others do doesn’t really matter, does it? Or is that how HA rolls?

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to understanding why Holton in particular is associate with Mrs. Simpsons, in contrast to other areas schools.

[Anonymous]

I will throw my 2 cents in. We are an Asian American family with DD at HA. Its not Holton specific. But its relevant to the original discussion about Black@Holton and issues of diversity and equity at Holton. There seem to be other schools whose parents have collectively decided not to participate. Holton's white families choose to participate in spite of the fact that its clearly racist and discriminatory. My DD never received an invite nor did her Asian, Black and Hispanic friends. Most Jews do not get invited either. How is that? Like one of the other PPs, the involvement of Hoplton's parents is opaque. Because someone with access to the HA directory had to have gone through the director and applied some kind of evil racial standard to who does (and does not) get invited. Why would anyone give access to the directory to Mrs Simpson or do so on her behalf. This is not a HA only issue but it is an issue at HA for sure.

[Anonymous]

Is the Mrs Simpsons program similar to capital cotillion with a different (and less diverse) set of children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the Mrs Simpsons program similar to capital cotillion with a different (and less diverse) set of children?

We joined both and are Asian, I think this is outdated