MLK Day education-Teacher not equipped to handle questions on race

[Anonymous]

Engaging in arguments about racism for the sake of point scoring, rather than genuinely listening and reading and thinking about how race works in our society -- that's privileged, too.

[Anonymous]

Engaging in arguments about racism for the sake of point scoring, rather than genuinely listening and reading and thinking about how race works in our society -- that's privileged, too.

Do you think the teacher was a racist? Should she have pulled the child aside and said, "oh, you poor thing?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Engaging in arguments about racism for the sake of point scoring, rather than genuinely listening and reading and thinking about how race works in our society -- that's privileged, too.

Do you think the teacher was a racist? Should she have pulled the child aside and said, "oh, you poor thing?"

Do I think the teacher that OP described was racist? No more so than you or I -- I mean, I think everyone's a little bit racist, as the song goes.

I think that it's really hard to be the only minority kid in a mostly white school.

I think it's also hard to be that kid's teacher and to know in the moment exactly the best thing to do or say -- BUT just because things like that are hard to do, it doesn't mean we get a free pass for a misstep. I think it's really important for parents to feel comfortable mentioning that they have problems in how their teachers handle race, and for white folks to have the ability to listen to those kind of problems without immediately getting defensive about being labeled A. Racist.

I find it much much more useful to think about how we live in a culture that perpetuates racism, that means we each are fairly likely to behave in ways that perpetuate racism, and then look for places where we can resist against that. And most particularly to listen to people of color and to believe them when they say that they are experiencing things which make them feel uncomfortable about how race is talked about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sigh. Racism is alive and well. If you can't see the privilege oozing in this thread you are willfully blind because it benefits you to not see.

(This is not sarcastic): Help me see it. Please quote from something said here that oozes privilege. It is so hard to know what I am saying or thinking wrong, because sometimes it seems like nothing I do is right as a white person attempting to talk about race. Sometimes I don't know how possibly to help except just be sorry for who I am and what I represent.

It's very privileged never to have been in a position where you don't notice what effect the whiteness of the most heavily marketed and desirable characters -- Disney princesses -- has on young girls who aren't white. It's privileged not to have had to worry about whether your daughter will grow up wishing she was another race, or thinking that girls are prettier when they are white, or preferring white beauty standards.

Ok I get you on the Elsa. If I had a daughter she wouldn't look like Elsa either. I thought we were talking about the teacher who said "cuckoo."

[Anonymous]

I have no idea how people are jumping to the conclusion that the teacher is somehow racist or didn't handle the situation well because she responded to the student's factual comment by saying that way of thinking is cuckoo.

You are reading way too much into this--OP and everyone else who jumped on the bandwagon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There's a whole forest surrounding that tree you're focusing on.

What do you suggest doing? Getting rid of Elsa?

No, no! We need a diversity Elsa, to protect the fragile self-esteem of girls who live in a great neighborhood and attend a great school but suffer from the burning anguish of being unable to pretend they are a totally imaginary character.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There's a whole forest surrounding that tree you're focusing on.

What do you suggest doing? Getting rid of Elsa?

No, no! We need a diversity Elsa, to protect the fragile self-esteem of girls who live in a great neighborhood and attend a great school but suffer from the burning anguish of being unable to pretend they are a totally imaginary character.

I usually try to err on the side of compassion. I guess that you don't share this goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea how people are jumping to the conclusion that the teacher is somehow racist or didn't handle the situation well because she responded to the student's factual comment by saying that way of thinking is cuckoo.

You are reading way too much into this--OP and everyone else who jumped on the bandwagon.

Perfect example of someone jumping to the defense when they have no idea what the original issue was. Why don't you go back and check who first mentioned a racist teacher and see which side of the argument they are making. This is also in line with those people who suggested OP wanted the teacher to reprimand the child who made the comment. You are putting words into people's mouth and then developing arguments against these!