Article on TJ student

[Anonymous]

If mistaken Sudanese for African American is considered racist, how about mistaken Korean for Japanese？ Indian for Bangladeshi? These are high school kids. Are you sure this is unique for TJ, and only TJ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If mistaken Sudanese for African American is considered racist, how about mistaken Korean for Japanese？ Indian for Bangladeshi? These are high school kids. Are you sure this is unique for TJ, and only TJ?

African immigrants I know do not want to be called African Americans, they want to be known as immigrants or just Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read this - another article she wrote https://www.tjtoday.org/29057/new-on-tjtoday/my-not-so-black-and-white-look-at-diversity-at-jefferson/

The problem starts at AAP - she was the only black child selected to AAP in her entire grade. If children don't have access to resources and tools in elementary and middle school, how are they expected to overcome all that and succeed in high school? Changing things at TJ without first reforming AAP will be like trying to balance a skyscraper on a wooden pole.

It’s so distressing to see this wave of opposition to change at TJ from cut-throat TJ parents and students repackaged as false empathy. You can embrace the long overdue revisions to TJ admissions or watch your private little academy for prepped Asian and white kids get swept away entirely.

More distressing to see idiots like you try to take away opportunities from a DIVERSE and intelligent student body at FCPS.

FCPS already is diverse. You just don't like it because your definition of diversity is based on skin color, because you are a racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If mistaken Sudanese for African American is considered racist, how about mistaken Korean for Japanese？ Indian for Bangladeshi? These are high school kids. Are you sure this is unique for TJ, and only TJ?

African immigrants I know do not want to be called African Americans, they want to be known as immigrants or just Americans.

That does not make students that mistaken Sudanese as African American racists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didi is in TJ because she has an intact family, and her family are recent immigrants from Africa. She is Black but not the same as African-Americans who were enslaved.

She is the "model Black" who does not have slavery in her family history. Except for being black in skin tone, neither her family, her parents education and her family's SES is like the African-Americans whose ancestors were enslaved, families torn apart, and who have faced generational poverty.

She will reap the full benefit of affirmative action put in place to help African-Americans who are truly downtrodden and different from her. She is actually as priviledged as the Whites and Asians who have come from MC intact families, with educated parents and who prioritize education. I bet she also is not a natural genius but rather a bright kid who studies hard - just like all the White and Asian-Americans.

Her fight for other URMs who are nothing like her is interesting and I am sure college admissions will think so too.

So, no. Her story of struggle and her life situation is not the same as the struggle of African-Americans who have not immigrated recently or 1 or 2 generations ago from Africa.

So typical of token blacks in private schools also. Rich Africans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole point is that TJ ISN'T DIVERSE. It’s an Asian school in northern Virginia. Needs a whole make over in admissions.

x10000

Just because you guys are ignorant enough to think that "Asian" is not diverse in and of itself, doesn't change the fact that TJ is very diverse.

There is NOTHING diverse about TJ. It’s an Asian school in the middle of mostly white NOVA.
I

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If mistaken Sudanese for African American is considered racist, how about mistaken Korean for Japanese？ Indian for Bangladeshi? These are high school kids. Are you sure this is unique for TJ, and only TJ?

African immigrants I know do not want to be called African Americans, they want to be known as immigrants or just Americans.

Yet they will eagerly use the color of their skin and the unfortunate history of African Americans to their advantage when college application time comes. The African immigrant kids did not suffer the same disadvantages African Americans did. I even dare to say most of them are quite privileged.

[Anonymous]

I was upset that the article characterized an entire school as racist. I have a minority student and that is not DC experience at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If mistaken Sudanese for African American is considered racist, how about mistaken Korean for Japanese？ Indian for Bangladeshi? These are high school kids. Are you sure this is unique for TJ, and only TJ?

African immigrants I know do not want to be called African Americans, they want to be known as immigrants or just Americans.

Yet they will eagerly use the color of their skin and the unfortunate history of African Americans to their advantage when college application time comes. The African immigrant kids did not suffer the same disadvantages African Americans did. I even dare to say most of them are quite privileged.

You are falling into the Affirmative Action trap.

Method 1: Treat every human person the same.

Method 2: Treat people by skin color.

Method 3: Treat people by skin color but give more preference to American descendants of slaves over African and Caribbean immigrants.

Method...: Divide people further, make mix race into a new category, give preference to Filipinos, Laotians and Hmong people over Chinese, Japanese, and Indians...
...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it so important to focus on a person's skin color? Why isn't TJ diverse enough?

You should read this article and see how the Asian students treat one of the few Black girls there.

There was no mention about the students' race in the article. You simply made it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole point is that TJ ISN'T DIVERSE. It’s an Asian school in northern Virginia. Needs a whole make over in admissions.

x10000

Just because you guys are ignorant enough to think that "Asian" is not diverse in and of itself, doesn't change the fact that TJ is very diverse.

There is NOTHING diverse about TJ. It’s an Asian school in the middle of mostly white NOVA.
I

Look, I know racists like you define diversity based on skin color, so take comfort in knowing that Indians, Hmong, and Chinese/Koreans/Japanese don't share the same skin tone.

[Anonymous]

Can’t say I’m surprised that an article about the painful and unnecessary discrimination that a Black girl encountered at a TJ devolved into the usual “Indians at TJ are darker than the Chinese” trope. As if that really addresses the problems there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can’t say I’m surprised that an article about the painful and unnecessary discrimination that a Black girl encountered at a TJ devolved into the usual “Indians at TJ are darker than the Chinese” trope. As if that really addresses the problems there.

Yep. Typical TJ parents reactions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody explain to me what’s racist about asking about tribal clothes on the international day? Aren’t/weren’t there a lot of different tribes in Sudan? Isn’t her father on the Washington Post picture wearing some tribal clothes?

It’s also a true statement that being a black girl as a college applicant is a big benefit for her. Of course, she’ll be accepted not only because she is black, but if she has a 1500 SAT and 4.1 GPA, she’ll most likely trump an Asian boy with a 1600 SAT and 4.5 GPA. Colleges do discriminate based on race, and her race is not a victim in this case.

It's clear from the article that the question wasn't genuine, and it was phrased in a way that completely elided Didi's heritage.

A question coming from a place of genuine curiosity would have sounded different, like, "Hey, I like your outfit. Can you tell me about it?"

One thing that articles like this reinforce is how sheltered some of the TJ kids (white and Asian) are when it comes to how to speak to people who are different from them. They are not being appropriately equipped to exist in a multicultural environment, and it is going to hurt them down the road.

When my son brought home made lunch to school, some kid would ask “what’s that?!” then quickly turn away.
When my son fouled an opponent in a game, another player would shout “kungfu kick”! and mock him.
When my son told a referee his name before a game, a random kid would mock “ what kind of circus name is that”!

That’s just a couple of examples off the top of my head to show you how Asian kids are not sheltered from anything, on the contrary they are verbally bullied almost everyday everywhere. I tell my son, they are not bad kids, they are just not brought up properly.

We immigrated from Russia, and kids asked our child if their parents drink a lot of vodka. Adults also asked me about vodka after learning where I came from, as if I’m an expert in it. A US customs officer asked us if we are bringing a lot of vodka, when we came back after visiting our relatives in Russia. People, adults and kids, no matter TJ or not, are not perfect and full of stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody explain to me what’s racist about asking about tribal clothes on the international day? Aren’t/weren’t there a lot of different tribes in Sudan? Isn’t her father on the Washington Post picture wearing some tribal clothes?

It’s also a true statement that being a black girl as a college applicant is a big benefit for her. Of course, she’ll be accepted not only because she is black, but if she has a 1500 SAT and 4.1 GPA, she’ll most likely trump an Asian boy with a 1600 SAT and 4.5 GPA. Colleges do discriminate based on race, and her race is not a victim in this case.

It's clear from the article that the question wasn't genuine, and it was phrased in a way that completely elided Didi's heritage.

A question coming from a place of genuine curiosity would have sounded different, like, "Hey, I like your outfit. Can you tell me about it?"

One thing that articles like this reinforce is how sheltered some of the TJ kids (white and Asian) are when it comes to how to speak to people who are different from them. They are not being appropriately equipped to exist in a multicultural environment, and it is going to hurt them down the road.

When my son brought home made lunch to school, some kid would ask “what’s that?!” then quickly turn away.
When my son fouled an opponent in a game, another player would shout “kungfu kick”! and mock him.
When my son told a referee his name before a game, a random kid would mock “ what kind of circus name is that”!

That’s just a couple of examples off the top of my head to show you how Asian kids are not sheltered from anything, on the contrary they are verbally bullied almost everyday everywhere. I tell my son, they are not bad kids, they are just not brought up properly.

We immigrated from Russia, and kids asked our child if their parents drink a lot of vodka. Adults also asked me about vodka after learning where I came from, as if I’m an expert in it. A US customs officer asked us if we are bringing a lot of vodka, when we came back after visiting our relatives in Russia. People, adults and kids, no matter TJ or not, are not perfect and full of stereotypes.

If your point is that TJ is no different than any other place, that’s a sad commentary on what we expect young people to tolerate. We already know applications to TJ have been plummeting.