incidents at W schools disproportionately represented in media/DCUM?

[Anonymous]

Surely there are all kinds of things happening also at other MCPS high schools all throughout the county? Are the things happening at Whitman and Churchill (for example) being talked about in the media and DCUM because the parents and students are more likely to make a noise about it? I am considering leaving a W cluster so my kids won't be subject to a bunch of jerks, but wonder if similar stuff is happening in all schools, just not publicized as much, or if it's a different flavor.

[Anonymous]

Sure, move to parts of the county where they're too busy dealing with students who are gang members and getting pregnant to worry about things like a racial epithet scrawled on a chalkboard...

[Anonymous]

You have to accept that for us, the WaPo is our local paper and therefore our national news. Also there is a stereotype of entitled racist white kids that feed the media grist mill, while events of people of color get buried here. In other areas of the country, the opposite occurs, the white crimes are under-reported and the people of color crimes are shouted from the mountain tops.

I've seen both sides, both being very poor as a child and affluent as an adult. I also have an AA friend that I view as a sister, grew up with her and I see the nasty racism that she and her son have encountered their entire lives. I know it is vastly different, but when my teen daughter tells me that her friends tell her that "she is different than the other white people and better than them" it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. That statement could never have been made in reverse and is really distancing and wrong.

You have to live your life as who you are and call bullshit when you see it and teach your kids to do the same. I am moving from this area and honestly, am really happy to move. It is too segregated and does not reflect real American culture. I've lived in multiple states, mainly in the south and this is the most segregated area I have ever lived in.

So when something happens like that horrific Whitman blackface incident, we have something we can discuss like a family, luckily my kids have the influence our lifelong AA family friend to guide their understanding of how painful this incident is, how this does not represent them or how they treat people. In a county where minorities outnumber caucasians, Whitman is a powder keg, too white, too elite without all the safety measures that private schools can afford to set in place. Through my employment, I am involved with law enforcement and yes MoCo has much greater adolescent violence up county. The rest of us, with financial means, all crowd up in certain areas with high test scores and safe environments for our kids.

Move if you want but be prepared for a really difficult time with the current radical segregated demographics of this county. It may get better, more integrated community eventually, but there will be a painful transition period for your family.

"I am considering leaving a W cluster so my kids won't be subject to a bunch of jerks, but wonder if similar stuff is happening in all schools, just not publicized as much, or if it's a different flavor." If you are trying to placate public opinion, give up. Seriously, yes there are racial problems everywhere, but teach your kids to own who the f* they are regardless of skin color and just be decent people and speak up. To answer your original post, yes the W schools get higher attention than other schools in the district, but you have to teach your kids to own who they are and stand up for what is morally correct.

[Anonymous]

What is the deal with the Whitman obsession? Kids get teased, called names and bullied on a regular basis at schools. Rich kids do it. Poor kids do it. Black kids do it. All types of kids do it. I'm sure it happens many times a day at every school. I'm not sure if it's self loathing, mental illness, or just a bunch of justice warriors obsessing for an unknown reason...but it is INSANE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the deal with the Whitman obsession? Kids get teased, called names and bullied on a regular basis at schools. Rich kids do it. Poor kids do it. Black kids do it. All types of kids do it. I'm sure it happens many times a day at every school. I'm not sure if it's self loathing, mental illness, or just a bunch of justice warriors obsessing for an unknown reason...but it is INSANE.

The issue is when the white kids do it. They moved to Whitman so they could be with rich families who basically self-segregate. She thinks because the parents are comfortable, its going to give some kind of edge on a better class of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surely there are all kinds of things happening also at other MCPS high schools all throughout the county? Are the things happening at Whitman and Churchill (for example) being talked about in the media and DCUM because the parents and students are more likely to make a noise about it? I am considering leaving a W cluster so my kids won't be subject to a bunch of jerks, but wonder if similar stuff is happening in all schools, just not publicized as much, or if it's a different flavor.

because these racist incidents keep happening at segregated schools. These things don’t happen elsewhere. A more diverse environment would foster greater empathy and understanding.

[Anonymous]

Media loves to highlight it because story will sell. I am in RM cluster and attended one boundary analysis meeting in QO HS. I was disgusted to see an article in Bethesda beat depicting parents in that meeting as bunch of racist by cherrypicking quotes.

I started thinking why they did it. I think , media want to report something controversial to get more eyeballs. I don't have much clue about what's going on in Churchill or Whitman to be honest, but it won't surprise me if media is playing a similar role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surely there are all kinds of things happening also at other MCPS high schools all throughout the county? Are the things happening at Whitman and Churchill (for example) being talked about in the media and DCUM because the parents and students are more likely to make a noise about it? I am considering leaving a W cluster so my kids won't be subject to a bunch of jerks, but wonder if similar stuff is happening in all schools, just not publicized as much, or if it's a different flavor.

because these racist incidents keep happening at segregated schools. These things don’t happen elsewhere. A more diverse environment would foster greater empathy and understanding.

OP here. Doesn't this all have to do with cost of housing in the W cluster? How is this different than other wealthy neaighborhoods in other parts of the country?

[Anonymous]

There is no such thing as "the W cluster", and I, personally, feel unable to answer whether there are more or fewer incidents of bigotry in similarly-segregated areas in other parts of the country. I also wonder why that would even matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Media loves to highlight it because story will sell. I am in RM cluster and attended one boundary analysis meeting in QO HS. I was disgusted to see an article in Bethesda beat depicting parents in that meeting as bunch of racist by cherrypicking quotes.

I started thinking why they did it. I think , media want to report something controversial to get more eyeballs. I don't have much clue about what's going on in Churchill or Whitman to be honest, but it won't surprise me if media is playing a similar role.

So the people at that meeting didn't say that what they were quoted (refusing to give their names) as saying? Everything said in that piece has been repeatedly posted on DCUM, and it's presumably not all Russian trolls.

I went to the Walter Johnson boundary analysis meeting, and while I didn't hear any open bigotry, I heard plenty of things that were bigotry-adjacent.

[Anonymous]

It’s funny to see white people claim that their story is disproportionately covered in the news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure, move to parts of the county where they're too busy dealing with students who are gang members and getting pregnant to worry about things like a racial epithet scrawled on a chalkboard...

I’m an MCPS teacher and no, I do not think this is happening in other non-W schools and being swept under the rug. And comments like the one quoted above are what’s wrong here. Pray tell, PP, where do you live and where do your children attend school? How many kids do you personally know who attend these oh so terrible schools? How many teachers do you personally know at these schools?

Your comment reminds me of a mom from a FB group I’m in who came on to ask about Rockville HS and their “poor ratings.” She loved a house in a neighborhood that was slated for RHS but her parents, who lived in VA, warned her of all the “gang activity.” Initially, people came on to agree with her parents’ sentiments, and then I asked if any of them actually had kids attending the school. At that point another mom came on to comment that her daughter attends Rockville high school and has had a wonderful experience. A few other parents came on to chime in with the same sentiments. Coincidentally, my own kids are slated to go there for high school. When I see students from Rockville high school out working at our neighborhood grocery store or out and about around town, I ask them about their experience. Not once has any teenager told me that it was bad, and in fact many of them talk about how small the school is and how that makes everyone feel close to other students and to the teachers.

If we continue to promote the idea that “great” schools are those where kids wear blackface and use racial slurs and where students of color feel they are devalued, then we need to seriously rethink what a “great” school is. I damn sure don’t want my kids going there.

[Anonymous]

The outrage mechanics will always cherry pick until they get 1/2 as that is all they can really do. Once they get half they will keep going and get more, that is what people do. People with more think they are smarter but most wealth throughout history was simply taken with leverage or force. While the definitions of what is leverage and force have shifted the down-trodden are under the impression that the random policy mechanism should level the playing field to include retroactively and reset the playing field for their ancestral short comings.

People are focusing on the bad parts but America has done some much right, the fact that a system was put in place that forces gradual assimilation of groups deemed undesirable by the majority is just about unprecedented. Problem is due to human nature it is a gradual and incremental process that will never go fast enough for the current people who look around and feel like full citizens but don’t get many of the unwritten benefits. They look back and see oppression but fail to remember wars were fought, deals were made and guns were pulled and the today is a holistic result of that. More than likely their fate is the result of their relatives being on the wrong end of those all the twitter posts one can muster can’t reset that. America is trying but if one looked back through history undesirables were simply killed off. This is the messy path to equality that we are figuring out as a people for basically the first time in human history.

The problem is who gets equality will always be a difficult question we must answer an the pyramid scheme of capitalism has only a limited number of seats at the top. America simply consumes too much not to be exploiting someone. And if we don’t ramp up exploitation or dramatically lower the standard of living there isn’t enough to go around where everybody gets a house, two cars and an Iphone. The cute saying of we all get equality or nobody does. Isn’t really true. Righting every wrong isn’t realistic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surely there are all kinds of things happening also at other MCPS high schools all throughout the county? Are the things happening at Whitman and Churchill (for example) being talked about in the media and DCUM because the parents and students are more likely to make a noise about it? I am considering leaving a W cluster so my kids won't be subject to a bunch of jerks, but wonder if similar stuff is happening in all schools, just not publicized as much, or if it's a different flavor.

Absolutely. My daughter was harassed and called a "stupid white bitch" and the administration did nothing when we brought it to their attention except claim that she was lying. Hard to imagine similar reactions if the races had been reversed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Media loves to highlight it because story will sell. I am in RM cluster and attended one boundary analysis meeting in QO HS. I was disgusted to see an article in Bethesda beat depicting parents in that meeting as bunch of racist by cherrypicking quotes.

I started thinking why they did it. I think , media want to report something controversial to get more eyeballs. I don't have much clue about what's going on in Churchill or Whitman to be honest, but it won't surprise me if media is playing a similar role.

But the quotes are real and racist.