SWS has jumped the shark

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course my post got deleted - people hate truth - CURRENT SWS PARENT BTW

Can you rephrase in some way that won’t get it deleted? I didn’t see and would like perspective from an actual SWS parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a woman of color, I think this is great! It's voluntary, so I think it speaks volumes that so many white people are mad about it. You probably have some unpacking to do if a voluntary group makes you this mad.

You miss the point. By your logic it would be ok for a white supremacy affinity group to be formed and anyone who objected to such a "voluntary group" has some unpacking to do. Point is this: the voluntary nature of it is not relevant to the concerns being expressed. Or are you ok with the white supremacy group?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course my post got deleted - people hate truth - CURRENT SWS PARENT BTW

While I don't know what you posted, the fact that you seem incapable of distinguishing "truth" from "opinion" does not speak well for whatever screed came off your keyboard.

[Anonymous]

Former SWS Parent here and a general supporter - the problem with these "voluntary" groups is that they aren't really at SWS. If I, a cis white female parent who had a known flexible schedule because I volunteered regularly for things like field trips, DIDN'T sign up for the white affinity group, I would be looked at as a (horrors) closeted Trumper. Which I'm not. But at SWS, if you refuse the koolaid, you are one of THEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former SWS Parent here and a general supporter - the problem with these "voluntary" groups is that they aren't really at SWS. If I, a cis white female parent who had a known flexible schedule because I volunteered regularly for things like field trips, DIDN'T sign up for the white affinity group, I would be looked at as a (horrors) closeted Trumper. Which I'm not. But at SWS, if you refuse the koolaid, you are one of THEM.

Current SWS parent who doesn't participate in much of anything (and won't be participating) beyond donating to whatever when asked. I don't feel this way at all.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who supports the notion of “whiteness” (or “blackness” for that matter) needs to understand the racist implications of it towards black people and POC. These are dangerous ideologies.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/dehumanizing-condescension-white-fragility/614146/

[Anonymous]

Former SWS parent. I think both of these experiences can be true. If you want to be part of the school community, then it is very hard to feel accepted if you aren’t drinking the kool-aid. Even factual observations like commenting that there are very few 5s on parcc relative to demographics will get you shut down with the response that “sws scores are the best in the city” (which is factually untrue). Followed by a comment that scores don’t matter anyhow. Questioning the school culture will go nowhere and get you labeled as a troublemaker. On the other hand, if you don’t care about feeling part of the community at school, then don’t get involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a woman of color, I think this is great! It's voluntary, so I think it speaks volumes that so many white people are mad about it. You probably have some unpacking to do if a voluntary group makes you this mad.

You miss the point. By your logic it would be ok for a white supremacy affinity group to be formed and anyone who objected to such a "voluntary group" has some unpacking to do. Point is this: the voluntary nature of it is not relevant to the concerns being expressed. Or are you ok with the white supremacy group?

I am not going down this road of "reverse racism". You KNOW it's not the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a woman of color, I think this is great! It's voluntary, so I think it speaks volumes that so many white people are mad about it. You probably have some unpacking to do if a voluntary group makes you this mad.

You miss the point. By your logic it would be ok for a white supremacy affinity group to be formed and anyone who objected to such a "voluntary group" has some unpacking to do. Point is this: the voluntary nature of it is not relevant to the concerns being expressed. Or are you ok with the white supremacy group?

I am not going down this road of "reverse racism". You KNOW it's not the same thing.

DP. I don’t think anyone here or at SWS thinks that anti-white “reverse racism” is the same as racism. Or that a black parents group is the equivalent to a KKK group. My concern is more the casual, thoughtless way people seem to think making expressly anti-white statements is OK. Particularly by governmental entities bound by civil rights laws - which indeed, treat racism and “reverse racism” exactly the same. So no, you cannot make statements to school communities about the evil of “perpetuating whiteness” without courting serious repercussions, including legal action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a woman of color, I think this is great! It's voluntary, so I think it speaks volumes that so many white people are mad about it. You probably have some unpacking to do if a voluntary group makes you this mad.

You miss the point. By your logic it would be ok for a white supremacy affinity group to be formed and anyone who objected to such a "voluntary group" has some unpacking to do. Point is this: the voluntary nature of it is not relevant to the concerns being expressed. Or are you ok with the white supremacy group?

I am not going down this road of "reverse racism". You KNOW it's not the same thing.

DP. I don’t think anyone here or at SWS thinks that anti-white “reverse racism” is the same as racism. Or that a black parents group is the equivalent to a KKK group. My concern is more the casual, thoughtless way people seem to think making expressly anti-white statements is OK. Particularly by governmental entities bound by civil rights laws - which indeed, treat racism and “reverse racism” exactly the same. So no, you cannot make statements to school communities about the evil of “perpetuating whiteness” without courting serious repercussions, including legal action.

It also just makes the Principal look like an unserious clown. These are important issues, and when he turns them into caricatures of Republican talking points by telling people they should stop “perpetuating whiteness,” he's not helping anyone (except people who want to scream about "woke ideology").

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a woman of color, I think this is great! It's voluntary, so I think it speaks volumes that so many white people are mad about it. You probably have some unpacking to do if a voluntary group makes you this mad.

You miss the point. By your logic it would be ok for a white supremacy affinity group to be formed and anyone who objected to such a "voluntary group" has some unpacking to do. Point is this: the voluntary nature of it is not relevant to the concerns being expressed. Or are you ok with the white supremacy group?

I am not going down this road of "reverse racism". You KNOW it's not the same thing.

DP. I don’t think anyone here or at SWS thinks that anti-white “reverse racism” is the same as racism. Or that a black parents group is the equivalent to a KKK group. My concern is more the casual, thoughtless way people seem to think making expressly anti-white statements is OK. Particularly by governmental entities bound by civil rights laws - which indeed, treat racism and “reverse racism” exactly the same. So no, you cannot make statements to school communities about the evil of “perpetuating whiteness” without courting serious repercussions, including legal action.

It also just makes the Principal look like an unserious clown. These are important issues, and when he turns them into caricatures of Republican talking points by telling people they should stop “perpetuating whiteness,” he's not helping anyone (except people who want to scream about "woke ideology").

Can someone please define what perpetuating whiteness looks like? It feels like there’s so much academic terminology these days that the layman is supposed to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has Kindred written all over it. They drive a wedge into school communities and pretend it’ll result in healing. If any other school is considering partnering with Kindred and is reading this thread, please do not commit school, federal, or PTO dollars to this horrible organization. There is now data that proves this approach is harmful to communities. When we didn’t have the data, one could argue to give it a chance in case it is beneficial. But not now. I know of several schools that have partnered with Kindred and the organization has caused problems for most of them. Moreover, I have heard from several individuals who have met with them privately that their staff are some of the most unprofessional individuals that they have ever encountered. Just walk away from the conversation/negotiations, or end the partnership if you’ve started with them. It’s not worth the money.

Thanks for posting. Also interested at the data.

- at another school that has used these groups, probably because of kindred

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has Kindred written all over it. They drive a wedge into school communities and pretend it’ll result in healing. If any other school is considering partnering with Kindred and is reading this thread, please do not commit school, federal, or PTO dollars to this horrible organization. There is now data that proves this approach is harmful to communities. When we didn’t have the data, one could argue to give it a chance in case it is beneficial. But not now. I know of several schools that have partnered with Kindred and the organization has caused problems for most of them. Moreover, I have heard from several individuals who have met with them privately that their staff are some of the most unprofessional individuals that they have ever encountered. Just walk away from the conversation/negotiations, or end the partnership if you’ve started with them. It’s not worth the money.

Thanks for posting. Also interested at the data.

- at another school that has used these groups, probably because of kindred

A quick Google search brings up several hits, some of which note the underlying data. (There are also many related studies that inform the common sense idea that this approach won’t work. Those are not included below, but another Google Search can locate those pretty quickly.):

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/550b09eae4b0147d03eda40d/t/55281c09e4b0260435573c64/1428691977527/anti-prejudice-campaigns-increase-bias.pdf

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-psych-071620-030619

https://diversity.iu.edu/doc/anti-racist/resources-articles-lit/antiracism_what_works.pdf

https://www.aapf.org/theforum-white-fragility-discourse

https://merionwest.com/2021/02/01/jonathan-church-getting-to-the-bottom-of-the-robin-diangelo-craze/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/opinion/dei-trainings-effective.html

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dobbin/files/dobbin_kalev_economist_5-21-21.pdf

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/dehumanizing-condescension-white-fragility/614146

https://www.racket.news/p/on-white-fragility

[Anonymous]

Former SWS parent here who never got into these types of discussions (and cringes a bit too). But I will always remain intensely grateful to the school including its principal for embracing my HFA kid, especially during some difficult years. The school’s heartfelt embrace of difference made a lasting positive impact in my kid’s life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a woman of color, I think this is great! It's voluntary, so I think it speaks volumes that so many white people are mad about it. You probably have some unpacking to do if a voluntary group makes you this mad.

You miss the point. By your logic it would be ok for a white supremacy affinity group to be formed and anyone who objected to such a "voluntary group" has some unpacking to do. Point is this: the voluntary nature of it is not relevant to the concerns being expressed. Or are you ok with the white supremacy group?

NP. You’re ridiculous. It is nothing like a white supremacy group. You clearly do not understand what white supremacy is, the history of this country, and the power dynamics in this country. I’m embarrassed for you and your ignorance.