Nice White Parents

[Anonymous]

Anyone else listening to the new Serial podcast?

It reflects a lot of the thinking on this forum and what's going on in MoCo, for example, with its boundary study that will likely not result in any change. The first two episodes really underscore the tension of white liberal parents talking and pushing for reforms (often over the voices of POC) and then not actually walking the talk because it will disadvantage their own children...

Other thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I listened to the first episode alone this morning and plan to listen to it again with my spouse tonight. The nice white parents aren't new to me; I went to high school, college and law school with them. Now, we're parents and our kids are in school together. Stressful AF.

[Anonymous]

Yes listening. It's been interesting so far.

[Anonymous]

Interesting series so far.

I'm curious as to what kind of policies she'd recommend at the end of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting series so far.

I'm curious as to what kind of policies she'd recommend at the end of this.

That’s the key. Right now there doesn’t seem to be a good answer that promotes equity when the people in power want to keep their advantages....

[Anonymous]

So far white parents are guilty of considering their own children's needs first.

I do think the fundraising situation with the French immersion program was shady.

[Anonymous]

After the first episode, I've learned that in the 60s white parents of preschoolers wrote letters to the NYC board of education saying they wanted a new school to be built near them, so their kids could go to school with black kids who lived three blocks away.

But 5 years later when the school was actually built, they didn't send their kids to the new school for several different reasons. The kids in the school were rough behavior wise; their reading scores were low, and the white parents wanted their kids to go to a progressive private school instead.

Is that the extent of it?

[Anonymous]

“ I'm curious as to what kind of policies she'd recommend at the end of this.”

+1
I liked both episodes but the message did kind of make me wonder “so what are you saying SHOULD happen?” In one she rails against parents that decided not to send their kids to a certain public school after lobbying for its location (yeah, I get that). In the other she is focusing on shaming parents that opted into that public school but are spending time and money trying to create a program They want there (that would be open to any kids from the school).

[Anonymous]

What happened is that due upper middle class parents, the rubber meets the road with their kids’ education and perpetuating their place at the top of America’s hierarchy. A few minutes around any such parents in, say, north Arlington or Bethesda will establish this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happened is that due upper middle class parents, the rubber meets the road with their kids’ education and perpetuating their place at the top of America’s hierarchy. A few minutes around any such parents in, say, north Arlington or Bethesda will establish this.

^ for

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After the first episode, I've learned that in the 60s white parents of preschoolers wrote letters to the NYC board of education saying they wanted a new school to be built near them, so their kids could go to school with black kids who lived three blocks away.

But 5 years later when the school was actually built, they didn't send their kids to the new school for several different reasons. The kids in the school were rough behavior wise; their reading scores were low, and the white parents wanted their kids to go to a progressive private school instead.

Is that the extent of it?

That’s the second episode... and only one parent actually visited the school and as the narrator rightly pushed on, the above “behavior and academic” tropes are inherently racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ I'm curious as to what kind of policies she'd recommend at the end of this.”

+1
I liked both episodes but the message did kind of make me wonder “so what are you saying SHOULD happen?” In one she rails against parents that decided not to send their kids to a certain public school after lobbying for its location (yeah, I get that). In the other she is focusing on shaming parents that opted into that public school but are spending time and money trying to create a program They want there (that would be open to any kids from the school).

Just to add though that the program — French immersion — was not the choice of the original community. They were never engaged in the decision. Had they had a voice they may have wanted Spanish or Arabic based on their population.

I’ll add that both the parents and perhaps most shockingly the kids had a sense of white saviorism — the school was only good when they got there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So far white parents are guilty of considering their own children's needs first.

I do think the fundraising situation with the French immersion program was shady.

This maybe the dumbest comment ever. Who doesn’t think of their child first...in everything?? I don’t know of a parent who doesn’t have their child’s well being at the top of mind....black, white, red, yellow, green....ya know...everything doesn’t have to be about race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far white parents are guilty of considering their own children's needs first.

I do think the fundraising situation with the French immersion program was shady.

This maybe the dumbest comment ever. Who doesn’t think of their child first...in everything?? I don’t know of a parent who doesn’t have their child’s well being at the top of mind....black, white, red, yellow, green....ya know...everything doesn’t have to be about race.

And anyone who suggests that you should do otherwise is a whackjob.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far white parents are guilty of considering their own children's needs first.

I do think the fundraising situation with the French immersion program was shady.

This maybe the dumbest comment ever. Who doesn’t think of their child first...in everything?? I don’t know of a parent who doesn’t have their child’s well being at the top of mind....black, white, red, yellow, green....ya know...everything doesn’t have to be about race.

The problem isn't in parents prioritizing the needs of their own children. It's in parents or actively encouraging social systems that don't give all parents the same authority and power to do the same.