Reply to Teaching Demographics as School Demographics Change

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]Children of color, who tend to disproportionately also be low income, fare worse in the current system. That's why role models that look like them, and who can speak to them from experience about growing up Black/brown, are important. [/quote]

I disagree.  How are you ever going to have a colorless society if kids do not have experience with all kinds of people?

I speak as a white woman who taught children of color.  I taught for several years in a heavy majority AA community and then for several years in a diverse community--more often majority white.  Why is it important to be able to have the experience of growing up Black/brown when you are teaching kids to read?

I see this more as a socio-economic/cultural problem.  The kids of color that I taught who came from families that had books in the home and who valued education did just fine.  I taught some children (primary grades) who did not know how to handle books (top to bottom, left to right).  It is very difficult to overcome a deficiency like that.  This was many years ago, and I hope it has improved.  Even very poor kids seem to have access to technology these days.  I suspect that achievement will improve because of this.  It will not happen overnight.[/quote]

The goal is not a colorless society, because that's a society that erases what makes us different and forces all children into a single (normatively white) box.  I literally can't believe that someone who claims to have taught kids of color would talk about a "colorless society," and it kind of makes me weep for the pedagogical education that folks like you appear to be receiving.  "Color blind" or "colorless" approaches have been shown to be completely counterproductive.  They reinforce racism by pretending that differences don't exist.  Everyone knows that by now, or should.

Black kids are never going to be hurting for interactions with white folks.  Everywhere they look (with the current notable exception of the US presidency), there are white people in charge.  White teachers, white administrators, white school volunteers, and white folks in basically every position of authority.  Don't worry about whether Black kids can learn to talk to white people.  They've done fine up until now.

As for why it's more important to have the experience of growing up Black/brown - I never said it was.  What I said was that we need more PoC in teaching positions.  Not unqualified folks off the street - teachers.  [/quote]

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