Reply to Jay Mathews Points Readers in Wrong Direction on Top Charters

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I also think that it is families worrying that they won't be welcome at these schools because of race.  [/quote]

I am a white mother.  Even though I am a mother  of a black child I still find myself privy to conversations that white people have with one another when they think there are no non whites listening.  I see / hear a lot of deflated looks and comments of parents disappointed when they look into a classroom of black kids while on school tours.   They say things like "I don't this school is up and coming enough yet." I hear a lot of fear of people putting their white children in a situation where they will be too much of a minority.  It is as if they expose their kid to being a minority they think they will harm their child.  It is as if they burst the white privilege bubble they think they will damage their child rather than build character.

It is stomach turning.[/quote]

I hear you.  I'm a white parent with a white child that attended a predominantly minority middle school, and was privy to these same conversations.   It was an invaluable experience for my child - and like you, I heard over and over again the disheartening and stomach-churning comments.

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OK folks.  Yes there are plenty of people like that. However please don't make the mistake of thinking that all ( or even a majority of ) white parents make decisions or hold thoughts like that
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Sorry, I actually believe the majority hold that view. If you were honest with yourself, you would actually agree.  [/quote]

You think the majority of white parents looking at schools in Washington DC think " If my child is in a classroom full of black or brown children they will be harmed"?  I just don't believe it.  I have actually enrolled my child as the only white student in the class and my only concern was about educational quality provided by the school for all the children in the class.  I don't think I am any better or more enlightened than the majority of my peers. I just don't believe it and its sad that you do think you are "better" than most.
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This isn't how it goes. First, all the naive liberal white parents decide that to will be a good experience for both their child and their family. This is at the PS3, pk4 level. They are OK with everything at first, but then start to notice some things -- no play dates, no family events at the school, your child using interesting language that you have never used before around him. THEN, around age 5 or 6, the children all start to notice that not everyone is the same color. And then one day in first grade, your child comes home upset because another child told him that his mother says that all white people are nasty.

That is how the brave liberals take their children and run to the more diverse middle class charters or suburbs. We know. We are them.[/quote]

Think about this from another perspective.  Then somewhere around 7 you notice your black boy is getting tall.  You try to figure out whether it is the time yet to have "the talk" about how he will be perceived as a threat.  Some people have the privilege to "run to...middle class charters", to avoid discomfort of our messed up society.  Some people can never outrun it.[/quote]

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