Reply to Please shed some light on the-unspoken-issue at sidwell with African American Boys

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[quote=Anonymous]Disclaimer: I am not a Sidwell parent, nor am I AA, but I have had a few AA mothers complain to me about the way black boys are treated by the larger white society when they start to become men, as opposed to cute little babies or even 5 year olds. The complaints that have been shared with me heard came through a lot of hurt and, in some cases tears, and I thought it was my job to just listen, not debate. Here is what was shared with me, not just about Sidwell , but white society in general :

It is hurtful when behavior by a young male, who happens to be black, is reacted to in a way that reflects that the young person's behavior is somehow " unacceptable", " not up to expectation" etc.. when the ONLY difference between the way a black teen and a white teen behaved is their race.

My take on it was that AA parents are very sensitive to being rejected or having their son rejected for "acting black". The negative comments about their children ( as they age into adults ) is hurtful, because the AA  parents thought their child has been in a predominately white school for many years, they thought that they were accepted, but being a minority, are sensitive to any slight and perceive that the negative feedback has more to do with racial stereotyping that actual behavior on part of their teen age black boy.

Then their is the reaction to dating. My own mother raised me to be color blind, yet treated me like she was dissapointed in me when I told her in college that my boyfriend was black. Sidwell isn't a big university, it is relatively small, and attitudes like this poison the well quickly.[/quote]

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