Reply to Why don't white students go to Banneker?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]New poster. Looking forward to the article, Aaron.

Banneker is like its neighbor, Howard University. Excellent school, but an odd choice for a white student.

[/quote]

This thread has really gone off the rails. Can everyone please relax a little? The amount of racial angst on the internet, not just DCUM but all of the internet, has just become exhausting lately, and it's coming from all sides. It's good we're talking about this stuff but maybe take a breather sometimes.

The above quoted post was my first in this thread; this is my second. To me the question Aaron is asking has a pretty obvious answer, and we don't need to yell at each other. I tried to explain it concisely in my post above, and others have tried also, but maybe it still isn't clear.

In DC, most white people have at least a few options for high school. Not all white people, but most. This is as distinct from white people in, say, parts of Appalachia. Banneker is an option. But, for many white people in DC, Wilson is also an option, or Walls, or perhaps private, or various suburbs at all price ranges in which good to great high schools can be found and often with a majority white population.

Faced with these options, most white families will choose a high school that is well-regarded and that is populated by families that are more or less similar to their own, in terms of racial, income, educational, and other demographic aspects. This demographic desire usually means majority white or, like Wilson, significant minority white. This is not necessarily segregationist in intent, by the way. The USA is still majority white. Choosing a majority white school that still has a significant minority of non-white, is really just seeking USA-style diversity, and is understandable and usually benign. Segregationist behavior is seeking to avoid all non-white diversity in a school, neighborhood, etc.

So, a white family might consider Banneker, but is more likely to go to Wilson or Walls or, if this is not desired or not possible, move to the best suburb they can afford. In the same way that most white families would not encourage their children to attend historically black colleges. Even if such colleges may be good colleges. There are simply other, more appealing or more comfortable options out there.

In contrast, some black families in DC may have fewer options; Banneker may be the best of these. And some other black families in DC may have just as many or more options as white families do, but they may choose to send their children to an academically rigorous near-100% black high school like Banneker for many reasons. Perhaps some of the same reasons why historically black colleges are chosen.

It is not necessary or productive for people to accuse black parents at Banneker of reverse segregation (aka blacks excluding whites). This is likely to offend and inflame sensibilities, and it is very likely untrue for the majority of Banneker parents. I don't know but I imagine most Banneker parents would welcome whites to attend. To the extent that some Banneker parents desire a majority black school, it is probably for the benign reasons highlighted by the Cleveland poster above, i.e., an individual family's response to systemic discrimination. For example, a desire for black role models at the school, both teachers and students. Racialized groups seeking racial solidarity or same-race role models in response to racism against them is not, generally speaking, racist, in the same way that all-female networking events in a business context are not, generally speaking, sexist.

Maybe there is a percentage of Banneker parents who truly dislike whites and do not want them to attend, but I bet that this is a small percentage, and can we be so sure it is a larger percentage than the corresponding number of white parents at the majority-white schools who would desire to exclude blacks?

[/quote]Well-said, pp.  I don't agree with everything  you said -- or maybe I would change the emphasis a bit -- but I think you captured a lot of what is actually happening.[/quote]

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