Reply to African Americans in Top Montgomery County Elementary Schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am the person you quoted. I guess it depends on how you define harmed. I was one of those "onlies" as a child, and I am sure my parents would have said I wasn't harmed. I did very well academically, and I am very successful now. But I really struggled socially and emotionally, and felt painfully different at times. And it impacted my racial identity. Having a black family did not make up for the isolation I felt during the school day. To this day, I struggle and have to make an effort to connect and form deep friendships with other black women. I still feel different, like there is some set of social rules that I did not learn growing up. And I know white adoptive parents who are raising their children in otherwise exclusively white environments. Those kids don't even have the benefit of seeing themselves reflected at home.

If being the only black child were the only way for my children to get a good education, then I would feel better about it. But in this area, it simply isn't necessary to put my children in that position.[/quote]

Thanks for your response and sharing your experience which I believe is different than that experienced by my child (who thrived academically but also socially/emotionally and seems to have escaped the racial identity and isolation/exclusion challenges that you faced/are still trying to overcome) but which is probably more common. [b] To be clear, I'm saying that my child's experience is probably the exception not yours (and so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that years for now my child isn't jumping off a bridge somewhere while screaming "why did you send me to that white school?").[/b]       [/quote]

This is truly offensive to me.

What do you think of me - a white female - who is always the minority in the classroom?  Should I hope that one day I'm not jumping off a bridge questioning why I spent many years at that diverse school?

It goes both ways.  I have had classes with only one white child who obviously felt out of the loop.  However, as an educated adult, I work on developing a safe atmosphere where learning is the main goal.

When I hear such ignorant statements I often question why more minorities don't go into teaching.  While our staff is growing more and more diverse, white females are still the majority.  But how many GOOD teachers who just happen to be white will want to try to fight such ignorant beliefs held by parents?  It's hard enough to keep young teachers in the profession, as many leave w/in the first 5 years.  But imagine how much harder it will be unless BOTH sides come to an agreement to stop perpetuating damaging stereotypes.

I am blown away by the ignorance on this board.

[/quote]

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