Reply to Inclusivity Behind Gated Doors: The Paradox of DC's Private Schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The diversity and inclusivity at these schools is window dressing to make everyone involved feel better and deflect criticism. To some extent it's also to create an environment more similar to elite colleges, which do the exact same thing.

A lot of the diversity at these schools (both elite private K-12s and elite private colleges) comes from people with generational wealthy who have minority and/or international backgrounds. So children at these schools are unlikely to encounter ANY of the poor black and hispanic children who fill public school classrooms in the city, but they are highly likely to be with the children of ambassadors, people in the upper levels of the World Bank and certain NGOs, elite lawyers and business people, many of whom are not white. Also your kids are more likely to have classmates of Asian or South Asian descent at these privates than they will at any DCPS outside of upper northwest, many of which have zero or less than 1% asian students even when the surrounding neighborhoods have Asian families.

This is what elite education looks like in 2024. An all white school would not only be suspected of being racist, it would be considered a detriment in the market because parents want their kids to acclimate to diverse environments like those they will find in college and in elite workplaces -- you aren't going to find many investment banks, law firms, operating rooms, or board rooms filled exclusively with white, American born professionals these days.

But it's a certain kind of diversity. Elite diversity. International backgrounds are prized, the non-white population skews away from black and hispanic Americans and Latin American immigrant families (which is where most diversity in public schools comes from) and toward AAPI, mixed race, and wealthy foreign families.

I say this all neutrally. Not a criticism. Just pointing out that when people in elite institutions talk about diversity, they aren't really talking about the same sort of diversity that people in other settings are talking about. There is little economic diversity and the racial and ethnic diversity you find is fundamentally different as a result.[/quote]

Diversity/inclusivitiy is not just ethnic/racial diversity. I would argue it's easier to be LGBTQ+, or even just nerdy or non-sporty at certain private schools. GDS has a very "you do you" culture where students are encouraged to be themselves, pursue their own interests, etc.  Groups of kids intermingle vs jocks/non-jocks. This just isn't true at all schools.[/quote]

How easy is it to be an english language learner at GDS? How easy is it to be poor (not we get aid and make 300k a year poor, but real poor)? How easy is it to be SPED? [/quote]

This. The reason it's easier to be LGBTQ+ or a non-jock at GDS than at a typical public is because even the LGBTQ+ kids and the non-jocks ate united by being very privileged. It erases other divisions.

[b]At a truly diverse public, a gay kid or an ASD kid or an unathletic D&D loving kid might be ostracized by whatever the predominant group on campus is. At an elite private, the predominant group on campus is "rich kids with rich parents" and that helps erase those decisions.[/b]

But you could be a straight, white athlete with middle brow interests and be ostracized at GDS because your parents are poor. Only that would never happen because no such student would ever set foot on GDS's campus.[/quote]

This is so true. These families love to pat themselves on the back for their tolerance… of other rich families.[/quote]

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