Reply to AEM post/discussion re racism and choice schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a minority of middle eastern origin I find it extremely offensive that schools such as Carlin Springs is considered more diverse than ATS, where my kids go. The only way Carlin Springs is more diverse than ATS is if you lump all non-white students together. It is extremely racist to believe that all non-white students are the same and that the only diversity that matters is white vs. non-white. Ethnically speaking, a white person is just as different from a person of Middle Eastern origin than a hispanic person is. Carlin Springs isn't diverse. It is 73% hispanic. This means that three quarters of the school is from one race/ethnicity. How on earth is that diverse? Arlington Traditional School is more equally divided between different races and 9% of the school is from multiple races. The Black population, 20%, is diverse in and of itself. We have Ethiopians, African Americans, Eritrians, and Nigerians, just to name a few. Same with the 27% of Asian students who come from all over the vast continent of Asia. We have students with origins from Azerbeijan, Mongolia, China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhestan. I mean the list goes on. 24 different languages are spoken at ATS. How many different languages are spoken in Carlin Springs? I am really sick and tired of this narrow definition of diversity. It is a racist definition given to us by white people who think that we are all the same. Disgusting.[/quote]

Everything this person said. Plus 1000.

I also think there are white people in positions of power who claim this is "diversity" so that they can maintain the racist status quo.  [/quote]

This whole convo is racist, the people driving it are white people who couldn't afford N Arlington so their kids are in S Arlington schools with (gasp!) majority black/brown. They would feel a lot more comfortable if there were more white kids to keep their white kids company. So their solutionis to kill the option schools to get more of their white neighbors to stay in the neighborhood schools. That's all it is, they claim to be social justice warriors but it's racist and self interested. What really gets me is they attack others for their ethics. [/quote]

I think you're wrong.  This convo shows how racism hurts everyone.  It hurts the kids in the extremely impoverished schools.  It hurts the kids who attend majority white schools (there are N Arlington residents upthread who are uncomfortable with the demographics of their school).  It hurts the people of color who would move to N Arlington but for the segregation of our schools and county.  Take the option schools out of it and see the truth:  there are few institutions as racist as the public school system.  Don't attack the people calling it out.[/quote]

I'm not saying structural racism isn't a problem, of course it is. But the option schools are not the problem. And it always seems to be the whites "stuck" in the majority minority schools who are the ones complaining about the unbalanced schools. [b]Because they are uncomfortable with the makeup of the schools their kids are in, not because of some great concern for the black kids.[/b] [/quote]

WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.

I'm one of those white people who sent their white kids to these schools and never applied for those option programs. It's not being uncomfortable with the make-up of the kids in the schools. It's the disparities between these schools and the rest of the schools in the county: the PTA enrichment offerings; the quality of special events; the field trips; etc. But MOST IMPORTANTLY:  the disparities in INSTRUCTION BECAUSE OF the demographics. The quality of instruction/teaching has not been the issue (until APS started lowering expectations in the name of "equity").The pace of instruction, the depth of instruction - these are the most impactful effects of imbalanced demographics. And APS' turning a blind eye and eternally denying that there are such disparities in academic AND SOCIAL experiences. The social experience is a major issue for schools on both ends of the spectrum: your Carlin Springs and Randolphs, AND your Jamestowns and Nottinghams.

Underprivileged students fare better academically in more economically diverse schools. All students are better prepared for this global world when they interact with and get to know others from other races and cultures.

So, if by "uncomfortable" you mean we segregation morally wrong in one of the wealthiest, most highly educated, and smallest counties in the country - sure. I'm "uncomfortable" with the make-up of these schools (the ones my kids attended and the ones in the far extremely wealthy north). However, I don't believe that's what you meant by "uncomfortable" and therefore I am here to assure you that you are absolutely WRONG. None of us want our kid to feel socially isolated any more than a non-English-speaking family wants to feel isolated. While I'm sure you can always find an exception, the majority of us "whites stuck in the majority-minority schools" want every school to offer comparable social and academic experiences for all kids. Many of us are in these schools BY CHOICE.

On the part about us being the ones complaining: You are absolutely CORRECT! Because people only care enough about something when they are negatively impacted and none of you up in your high-performing, majority-white schools feel negatively impacted and don't give a crap. "Oh, diversity would be nice but....it's not possible because of the segregated neighborhoods (that we contributed to creating)." "We really would prefer a more diverse school for our child, but there's nothing we can do about it (the neighborhood and school we chose for our child) and we want the best education for our child so we focused on the highest performing schools and bought into those zones. We didn't realize the disparities in diversity and are shocked!" Or, "we're not one of those because we send our kid to a very diverse option school." "We didn't opt out of our diverse majority-minority or above 30% FRL neighborhood school, we opted in to a higher performing lower FRL% diverse option program that was better suited to our 5 year old's learning style."

Give me a break. So tired of people pointing fingers accusing others of being "uncomfortable" in order to deflect any responsibility from themselves and absolve themselves of the faintest suggestion of being part of the problem.[/quote]

White family in Nauck/Green Valley who sent their kids to Drew and Gunston. +1000. [/quote]

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