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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the white PPs just honestly find it impossible to believe that an all-black high school could be intellectually rigorous and successful at preparing students for top colleges. [/quote]

I think the black PPs just honestly find it impossible to believe that Banneker is neither as intellectually rigorous nor as successful at preparing students for top colleges as other available options, especially for whites, Asians, Latinos and high SES blacks.

So be it.[/quote]

Oh come on. Banneker is clearly doing something very right, given its college placement and AP results. Maybe it is not the same as TJ but that is not the question. The question is why don't any white parents, at all, even consider this very good school as compared to other good DC options like Walls and Wilson? [/quote]

I don't understand the comparison to TJ.  According to the latest stats, white people are shunning TJ, and the Asian population is increasingly dominant.  So based on this thread, most of the whites who responded said that the school was not rigorous enough; the school was no TJ; and, the school reported too low SAT scores.  Hmm, if that is truly the reason, why are whites also declining in enrollment at TJ?  [/quote]

Go find the SAT scores for TJ, compare them to Wilson and to Banneker, and you will see the answer.[/quote]

No, that's not the answer to the question. White people are using SAT scores for their reasons to not send their children to Banneker. What is the reason for white people not sending their children to TJ, a largely Asian populated magnet school with great SAT scores? 
[/quote]

You are a bit slow today, aren't you?

SAT scores at TJ are super high, showing it is a very competitive, race-blind, school. Many white students do try to get in; few do, because there's better qualified (often Asian) students.

SAT scores at Wilson are relatively high for a non-selective and super diverse school. Disclosure: my kids (Latino) will probably end up there.

SAT scores at Banneker at surprisingly low for a selective school. Why would whites (or other with better alternatives) send their kids there, unless for some reason they are looking for an all-black immersion experience?

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Yes, slow.  To be clear.  Banneker is not all black.  They have a high Latino population.  They also have Asian students.  Again, if a great college is your end game, Banneker is it.  If you are caught up into SAT scores - I don't know, you have so much attitude - why in God's name would you send them to Wilson.  Wilson is nothing to write home about.  I am inbounds to Wilson and my kid is afraid to go there.  And I'm black.  [/quote]

I won't tell you what to do with your kid, so please don't tell me what to do your mine, especially when you obviously are quite ill-informed. There are many more Latino (and Asian) at Wilson than at Banneker, and going to great colleges, AND learning how to live in the big world out there, instead of self-segregating themselves in a small and [b]very artificial environment[/b].

It is great that DCPS offers different choices, as we live in a very diverse city. I am in this thread because the title question intrigued me, and I wanted to learn more about the school. What I have discovered is multiple reasons why it makes no sense for my kids to even consider Banneker. I wish the school well.[/quote] I'm not the pp quoted, but regarding the bolded, What is artificial about the environment at Banneker?  That's such an odd thing to say.  I'm a current Banneker parent, btw.[/quote]

I'm not any of these PPs, and I don't necessarily agree with PP you quoted in bold.

However,[b] I think what PP is saying here is that an all-black environment, and frankly, an all-black-led and all-black-all-high-achieving environment, is not representative of broader society.[/b] Following high school graduation, or at the latest, following graduation from a historically black college, Banneker grads will need to navigate a world in which whites are the majority and blacks occupy few positions of power or influence. Similarly, graduates from an all girl school will encounter a male-dominated work environment in most fields. I think this was the point, that a school like Wilson is a more realistic introduction to the world out there. Again, I don't necessarily agree that such an "artificially controlled" environment is such a bad thing during formative years, but this was PP's point.

[/quote]

But why is this so different from what happens at other all-white high achieving environments?  Why is it a bad thing it its all black, but not if its all white? (i.e(JKLM elementary schools in NW or TJ (asian) and Langley in VA or Churchill, Wooten in MD?  I apologize if I am not articulating this very well, but I just don't understand why folks are arguing about Banneker and what it offers it AA population?  White don't want to go there, that's clear, but why are whites putting the school down so much if it does a great good of educating its population?[/quote]

You are responding to me. I did not say it was bad. In fact, I said that I did not agree with PP's assessment of it as being bad.

But to answer the question in your first sentence, it's different because white-male-dominance is (unfortunately) the national norm. Therefore a white-dominant school represents the real (American) world more than a black-dominated or female-dominated school. Don't shoot the messenger, as if this is news to anyone.

Further up thread I defended Banneker, FWIW.

[/quote]

I agree with this. It is important to remember the demographics of our country. If I remember correctly:
- White  65%
- Latino 15%
- Black 13%
- Then Asian and other
[/quote]

As a successful female executive, it wouldn't have mattered if I went to a majority school (went to a women's college) b/c men don't accept you anyway.  What is your point?  Because I sit in class with them that's better?  Do you tell Jewish people who attend Jewish schools and colleges that they are making a terrible mistake b/c the world is not majority Jewish?[/quote]

You are getting it all backwards. This thread is not about why black parents send kids to Banneker. There are many good reasons for that, similar to, say, Jewish parents sending kids to a Jewish school.

This thread is about why white parents don't send their kids to Banneker. Let's follow with the Jewish example. If you were Muslim, would you send your kids to an all-Jewish school?

Unlikely. But possible. What if it happens to be the best school in the region by far?

Or, what if you are in the middle of Israel in some Jewish-only area and, no matter what, there are no Muslim students around?

Now, the reason whites don't send their kids to Banneker is because neither of these 2 scenarios apply. There are plenty of other equally good, if not better, schools around. And, because we live in a majority-white country, not in Nigeria, there is no particular reason to send a majority white kid to study in a minority black bubble that doesn't represent the demographics of the population at large.

Again, this doesnt say or mean anything about the quality of the school. But it helps explain why so few whites (or Latino or Asian or Native American) send their kids there.

[/quote]

Well put. [/quote]

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