Reply to My daughter is the only white girl in her grade: ask me anything

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Reply to "My daughter is the only white girl in her grade: ask me anything"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Didn't read the thread so maybe this was already covered. But I see this title and just think white privilege, white privilege. Do you realize this is the reality for most AA parents who want to send their kids to the best schools and programs? They don't have a choice and have to teach their kids about differences starting at 2 years old. Then they agonize about the dilemma of the benefits of having their children in a diverse and inclusive environment v. academic rigor. [/quote]

OP here.

Yes, I realize that this is the reality for people of color. The point of this thread was to answer the questions of nervous white parents who have not reconciled the differences between their experiences and the experiences of parents of color.

I think everyone agonizes about the costs vs. benefits of sending their children to a particular school. School choice informs where a lot of us choose to live, for example. Considering the racial context of a school, particularly the social effects of the racial context, is not something that most white people do as a matter of routine. However, if you live in DC (not in the suburbs, though some of these themes translate to the suburbs), those considerations cannot be avoided. Contrary to what people on this thread may think, I did worry about whether my non-Latino white girl would be singled out, how we would interact with the school community, whether we were making a huge mistake not just moving to Bethesda when she was born, etc. Our decision at that time was to send her to the school where she was placed and see how it went. It went well the first year, and we decided not to move her for the second (and now third) years on the basis of the first year going well. The third year is going well so far, and unless that changes, we have no intention of moving in order to send her to a new school for 2nd grade next year.

I understand that if you just read the title, you might draw certain conclusions about the thread, the conversation, and me personally. However, I thought it best to phrase the question as starkly as possible, because what I see in these conversations is a lot of pretty coded language. But yes, I understand that this is what parents of color and students of color experience in many areas of life. I also understand that it's not a usual experience for a lot of white people, some of whom have children who they may wish to send to their majority non-white neighborhood school in DC.[/quote]

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