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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have bi-racial kids and are zoned for Bannockburn/Westland/Whitman. These are all great schools, and I'm glad to have access to them, but I'm concerned about the lack of diversity. For those of you with non-white kids at these or similar schools, how do you compensate? We have friends of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds that we see periodically (most who have kids and live in DC where we used to live or further out), but it seems like school is where kids form their core peer group and it's obviously where they spend most of their time.

Many thanks! [/quote]
Are your kids adopted? I only ask, because if you are an interracial couple, I would think that you would have access to the community, family, friends, etc of the non-white partner.
You don't specify what the two races are of the biracial kids. But, you could sign up for soccer, scouts, the YMCA in an area that would have more of the diversity you seek - Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Rockville, DC, etc. [/quote]

I'd like more exposure than just family. And as I said, we have a diverse group of friends, but I'm wondering if that's enough given that children's core peer groups are usually in school with them. [/quote]
You never know what is going to happen in the future. We are black, and DD attends a very diverse school (race, nationality, SES). She has a diverse group of friends at school, but spends most of her time out of school with kids involved in her chosen extracurricular activity. That is a somewhat diverse group, but definitely more white than her school friends.
Having said that, I grew up as often the only black girl in many situations. I had a lot of friends, but there were many times that I felt isolated. Those friends, and often their parents or siblings, would make ignorant and/or racist comments to me, thinking they were funny. One friend wasn't allowed to come to my house. My first two boyfriends couldn't tell their racist fathers about me. I did not share most of these things with my parents. I just endured them. But, my experiences growing up are a major reason why we chose a diverse area to raise out daughter.[/quote]

This post just made me reconsider (a black woman) moving to a W school cluster or Olney with my kids. Thanks for this![/quote]

To both of you PPs - do you think that having your kids around other Black kids is going to shelter them from ignorance and prejudice?  That's naive and ridiculous.  There are a$$holes of every color.

I'm one of the biracial posters.  Some of the most obnoxious comments come from my Black family members.  Comments about the Asian women at the nail salon, for example.  Do you ever listen to the Irban radio stations in the morning?  No shortage of obnoxious race-based comments.

Teach your kids not to let the opinions of others define them.  And teach them to surround themselves with positive people, regardless of color/race/religion.

Your comment about Olney says more about your own prejudices than it does about anything else.  FTR, my sister lives in olney and it has been wonderful for her family.[/quote]
I am the first poster you quoted. No, I am not naive - seriously, you have no idea about me. I know my daughter will experience racism. But I also know she has a lot more black friends, more pride in who she is, and is more comfortable in her skin than I ever was. She doesn't have any ideas that there is only one way to be black.
I am sorry that you have black family members who are racist. I have biracial relatives, and I can't recall hearing my family make racist comments about them or anyone else. My post wasn't a "white people are all bad and racist" post. There are jerks of every color. But I am not sure what that has to do with my description of my lived experience as a child surrounded by white families.
I don't listen to "urban radio," so I have no idea what is discussed.[/quote]

Not pp, you are responding to...  it's not really your own family I so or be concerned about.  It's more so the broader community.  But if you are black and don't see nonstop racial marginalization, commentary, etc in the black community you are not either  naive or delusional.  And I say that sympathizing completely with the historical background for why I t happens but it must stop.[/quote]
I am really trying to understand what you are saying, how it relates to my experience and that of my child, and why you are showing such animosity towards me (I am naïve, delusional, etc).
I shared my experiences as a kid in all white environments, and that I chose something different for my child, so have her in a more diverse environment. The response is that I am naïve, and black people are prejudiced.
I shared that my daughter has higher self-esteem and a more black friends than I had. We don't tolerate or spend time with people (of any race) who say racist things. Your response is that I am delusional if I don't think black people are prejudiced. I am not sure exactly what you are referring to as "nonstop racial marginalization." Are you talking about how biracial people are treated? about how you think the black community treats other races? 
Are you one of those people who equates the word "diverse" with black? I was pretty clear that I meant a range of things when I said "diversity." DD's school has no race in the majority. She has friends who are black, white, Asian, Latino, multiracial. In fact, at her last school, 6% of the student body was multiracial. Among her black friends and classmates, there are African americans, Jamaicans, Ethiopians, Nigerians. Her closest white friends were either born in another country, or have parents who are immigrants. 
Our immediate family is black, but our extended family and our social circle contain many people of different races. I am neither naïve nor delusional when I say that our lives do not include a bunch of black folks sitting around trashing other races. Are there, "a$$holes of every color"? Of course. Some black people are prejudiced, just as some white people are. But I don't see why that leads to criticism of our wanting our child to have a more diverse childhood experience, and not feel the isolation that I felt growing up. [/quote]

No animosity...  I think it's great you found a school you love.  My main gripe here is against the type of thinking that would cause a parent to not consider a "whiter" school because of racism when there are similar and often worse scenarios in non-white schools.  In terms of self esteem, I went to a diverse school and my D.C. goes to a primary white school and is a million times more self assured than me but I wouldn't use that as evidence of anything.

In terms of diversity, I'm often confused by what people mean as it's often used to mean non-white but others use it to mean a perfect balance of all groups, while others state it's representative of current US group percentages.  When I speak of animosity against others in non-white schools I'm speaking of any and everyone as a target.  Biracial, whites Asians hispanics, darkskinned, lightskinned, Central American vs Caribbean latinos.  You name it.  Now again I wasn't singling you out specifically but again if anyone don't realize how fundamentally different the way race is talked about the in diverse schools you are either completely ignorant of the reality or you think it's cute and acceptable.[/quote]

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