Reply to Help me Edit: Response to Brookings Report

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[quote=Anonymous]NP.

I agree with the posters that say you should abandon this effort because you sound tone-deaf and a perfect example of white fragility.  I am African-American (ADOS) 1st Washingtonian who has lurked on this site for 10 years and I view most of the DCUM posters to be unintentional segregationists. with a heavy sprinkling of bona fide racists.

The Founding Fathers of this country created a system to keep people like me subservient to White people because they believed we were inherently less than. This system was built to last so that even if slavery was abolished, even if Jim Crow was abolished, their effects would continue on.  That's how systemic racism works  i.e. unintentional acts of the so-called "majority" work in favor to keep the "minority" as lesser. Even though red-lining was stopped in the 80's - its effects linger.  Even though Brown ended school segregation, I still felt its effects as a DCPS student attending my segregated elementary school in Columbia Heights in the 80s.

I think what many of us who disagree with you in writing this rebuttal is that two things can both be true - the majority of DCUM posters can be "segregationist" unintentionally and this is a complex problem that is not easily solved.

As an aside, an integrated school is one where the inbound students come from different races.  In my opinion, Deal and Wilson are diverse but I don't view them as integrated since the neighborhoods that are considered inbound are not integrated. Diversity does not equal integration but that’s just my opinion.

As for solutions, why can’t Brookings raise awareness to an issue?  Why do they have to offer solutions?  History has shown us that each time a solution that could have offered equity to African-Americans was floated it was shot down, abandoned or destroyed i.e. 40 acres and a mule or the North's protection during Reconstruction, or the Civil Rights Movement.  As a starting point to dismantling this system, one could become aware of the issues so that when solutions are aired -  like a move away from neighborhood based schools (since DC neighborhoods are segregated) you fight for it rather than against them.

I get that you are upset they used your site without providing you notice and I understand why you're writing this.  While will not agree on this topic, I wish you luck with crafting your rebuttal.  [/quote]

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