Reply to Did Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech fall flat?

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Reply to "Did Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech fall flat?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I liked the speech but also was listening for the action steps and was left feeling like it was a lot of talk. I think most of us, and certainly those with kids who are getting bullied, would like to hear what, specifically, the consequences are now for hate speech and behavior, and how the curriculum will be altered to address this as well. It’s not that I think she doesn’t care, it’s that I want to see the tangible changes in school policies. I think that’s what she wants too, so I want her to be brave and just enforce standards of decency. Give the words some teeth. [/quote]

This is a broad problem for society that MCPS can't possibly address.  The school system should focus on doing its job of educating kids.[/quote]
But you can't educate kids when they are afraid to come to school because they are targets of racism and bias. Even if they do come to class, if they are distracted all day because someone said something mean to them, they can't learn. Try getting a kid to focus on today's science lesson when a kid in their previous math class commented about their grade on a quiz with reference to their race (I've seen Asian kids get a B on a quiz and told they were a poor representation of their race. I've seen Black kids get an A on a quiz and asked "what, are you trying to be Asian?") Kids are brutal and unkind to each other, especially if the adults around them model similar behavior towards anyone perceived as "other". The only place to address the diversity in our community and how to get along with each other is with explicit instruction in the classroom. Kids can't learn if they feel unwelcome at school.[/quote]

I didn't hear anything in Dr. McKnight's speech that would stop or impede the mean and racist comments you gave examples of. Addressing those behaviors would mean spelling new or significant changes in consequence and discipline for students who do engage in the behavior you outlined.

But let's be clear: The biggest impediment to student success is NOT racists comments between other races. It's the comments WITHIN races that are the most toxic and destructive.

Comments among black kids who say things like:
- Being a good student or caring about academics is "acting white"
- Speaking English without relying on slang is "talking white"
- Going against the tropes that are popular in hip-hop and social media, like not doing drugs or engaging in language that uses the n word and the b word, is "acting white"

Racism, meaning one group targeting another group, is not the biggest issue facing students at MCPS. Many of the conflicts that break out at school happen between kids of the SAME RACE.

For example, the national newsworthy shooting that happened at Magruder last year was between two black boys. Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech does NOTHING to address that. Most of the fights that break out at school are between kids of the same race over drugs, gang/clique battles, boyfriend/girlfriend squabbles and social media beef.

You, and Dr. McKnight, are focused on the wrong thing. Which is not a surprise since MCPS is horrible at diagnosing and troubleshooting the real problems with the right insights. [/quote]

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