Reply to Would you put your white kid in KIPP or Center City?

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Reply to "Would you put your white kid in KIPP or Center City?"

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[quote=Anonymous]I'm another white nearly only for PK - 6th grade.

Short answer: I am fine. It didn't solve all my problems. I still have lots of run-of-the-mill internalized racism of the well-intentioned white liberal. And as soon as I hit an almost all-white middle school (divorced parents, new district), I got totally used to being in the white super-majority.

Having actual friendships with a bunch of different kinds of black girls improved my emotional intelligence and ability to hang out with / show up for my non-white colleagues.

At core, I'd say, the class education my middle-class self got in a rust-belt Title 1 school was probably more lasting than any racial awareness / thoughtfulness I developed. Probably because I got to practice crossing those lines (or leaving well enough alone) for a lot longer.

I think I'd look for all the things you'd look for in any school: Does my kid's teacher know my kid? Does she or he have my kid's number? Is my kid excited about school?

AND! If you do end up in a school where your kid is an "only/ one of 2", spend a little time reading up on white fragility, etc in schools--lots of white parents (like me) come on into a school set to change it, make some promises, and then bail when change doesn't happen in the way they want it to. Which burns off the energy & significance of the work black and latino parents may be putting in.

Which doesn't feel like disrespect when you're doing it--again, first hand experience here. It feels like helping. It's not your fault that white voices echo more loudly.

But they do. So if you're coming into a school as a minority, get ready to listen and follow; lots of schools have been burned by well-intentioned white savior types. (Sorry to lecture! But it's a thing! And white parents can lead other white parents more effectively than black parents who sometimes have higher priorities than dealing w my / others' white nonsense.)[/quote]

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