Anonymous wrote:interested in hearing from parents of white, black and brown kids. What do you think of the social scene at your kids' school with regards to race. It seems we are well past the notion that people are colorblind, or that that is even a good thing to aspire to. But how are we recognizing different races? Are your kids friendly with people of other races and has this been the case into high school? What about dating? Do you think all are perceived as equals? Or do you think we still have a lot of work to do? I truly believe most of us of all races can get behind Black Lives Matter. But I wonder if this is in practice as well as in theory.
The perception is that the social gulf at DD’s school is based on SES not race, but virtually all the poor kids are black or brown. Of the MC kids who are black and brown, the community tends to assume they are poor until proven otherwise. And that the brown kids are all immigrants. DD looks racially ambiguous and had a really weird first month of school in 6th grade. We’ve always had a side network of friends outside of the school and that became a really vital detox.
She’s headed to a majority minority HS and I think it will be a better experience socially. Due to the nature of the programs offered, nearly all of the white or Asian students who attend are doing so by choice rather than it being their neighborhood school. And there’s a sizable black MC population attending. Hopefully that cuts down on some black = poor stereotyping by students and staff.