Anonymous wrote:I love it love it love it. I love that it exposes the hypocrisy of rich white parents who say they are sending their kids to a "lower performing" elementary school because they love diversity, but then their kid ends up in the all-white "gifted" class. Or they say that "all you need to do" is stay on top of the teachers/administrators to make sure they are giving your child extra challenge, etc., which really means you are stealing resources from the underprivileged kids at the school who actually need them. It really is gentification.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize why it's "racist" to avoid sending your white (or Asian?) child to a crummy school, that happens to be majority minority? And dovetailing, how does a lack of white (and Asian?) students make a minority majority school disadvantaged?

I honestly don't get this argument.

And correct me if I'm wrong, Wilson would naturally become VERY white but DCPS busses in kids so it doesn't, right?

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize why it's "racist" to avoid sending your white (or Asian?) child to a crummy school, that happens to be majority minority? And dovetailing, how does a lack of white (and Asian?) students make a minority majority school disadvantaged?

I honestly don't get this argument.

And correct me if I'm wrong, Wilson would naturally become VERY white but DCPS busses in kids so it doesn't, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else listening to the new Serial podcast?

It reflects a lot of the thinking on this forum and what's going on in MoCo, for example, with its boundary study that will likely not result in any change. The first two episodes really underscore the tension of white liberal parents talking and pushing for reforms (often over the voices of POC) and then not actually walking the talk because it will disadvantage their own children...

Other thoughts?

Wasn’t there a very high profile DC activist who for years shamed white parents for sending their kids to charters and privates (and moving to burbs)... then when his oldest kid got of age, he was exposed as a naked hypocrite?

Maybe you're thinking of Every Democrat President?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else listening to the new Serial podcast?

It reflects a lot of the thinking on this forum and what's going on in MoCo, for example, with its boundary study that will likely not result in any change. The first two episodes really underscore the tension of white liberal parents talking and pushing for reforms (often over the voices of POC) and then not actually walking the talk because it will disadvantage their own children...

Other thoughts?

Wasn’t there a very high profile DC activist who for years shamed white parents for sending their kids to charters and privates (and moving to burbs)... then when his oldest kid got of age, he was exposed as a naked hypocrite?

Maybe you're thinking of Every Democrat President?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else listening to the new Serial podcast?

It reflects a lot of the thinking on this forum and what's going on in MoCo, for example, with its boundary study that will likely not result in any change. The first two episodes really underscore the tension of white liberal parents talking and pushing for reforms (often over the voices of POC) and then not actually walking the talk because it will disadvantage their own children...

Other thoughts?

Wasn’t there a very high profile DC activist who for years shamed white parents for sending their kids to charters and privates (and moving to burbs)... then when his oldest kid got of age, he was exposed as a naked hypocrite?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see a difference between what the "nice white parents" did, and how the author decided that the Mom from Puerto Rico should have been offended/stood up for herself when the older woman was yammering on about speaking two languages at the French party. "Poor people don't know when they are being mocked or insulted and I'm here to tell them." It's the same Savior Complex over and over. The nerve.

I did not hear that section that way. Aimee, the PTA president, had previously remarked that she kept quiet and seethed quietly/at home with her husband later instead of speaking out during PTA meetings. This was another situation in which she did not feel that her perspective would be heard (whether she was correct in that assumption or not), and instead, a white person was talking over her, not respecting her position or experience.

The podcast is obviously created to tell a certain story, but as a white woman who was the PTA president of a majority minority elementary school who had many conversations with prospective parents about their discomfort sending their child to a school with a low test scores and a lot of low income kids they perceived to have "behavior problems" or "parents who weren't invested in education", absolutely nothing I've heard on the podcast so far rings false. I was told, repeatedly, that they were supportive of public education in general, but that the district didn't do enough to make its programs appeal to "middle class people" whose children are "academically gifted." The general feeling was that the school was good enough for the Black and Latino kids who attended the school, but not good enough for the white kids with "middle class parents who were actively invested in their education."

If you find yourself getting defensive about something you heard on this podcast, you should examine why you feel that way.

Perceived? No, very real behavioral issues. Most often totally ignored by the teachers and admins.

Anonymous wrote:Both episodes rang true to me. Sure, there were some communications issues that the Principal should have helped with. But there was so much other stuff that this shed light on.

The way the children responded to questions- thinking that the mere presence of white people changed the status of the school. The way the existing parents expressed that the school was good prior to the new kids arriving. The assumption that the changes in the school would be wanted by all the families. This plays out so many times in the DC elementary school scene.

And the second episode, where parents truly and honestly wanted to help, wanted to be a part of the solution, believed in the mission- in theory- but when the rubber met the road... opted out. Again... this plays out so much in DC.

I am not sure what the answer is.. and I dont think that white parents are the whole problem.. but the observations are true and happening as we speak in our city.

What do you want white parents to do? We're bad if we move to the suburbs, we're bad if we send our kids to private school, and now we're also bad if we send our kids to the neighborhood school and get involved in it.

Anonymous wrote:How come NYT/Atlantic/NPR spend literally zero time pontificating on their issues? Why don't we shame rich white and Asian professionals for not moving to West Virginia and Mississippi?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I couldn't believe the first episode! I thought it was going to be totally different based on the reviews.

I don't think these white parents did anything wrong except not being more inclusive to the parents who were already there. But a. the school was struggling to attract new students, b. the media is telling white people how bad and racist we are all the time, how wrong it is to move to the suburbs (white flight), how wrong it is to send your kids to 40-50k a year private schools etc. etc. and here these parents actually send their kids to the neighborhood school, c. they fundraise on their own to put into place the new program they want. At least they weren't using the PTA's money for it.

What do you want white parents to do? We're bad if we move to the suburbs, we're bad if we send our kids to private school, and now we're also bad if we send our kids to the neighborhood school and get involved in it.

There’s nothing you can do. That’s the point of their attacks. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Blaming white (and Asian?) folks for failed schools is and always has been a crock of ****.