Anonymous wrote:My AA DS attended Beauvoir, now this was a few years ago, and it was a nightmare. It wasn't the children as much as the parents of other children. I remember another AA mom told me when our DSs started that she was sending him to school there, but no birthday parties or other activities because she couldn't see how it would end well. At the time I thought she was being really shortsighted and judgmental. She was right, I was wrong. Now at another independent school things are better but still not great. I was naively surprised how differently the AA boys were treated. It's disappointing.

Anonymous wrote:It seems to be a mixed bag. In some ways AA students are given preferential treatment, but this leads to a backlash and also discourages assimilation. Forget what anyone tells you and look at the lunch room in lunch time to see if there is a table where the black kids congregate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, 22:49. Except for GDS, which was founded in the mid-40s by Black and Jewish families who were not being admitted at other privates, other schools did not begin admitting African Americans until after Brown v Board of Education was decided. Sidwell admitted their lone AA student in 1956. For reference: Thus it was not until January 1956, after several years of debate, that the Board of Trustees adopted a policy of "one-grade-a-year integration of admissions and to open the kindergarten to qualified Negro applicants in the fall of 1956."

My posting here is not a slam about Sidwell as this applies to other independents (but the info was most readily available for Sidwell), but against the notion that DC independents have been "educating kids of all races and religions for decades." Integration in these schools came after Brown v Board was decided and did not necessarily occur swiftly. The latter probably did not occur until the late '60s/early '70s. If we use that as the standard, then DC independents have been at this for about 45 years. Yes, decades, but not even a half century if you mark it from when there was genuine expansion and inclusion. Anything that occurred in my lifetime still seems like a drop on the arc of the history of this country.

45 or 50 years? No real difference. I attended 2 of the top independent schools around here in the 1970s. At both schools, AAs were well represented and were very much part of the social fabric. I do not recall any issues, though I certainly would not say that none occurred. The point can be said again. The independent schools around here have been educating AAs for decades, and no AA should hesitate to apply to whatever school he or she wishes. The PP also misses the broader point implied by other posters here. DC is no longer a black/white town. It is much more a mix of everything. And that is good, unless one is stuck in the black/white world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, 22:49. Except for GDS, which was founded in the mid-40s by Black and Jewish families who were not being admitted at other privates, other schools did not begin admitting African Americans until after Brown v Board of Education was decided. Sidwell admitted their lone AA student in 1956. For reference: Thus it was not until January 1956, after several years of debate, that the Board of Trustees adopted a policy of "one-grade-a-year integration of admissions and to open the kindergarten to qualified Negro applicants in the fall of 1956."

My posting here is not a slam about Sidwell as this applies to other independents (but the info was most readily available for Sidwell), but against the notion that DC independents have been "educating kids of all races and religions for decades." Integration in these schools came after Brown v Board was decided and did not necessarily occur swiftly. The latter probably did not occur until the late '60s/early '70s. If we use that as the standard, then DC independents have been at this for about 45 years. Yes, decades, but not even a half century if you mark it from when there was genuine expansion and inclusion. Anything that occurred in my lifetime still seems like a drop on the arc of the history of this country.

45 or 50 years? No real difference. I attended 2 of the top independent schools around here in the 1970s. At both schools, AAs were well represented and were very much part of the social fabric. I do not recall any issues, though I certainly would not say that none occurred. The point can be said again. The independent schools around here have been educating AAs for decades, and no AA should hesitate to apply to whatever school he or she wishes. The PP also misses the broader point implied by other posters here. DC is no longer a black/white town. It is much more a mix of everything. And that is good, unless one is stuck in the black/white world.

Anonymous wrote:No, 22:49. Except for GDS, which was founded in the mid-40s by Black and Jewish families who were not being admitted at other privates, other schools did not begin admitting African Americans until after Brown v Board of Education was decided. Sidwell admitted their lone AA student in 1956. For reference: Thus it was not until January 1956, after several years of debate, that the Board of Trustees adopted a policy of "one-grade-a-year integration of admissions and to open the kindergarten to qualified Negro applicants in the fall of 1956."

My posting here is not a slam about Sidwell as this applies to other independents (but the info was most readily available for Sidwell), but against the notion that DC independents have been "educating kids of all races and religions for decades." Integration in these schools came after Brown v Board was decided and did not necessarily occur swiftly. The latter probably did not occur until the late '60s/early '70s. If we use that as the standard, then DC independents have been at this for about 45 years. Yes, decades, but not even a half century if you mark it from when there was genuine expansion and inclusion. Anything that occurred in my lifetime still seems like a drop on the arc of the history of this country.

Anonymous wrote:Please do not send your AA boy to an independent school. It will be a nightmare for everyone.