Anonymous wrote:Completely agree. As a Howard grad (biracial), knowing many Howard grads with kids and grand kids, I can't imagine a 5 year old saying "it's a black thing" ever! Maybe at the middle school level, but still that could be a stretch. You'll notice that the poster that said her 5 year had that was told that hasn't spoken up, I'm sure it was a statement s/he made up to emphasize his/her stance, but sounds like a bunch of lies to me.

As a naive white "gentrifier" in a neighborhood not far from Howard, I was - and am - shocked by the vulgar things I have heard small children say. I don't blame their race or their schools, I blame their parents. I'm sure their unfortunate economic circumstances play a large part, but ultimately the lack of appropriate parenting and adult role-models in their lives is irreplaceable. It's possible to be poor and still be well-raised and goal-oriented. There's no excuse for teaching or allowing your elementary school aged child to say to a random stranger "Kill that white bitch!"

If I hadn't heard it, I never would have believed it. And I've heard it more than once. So, I'm new to this thread, but "It's a black thing" is hardly an inconceivable racial fireball in my experience. I've lived on this side of 14th street for a decade now, I can handle it, though it saddens me. However, there's more than one good reason that I would never let my children attend the local DCPS pipeline-to-the-penitentiary.

(BTW, my offense was walking up the street - on the other side - within view of said vulgar small child.)

Completely agree. As a Howard grad (biracial), knowing many Howard grads with kids and grand kids, I can't imagine a 5 year old saying "it's a black thing" ever! Maybe at the middle school level, but still that could be a stretch. You'll notice that the poster that said her 5 year had that was told that hasn't spoken up, I'm sure it was a statement s/he made up to emphasize his/her stance, but sounds like a bunch of lies to me.

Anonymous wrote:Ok, it is the consensus that many would not want their child to be the only one. But what is your comfort zone? I agree the biracial child decides his racial acceptance. I am the previous poster and like I stated during my grammar and junior high school days there was one lone White boy who was tormented on a daily basis. We all lived in relative nice neighborhood of middle class families. His parents could have easily sent him to a private school. What was their motive? As I have asked earlier what is the motive of the White neighbors fighting for the local school. But when the time arrives for their child to enter they not only opt out but will verbally share their disgusts. It such mixed signals. Also does an appointment of a White principal give you hope that diversity is more probable?

Don't under estimate those 5 year olds saying "it is a black thing" that was an extremely popular saying among college students who attended Howard University. As it infuriated Whites on this blog it made Whites go ballistic back then. The full tee-shirt saying was "it is a Black thing and you wouldn't understand! How we date ourselves.

Sorry -I still don't believe a parent would teach their 5-year old child to specifically say a phrase that was popular in the early 90s.

For me, my comfort zone would be a "diverse" school that represents my neighborhood. So 80-10-10 (AA/white/Hispanic).

But, I don't think I will see that, I would settle for one other white face that my child could see.

Maybe more parents would be "trailblazers" if they were confident that certain things that usually affect high-poverty schools would be taken care of like:
- actually removing chronically disruptive children from the classroom (so that all kids can learn, and teachers are able to create more relaxed environments)
- providing a rich, well-balanced curriculum, not one that is completely about the tests
- making sure that higher performing students, or students with unique talents, can get proper attention from the teachers and not get lost in the NCLB shuffle
- getting the schools staffed with experienced teachers who already know how to teach, not lots of inexperienced folks who are learning on the job

These things are basically a given in schools that service mostly middle and high income kids, but not in schools with mostly low income kids.

Do you have children in public schools? The things you list above? Are characteristics of *all* public schools, thanks to NCLB. Public schools increasingly teach to the test, especially now, as teacher evaluation systems now include student standardized test scores as a mark of teacher effectiveness. In fact, the VA general assembly is considering a plan to judge teacher preparation programs on the test scores of the students of the graduates of said programs. Individualized instruction for students with "unique talents" is also becoming an impossibility, especially when up to 40% of the student body (MoCo) tests in the "gifted range".

Finally, removing students from a public school classroom for being disruptive? Very very rarely happens, unless there is some kind of bloodshed.

No, wait. Finally, finally, TFA has contracts with districts to place their undereducated teachers in the classroom. This, and the proliferation of alternative teacher preparation programs, practically guarantees that schools will continue to be staffed by inexperienced teachers who only have a 2-3 commitment to teaching.

So, no, these things are not a given in any public school. The system as a whole needs fixing.

Ok, it is the consensus that many would not want their child to be the only one. But what is your comfort zone? I agree the biracial child decides his racial acceptance. I am the previous poster and like I stated during my grammar and junior high school days there was one lone White boy who was tormented on a daily basis. We all lived in relative nice neighborhood of middle class families. His parents could have easily sent him to a private school. What was their motive? As I have asked earlier what is the motive of the White neighbors fighting for the local school. But when the time arrives for their child to enter they not only opt out but will verbally share their disgusts. It such mixed signals. Also does an appointment of a White principal give you hope that diversity is more probable?

Don't under estimate those 5 year olds saying "it is a black thing" that was an extremely popular saying among college students who attended Howard University. As it infuriated Whites on this blog it made Whites go ballistic back then. The full tee-shirt saying was "it is a Black thing and you wouldn't understand! How we date ourselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that 5 year olds are really saying "it's a black thing". This thread is filled with so many subtle (and not so subtle) racists comments it makes me sick. Only black kids have poor grammar?!? Please. I hear white kids in my DS's PK class saying "mommy me want to go home" or a 5 year old that still needs to be held and cries for 30 minutes at drop off while he's holding his lovie. I don't want my DS to pick up these bad habits but I don't refer to it as poor white behavior. I really am stunned by all these racists hiding behind their anonymous hate. Fwiw, I am neither white or black.

While I agree with you, I can't see a 5 year old saying "it's a black thing" either, I also don't want my daughter to be the only white student. This comes from the fact that I went to private school and for two years we only had one AA student. She was miserable. I don't want my daughter to have that experience. I don't know what "genetically" white means but at the end of the day, it helps to know you are not the only different one.

I am the PP you quoted. I failed to mention my stance on the issue, I completely agree with you. I wouldn't want my DS being the only kid of his color in his class. I just had to mention how uncomfortable I felt with some of these posts and some lies to underscore points (5 year olds saying "it's a black thing). Again, I completely agree with you.

Anonymous wrote:PP you are so right about this-

"One reason that I don't want my kid to be an only is to see a better example of diversity beyond black and white is and feeling they have to be the representative of their race."

Sometimes I think I would be better off moving to the burbs for diversity as many of my friends have a much wider range of kids than DC schools.

Or you could just enroll your kid in a top 3 private because they are incredibly diverse, according to posters in the private forum. Not.

PP you are so right about this-

"One reason that I don't want my kid to be an only is to see a better example of diversity beyond black and white is and feeling they have to be the representative of their race."

Sometimes I think I would be better off moving to the burbs for diversity as many of my friends have a much wider range of kids than DC schools.

We should assume that many white parents don't care about integration and have no problem or desire to have diversity in the classroom. Others do, and seek it out in various ways. As a white parent I have the luxury that many black parents don't have in that I can choose not to have my kid be an "only". Many black parents have no choice and I am aware that this is another way I am privileged. However, I don't think children are mature enough to process many thing and my kids already group behaviors based on race because we live in the city despite me being very engaged and talking about race, ie-"why do only black teenagers get arrested in our neighborhood?"
One reason that I don't want my kid to be an only is to see a better example of diversity beyond black and white is and feeling they have to be the representative of their race.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe more parents would be "trailblazers" if they were confident that certain things that usually affect high-poverty schools would be taken care of like:
- actually removing chronically disruptive children from the classroom (so that all kids can learn, and teachers are able to create more relaxed environments)
- providing a rich, well-balanced curriculum, not one that is completely about the tests
- making sure that higher performing students, or students with unique talents, can get proper attention from the teachers and not get lost in the NCLB shuffle
- getting the schools staffed with experienced teachers who already know how to teach, not lots of inexperienced folks who are learning on the job

These things are basically a given in schools that service mostly middle and high income kids, but not in schools with mostly low income kids.

Unfortunately, as long as school reform practices are in place, these things are unlikely to change. For instance, DCPS purposely staffed some schools (e.g. Shaw) with inexperienced teachers thinking they would be better than experienced ones because they were Teach for America recruits.

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that 5 year olds are really saying "it's a black thing". This thread is filled with so many subtle (and not so subtle) racists comments it makes me sick. Only black kids have poor grammar?!? Please. I hear white kids in my DS's PK class saying "mommy me want to go home" or a 5 year old that still needs to be held and cries for 30 minutes at drop off while he's holding his lovie. I don't want my DS to pick up these bad habits but I don't refer to it as poor white behavior. I really am stunned by all these racists hiding behind their anonymous hate. Fwiw, I am neither white or black.

While I agree with you, I can't see a 5 year old saying "it's a black thing" either, I also don't want my daughter to be the only white student. This comes from the fact that I went to private school and for two years we only had one AA student. She was miserable. I don't want my daughter to have that experience. I don't know what "genetically" white means but at the end of the day, it helps to know you are not the only different one.

Anonymous wrote:I am bamboozled at the fact that the timid reaction for not sending their white child to a school where they are the only one is because of ????? What has brought on this attitude is there a rise in race-riots or black on white bullying at DCPS.

Finding a few white folks is not comforting to hear. Again, the reality is that whites must come as group to conquer the fear of educating their children in a school system that is predominantly AA.

We all want the best education possible for our children but do we??? I want my child to have the best but let's not have the poor, uneducated parent base at the school. Oh! I want the diversity of my child's school we have AA PTSA President, White Principal but the poverty level is hovering around 40% and we haven't met AYP in years. See where I am going with this, it will never be politcally correct.

No I don't, actually. I can't make sense of it. What the hell does it mean?

I have a hard time believing that 5 year olds are really saying "it's a black thing". This thread is filled with so many subtle (and not so subtle) racists comments it makes me sick. Only black kids have poor grammar?!? Please. I hear white kids in my DS's PK class saying "mommy me want to go home" or a 5 year old that still needs to be held and cries for 30 minutes at drop off while he's holding his lovie. I don't want my DS to pick up these bad habits but I don't refer to it as poor white behavior. I really am stunned by all these racists hiding behind their anonymous hate. Fwiw, I am neither white or black.

Well I am one of those white parents who is not comfortable with my kid being an "only" but I am comfortable with her being in a majority black school. I am not sure how that makes me a hypocrite as others have implied.