Anonymous wrote:I'm still trying to figure out why people keep discussing DC in terms of black and white as opposed to socio economics.

To all my white sisters, black folk are not a monolithic group. I know some of you may have never come across a real, live highly educated, highly paid african-american who's kids test in the 99th percentile and therefore (in your minds) we don't exist; but we do, and may I add, there are more of us than you might imagine (particularly in the DC area). We are simply invisible to some of you who don't venture much beyond your comfort zone and whose knowledge of black folk is based on what you see on the 6 o'clock news, reality tv and music videos (oh and yeah...the black chick on the register at Safeway with the bad attitude).

Of course DC has many blacks that are on the very low end of the socio economic scale. There may be some cultural differences in how they present themselves to the outside world, but their problems and issues are really no different than their white or latino or (GASP) asian counterparts of a similar socio economic group.

I'd bet that some of you reading this post would have far more in common with me than a 300 pound, white single mom from Louisiana who shops at Walmart with food stamps.

The reality is, we are moving beyond a race based society to a class based society. It's not any better, but at least try to keep up with the times.

Thank you for so eloquently stating what I think every time I read one of these threads. It's no wonder black families with the means to do so choose private. No matter how many degrees we have or how much we value education, we are seen as one of 'them' by the self-proclaimed saviors of DCPS.

17:33, You are just as irritating as I thought. I am probably the parent that our children get along swimmingly well but you're not just my cup of tea.

Ok, girlfriend!!! You're fierce in your own little Stepford world.

Regardless of the particular mechanism (charter, or traditional public schools) DC's school system will see vastly improved outcomes as the system continues to trend upper middle-class. No school system anywhere can function with as high a poverty load as DCPS has. The problem is, and always has been, public policies that concentrate poverty in the city to the benefit of the suburbs. We're slowly beginning to reverse the effects of more than a half century of such policies.

No, higher class people can move or pay for private. Education is too important to be left to chance or in the hands of those without a good track record. Otherwise, you see the results years later and they aren't pretty.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sounds like conclusions are that charter schools take the pressure off of higher economic status families to put their kids in DCPS, so there probably won't be yuppie/buppie/etc. Kids in bad DCPS schools unless somehow we run out of decent charters. Which seems unlikely given their rapid growth. So it looks like we might actually end up with two tiers of schools east of Rock Creek Park, or maybe even 3 or 4: bad DCPS, good charters, middling charters and middling DCPS. But demographic pressure to move into the truly failing DCPS as higher class people move in just doesn't seem very common or likely.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sounds like conclusions are that charter schools take the pressure off of higher economic status families to put their kids in DCPS, so there probably won't be yuppie/buppie/etc. Kids in bad DCPS schools unless somehow we run out of decent charters. Which seems unlikely given their rapid growth. So it looks like we might actually end up with two tiers of schools east of Rock Creek Park, or maybe even 3 or 4: bad DCPS, good charters, middling charters and middling DCPS. But demographic pressure to move into the truly failing DCPS as higher class people move in just doesn't seem very common or likely.

I think this fails to account for the increasing number of decent DCPS elementary schools east of the park as parents of homogenously wealthy neighborhoods send their kids to in-boundary schools for Ps-3/PK-4 and stay for later grades. Despite claims by some DCUM posters that this can never happen because it didn't happen 10 years ago, it is happening.

OP here. Sounds like conclusions are that charter schools take the pressure off of higher economic status families to put their kids in DCPS, so there probably won't be yuppie/buppie/etc. Kids in bad DCPS schools unless somehow we run out of decent charters. Which seems unlikely given their rapid growth. So it looks like we might actually end up with two tiers of schools east of Rock Creek Park, or maybe even 3 or 4: bad DCPS, good charters, middling charters and middling DCPS. But demographic pressure to move into the truly failing DCPS as higher class people move in just doesn't seem very common or likely.

Anonymous wrote:11:11, are you a Stepford wife? You give the impression of the white parent who comes up to black parents and asks us to critique the black faculty or administration negatively. I know it's you, I can tell.

Yeah! Girlfriend.

Well I'm definitely not a Stepford wife, and I couldn't understand it either.

Is your 2nd sentence meant to clarify? You're at a school where white parents come up to black parents and ask them to critique the black faculty and/or administration? Presumably because they're (the white parents) not comfortable doing so themselves on account of their race?

11:11, are you a Stepford wife? You give the impression of the white parent who comes up to black parents and asks us to critique the black faculty or administration negatively. I know it's you, I can tell.

Yeah! Girlfriend.

12:09, you are over-dramatic. The parent of these children are doing something correct and proactive when it comes to education. Because if not Wilson would've kicked them out and sent them to their neighborhood schools.

It was not necessary to put out a falsehood description. It might work at your cocktail party conversations but you're on a blog.

Be forwarned, your troll award is under strong consideration. Sheesh!

Anonymous wrote:I am an observant parent on the Hill and I too wonder about the division by socio-econ class. I am seeing a superficial outlook and I think there's underlying current of dysfunction.

A bitterness is brewing. Maybe that is too harsh.

No I think you are seeing it nation-wide. I think you are seeing in the OWS protests, in the very dysfunctional from my perspective Republican debates and attempts by the Democrats to take technology and wall street money but still be populists. We have very severe, long term challenges to the American economy and the lack of a middle due to poor opportunity, cultural and social changes and poor education design. The pieces that the NYT did on Apple offshoring the majority of its production is instructive

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html

But within DC yes there is bitterness when you consider how virtually impossible it feels to try and get ahead in this city if you are poor. I know several kids that live in Trinidad that commute to Wilson that have a lot of potential, but they are raising themselves. Their mother has no way of understanding how to help her quite talented kid. He spends 2-3 hours on buses and trains every day. He and his brother are lucky because school teachers and other mentors want to help them but for them to make any step forward is so much more than most DCUM kids. At some point it weighs on you. What happens when all you can look around and see are crappy jobs at CVS as your best prospect and frankly CVS is trying to eliminate that job because you don't have the math or english skills to be good at it. That is the reality for at 60% of DCPS kids. Yes the bitterness is real and you and I would feel too if we were in that situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is, we are moving beyond a race based society to a class based society. It's not any better, but at least try to keep up with the times.

You keep up with the times too -- a lot of us white folks already know that and don't need a lesson on it. In fact, your lecture suggests you're still a bit hung up on race and feel you need to help us whiteys out.

You are quite over sensitive. If you read what I wrote then you should have noticed that I was careful to qualify my statements with words like "some," etc. I have many white friends who really try to understand and gain an appreciation for our differences both racially and cultural. I love DC because there are many progressive whites who have a vision for a society that is more equal and offers opportunity to all. Not only do they have a vision, but they volunteer their time and talent to make it happen.

But let's be clear...that is not everyone. Whites are not a monolithic group any more than blacks are. If you regularly visit DCUM than surely you have noticed that some people are unable/unwilling to see the shades of grey that make up all races and cultures.

My guess is that very, very few of the unapologetic racists you see commenting here (or in the Washington Post comments, etc...) live in DC. The ones that do are outliers.

Anonymous wrote:The what response is from a clueless troll no doubt. Then it continued from this troll with a response of 1979-huh.

The Mocha Moms would always refer and discuss the white mafia motives at JKLM. Please take the description of being called the mafia as a compliment. It could have been nicknamed much worse, such as troll incorporated.

You have to understand that other people exist out here, and we don't have access to everything in your head unless you convey it through words. Thank you.

Anonymous wrote:But I also think there is a segment of white people living in the District who are still blatantly prejudiced and that it goes beyond class. (I see it in supposedly liberal Capitol Hill all the time) And I'm absolutely certain there are plenty of whites around the country who hold race-based prejudice that has nothing to do with class whatsoever.

I don't doubt it. But I think a lot of what gets chalked up to white racism can be explained by healthy street savvy. What I do see is incident after incident on neighborhood mailing lists about violent, random street crime being perpetrated all over Capitol Hill. Every single time, the description of the attackers is the same "LOF 2 BM" "LOF 3 BM gray hooded jacket" , etc, etc.. ad nauseum. When I see three black kids with hoodies coming at me, I'm going to cross the street. Hell, most black adults I know would do the same.

The divisions are almost entirely class-based. There's a middle-aged guy on our street. He's one of the few old time residents. Up until five years ago, he was living in the house with his mother, and we chatted all the time. His mother died, and now he's running a drug operation out of the house. Foot traffic streaming into the house day and night. Yes, I resent the Hell out of that. If he was a middle-aged white guy I'd probably hate him more, because I wouldn't make excuses for him based on historical factors.

I know there are plenty of whites around the country who hold race-based prejudice, and there's no doubt there are racists who live on "supposedly liberal" Capitol Hill. But for every white person who dislikes blacks, there are four blacks who irrationally hate whites. I think you're fooling yourself if you think the situation would be any different if, instead of blacks, we had poor and working-class Irish living in the neighborhood side-by-side with a bunch of upper middle-class professionals.

To the 10:29 post I meant to add that I think DCUM is good because without it some people would never hear the voices of people who don't look like them. If you are one of the wonderful human beings in DC who are actively seeking and working to find solutions that would benefit all...thank you. Otherwise, if you felt I was lecturing...so be it.

I am an observant parent on the Hill and I too wonder about the division by socio-econ class. I am seeing a superficial outlook and I think there's underlying current of dysfunction.

A bitterness is brewing. Maybe that is too harsh.