Is “acting white” a legacy of integration policies that shortchanged blacks?
As the white adoptive parent of two black children, Harvard Law graduate Stuart Buck began to read about education and race and became intrigued by the “acting white” epithet sometimes directed at at high-achieving minority students.
That personal interest grew into a professional one that culminated in a book due out in May, “Acting White, the Ironic Legacy of Desegregation.”
A doctoral student in education at the University of Arkansas, Buck says his research led him to a surprising conclusion, that the “acting white” criticism had its roots in desegregation that wrenched black students from schools and communities they knew and threw them into new schools where they were often reviled, shunned and underestimated.
“The analogy I would draw is treatment for cancer,” said Buck, speaking by phone from Arkansas. “Segregation is like a cancer that we had to get rid of, but the treatment that saved our lives had unintended side effects.”
While black students often attended segregated schools that lacked the resources of white facilities, Buck says the schools served as the connective tissue in a community that historically valued education.
“In segregated schools, black children had consistently seen other blacks succeeding in the academic world,’’ he says. “The authority figures and role models — teachers and principals were all black. And the best students in the schools were black as well.”
While black parents welcomed integration, they had hoped for a merger of black and white schools. Instead, they witnessed the destruction of black schools and the erasure of the culture, community and closeness that the schools had created. Their children marched off to white schools where they experienced hostility and were tracked into lower-level classes. In his research, Buck found many examples of where even new facilities that had housed black schools were abandoned because white parents weren’t willing to send their kids to black schools.
“They did not want to send white schoolchildren into black schools, to be taught by black teachers and disciplined by black principals,” he says.
A University of Georgia and Harvard Law graduate, Buck cites Butler High School in Gainesville, which was built in 1962 but closed seven years later as part of the desegregation plan.
Black principals were demoted or fired, and teachers made to feel unwanted in the integrated settings. Buck notes that Gainesville had 115 white teachers and 70 black teachers in 1966. Three years later, 22 black teachers remained.
The loss was significant to the city’s black students because black teachers usually lived in the same community, knew the families of students and delighted in their successes.
There was an affection that was not easily replicated with white teachers who did not live in the same communities, attend the same churches or shop in the same stores.
In losing their school, Gainesville’s black students lost their mascot, their school colors, their yearbook and newspaper. Buck says the uprooting of black students from familiar and supportive environments was made even more difficult by the reception in their new schools.
Buck draws on news accounts of the era in which white students commented, “This is our school and they are just going to have to adjust.” White female teachers, raised to fear black men, were not comfortable teaching black high school boys.
Buck cites the research showing that capable black students are still less likely to be in advanced classes than white peers. Either out of overt racism or “liberal guilt,” Buck says white teachers did not hold black students to high expectations.
Once reassigned to desegregated schools, black students “were sitting in a classroom with mostly other black students in what they believed to be the ‘dumb’ class, watching as the white students headed to the ‘smart’ class down the hall,’’’ writes Buck.
Dispirited, black students began to associate achievement with white students and ostracize peers who joined the white kids in the ‘‘smart’’ classes down the hall.
Among the research that Buck mentions: The findings of Harvard economist Roland Fryer Jr. that while the popularity of white students rises with grade-point average, black children become less popular the better their grades.
He cites the experience of Ron Kirk, the first black mayor of Dallas, who recalled getting beat up at his newly integrated junior high school for being black and again in his neighborhood the same day for not being black enough.
Buck believes it is important to understand anti-school attitudes because he believes that students must be willing partners in education. “From youngest ages, children love learning, but something happens around 10, 11 or 12,” he says. “We have to understand why it is that children, black or white, don’t want to learn.”
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166 comments Add your comment
AlreadySheared
February 27th, 2010
1:28 pm
@Philosopher: Didn’t you read my post?! ” I’m not real happy about things”!!
My point is that this research about the historical basis of why kids are motivated to self-sabotage falls under the category of TBU – True, But Useless. Dwelling on stuff that is not going to change, people who aren’t going to change, and conditions that aren’t going to change instead of figuring out what I can do to change things for the better is a waste of time.
Every minute I spend rehashing the injustices of the the past is a minute I don’t spend figuring out what I can do to make things better now.
jay
February 27th, 2010
1:36 pm
I am a product of school integration from the 1960’s. My parents thought
it was the worst thing to ever happen. For me, its been one of the best things. I learned to let go of a lot of hate.
Philosopher
February 27th, 2010
1:49 pm
I’m glad to hear that-sorry if I misinterpreted, but it didn’t come through in the first post. And I absolutely agree- what’s happened, has happened, we can’t dismiss it, but we do need to incorporate the history our forward actions.
Chuckles
February 27th, 2010
1:51 pm
Blacks are the only people that base all decisions on the color of their skin. No other people groups do this. Like businesses make decisions on tax outcomes, Blacks make decisions on how it effects their Blackness. And they always stick together as Blacks first. as opposed to Americans first. Just an dumb white hick observation.
The Carnivore
February 27th, 2010
1:55 pm
Lee is right. It may be politically incorrect for some, but he is right. I think that immersing black kids into a white setting probably does help behavior and grades some, but you cannot expect any “achievement gap” to ever be closed completely.
A better experiment would be to remove the whites from the equation and have schools that are half black and half Asian. Without the old slavery argument to fall back on, would the blacks adopt the
Asian work ethic and try to keep up, or would they remain behavioral problems, mired in academic futility?
Who has it helped?
February 27th, 2010
2:14 pm
The question no one is asking is: Has integration helped anyone? It certainly has not helped whites, and many have chosen to move districts or go to private school to avoid a dumbed down situation. I don’t think it has helped blacks either. Their choices are “acting white” and the accompanying ostracism, or acting black and hurting themselves by poor grades and poor behavior.
It has not helped taxpayers, who have shouldered big tax bills to try to prop up a failing system. Hispanics may have been helped – I am not sure though. Asians have clearly been hurt the most – the lowest common denominator approach makes it tough to learn much, although it is easy for them to dominate the top of the class rankings.
Besides, society is pretty good at self-segregating anyway. Every racial group tends to stick together in a school context. Why is the government so intent on forcing something that probably should not be forced? And that may not be good for anyone involved?
2000lb elephant
February 27th, 2010
2:23 pm
Nothing interesting here, please move along.
Tony
February 27th, 2010
2:27 pm
Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. You know, until a person decides to do something about his or her own situation, there is absolutely nothing another can do to help them. Sometimes I think our current political philosophies that try to place blame on schools cause us to waste a lot of valuable energy on students who don’t care and don’t want to get out of the mire of poverty.
One of the best things about American education is that if a person WANTS to learn, they have at their fingertips the very best opportunities in the world. Our current policies place to much blame on the wrong people – namely teachers – for the lack of desire of others to engage in learning.
It is well past time for people to stop making formal excuses about why this group or that group “can’t” learn, and it is high time that we stopped supporting the students and families who fail to get with the program.
Veteran teacher, 2
February 27th, 2010
2:43 pm
Tony-Hear, hear. Well said!!!!
Intowner
February 27th, 2010
2:56 pm
With all the interracial marriages, people are becoming more multicultural.It will be interesting to see what the next census shows. I know several people who are 1/2 black, 1/4 black, etc.
So isn’t this article irrevelant in 2010?
Proud African American
February 27th, 2010
3:11 pm
I am the product of the integration era. My father was a doctor and mother an educator. My grandmother was also an educator who believed that it was our responsibility to use our talents and skills to help our community grow. As a result of their positive upbringing, my parents utilized “parental choice” in educating their children and sent us to some of the most prestigious schools in the country.
Our education was exemplary but the connection with our culture was lacking. To supplement this void, my parents educated us within our home. Through familial connections, oral history, trips to cultural places, cultural arts and exposure to our heritage in other avenues, I was given the freedom and desire to be a proud African American. I was the President of the Student Council in a predominantly white high school, representative to the Model United Nations in Europe, achieved a high GPA, and was a winner in a state Miss Black America contest. M goal in life was always to share the pride of my culture and educate youth within the African American community.
Each day I help children to be proud, strong academically and socially, and I strive to overcome the disparities that exist within America between the races. I help our children realize that they are talented, intelligent and have the power to dream and accomplish their dreams. I see the effects of single parent homes, poverty, poor choices in television viewing, drugs, and other societal problems that plague my culture. But I also see hope, dreams and young people who work hard to accomplish success daily. I see my purpose in life to nurture the young to be a positive contributor to our nation….
There are many like myself….I have friends and acquaintances throughout the country who have similar backgrounds and visions. Collectively, we are working to ensure that Brown vs Board of Education was not in vain. One of my friends’ uncle was Charles Hamilton Houston who worked on the monumental legislation Brown vs Board of Education. She and I often reflect on the impact that it had on our nation……
The good news about the effects of integratioon is too clear to deny. In the past few decades, African American fortunes and prospects have soared toward the heavens. We as an African American community have entered virtually every sector of American society and breathed
life into the dream of becoming a part of the American dream. It’s too late to put the racial-justice genie back in the bottle. It’s time to acknowledge what America and African-Americans together have accomplished and become. Today we as a world can see the effects of integration by the election of the first African American President of the United States, the Honorable Barack Hussein Obama.
The bad news, however, is equally profound, and it can be summed up with two simple facts. Despite all the progress of the last several decades, we continue to talk about Black America as a place and a people apart. We are not a world apart, we are an integral valuable part of this country.
As I look into the eyes of the many children that I impact each year, I reflect on the poem “I Too Sing America” by Langston Huges.
…..I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen, “Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed– I, too, am America.
Mary Grabar
February 27th, 2010
3:25 pm
You can’t win: white teachers “did not hold black students to high expectations.” But if they grade just as harshly then they’re racist; they’re accused of being harder on black kids than on white kids. So, no matter what people do, bus their kids all over town or insist on keeping them in neighborhood schools, they’re guilty. You can’t win. Why don’t we just get over this race thing and focus on learning? First, as I said before, get rid of the education schools. They’re the dumping ground for people with an agenda who can’t make the cut in other departments.
Citizen Joe
February 27th, 2010
3:35 pm
jkpatlanta,February 27th, 2010 8:54 am – you stated that ” As a white teacher in an all black school the problem of “acting white” is still prevelant. Many high achieving students are called out by school mates for that and many do not want to take the higher level and AP class for fear of being torrmented.” My daughters attended a predominately white school and what you have stated applied to them as well . . had nothing to do with race. Often they would tell me if they were viewed by other students as being smart they were called names and tormented. Bear in mind these were predominately white students. I think what often folks want to focus on as being a black issue more often times than not is an issue for all races.
Happy Teacher
February 27th, 2010
3:44 pm
Fascinating, albeit brief, look at what makes a great teacher for this generation of scholars:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/secrets-americas-greatest-teachers-9961455
dbow
February 27th, 2010
3:50 pm
Yet another log on the fire of blame whitey. So, black families welcomed integration? That’s the most laughable thing I’ve read in a long time. Everybody needs to get on with their lives already and stop blaming others. How many more years of affirmative action do these people need before they can finally be called successful. The black culture will not rise out of the ashes of racism until they refuse to take the welfare checks and the assistance of government whose only purpose is to maintain the status quo.
bootney farnsworth
February 27th, 2010
4:00 pm
what a profound load of crap.
I wonder what the next excuse will be?
Educator2
February 27th, 2010
5:57 pm
Please remove my post from the filter.
Sally
February 27th, 2010
6:14 pm
Education will improve for all when everyone starts acting like humans!!!! All of this Black and White needs to stop!!!
high school teacher
February 27th, 2010
6:15 pm
You can’t change history. We can explain or attempt to explain the attitudes that pervade our society, but unless we talk about a way to change them, we are all wasting our breath (or in this case, energy expended from our fingers on the keyboard) in determining the cause.
I face this same sort of issue in my white-majority school. We have a mixed rural/suburban population, and I have a hard time motivating many rural kids to achieve. Their philosophy is that their parents didn’t graduate high school, yet they run a chicken farm and make a decent living, so why should they worry about graduating?
High achieving students are ostracized by low achieving students, no matter the color of their skin. Who cares why? I care about trying to change it.
Rev. Mrs. Vidalia Toombs
February 27th, 2010
6:32 pm
Good job. Now take the rest of the evening off. You deserve it. A little sour mash…
Educator2
February 27th, 2010
6:47 pm
I wonder why my comments that criticized the posting of this article has not been released from the filter?
Hank Williams Jr.
February 27th, 2010
6:52 pm
Make em learn the american english corriculum instead of obama-phonics. No crime acting civilized.
AND PULL UP YPUR PANTS, TURN YOUR HAT STRAIGHT AND GET A JOB !
Oh the children
February 27th, 2010
7:00 pm
Fascinating, albeit brief, look at what makes a great teacher for this generation of scholars:
Have children somehow genetically mutated over the last generation, that they are fundamentally incapable of learning in traditional ways?
Or have we as a society lost our will to discipline, and put the responsibility for learning squarely where it belongs; on the student?
B. Killebrew
February 27th, 2010
7:02 pm
http://stuartbuck.blogspot.com/
B. Killebrew
February 27th, 2010
7:03 pm
http://www.stuartbuck.com/?page_id=2
Philosopher
February 27th, 2010
7:28 pm
@Tony: You could get away with that argument if it were based on fact. But we ALL know where the best schools and the best teachers are…and who has access to them and who does not. But it was a good try…
Ole Guy
February 27th, 2010
7:29 pm
HERE HERE, Oh! Abolish PC, announce the standards, and let’s build a few fires under some butts!
BlondeHoney
February 27th, 2010
7:44 pm
Lee is an idiot. And Proud African American, I salute you; you are making this world a better place. Oh and by the way, I am as pale sickly white as they come…but i don’t see color until I come in contact with many of you on these blogs
retired
February 27th, 2010
8:02 pm
As a beginning teacher I remember having in-service with Black teachers who began their careers at segregated schools. There expectations were so high. They were like my mom’s generation. They taught me a lot about teaching minority students. I still say the biggest problem in low income areas in low expectations relegating people to poverty. These fine ladies who learned to do way more with way less left an impression in my “save the world” beginning teacher that served me well for 32 years.
Happy Teacher
February 27th, 2010
8:19 pm
OTC – Of course the children haven’t genetically mutated, but our society has. Look around…internet, handhelds, laptops, video games. The norms and mores have profoundly changed, and “traditional” is no longer a relevant term.
I know this is unsettling to many, but it might explain some of the gaps between teachers/students these days and how teachers constantly decry how the students have changed. Is it the changing student body that is the problem, or the unwillingness of some teachers to change?
Voiceof Reason
February 27th, 2010
8:55 pm
@ CitizenJoe – AMEN!!!!
This entire discussion is BS. Do some ignorant blacks call “nerds” white? Yes. Do ignorant whites call “nerds” names too? Yes. This reminds me of black on black crime discussions. Criminals commit offenses against people that look like them. Yet, we talk about “black on black” crime like it’s something new that only dispicable blacks do. Georgia has the highest drop out rate in the nation and other horrible distinctions yet you racist folks want to imply that APS or other blacks are the problem. GEORGIA IS MAJORITY WHITE.
Voiceof Reason
February 27th, 2010
9:00 pm
Thank you retired!!!
Expectations are the BIGGEST factor when it comes to our schools. When kids go to schools with leaky roofs and no textbooks, what does that tell them? When everyone from parents to teachers thinks a little color will “dumb down” their school, what does that say? This country has NEVER expected minorities to do well. For hundreds of years, we worked on the belief that minorities were less capable and many still believe that today (i.e., Lee). Children are the most perceptive people I know. They pick up on society’s expectations and, sadly, many live up to them.
at this point in the game
February 27th, 2010
9:03 pm
Happy Teacher – really? Are you currently in a classroom? Yes, the student body has changed, and yes, any teacher expecting less for their students because of their race or socioeconomical background is the one doing the disservice. I don’t care if you have 30 tvs in your house, and I only grew up with one – get off your butt and learn!!! btw – I am a HAPPY teacher myself that sets high standards for my students no matter who they are.
Alecia
February 27th, 2010
9:08 pm
My 1st grader wanted to know if the phrase “Is we going?” correct. There are students in her class that speak like this and the teacher does not correct them. She was convinced that because the teacher is okay with it, then it must be the correct way to speak. I be expecting teacher correct her if she are speaking like a moron.
oh the children
February 27th, 2010
9:16 pm
The norms and mores have profoundly changed, and “traditional” is no longer a relevant term.
Traditional isn’t a relevant term? Don’t tell that to turkey sellers on Thanksgiving.
Is it the changing student body that is the problem, or the unwillingness of some teachers to change?
The answer is, that we as a nation have allowed children to act in completely unacceptable ways, then expect teachers to accommodate those unacceptable ways, because we as a society lack the will to discipline them. When we, as this state recently did, let slide with the slightest slap on the wrist, the non reporting of over 40,000 discipline incidents in one school system, the problem is most emphatically not teachers unwilling to change, the problem is an education system that is unwilling to support teachers.
Rare, very rare, is the child who will not respond positively to swift, and sure consequences, applied consistently. Without them, the talk of high expectations is just that; talk.
However, lamentably, as rare as it is for a child to not respond positively to sure and consistent consequences, it’s ever rarer that today’s school systems will support teachers in regard to that.
As much as today’s educators like to boost their self esteem with the concept of teacher as uber educator, it really isn’t rocket science. Which is a good thing, because last I checked, there are 3 million or so rocket scientists around to teach our nations children.
Though there are undoubtedly some doozys in the field, as there are in any other profession, it’s not the basic lack of teacher competence that is undermining education today. What’s undermining education today is the undermining the authority of the classroom teacher. If you don’t believe it, when’s the last time you heard Arne Duncan, or before him Margaret Spellings make front page news with a major initiative to address discipline, even though study after study after study shows it to be one of the major reasons teachers leave the profession?
Happy Teacher
February 27th, 2010
9:29 pm
ATPITHG – Look at the link I posted earlier. I think you and I actually agree, as i was just faulting teachers who have lowered expectations for their students because they don’t respond to lessons that are 20 years old.
Students respond to different things now technology-wise, but they always respond to high standards.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/secrets-americas-greatest-teachers-9961455
oh the children
February 27th, 2010
9:35 pm
Unfortunately the blog monster has eaten my response Happy Teacher
Proud African American
February 27th, 2010
9:37 pm
@ Hank Williams Jr. What is Obama phonics? If by chance you are referring to our President, he is one of the greatest orators of our generation. His exceptional speaking abilities continues to impress not only our country but the world. I wonder about your academic achievement to make such an unintelligent statement…:)
Educator2
February 27th, 2010
9:44 pm
In my opinion, this article was posted to stir controversy on this blog and sensationalize a subject that actually has merit as a problem that needs to be discussed. I am sure that Maureen knows her bloggers well enough that a intellectual dialogue would never occur on this topic due to the racist agenda of some to post their IQ theories, etc at every opportunity regardless of the subject. Therefore, I challenge Maureen to not choose topics that by design will create a racial divide. The increased attacks on the teaching profession require teachers to be unified, regardless of color.
This subject requires one to understand three concepts in order to have an intellectual conversation; (1) you must understand the concept of culture, (2) you must understand the affects of the mainstream culture on the non-mainstream culture and (3) you must understand the concepts of classism, racism and gender in the classroom. Many do not have a full grasp on these concepts, thus, it serves no purpose to post this article and provide those with a racism agenda on this blog a platform to post their ill informed, racist “facts”.
Proud African American
February 27th, 2010
9:47 pm
@BlondeHoney….Thank you for your inspiration. I wake up each day with the love of educating children in my heart – all children. My emphasis in working in high needs communities with a high percentage of minority students is challenging but highly rewarding. There are many colleagues of varied ethnic groups – African American, White American, Hispanic American, etc. that dedicate their careers to working in these types of schools. I am proud to say that the educational staff at the schools for which I have worked are committed and spend countless hours in making the lives of our students meaningful and goal oriented.
oh the children
February 27th, 2010
9:48 pm
Let me tell you something else students have always responded to Happy Teacher. Traditional swift and sure consequences, applied consistently. Notice the word severe was not used, just swift, sure, and most of all consistent. Without them, any talk of high expectations is just that; talk.
I know there is this new paradigm of teacher as uberhuman expected to anticipate every one of an infinite number of psychological wants and needs of students, and therefore no discipline problems will present themselves. Society and the public education bureaucracy love it because it absolves them of the job of raising and disciplining children, and puts it in the teachers’ hands. Teachers buy into this nonsense because they apparently developed a collective case of Stockholm Syndrome.
In general terms it’s not the sudden change in students, nor is the the unwillingness of teachers to change; it’s society’s unwillingness to support the teacher that is the problem.
If you don’t believe it, take away a child’s Iphone, XBox, mp3 player, Nikes, soft drinks, junk foods, and TV watching privileges until he learns his time tables, and provide him with nothing but a set of flash cards, and see how quickly he masters them.
What do you bet he’ll master them without even a single education expert to guide him?
Happy Teacher
February 27th, 2010
10:10 pm
I agree with many of your points OTC, apparently our parents had similar ideals…but here is the question I am left with: Am i going to be more successful changing society? Or myself?
I have found that by conceding to the need to chunk my lessons and that by bringing in technology that my students consider “cool”, I am eventually able to tame the impacts of society (that i agree are destructive).
I just think we are kidding ourselves if we want to fix society first…we must adapt. Perhaps we would find more support if we were more willing to change and not always hold the hard line that used to work.
Southerner
February 27th, 2010
10:42 pm
I really think the focus here has to be the achievers vs non-achievers – my ex-husband was from a semi-rural area in the north – his relatives were not convinced of the applicability or need for higher education. They were often scornful of college graduates and used a lot of subtle and non-so-subtle put downs. They would SAY that education was good – but the BEHAVIOR was not consistent. It was demoralizing to see that there were houses with no books, no newspapers or magazines. These people were white – and in my eyes that is the only difference. The behavior is the same. Achievers vs non-achievers and race is not a part of it.
oh the children
February 27th, 2010
10:43 pm
Happy Teacher on the micro level, I would agree you can have more success by adjusting and adapting, than waiting for society to do the same. But on the macro level, teachers and those who support them, need to do a much better job confronting the inherent intellectual dishonesty of the current paradigm called Teacher As Scapegoat.
All you have to do to see it exists is to look at the various vents on the current cheating scandal that almost invariably mention teachers cheating, and almost never mention administrators cheating even as, as this blog pointed out, the evidence leads to the fact that it was administrators who were the most likely to have the time and unfettered access to make such changes.
Teachers can always improve. But accepting the mantle of Teacher As Scapegoat, because we have lost the will to provide structure for our children does not serve their best interests, even if it serves the political purposes of the Arne Duncans of the world.
FLAWoodLayer
February 27th, 2010
10:55 pm
Agree with everything Buck says. I would also add black teachers and administrators that underestimate the ability of black youth to reach high standards. The psychological effects of slavery, Jim Crow, and a culture that still equates “white” with the “norm” has not really been studied or even attempted to be understood. The keys to the success of black youth are not “acting white” but seeking excellence, character, discipline and resilience. All elements deeply engrained in the African and African-American tradition.
Ben Thinken
February 27th, 2010
11:01 pm
I think that for black and white children and our society the breaking up of smaller neighborhood schools and the loss of the connection to the community even in the name of desegregation has had a negative impact on education. Today the neighborhoods surrounding the schools do not seem tied to the school and so many of the students come in from some distance and are in the area only during the school day. Many parents have never been near the school that their children attend. So often in our zeal to do right we commit blunders that cost us for years and have real serious unintended consequences.
Enlightened
February 28th, 2010
12:05 am
Interesting piece. I have often lamented that growing up in my predominately black community was a blessing. All socio-economic levels were in my community and all I had to do was walk a block or two away to be able to dream that I could live like the upper end did. I knew I could because they were black too. Teachers, doctors, business owners. It is the unintended fallout of desegregation. Many of those who could afford to move to areas where they once were forbidden did so. It started the demise of the fabric of the neighborhood.
As far as the erasure of culture; definitely! Our history is only taught in terms of slavery during the requisite period of Black History Month; if we’re lucky. In my black community, black history unfolded before my eyes. It was the politicians, community activists, doctors and the black teachers that cared about us. The smart kids were black and recognized as such. Today, there are schools within schools. The black and brown kids are in regular classes and the white kids are in advanced. No matter how diverse the school, if there are any whites, they will be placed in the advanced classes. Considering that many schools require that teachers make the recommendations for those advanced classes, it is curious indeed. Equally curious is that frequently, early on, school districts/teachers don’t place the kids that don’t look like them in positions to receive the advanced foundational learning to be successful later. The black teachers won’t do it either for fear of their jobs. or because they have begun to subscribe to the school culture.
I’ve had these conversations most of my life with my black friends and more recently with my white friends that I know can partake in a philosophical discussion without taking it as a personal affront.
Proud African American
February 28th, 2010
12:38 am
@FLAWoodLayer…Well stated. African-American students are capable, desirous to learn and can achieve at high levels. We must use our knowledge, resources, and power to help ensure the academic success of all African American students. To do this, we must establish a climate of support and collaboration in which all teachers, students, and their families are valued, and each student’s achievement and well-being is monitored and supported as part of a collective schoolwide, family, and community responsibility.
ScienceTeacher671
February 28th, 2010
9:48 am
It is true that both black and white academic achievers have often been ridiculed and teased by their less-achieving classmates. Perhaps, at least in Georgia, this goes back to a culture which largely denigrates education.
I’ve noticed in the schools in which I’ve taught, there are pep rallies and other assemblies to recognize students who achieve athletically, but awards for academic achievers are usually made quietly, out of sight of the rest of the student body. Is there a lesson here?
Proud White American
February 28th, 2010
10:15 am
The promotion of integration in public and private schools has created enormous problems in classrooms across America. Violent behavior has increased as multi-culturalism and diversity programs have forced races together. Many White parents remove their children from such schools due to lowering standards and increasing violence, choosing instead to enroll their children in private or religious schools. Those White students remaining as a minority in public schools are often the victims of reverse discrimination, racial intimidation and violence. In such “diversified” schools, teachers and school administrators are finding it increasingly difficult to provide a safe atmosphere. Even teachers themselves are frequently intimidated and threatened in such schools.
White students have become alienated as textbooks now promote minority pride, while texts focus on White guilt for slavery and past racial discrimination. Whites are collectively blamed for slavery even though historically only a very small percentage of Whites owned slaves. Blaming Blacks as a group for high levels of black crime (a 1,000 percent higher rate than White crime) would be considered hate speech. However, condemning the White race, as a group, for slavery is considered acceptable. Chronic recital of the evils of slavery and racial discrimination increases Black hostility and aggression toward White students and teachers. That hostility, when combined with the high rate of Black violence, poses an increased danger of racially motivated criminal behavior. Thus, most of the campaigns against “racial hate” actually foster hatred and violence against White students and teachers.