While this is merely a blog of a mans experience I just wanted to ask if is this really what's goin down.....



Kindergarten racism


[size=(Originally published at daddychip on April 12)][/size]

[size=When CB was in kindergarten I spent about 2-3 hours volunteering in her classroom every week. I wanted to get to know her classmates and be part of her first year of school. The teacher was a good sport, he gave me interesting things to do with the kids, and I got to know all of them pretty well.]

The class had 18 kids, 12 boys and 6 girls, mostly white, but five of the boys were black. The teacher, who was pretty young, and teacher's aides, who tended to be older, were all white, as am I. I never thought much about it.

But then I started seeing things I hadn't noticed before. The teacher treated the black boys much differently than the white boys, reacting much more harshly to the same behaviors if committed by the black boys rather than the white ones.

The teachers' aide, a very nice woman, became almost a different person when working with the black kids. She would assume they couldn't do the project or assignment, and would often just give up. I'd step in and could see that these kids could do the projects just as well as any of the other kids in the class.

But the most memorable event had to do with a substitute teacher. She was white, probably in her 30s, from a suburban area. She was very uncomfortable with the black kids.

[/size]When one of them did something or needed some direction, she acted like she was afraid of them. In fact, I could see that she was afraid of them, the expression on her face was one of fear, almost terror. These are five year olds we're talking about.

She asked me to deal with them, which I did. I knew the kids pretty well by then, and they knew me.

What has stuck with me from that day is the fear on the face of this woman. A fear of five year olds. Because they were black. That really opened my eyes. I realized how naive I'd been.

From that moment I began noticing a lot of things that we white folks are used to not seeing, not recognizing, or ignoring. How black kids are treated differently, in a negative sense, by the white adults in authority. And of course other kids notice that.

One day my daughter came home from kindergarten and said, "the dark-skinned boys are bad." At the time we were shocked that she'd say that, but I realized that she was just saying what she was seeing. The adults in the room treated the black boys as bad, and so they were bad. White boys who did the same things were merely mischievous.

Most white Americans reportedly think that racism is a thing of the past, and that we live in a colorblind society. Any continuing disadvantages experienced by blacks must, by this logic, be their own fault. And we shouldn't even really talk about race, because, the thinking goes, that is what perpetuates racism.

We live in a town that is very liberal. No one is openly racist. Yet the attitudes of white adults towards these black children reflect an ingrained racism. What I saw in CB's kindergarten class was real. And it showed me that if most white Americans believe racism is dead, then most white Americans don't understand how insidious racism continues to be.

And of course part of the problem was me. I did not stand up to any of these people and call them on their racism. Thinking about it now, some of them were probably not even aware of what they were doing, and would have been extremely offended had I pointed it out. Since I was a new kindergarten parent, I was overly cautious on this and on other issues. If it were now I think I would have reacted differently.

But would it have mattered? All of these school district employees had been through "multicultural and diversity training", meant to make them sensitive to issues of race and class. But it didn't seem to help. I know groups that advocate for children of color in our town, and they are frustrated with the school district administration and much of the school board. Good white liberals that they are, they just don't get it.

I don't have an answer. But these personal experiences have led me to read and think as much as I can on the predicament of being white in our society. Because the bottom line is, the race problem in this country is a white problem. And it's some of the most disadvantaged kids in our society who suffer because of it.


http://daddychip2.blogspot.com/2005/...en-racism.html

Typical experience of being black in awhite school. Many villagers here will recognise that story from their own past as I do. We've talked about this on BN before I think. Strange that a white guy was that perceptive, they usually hide their behaviour from themselves... jiminy cricket an all that. It's a process of alienating the black youth that occurs over a period from about 4 years to 12 by which time it's no longer necessary since the teacher's behaviour will have fostered much anger and resentment to the point where you have a kid who despises all authority.

So we know the game of the enemy. First priority is to equip your own kids to be prepared for it and not disheartened. Second is taking on that mentality at the source. Since as the white blogger himself acknowleges, people do not even speak of this or believe in it... this is the bigger task.

My solution was always segregated schools... others disagree.

The only thing interesting about that piece is that it was written from a white perspective. It's something that Black folks have BEEN knowing for years.

Its the fear that makes white teachers come down harder on Black boys as they are perceived as more of a threat.

As for the same behaviours being punishied differently, this is something Black folks have always known about.

And they wonder why Black boys are disillusioned and "under achieving" by the time the reach secondary school!! (where their treatment is often harsher than it was in primary school).

Like the piece says, alot of white folks think they are so liberal and that rcism is no longer an issue. But they are completly unaware of their own passive-agressive behaviour.

In this case, first, I wanna know how long ago did all this take place.

Yes it would be better if he'd had said something. At least that should had been the first thing to do, then if there was no change he should then be able to take the matter further.

I've always advocatedseperate schoolsas well, but sometimes it may not be economically friendly, (we all know things boil down to money), so the above procedure should be allowed to be implemented.

I see racism as abuse. You just don't leave it.

Everytime i hear stories as such it makes me glad to have no children. The frustration may be too much to bear and id probably end up getting dark on someones arse down at the school, which is not the correct course of action to follow i know.

Technology maybe the answer though. In some schools now parents have a direct link from the classroom to their PC at home/work. Perfect. You can then see for yourself how your children are being treated, and deal with it if necessary. You can even save the daily recordings on your hard drive so there'll be, evidence andno excuses or 'offence' caused like the Author reffered to .