Black Lives Matter Day

Views from today.


Nova


Hazel Wolf


West Seattle HS


Dearborn Park






Thurgood Marshall



Queen Anne Elementary

Comments

Anonymous said…
Stickers showed up around the building at TM today saying "HCC is still APPartheid". NOT ok.

So tell me again that advanced learning was not in the crosshairs today.

open ears
Anonymous said…
Open Ears,

If you feel comfortable with this request, can you please send photos of the APPartheid sticker to Melissa to post. I would like proof, so I can send a copy to the district and Board. This is clearly unacceptable.

- Enough
I have the photo and will put it up. That someone went to the trouble to make a sticker speaks volumes about this divide.
Anonymous said…
Tell me again, how is it going to have HCC co-housed at TM?

Unbelievable
Anonymous said…
From Seattle Times comments:

Garfield High School teachers carrying "Students are More Important Than Scores" signs rallied on steps while students took the PSAT test inside. The test was interrupted 3 times with PA announcements reminding teachers to join the rally and some proctors left to join the rally. How are students/parents going to feel when Garfield's test is invalidated and none of the students are eligible to be National Merit Scholars? #PSATscoresmattertoo

*bleeping* mad
Yes, I like how I got chastised for even considering going to a high school and yet this is what happened at a high school because of the event.
Anonymous said…
Let's not make assumptions that scores on the PSAT are going to be invalidated. This is exactly how rumors get started and it is irresponsible. -NP
Anonymous said…
@ Bleeping Made - And I think we all know how unreliable Seattle Times commenters are.
BTW Melissa, those are lovely photos you posted. -NP
Jet City mom said…
So the diatrict makes a statement saying that all African American students should be ready for college.
Do Garfield teachers not have that as a goal?
I agree that few students of any persuasion will actually recieve a National Merit award.
And perhaps students would be better served having the students for whom it will make a difference take the test on a Saturday, instead of having all students take the test.
But then be clear beforehand so students, parents and teachers know what to expect.
Don't change horses in the middle of the stream.
Anonymous said…
My Garfield junior, who took the test, reports that no proctors left, and that the test was not interrupted.

Get a Grip
Anonymous said…
This is a follow up from a previous thread on BLM. "Teacher" said that resources/lessons were on Schoology. I just want to say that there are no resources on Schoology about addressing/teaching issues about equity. We received something late yesterday in an email that came from the district...way too late to use.
Elementary Teacher
NP, it's just a post. That's one's person opinion and they are allowed to state it. I think it irresponsible to have a big school-wide event on an important test day. They wouldn't have done this during SBAC testing.
Anonymous said…
@ Melissa, Of course they can state their opinions - I never said they couldn't. Just like Trump can decline to say whether he will accept the election results. Both statements are irresponsible and fan the flames of discontent. -NP
Rufus X said…
following up on @Get a Grip's GHS account:

Reports in our household are that 1) there were 2 announcements for teachers to come outside for photos if they chose and 2) there were no less than 6 proctors during the PSAT before, during and after the announcements.

Sounds like all the hullabaloo of potential outsider poop-stirring didn't happen. Maybe the day carried on like it was intended to: A day of introspection, conversations, and awareness.
Anonymous said…
And told to MW on Soup for Teachers, by a parent and teacher in SPS:

"Take your white fragility and go somewhere else with it."

That certainly ended the discussion. How is it alright for a teacher to speak this way, ever?

-disheartened
Anonymous said…
For more about White Fragility, please read below regarding an upcoming talk at UW which is already at capacity:

White Fragility
Wed. Oct. 26, 2016 7:30 p.m.
Kane Hall 130, UW Campus

Robin DiAngelo, ’95, Ph.D. ’04
Director of Equity, Sound Generations, Seattle/King County

White people in the U.S. live in a racially insular environment. Because of this environment of rarely challenged racial perspectives, a stamina needed to tolerate racial stress is too often underdeveloped. Dr. Robin DiAngelo conceptualizes this lack of stamina as “White fragility.” White fragility triggers a range of defensive moves including: argumentation, invalidation, silence, withdrawal and claims of being “attacked” and “unsafe.” While these moves are effective at blocking the challenge and regaining our racial equilibrium, they are also damaging to people of color and prevent the development of skills we need to create a racially just society. Dr. DiAngelo will overview the socialization that leads to white fragility and provide the perspectives needed for more constructive cross-racial interactions.

DiAngelo has numerous publications and just released her second book, “What Does it Mean to be White? Developing White Racial Literacy.” Her previous book (with Özlem Sensoy), “Is Everyone Really Equal: An Introduction to Social Justice Education” received the Critics’ Choice Award by the American Educational Studies Association. Her work on White Fragility has appeared in Alternet, Salon.com, NPR, Colorlines, Huffington Post and The Good Men Project.

-NP

Anonymous said…
I have always found Robin DiAngelo's writing to be rife with unsubstantiated platitudes. Its actually quite funny when she states that, when confronted, white fragility manifests itself as.....almost any reaction that humans can have! This leaves one open to the accusation of "White Fragility" no matter how you respond to her perspective. It is a very clever (after the manner of a grifter), way of deflecting any criticism of her theories. She's carved quite a comfortable living out of promulgating a collection of overly simplistic hot-button ideas. That's my opinion.

-NotBuyingIn
seattle citizen said…
White fragility isn't an "accusation" - No guilt guilt implied. Why would you think it's an accusation?
This is also the problem with discussions about race - people who are told they have done something racist often feel they are being attacked.

Perhaps this is a defense mechanism to avoid having to deal with hard stuff that challenges ones view of the world?
Anonymous said…
I would contrast "white fragility" to "black resiliency". They are both just descriptive of the groups.

Whites are very sensitive about racism because they, collectively, benefit from and perpetuate it.

Blacks are so used to the ill effects of racial prejudice and suffer, collectively, from it.

MX
Anonymous said…
I have been schooled in critical race theory. It is one theory and one means of discussing race. Unfortunately, it is a very divisive means of discussing race. In the echo chamber of SPS (and apparently Soup for Teachers) you are to align yourself with the ideology and admit your privilege or racism, or object and be ostracized and labeled racist. If the conversation begins and ends within the confines of such an ideology, there is little hope for progress.

-disheartened
Anonymous said…
@disinformation

where were you "schooled" and when? you don't seem to know jack about critical race theory.

bay
seattle citizen said…
disheartened - do you admit your privilege and racism?
Anonymous said…
I can see why some white people don't dare to talk about race. It reminds me of stories from communist China, which I have read in books, with people having to do self-criticism for the wider group. Whoever that expert that is coming to talk about white fragility who says one response that proves something is not talking. I think she may be right that not talking is one choice.
MOM
Anonymous said…
Is this discussion about anger and finger pointing and who is the most pc?

Or is it about healing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDqmJEWOJRI&list=PLYGoPw4xULmkeFFiBAu0U4zt3MM1V2NIB

Nina Simone - I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free

-McClureWatcher
Anonymous said…
This reminds me of the whitewash of history by the southern states claiming the Civil War was not about slavery when those states' articles of succession specifically said slave ownership was the reason to leave the Union.

White people who engage on race with an open mind will be shocked to discover the damage that racism causes to people of color.

What "books" did you read about China that led you to equate racial discussions in the US to the Cultural Revolution?

return
We can have this difficult discussion in an upcoming thread I plan to write about the district's efforts around closing the opportunity gap.
Anonymous said…
@ Melissa, do you know if the district has done any sort of analysis of what's behind the opportunity gap, so they could actually come up with interventions likely to help? To me, not many of the things listed on that new district EOG page seem likely to make much difference. Where's the focus on mitigating the poor preparation these students have? Where's the extra support they need?

WA Kids kindergarten readiness assessment data, for example, show that black students entering SPS are significantly less likely to be "ready" in each of the key domains. We don't do the other state testing until 3rd grade, but those results show a similar gap, with black children much less likely to score at level 4.

SPS does not create the opportunity gap, and is unlikely to be able to eliminate it without focusing substantial efforts on ensuring that all students enter K with equal preparation.

rb
Anonymous said…
return, all I was saying was this discussion about if white people say this thing or that thing then everyone will know they are racist or fragile or whatever other description. So saying anything at all will expose that part. That is what reminded me of the memoirs I read written by people who grew up during the Cultural Revolution, where sins were aired before juries of neighbors/coworkers who determined if they were devoted or not to the party. It may not seem at all similar to you, and that is fine--maybe for other people it doesn't seem at all similar, but it reminded me and made me think that race is difficult to discuss when blame is automatically laid whether someone is silent or tries to talk.
MOM
Jet City mom said…
Socio economic diversity seems to provide supports that simply giving extra funding to schools with high FRL does not.
Oldest attended private schools where we had the interesting experience of adding diversity, by our lack of education & income.
I realzed that our very dysfunctional, very challenged family would need all the help we could get, and the school district had made it crystal clear that we would not find help there.
However, the families & teachers in the private school were very welcoming and acted as much needed mentors for our family.


https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/education.aspx
Anonymous said…
Jet City Mom,

The research has long been clear to support your point but that would involve having this crowd both shift from their neighborhood school mentality (while enjoying the benefits of a diverse urban experience) and stop pretending that the playing field is level. This city is too me-directed for those things to happen.

Seattle has proven itself to be strong in rhetoric and theatrics and woefully short in delivery. The analogy I always return to is the longstanding issue of inadequate public transportation in such a "environmentally-friendly" city.

Invoking BLM in a largely segregated city and district while ignoring the school assignment plan during SEA contracts, equity powerpoints and initiatives, and school board priority setting is another version of the eternal recurrence of the same. Hypocrisy and lip service at their finest...

A side note: Talking about WEB Dubois' talented tenth who got away to private schools in order to justify demographics in HCC is a combination of jealously and textbook rationalization. This city has over 30 percent in private schools and no one is using that excuse to argue for a less inflated HCC for the demographic that has a chokehold on identification and qualification.

--FWIW
Anonymous said…
The word is jealousy. I probably unconconsiously combined it with bigly.

FWIW
Anonymous said…
@ FWIW, "the demographic that has a chokehold on identification and qualification"? Those who qualify have ZERO impact on the qualification chances of anyone else. It's not like anyone is hogging all the spots, squeezing anyone else out, protecting their turf. Sheesh.

If you want to lower the qualification criteria for certain groups because they don't score as high, advocate for that. But be honest about it, please.

rb
Another Name said…
MOM, Thanks for your comments. I've been thinking that some of this conversation reminds me of China's Cultural Revolution, too. Individuals that were educated were shamed and humiliated. How did that work out?

I want to hear more about Robin Di Angelo, too.

Some how teachers talking about their students in terms of "white fragility" seems to bother me.

Frankly, the term "white fragility" is rather offensive. If leaders of this movement really want to make a difference, I recommend they shy away from this term and focus on educating.
Anonymous said…
@ Another name - more info about Robin below (from UW website):

Robin DiAngelo is a dynamic and provocative speaker addressing the highly charged topic of what it means to be white in a society that proclaims race meaningless, yet is deeply divided by race. Speaking as a white person, DiAngelo clearly and compellingly takes her audience through an analysis of white socialization — what she calls white racial illiteracy. She describes how race shapes the lives of white people, explains what makes racism so hard for whites to see, identifies common white racial patterns and speaks back to popular white narratives that work to deny racism. With remarkable skill she helps participants to see the “water” that obscures how racism works in our daily lives – the miseducation about what racism actually is: ideologies such as individualism and colorblindness, defensiveness and the tendency to protect (rather than expand) our worldviews.

DiAngelo’s scholarship and research in Whiteness Studies has been concerned with the challenges of an increasingly white teaching force and an increasingly diverse student population. A former associate professor of multicultural education, DiAngelo was twice honored with the Student’s Choice Award for Educator of the Year at the University of Washington. In addition to her academic work, DiAngelo has been a workplace diversity and racial justice consultant and trainer for over 20 years. In this capacity she was appointed to co-design, develop and deliver the Race and Social Justice Initiative anti-racism training for the City of Seattle.

DiAngelo has numerous publications and just released her second book, “What Does it Mean to be White? Developing White Racial Literacy.” Her previous book (with Özlem Sensoy), “Is Everyone Really Equal: An Introduction to Social Justice Education” received the Critics’ Choice Award by the American Educational Studies Association. Her work on White Fragility has appeared in Alternet, Salon.com, NPR, Colorlines, Huffington Post and The Good Men Project. -NP

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