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would you send your caucasian child to an all african american school?

Poll Results: would you send your caucasian child to the school described below?

 
  • 27% (93)
    Yes.
  • 40% (137)
    No.
  • 26% (90)
    Maybe/ not sure.
  • 4% (15)
    Other.
335 Total Votes  
post #1 of 436
6/29/07 at 4:30pm
Thread Starter 
Would you send your caucasian (white) child to a school that, other than your child, has a student body made up of African American children? Your child would be the only white child in the school.

The school has no behavior problems.

The facilities are mediocre/ not so great.

The school has average but not excellent academic performance/ test scores.

The principal and teachers are kind and caring.

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post #2 of 436
6/29/07 at 4:53pm
I said yes, assuming that the school was the best overall fit for my child out of all choices available.
post #3 of 436
6/29/07 at 4:58pm

Maybe

I say no, but not because of the racial makeup but because of the facilities and performance. I am currently looking at some private pre-schools. weighing Montessori and Waldorf and transportation issues
(My 70 YO MIL will be taking him 2 days a week)

There is a decent Montessori, near to her house that my son would be the only caucasian. The teacher seemed very competent (though young and new) and the space seemed a bit small, but had a nice outdoor area. For the price she is charging though, I can go to another Montessori that is about another 5 min driving time that has more of everything. more tools, teachers, diversity, credentials, more years in service, and also goes all the way to 8th grade. So I will probably send my son there.

But I may have sent him to school number one if it excelled in the other aspects. If I had to comparable schools where my son is the ONLY one of "whatever" I would send him where he was not the only one. Having said that though, it would not have been the top priority.

This of course is not to say that I didnt think about it. It did cross my mind, and with "my druthers" no school and no child would be the only one. No school would be all lily white, or all Latino or all African American.
Doreen
post #4 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:00pm
No way. Why would I choose to send my child to a school with mediocre or poor facilities and only average test scores?

The teachers can be kind and caring as anything but if my kid is sitting in a classroom with flaking asbestos walls and a floor that is letting off formaldehyde or they don't have enough light or textbooks ~ is there really even a comparison?

I don't care if the student body is harvard-worthy, if the facilities are mediocre I wouldn't choose to send my kid there. I've attended bad schools before, where there wasn't funding for textbooks... where the electricity frequently went out due to bad wiring... and I had some great teachers but I don't think children should ever be put in substandard facilities for the majority of their days, you know?

ARGH this could lead to a rant and a half. If I had my choice ALL children would attend schools like that one strawbale Waldorf school featured in Mothering that one time.....


ETA ~ the poll results are going to look extremely skewed because people who just read the title and not the OP are going to think, "Holy cow 50% of MDC'ers are racist!" whereas, your OP isn't about race as much as facilities and staff and academic performance. Just felt the need to point that out.
post #5 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:04pm
Our third choice primary school is almost all African-American, DH and I are both Caucasian, and our child will be Caucasian. I have paid a lot of attention toward the attitude of the parents there and was pleased and relieved to learn that they want more racial diversity; the PTA or whatever they call it is actively seeking more Caucasian children. Otherwise, it would feel weird to sweep into a school that is one of the few jewels (in terms of gifted and talented resources, performance, etc.) and "take away" a slot from a meritorious African-American child. I was just saying to DH this morning that it is racist that more Caucasian parents don't apply to this school that "on the numbers" is so excellent!!
post #6 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:05pm
See, I put very little stock into test scores - especially in schools that are all/mostly nonwhite.

And the OP didn't say that the facilities were poor - just mediocre.
post #7 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by eclipse View Post
See, I put very little stock into test scores - especially in schools that are all/mostly nonwhite.

And the OP didn't say that the facilities were poor - just mediocre.
She said mediocre or not so great, which I interpreted as, in need of improvement.



I think that test scores can be one indication of a school's overall performance but I would also like to point out that there have been many, many cases through the years of schools just expelling the students that perform poorly in order to make their test scores look good. And that was before No Child Left Behind. Now, they just dumb down the tests.




(Oh man I am so freaking cynical about the American education system.)
post #8 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:11pm
I voted "maybe" because there simply isn't enough information to go on. The racial makeup of the students wouldn't be a consideration.

I generally don't want my children in a non-Jewish environment- either they'll be in a Jewish school or homeschooled. This is not because I think non-Jews are "inferior" or anything stupid like that, just that Judaism is such a huge part of our value system that I don't want my kids picking up on "secular culture" and having to unteach everything they pick up at school. I did that with the girls for a few years and I hated it; it wasn't particularly healthy for the family as a whole.

If, for the sake of argument, this is an all-black Jewish day school that's offering us a free scholarship to increase their racial diversity, and they can meet my kids unique educational needs, then yup, I'd take it in a heartbeat! If it's a public or secular private school, I'd be hesitant to send any of my children no matter the racial makeup of the student body.

"Mediocre" test scores might mean that they teach to the child, not to the test, so that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
post #9 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:13pm
well, I did know someone who had a hard time with their black child being in an only caucasion school. I would imagine that the challenges would be the same. I remember when my daughter was 6 or 7 and we were in an all black neighborhood and did not know itDUH. Then, the other kids started asking her, hey what are you doing here, you are a white girl, and questions like that. I was very surprised. But my daughter had not even considered color before these children made her feel like she didn't belong because she was white.
post #10 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:30pm
*
post #11 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthla View Post
"Mediocre" test scores might mean that they teach to the child, not to the test, so that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

This is definitely the case with my son's school. Along with that, many of the more well educated parents, whose children would likely do better on the test due to their social status, choose to opt out of the testing process because they have educated themselves about the inaccuracies of standardized testing.
post #12 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:50pm
Heck no.

Liz
post #13 of 436
6/29/07 at 5:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dachshundqueen View Post
Heck no.

Liz
Why?
post #14 of 436
6/29/07 at 6:15pm
****
post #15 of 436
6/29/07 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dachshundqueen View Post
Heck no.

Liz
Why heck no? Just curious.
post #16 of 436
6/29/07 at 6:21pm
Oh boy, this question is a bit loaded, but essentially how old/mature is the child and what grade will he/she be entering? I think that these things should be considered before making a decision. I voted for maybe.

Really, I find it strange when people say that the racial makeup doesn't matter, because if that was the case then why is this question posed? Race does matter, we all see it (just keeping it real), the question is how we treat and respect people of different races. I am a person of color and many, many times I have had to deal with my dd being the only brown face in a situation. Just this summer she attended an daycamp in which she was the only child of color in her age group. I was very aware of this fact, and we did discuss it-honestly. I can't pretend that I don't see color because I know that others do see mine. So as long as your child is aware of his/her self and is comfortable in discussing matters with you, I say perhaps give it a try. You can change schools if you do not like it right?
post #17 of 436
6/29/07 at 6:32pm
Dunno. The ONLY white kid? Hmm. It would depend for me on whether they would be socially accepted, or not. If they would have friends and a normal school life, absolutely. If not, I would send them somewhere that would happen.
post #18 of 436
6/29/07 at 6:38pm
I want to add that it would never be my preference to send my child to a school that consisted entirely or almost entirely of one culture/ethnicity. If there were two similar schools and one was all black and one was ethnically diverse - I would definitely choose the diverse one.
post #19 of 436
6/29/07 at 6:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by eclipse View Post
I want to add that it would never be my preference to send my child to a school that consisted entirely or almost entirely of one culture/ethnicity. If there were two similar schools and one was all black and one was ethnically diverse - I would definitely choose the diverse one.
I disagree. Partly I think we send our children to white schools a LOT without blinking an eye.

And partly I think sending a child to a school consisting of ppl from a subculture that most of us are unfamiliar with would be a very enriching experience.
post #20 of 436
6/29/07 at 6:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thismama View Post
Dunno. The ONLY white kid? Hmm. It would depend for me on whether they would be socially accepted, or not. If they would have friends and a normal school life, absolutely. If not, I would send them somewhere that would happen.
How big a deal this is would depend on the size of the school and the age of the children.

500 kids and one white family? Could be awkward. 8 kids in the class and 7 of them are black? Not as big a deal IMO.

Are we talking about high schoolers who are well aware of race relations in America today, or preschoolers who can't even *see* skin color yet?
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Education › Learning at School › would you send your caucasian child to an all african american school?