(no subject)
Mollys-home posted the column on white privilege by Mr. White in her journal and this paragraph struck me all over again:
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin'
redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how
if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and
talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be
viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law
to be) rather than a thug.
I teach at a school for students with severe emotional disturbance (that's the way it's coded in Federal law IDEA). These are kids with bi-polar disorder, profound ADHD, something called Oppositional Defiance Disorder, post-traumatic stress (one of my students was a child when his house caught fire and his mother was killed in the blaze while he was there - it's affected his whole life) and similar problems. Most of them have already experienced more pain and suffering than I have or probably will (students with parents in jail; students with murdered siblings; students shuffled in and out of foster homes because parents are drug addicts). Probably the majority of my students are on or have been on probation for fairly serious crimes (house burglaries, carjackings, assault with weapon - not truancy or shoplifting)
Nashville is not majority black. Nashville's public schools are not majority black. The student body where I teach, however, is about 85% black.
Sometimes I think it's because so many more of the folks in Nashville who are in public housing, on welfare or other public assistance are black. Other times, I think it's because the kind of behavior these students exhibit is okay if you're white but presents a real problem if you're black.
I'm not absolutely sure but am highly confident that if you looked at the makeup of schools, programs, classes like mine around the country you would find that most students are not white. Which, again, is maybe poverty (except that most poor people, most people at all, in the U.S. are white). Except that I meet so many white boys who to my mind exhibit the same behaviors my students have - but the white kids are on the football team or otherwise rewarded for their rough talk and roughhousing.
What do you think, dear reader?
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin'
redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how
if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and
talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be
viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law
to be) rather than a thug.
I teach at a school for students with severe emotional disturbance (that's the way it's coded in Federal law IDEA). These are kids with bi-polar disorder, profound ADHD, something called Oppositional Defiance Disorder, post-traumatic stress (one of my students was a child when his house caught fire and his mother was killed in the blaze while he was there - it's affected his whole life) and similar problems. Most of them have already experienced more pain and suffering than I have or probably will (students with parents in jail; students with murdered siblings; students shuffled in and out of foster homes because parents are drug addicts). Probably the majority of my students are on or have been on probation for fairly serious crimes (house burglaries, carjackings, assault with weapon - not truancy or shoplifting)
Nashville is not majority black. Nashville's public schools are not majority black. The student body where I teach, however, is about 85% black.
Sometimes I think it's because so many more of the folks in Nashville who are in public housing, on welfare or other public assistance are black. Other times, I think it's because the kind of behavior these students exhibit is okay if you're white but presents a real problem if you're black.
I'm not absolutely sure but am highly confident that if you looked at the makeup of schools, programs, classes like mine around the country you would find that most students are not white. Which, again, is maybe poverty (except that most poor people, most people at all, in the U.S. are white). Except that I meet so many white boys who to my mind exhibit the same behaviors my students have - but the white kids are on the football team or otherwise rewarded for their rough talk and roughhousing.
What do you think, dear reader?