147 Comments

Commenting has been turned off for this post
MarkS's avatar

"Those Black students who have the academic pedigree and wealth to go to private schools are those that the same affluent white parents would see as “the right kind of Black kids,” which is a racist sentiment on its face."

I strongly disagree with this. The very same parents want their kids to go to school with "the right kind of White kids”. They are discriminating on the basis of CLASS, not race.

Expand full comment
Xavier Moss's avatar

I agree with all this, but I think there's also a 'finishing school' aspect to all the anti-racism. There's a certain precariousness gnawing at the heels of the upper-middle class, and traditionally a great way to maintain and 'deserve' your elite status is through a variety of rituals, like using the right salad fork or what have you. I think these schools are sensing that the rituals of anti-racism are the most important form of elite socialisation, and teachers who can't get on board with that are diluting the product, which is ultimately stable elite membership for the children.

In this sense, there's an important aspect of 'make my kids different from normal white kids, we'll make sure the elite positions select for those differences' to the dynamic as well.

Expand full comment
145 more comments...

No posts