You've Got to be Kidding

[libramunoz]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

This isn't about very small towns. Dumb happens wherever people are. Attending school anywhere can teach you about covert and overt racism. For the record, that doesn't mean that everything that happens is racism.

True this isn't about small towns, but again, this was simply my perspective.

Now yes, dumb does happen any and everywhere, but sometimes, someone, somewhere has got to point out the dumb and say, "For the love of all that is holy, let's just stop this dumb _______."

In this case, this to me, is an act of racism. No, everything that happens isn't about racism, but when it is, you've got to stop it how and when you can or else the situation(s) can and will continue until a) the point of no return or b)a return that one doesn't want to face.

In this particular case, to me, this was and is simply covert racism, pure and simple. Again, this is just the way that I'm seeing it, folks don't have to agree or they can, but this is just what I see plain and simple.

To me, this child gets too feel self-conscious about her hair for many years to come because her teacher is/was unwilling to simply talk to her parents about the issue. The child gets to find that innocence gets easily lost when the "adult" of the classroom isn't willing to be an adult and she (the child) gets thrown under the proverbial bus for something she had nothing to do with. The child gets to doubt her self-esteem for many years because of this teachers unwillingness to change her attitude and check herself by dealing with the situation like an adult. Because of this "woman's" behavior (and I use that term on shaky ground) the child will have ramifications that were a) subliminal, b) subconsciously "gifted" to her, and c) unncessary within this child's life. She (the girl) shouldn't have to feel this woman's issues because this woman didn't just want to stand up and be one.

Again, this is just simply how I see things and yes, having gotten some of my educational background from a small town has "skewed" some of my vision at times.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by libramunoz

In this case, this to me, is an act of racism. No, everything that happens isn't about racism, but when it is, you've got to stop it how and when you can or else the situation(s) can and will continue until a) the point of no return or b)a return that one doesn't want to face.

In this particular case, to me, this was and is simply covert racism, pure and simple. Again, this is just the way that I'm seeing it, folks don't have to agree or they can, but this is just what I see plain and simple.

I can't find anything in the article you posted that would make me feel comfortable saying I'm sure what the teacher's motives were, especially since it gives only one side of the story. Sure, it might have been racism, but it also might simply have been an extra helping of crazy with a side of stupid.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I can't find anything in the article you posted that would make me feel comfortable saying I'm sure what the teacher's motives were, especially since it gives only one side of the story. Sure, it might have been racism, but it also might simply have been an extra helping of crazy with a side of stupid.

She already has her mind made up and that's going to set the context for everything else. Opinions are awesome as long as people understand the difference between opinions on race and speaking definitively as though covert and overt racism are always so apparent. Then libramunoz is adding the girl's self-consciousness over her hair (which is an assumption) to the equation. That's a leap only used as a recipe for race and racism. However....

You all already know this, but I must say what I've said hundreds of times, which is that racism isn't about "add race then stir." If this story hadn't used the race catch phrases of "Olive Oil Moisturizer (LOL)," "African American," and "NAACP," this would've just been a story about a nasally sensitive dumb teacher and a school administration that doesn't understand school-parent protocol.

At the same time, racism is about outcome and not intent. The teacher/school doesn't need a racial intent for it to have a racial outcome (i.e. the student being sent to a class of African Americans who are not academically up to par--the very existence of a class of African Americans who are not academically up to par). But, again, the outcome isn't so apparent solely based on what I've read.

[33girl]

This is bullshit. I doubt if it would have been some 8 year old boy drenching himself in his older brother's AXE that the teacher would have removed him to another classroom.

I seriously doubt if the teacher even has allergies at all. Also, why was the girl immediately transferred to a classroom with mostly African-American children? Are there only two rooms for each grade? If so, why are homerooms in an elementary school determined by the kids' intelligence level? That's a really good way to make a division between the groups.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If so, why are homerooms in an elementary school determined by the kids' intelligence level? That's a really good way to make a division between the groups.

I don't recall having homerooms in elementary school. Maybe that's just my bad memory.

The general answer to your question: Tracking. Yes, it is a good and very intentional way to make a division between groups based on grades, race, learning capabiliites, etc.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I don't recall having homerooms in elementary school. Maybe that's just my bad memory.

The general answer to your question: Tracking. Yes, it is a good and very intentional way to make a division between groups based on grades, race, learning capabiliites, etc.

I guess homeroom was a bad way to put it. We had 2 classrooms full of students in my elementary school. These were chosen by random (everyone from the smartest to the slowest student could be in the same room) but we were "tracked" into ability-appropriate math and reading classes. I hope that makes more sense as to what I was saying.

I'm sure it makes it easier for the teacher but I know when I got into junior high and everything was tracked, I was sick and tired of the same old assholes in my classes by halfway through 7th grade.

[libramunoz]

As I said, to me and from my point of view, yes, this is how I see the article and how I see this incident.

Yes, it could be the easiest helping of stupid on the side along with a plate of education, but for me, the way that things were handled become a lesson in covertness at it's best.

Yes, I did add the issue of the child's self-esteem to be brought into the mix. I have seen things that are little that were heaped on a child and for some children it does become an issue later within their life. Was it purposely done, for some yes, for most no. However for this child, I happen to see this as a real possibility.

For me this is just what it is as it is presented and I'm sure that not everyone will agree with how I am seeing the situation and that's o.k.

[dreamseeker]

Originally Posted by Prettyface08

@Dreamseeker lol Don't laugh about the EVOO, I moisturize my hair with it!

lol. i use coconut oil. i kinda enjoy walking around smelling like a coconut.