There are so many factors that affect who can teach. To attribute the race of teacher as a primary factor is a little simple. It is not what color you skin is but the degree of caring and concern that lets kids know you really care that they learn what you are teaching.
There is also a vast body of research on why black males do not succeed in school. It is well worth a read by the people who keep laying all the blame on white women teachers.
Black American Students in An Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement by John U. Ogbu (Author), "This book raises uncomfortable questions about race, opportunity, and responsibility as it examines why the sons and daughters of wealthy black professionals aren't keeping pace academically with the children of wealthy white professionals in Shaker Heights, Ohio...Ogbu doesn't let schools entirely off the hook. But he's not letting anyone else off, either." —American School Board Journal
Another point that might be worth mentioning is the Star article that pointed out that the rate of graduation among white males was worse then the rate of black males. So who is failing to educate white males.
I'm a simple man from the mountains of Appalachia and I see things very simply:
White women can educate black young men.
Black women can educate white young men.
Sanity is when one person looks at another person and evaluates he/she INDIVIDUALLY based on the content of their heart and character, not the color of their skin.
Of course they can. But I do understand the concern about white teachers who are oblivious to their own hostility and/or condescension with regard to race. We all work with them, and it's obvious there are a few on this board. I think it makes an enormous impact on students when teachers see them as inferior, in need of "fixing," etc. I think it happens with all poorer students in all districts, but I also think in IPS, it happens more often with white women and black male students than any other demographic. (And fwiw, I'm a white woman.)
I have met a few white female teachers who display not only condescension and hostility but also fear when interacting with black male students. They are generally unaware of it, and get very defensive if you point it out. I have also listened to black parents telling their children how awful white people are. Listen in at the library, the Walmart, the hair salon. Parents are training their children to show disdain for white teachers. When the white teacher reacts, the parents' feelings are validated. It's a terrible cycle. Another dynamic at work here is the black family's cultural preference for corporal punishment. Children who are spanked do not learn to think about their behavior and its consequences--they just go through life trying to avoid pain. Once those kids figure out that the teacher is not going to hit them, they have a field day! The teacher who does not understand what is going on begins to think that the black kids are bratty and disrespectful. Now, add to the mix the problems of reverse discrimination. I recently saw two boys in a fight. One was black, one was white. The boys were given in school suspension. The white boy showed up the nest day, went to ISS, and got on with his life. The black boy brought his mother in, who threatened a lawsuit--because she was sure her son was only being punished because he hit a white boy. The administration wanted to shut this mother up, so they did not punish her boy. Tell me, what did those boys learn that day? White teachers have a barrier to overcome when hoping to teach black students. They must earn the trust of kids who have been trained from birth to mistrust them. Every time I hear that the admin at Shortridge thinks white teachers can't teach black kids, I want to say this: Where are these great black teachers that you want so bad? I wish every white teacher in your building would quit tomorrow, so you could fill your ranks with these wonderful black teachers you love so much. I am eager to see what the next excuse for black students' poor performance would be.
I am saying this very honestly: I don't understand this idea of "reverse discrimination."
I think discrimination is discrimination: no matter if it is white against black, black against white, white against red, red against white or purple against tangerine.
I once had a friend who was a black pastor who had marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. We (I'm a white male) had many fascinating discussions about race. It was a tremendous blessing for me to have known this pastor.
This outstanding African/American pastor told me that he was discriminated against by OTHER African/Americans because he had lighter colored skin color than they.
Do you see where this all leads? The root psychology is "I don't like you because you're different than I am."
I do not know this as a fact, but I have been told quite often by a variety of people that there is some racial discrimination involving some black IPS administrators/principals, etc., against white employees.
If this is true, then it is absolutely racist, evil and wrong.
I have seen this hostility or fear that you mention and students pick up on it right away. It is not only race based but poor white and black children are looked at with this same hostility or disdain [ in a few cases] by both black and white teachers. On the whole, IPS teachers are pretty accepting, fair and caring.
Did Attucks only have black teachers when it was an all Black school? Just wondering...wouldn't we almost have to go back to segregation to have only black instructors for black students? Seems to me we need a whole lot more emphasis on equity and on helping all teachers to truly understand the assumptions they may hold about students so that they can reach all students. It would be interesting to hear what some adult persons of color would have to say about their education with white or black teachers. I think we haven't even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to really understanding racism....and I am an older white teacher - female.
I have had multiple black women administrators tell me that our problem is "white women teaching black children". Nooooo, the problem lies with the administrators making those blatantly disrespectful comments. It is tragic that race has to be brought in this at all. Compassion and love have no color.
I have been told by African-American girls that they don't have to listen to white women because their mothers said so (this has been in multiple buildings and at multiple grade levels). Whether it is true or not, the seed of hatred has been planted somehow and somewhere.
For those principals you mentioned in the post above, do they have children who are in education? If they feel that white teachers cannot teach black children, then they should be pushing their offspring to get into education to offset the damage being done by white teachers.
I agree with the above poster. I am black, and for the first 5 years of my education I had only black teachers. For the last 30, all white teachers. There is no difference! For all this militant talk by certain administrators, most act like they don't want to hire black teachers. PLEASE!!
I have the answer to the post above. What is the answer to the principal at Shortridge who continues to demonize white teachers...fire him. NOONE should be able to get away with this type of talk. NOONE.
I do not know the principal at Shortridge personally, but I am wondering if he ever had a serious relationship with a white woman and it ended on a bad note. He seems to really dislike all white woman teachers, so I'm looking for some experience in his life to explain this generalized strong dislike.
When a person demonizes another person who is different, then it is because that person is insecure and lacks confidence. Strong, secure, and confident people do not need to demonize others.
Read the July 3, 2006, post from this IPS magnet school principal's myspace page.
His use of the F-word and the N-word in his Internet post is not something that parents of prospective or current students expect to read from a public school principal. Some parents actually check out their schools principals when searching for a good school. Public schools get enough bad press without one of our administrators posting profanities for the whole wide world to read. He can use all the profanity he wants privately, but when he puts it on the Internet along with his picture, then he has gone public and shows a lack of wisdom and professionalism.
After reading the comments, I am really sad at the fact that modern educators have to even discuss such mindless issues. It appears that we've forgotten about Brown Vs. Board of Education Topeka, KS of 1954 with Thurgood Marshall. How many have ever even taken the time to read the case? Better yet...how many have read the Mis-Education of the Negro by Dr. C.G. Woodson (First African American Rhode Scholar). Lastly, try reading Dr. Julia Hare's awesome information then begin to engage in intellectual productive conversation.
Of course...White female teachers can and should teach boys of all cultures. The impact of their influence relies upon the teacher's depth of historical facts, commitment to understanding cultural social norms (be them right or wrong), and their honest ability to look at their own individual thought patters concerning race.
Once this truly transpires...then any person of any color can and will have a lasting and tremendous impact on the lives of all children to whom they teach.
BTW...I'm well read, historically factual, and a white female!
I get nervous when I hear things like "honest ability to look at their own thought patterns concerning race."
That implies that we white folks have some kind of a consciously unidentified, subconsciously driven racial prejudice that we need to have a psychiatric analyst (or hypnotist) uncover. Or, maybe have this issue identify itself while we are participating in a New Age Drum Circle or crystal-gazing session.
It doesn't take much deep introspection to figure out if one is a racist. And why would someone with all of these undetected, subconscious racist proclivities want to teach in an urban district in the first place?
The question I have is why we can't talk about racial divisions as a real issue that needs attention without immediately summonsing knee-jerk offended reactions from some people?
While you're apperently illustrating your knowledge base...it appears that you've actually read the literature mentioned above. One cannot hold an intectual conversation concerning race when one does not have a point of historical reference or fact. It is clear what individuals with good intentions have done who have not engaged themselves. Lets say...the Women's struggle to vote, racism against Native Americans, Asians, Slavery, the Holocust, and the list goes on.
Sense you understand this clearly...It is clear throughout history that an analysis of one self in light of historical perpective assist in creating a framework from wich to engage in productive conversation in order to eliminate mis-understandings of individuals of various religious, cultural, and sexual differences.
O...thats right...some Germans prior to the WWII also thought themselves of having no need for introspection...and we all know what this led to...pure hatered for people now like themselves.
I have two thoughts. [1] The above post was written by someone who is totally illiterate. [2] Is there a possibility that the MySpace posting attributed to the Shortridge principal was written by someone as a hoax. I cannot believe that an educated person with that responsibility would write with such anger and hate or that the school board would entrust a school to his care.
Meh, I think calling Cosby's blog racist is really stretching it. I agree it often seems we're going backwards reemphasizing race. But it also really, really concerns me that there are teachers in this district and on this blog that don't think subconscious racism is a huge factor in our lack of success with reaching black males. I also think its scary for an IPS teacher to insinuate that the problem isn't their skin color, it's that they're immoral, ill-disciplined, racist, ignorant, and do not value education. Um, welcome to racism!
The idea that African-American parents want different things for their kids than white parents is racism. I think the post above about multiple students being taught by their mothers they do not have to listen to white teachers is a lie posted by a bigot, hopefully not one actually employed by IPS. If your students and their parents do not connect with you, does it ever occur to you that you might be the problem? I'm a white woman who has taught at IPS for 10 years and I can count on one hand the number of parents who have had any problem with me whatsoever, and I can count on two hands the number of students who have had a problem with me. The idea that black students fail because they want to fail is absurd. The idea that we are powerless to reach them is irresponsible.
This is the first time I have ever read or heard of these racial issues (such as so-called "reverse racism") in IPS being discussed publicly. Kudos to the blog masters.
I knew a guy who had a fancy house. His wife stacked all of their junk into one room. The rest of that house was immaculate, but that one room was where all the mess was.
The news media and others in Indianapolis don't want to open the door to that "one room." It's too touchy, too sensitive. But how can it be said that the issues being raised on this blog do not affect the IPS school district in a very profound way?
I am a taxpayer, not a teacher or administrator. I believe these issues need to be brought to light and not tucked away into one room. In fact, I think it would be great to have public discussions hosted by IPS as to the role of race in urban public education.
As a taxpayer, I am a part of the "public" who pays for public education. I personally do not want to pay for public education that elevates any race over any other race.
If some (or many) IPS administrators and principals don't have faith that non-African Americans can teach African American children, then perhaps the "public" should be taken out of IPS and it should be organized completely into private charter schools with all African/American administrators and all African/American teachers.
Oh for the love of Pete. This blog is idiotic and the "reverse racism" issue is completely fabricated by bigots and teachers who can't teach. They are taking comments about relating to students and respecting culture and pretending that's about hating white teachers. The blogmaster does not deserve kudos. She deserves a slander lawsuit and a court-ordered racial sensitivity class. It makes me want to vomit to think of IPS students and parents reading this site and thinking IPS B.S. in any way represents the rest of us. This blog is shameful. Intentionally shameful.
There goes Jane Kendrick again or...one of her minions....when you don't have an answer or when someone exposes a difficult situation ..the answer is to blame it on the teachers...that is what Eugene White has instructed his administrative staff to do....they won't work to solve problems ..they just want to blame it on the teachers....to the above poster, please provide an example of slander. I suspect you don't understand the legal definition of slander just as you don't understand much of what is going on in Indiana.
Oh yeah, and the Jane Kendrick response is real origional. The funny thing is, I don't know much about Jane Kendrick, but after every post that gets accused of being her, I begin to respect her just a little bit more! Btw, I'm a secondary ed teacher texting here from my cell phone. My colleagues make fun of me for giving you the time of day because everyone knows what nonsense this blog is, but it drives me nuts to see IPS teachers portrayed like this to the public.
Ignore these kinds of hard issues and IPS continues on its swift decline so that current administrators will soon have nothing to administer to because all of the schools will be shut down.
First, I know how to spell original, it was just a simple typo. Like I said, I was posting from my phone.
Second, what kind of fool believes that there is a secret black-against-white racist conspiracy going on at IPS based not on a single allegation by one of the thousands of actual parents, students, or employees, but based on an anonymous blog designed for the sole purpose of being able to badmouth IPS without providing any evidence or sources.
Third, if you really are just an unbiased taxpayer, then I assure you, you are taking the wrong side. The real teachers are in the trenches everyday making impressive strides with your tax dollars. IPS B.S. does not represent real teachers. I have a hard time believing the blogmaster has ever actually been a real teacher -- I lean more toward sub or disgruntled office worker or maybe the spouse of a teacher. But I assure you most IPS teachers take are not ignorant hatemongers, and most of us take our jobs much more seriously than Ms. B.S.
To the person who claims to be a secondary ed teacher: You realize that you are one of us who Eugene White daily tells the community that we are lazy, uncaring and don't like children. If that is the way you want to be portrayed to the public then you have some major issues. This blog can get the true story out to the public. P.S. the word is...."original"
You're exaggerating, but even if you weren't, it doesn't matter. I'll be here long after Eugene White. The people who matter are the parents and the students and my principal. Sure, I think IPS is top-heavy and I disagree with much of what is handed down by administration. But isn't that the case with 90% of occupations? Do you think it is a secret black-on-white racist conspiracy with those corporations too?
"...I think calling Cosby's blog racist is really stretching it." quote from above
No one on here has said Cosby's blog is racist. Check back and reread the posts. You're the one who mentioned racism.
Cosby is a principal of a magnet high school here in Indianapolis; he holds a position of importance in the educational community. His use of profanity including 'f***ing' and 'n****r' on an Internet blog bearing both his name and his picture as personal identifiers is beyond poor taste. It demonstrates a reckless disregard, immaturity, and lack of good old fashioned common sense.
About the blogowner, first of all I think he refers to himself as a male, second he doesn't seem to do much editing of the posts, he just posts the questions, and may also contribute. The only thing I can recall ever being removed was the names of two underaged students posted by a teacher.
I have personally witnessed black IPS high school students make fun of their teachers who were born in Nigeria. The kids said rude and insulting things about the African teachers' accents and about the clothes they wore to school.
To the pompous poster above who claims to be a teacher: Real IPS teachers are busy working with their children and trying to comply with some of the ignorant mandates handed down by Eugene White.....we don't have time to read and post on blogs with our cell phones like you claim that you are doing. Also what is your formula for determining that the blogmaster is a female? Did you use your cell phone on IPS time to determine that also?
Re: the myspace page...Went to take a look at the myspace blog, but the myspace blog belonging to the Shortridge principal has been 'set to private'. This sounds like Dr. White spoke some practical words of advice to the principal.
We should all remember that even if a website is removed or 'set to private', it is still viewable in the 'cached' version. Some things just refuse to be erased.
I was on my lunch. Lots of people check their e-mail, pay their bills online, read something on the internet, etc. while they're on their lunch. Where do you teach that this isn't fairly common? And I guessed female just because most of the guesses I've heard about the identity of the blogmaster are female. But obviously, I don't know for certain.
It would be nice to have a long leisurely lunch. Most teachers I know use that time for parent calls, grading papers, tutoring students, preparing lessons while grabbing some quickie snack that they brought with them. The only people I know who have the luxury of bill paying, blogging etc on their lunch are Ed. Center administrators or these dozens of academic coaches that float around from school to school.
White thinks they can. He is surrounded by White women everyday. All the ones that are making changes are white. Guess the poor child theme is working on IPS. We have rigor in an English Workbook, Rigor in the 6 question scrimmage, Rigor in the poorly written Benchmarks. Oh my, an IPS kid can go to a township school and tell that in their English class did a project about his or her background. However, I read one novel, but I have a whole lot of pictures for show and tell.
YOU decide whether you want to do all that work during your lunch. The only people I know who complain about their lunch shift are the burned out, poisonous, and negative staff members who make me and the rest of my colleagues look bad. Regardless of everything about racism, administration, or a lunch period, the WORST thing about IPS is the rampant NEGATIVITY.
Again, I'd love to know the school where you teach where all the teachers are working through lunch and nobody's eating a sandwich while looking up something on a cell phone?
Gee, you complain about negativity but everything you have posted has been filled with negativity especially directed toward teachers. You need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
Off the topic, but just read this in the IndyStar updates...
December 1, 2009
Tech students charged with gun possession
Star report
Two Tech High School students were arrested today after a handgun was found in a car parked in the student parking lot across from campus, Indianapolis Public Schools officials said.
The male students, 17 and 18, face preliminary charges of carrying a handgun without a license on school property, possession of a firearm on school property and dangerous possession of a firearm. The students' names were not released.
The loaded handgun, a .22 caliber semi-automatic, was found after school officials received a tip, according to an IPS news release. Both students were suspended pending expulsion, the release said.
I don't consider those who complain about doing their job my peers. Whether you are a 5 week wonder or someone on the cusp of retirement, you know what you got yourself into when you entered the profession, so don't complain about talking to parents or grading work. I have been in several districts in Indiana, and I know from person experience that many staff members in IPS are depressingly negative. They are the ones who create a culture where teachers don't teach and students don't study.
And don't call me Jane Kendrick or an administrator for stating this, because that will only show your own inherent need to deflect the blame off of yourself.
ut-oh, I better correct my response above and say that I meant "personal experience" before the mudslingers on here accuse me of being an idiot for committing the deadly sin of a typographical error.
Just FYI, the person posting about race from her cell phone at lunch is not the same person who referred to negative teachers as poisonous and burnt out. I agree with it, but I didn't post it. Regardless, saying negativity is toxic is not being negative toward teachers.
The teachers on staff at your school are your peers. Perhaps they are not saintly and God like as you seem to think you are but they ARE your peers. Just not perfect like you.
I ask this as a taxpayer. And NO, I am not a teacher nor an administrator who is making my identity up. I am simply a taxpayer.
Blogmaster, I wonder if you could start a thread of discussion on whether IPS needs to have massive changes - perhaps breaking the district up into smaller districts or going to all charter schools?
These kids in IPS just have so many challenges to face in life and I just don't know if a huge IPS bureaucracy (which seems to create layers of confusion and probably not enough accountability at every level - from the superintendent on down) - is the best way to help these kids to succeed in school and in life.
Since I went to a neighborhood elementary school and loved it, I have always been a supporter of IPS vs. charter schools because IPS has traditionally been made up of neighborhood elementary schools.
If given to the choice, I would rather see IPS broken down into smaller districts (perhaps four) and bureaucracy downsized substantially with a smaller number of students in each district which might hopefully improve the administrative process, focusing more on individual student needs, improving teacher and student morale and comeraderie all through the ranks.
So, just wondering if anyone else has any opinions about this?
Yes, this sounds good but the problem is that if you have neighborhood schools will there be equity? Would students living in the Post Road area, for instance, have the same opportunity for programming as those living in Meridian-Kessler. I believe in neighborhood schools - but how might we build strong neighborhoods where all kids have the same opportunities?
You are right about inequities in the neighborhood schools, years ago I was at a meeting and a parent suggested that the schools in unsafe neighborhoods be closed. When pressed the "unsafe" neighborhoods all happened to be black. Drive through traditionally black neighborhoods and you will discover lots of closed IPS buildings. Effie Ezzels beloved school 45 is now the Oaks Academy right in the middle of the gentrified Old North Side. For years IPS promised parents in that neighborhood a new school and what they got was a closed school.
The patterns of racial integration in many neighborhoods has changed in the past few years, but I'd still bet the closed schools are located mostly in traditionally black neighborhoods.
Hey, people...what is the BFD over what we do on our lunch periods? Most days I eat at my desk, with the overhead lights off & just my lamp on, so I can relax and rest my brain in peace and quiet. Other days, I'll go to the lounge. Depending on who else is in there, the conversations I hear can be positive or negative. If a negative loudmouth is in there, I leave. It's not rocket science. Avoiding negative people is the smart thing to do. And, YES, I'm a teacher at an elemetary school that has more than it's share of comments on IPS.BS.
"but how might we build strong neighborhoods where all kids have the same opportunities?"
Doesn't this go much deeper than the educational process? Doesn't it have more to do with economic injustice in general - the wealthy classes in Indianapolis- ignoring the needs of the poor (black, white, Hispanic, etc.)?
Wealthy people in Indianapolis try to avoid areas of the city where there are poor people trying to survive. And then how is money being allocated to provide economic opportunity for those living in the inner city?
Instead, we get new sports stadiums and money going to make thing look fancy for the upcoming Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
I don't see how that education itself can change the circumstances of the poor living in the inner city areas.
The person who is writing this (me) is a poor white guy. I feel oppressed by the wealthy elite too.
I work with a black male teacher (same level of expereince)and he is lucky that he was not placed on the "bad teacher list". Just handing out worksheets is not teaching the youth of IPS, what a waste of money and time. I enjoy teaching and I am not afraid of my students, like my peer?
You have got to be kidding me? Can white teachers teach black young men? What a racist question. Disgusting. How dare that question be asked by anyone. If you don't want your child taught by a white woman - then home school them. Absolutely stupid.
There are so many factors that affect who can teach. To attribute the race of teacher as a primary factor is a little simple. It is not what color you skin is but the degree of caring and concern that lets kids know you really care that they learn what you are teaching.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a vast body of research on why black males do not succeed in school. It is well worth a read by the people who keep laying all the blame on white women teachers.
Black American Students in An Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement by
John U. Ogbu (Author),
"This book raises uncomfortable questions about race, opportunity, and responsibility as it examines why the sons and daughters of wealthy black professionals aren't keeping pace academically with the children of wealthy white professionals in Shaker Heights, Ohio...Ogbu doesn't let schools entirely off the hook. But he's not letting anyone else off, either."
—American School Board Journal
http://www.whyboysfail.com/tag/black-boys/http://www.whyboysfail.com/tag/black-boys/
Another point that might be worth mentioning is the Star article that pointed out that the rate of graduation among white males was worse then the rate of black males. So who is failing to educate white males.
I'm a simple man from the mountains of Appalachia and I see things very simply:
ReplyDeleteWhite women can educate black young men.
Black women can educate white young men.
Sanity is when one person looks at another person and evaluates he/she INDIVIDUALLY based on the content of their heart and character, not the color of their skin.
Of course they can. But I do understand the concern about white teachers who are oblivious to their own hostility and/or condescension with regard to race. We all work with them, and it's obvious there are a few on this board. I think it makes an enormous impact on students when teachers see them as inferior, in need of "fixing," etc. I think it happens with all poorer students in all districts, but I also think in IPS, it happens more often with white women and black male students than any other demographic. (And fwiw, I'm a white woman.)
ReplyDeleteI have never met one white teacher anywhere - including IPS - who was hostile and/or condescending to black children based on their skin color.
ReplyDeleteI am not a teacher, but I have spent my professional life in contact with hundreds of teachers all over Indiana.
I have met a few white female teachers who display not only condescension and hostility but also fear when interacting with black male students. They are generally unaware of it, and get very defensive if you point it out.
ReplyDeleteI have also listened to black parents telling their children how awful white people are. Listen in at the library, the Walmart, the hair salon. Parents are training their children to show disdain for white teachers. When the white teacher reacts, the parents' feelings are validated. It's a terrible cycle.
Another dynamic at work here is the black family's cultural preference for corporal punishment. Children who are spanked do not learn to think about their behavior and its consequences--they just go through life trying to avoid pain. Once those kids figure out that the teacher is not going to hit them, they have a field day! The teacher who does not understand what is going on begins to think that the black kids are bratty and disrespectful.
Now, add to the mix the problems of reverse discrimination. I recently saw two boys in a fight. One was black, one was white. The boys were given in school suspension. The white boy showed up the nest day, went to ISS, and got on with his life. The black boy brought his mother in, who threatened a lawsuit--because she was sure her son was only being punished because he hit a white boy. The administration wanted to shut this mother up, so they did not punish her boy. Tell me, what did those boys learn that day?
White teachers have a barrier to overcome when hoping to teach black students. They must earn the trust of kids who have been trained from birth to mistrust them.
Every time I hear that the admin at Shortridge thinks white teachers can't teach black kids, I want to say this:
Where are these great black teachers that you want so bad? I wish every white teacher in your building would quit tomorrow, so you could fill your ranks with these wonderful black teachers you love so much.
I am eager to see what the next excuse for black students' poor performance would be.
I am saying this very honestly: I don't understand this idea of "reverse discrimination."
ReplyDeleteI think discrimination is discrimination: no matter if it is white against black, black against white, white against red, red against white or purple against tangerine.
I once had a friend who was a black pastor who had marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. We (I'm a white male) had many fascinating discussions about race. It was a tremendous blessing for me to have known this pastor.
This outstanding African/American pastor told me that he was discriminated against by OTHER African/Americans because he had lighter colored skin color than they.
Do you see where this all leads? The root psychology is "I don't like you because you're different than I am."
I do not know this as a fact, but I have been told quite often by a variety of people that there is some racial discrimination involving some black IPS administrators/principals, etc., against white employees.
If this is true, then it is absolutely racist, evil and wrong.
I have seen this hostility or fear that you mention and students pick up on it right away. It is not only race based but poor white and black children are looked at with this same hostility or disdain [ in a few cases] by both black and white teachers. On the whole, IPS teachers are pretty accepting, fair and caring.
ReplyDeleteDid Attucks only have black teachers when it was an all Black school? Just wondering...wouldn't we almost have to go back to segregation to have only black instructors for black students? Seems to me we need a whole lot more emphasis on equity and on helping all teachers to truly understand the assumptions they may hold about students so that they can reach all students. It would be interesting to hear what some adult persons of color would have to say about their education with white or black teachers. I think we haven't even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to really understanding racism....and I am an older white teacher - female.
ReplyDeleteI have had multiple black women administrators tell me that our problem is "white women teaching black children". Nooooo, the problem lies with the administrators making those blatantly disrespectful comments.
ReplyDeleteIt is tragic that race has to be brought in this at all. Compassion and love have no color.
I have been told by African-American girls that they don't have to listen to white women because their mothers said so (this has been in multiple buildings and at multiple grade levels). Whether it is true or not, the seed of hatred has been planted somehow and somewhere.
ReplyDeleteFor those principals you mentioned in the post above, do they have children who are in education? If they feel that white teachers cannot teach black children, then they should be pushing their offspring to get into education to offset the damage being done by white teachers.
ReplyDeleteThis is the saddest thread so far on this blog. Anyone who holds the ideals of Dr. King should be appalled that it is a topic of discussion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above poster. I am black, and for the first 5 years of my education I had only black teachers. For the last 30, all white teachers. There is no difference! For all this militant talk by certain administrators, most act like they don't want to hire black teachers. PLEASE!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is the answer when the African American principal of a community high school is the one demonizing white female teachers?
ReplyDeleteI have the answer to the post above. What is the answer to the principal at Shortridge who continues to demonize white teachers...fire him. NOONE should be able to get away with this type of talk. NOONE.
ReplyDeleteI do not know the principal at Shortridge personally, but I am wondering if he ever had a serious relationship with a white woman and it ended on a bad note. He seems to really dislike all white woman teachers, so I'm looking for some experience in his life to explain this generalized strong dislike.
ReplyDeleteWhen a person demonizes another person who is different, then it is because that person is insecure and lacks confidence. Strong, secure, and confident people do not need to demonize others.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.myspace.com/brandondcosby
ReplyDeleteRead the July 3, 2006, post from this IPS magnet school principal's myspace page.
His use of the F-word and the N-word in his Internet post is not something that parents of prospective or current students expect to read from a public school principal. Some parents actually check out their schools principals when searching for a good school. Public schools get enough bad press without one of our administrators posting profanities for the whole wide world to read. He can use all the profanity he wants privately, but when he puts it on the Internet along with his picture, then he has gone public and shows a lack of wisdom and professionalism.
After reading the comments, I am really sad at the fact that modern educators have to even discuss such mindless issues. It appears that we've forgotten about Brown Vs. Board of Education Topeka, KS of 1954 with Thurgood Marshall. How many have ever even taken the time to read the case? Better yet...how many have read the Mis-Education of the Negro by Dr. C.G. Woodson (First African American Rhode Scholar). Lastly, try reading Dr. Julia Hare's awesome information then begin to engage in intellectual productive conversation.
ReplyDeleteOf course...White female teachers can and should teach boys of all cultures. The impact of their influence relies upon the teacher's depth of historical facts, commitment to understanding cultural social norms (be them right or wrong), and their honest ability to look at their own individual thought patters concerning race.
Once this truly transpires...then any person of any color can and will have a lasting and tremendous impact on the lives of all children to whom they teach.
BTW...I'm well read, historically factual, and a white female!
I'm "well-read and historically factual" too.
ReplyDeleteI get nervous when I hear things like "honest ability to look at their own thought patterns concerning race."
That implies that we white folks have some kind of a consciously unidentified, subconsciously driven racial prejudice that we need to have a psychiatric analyst (or hypnotist) uncover. Or, maybe have this issue identify itself while we are participating in a New Age Drum Circle or crystal-gazing session.
It doesn't take much deep introspection to figure out if one is a racist. And why would someone with all of these undetected, subconscious racist proclivities want to teach in an urban district in the first place?
The question I have is why we can't talk about racial divisions as a real issue that needs attention without immediately summonsing knee-jerk offended reactions from some people?
While you're apperently illustrating your knowledge base...it appears that you've actually read the literature mentioned above. One cannot hold an intectual conversation concerning race when one does not have a point of historical reference or fact. It is clear what individuals with good intentions have done who have not engaged themselves. Lets say...the Women's struggle to vote, racism against Native Americans, Asians, Slavery, the Holocust, and the list goes on.
ReplyDeleteSense you understand this clearly...It is clear throughout history that an analysis of one self in light of historical perpective assist in creating a framework from wich to engage in productive conversation in order to eliminate mis-understandings of individuals of various religious, cultural, and sexual differences.
O...thats right...some Germans prior to the WWII also thought themselves of having no need for introspection...and we all know what this led to...pure hatered for people now like themselves.
I have two thoughts. [1] The above post was written by someone who is totally illiterate. [2] Is there a possibility that the MySpace posting attributed to the Shortridge principal was written by someone as a hoax. I cannot believe that an educated person with that responsibility would write with such anger and hate or that the school board would entrust a school to his care.
ReplyDeleteMeh, I think calling Cosby's blog racist is really stretching it. I agree it often seems we're going backwards reemphasizing race. But it also really, really concerns me that there are teachers in this district and on this blog that don't think subconscious racism is a huge factor in our lack of success with reaching black males. I also think its scary for an IPS teacher to insinuate that the problem isn't their skin color, it's that they're immoral, ill-disciplined, racist, ignorant, and do not value education. Um, welcome to racism!
ReplyDeleteThe idea that African-American parents want different things for their kids than white parents is racism. I think the post above about multiple students being taught by their mothers they do not have to listen to white teachers is a lie posted by a bigot, hopefully not one actually employed by IPS. If your students and their parents do not connect with you, does it ever occur to you that you might be the problem? I'm a white woman who has taught at IPS for 10 years and I can count on one hand the number of parents who have had any problem with me whatsoever, and I can count on two hands the number of students who have had a problem with me. The idea that black students fail because they want to fail is absurd. The idea that we are powerless to reach them is irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have ever read or heard of these racial issues (such as so-called "reverse racism") in IPS being discussed publicly. Kudos to the blog masters.
ReplyDeleteI knew a guy who had a fancy house. His wife stacked all of their junk into one room. The rest of that house was immaculate, but that one room was where all the mess was.
The news media and others in Indianapolis don't want to open the door to that "one room." It's too touchy, too sensitive. But how can it be said that the issues being raised on this blog do not affect the IPS school district in a very profound way?
I am a taxpayer, not a teacher or administrator. I believe these issues need to be brought to light and not tucked away into one room. In fact, I think it would be great to have public discussions hosted by IPS as to the role of race in urban public education.
As a taxpayer, I am a part of the "public" who pays for public education. I personally do not want to pay for public education that elevates any race over any other race.
If some (or many) IPS administrators and principals don't have faith that non-African Americans can teach African American children, then perhaps the "public" should be taken out of IPS and it should be organized completely into private charter schools with all African/American administrators and all African/American teachers.
But do you really want this?
Oh for the love of Pete. This blog is idiotic and the "reverse racism" issue is completely fabricated by bigots and teachers who can't teach. They are taking comments about relating to students and respecting culture and pretending that's about hating white teachers. The blogmaster does not deserve kudos. She deserves a slander lawsuit and a court-ordered racial sensitivity class. It makes me want to vomit to think of IPS students and parents reading this site and thinking IPS B.S. in any way represents the rest of us. This blog is shameful. Intentionally shameful.
ReplyDeleteThere goes Jane Kendrick again or...one of her minions....when you don't have an answer or when someone exposes a difficult situation ..the answer is to blame it on the teachers...that is what Eugene White has instructed his administrative staff to do....they won't work to solve problems ..they just want to blame it on the teachers....to the above poster, please provide an example of slander. I suspect you don't understand the legal definition of slander just as you don't understand much of what is going on in Indiana.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and the Jane Kendrick response is real origional. The funny thing is, I don't know much about Jane Kendrick, but after every post that gets accused of being her, I begin to respect her just a little bit more! Btw, I'm a secondary ed teacher texting here from my cell phone. My colleagues make fun of me for giving you the time of day because everyone knows what nonsense this blog is, but it drives me nuts to see IPS teachers portrayed like this to the public.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jane.
ReplyDeleteIt's spelled original, previous poster.
ReplyDeleteIgnore these kinds of hard issues and IPS continues on its swift decline so that current administrators will soon have nothing to administer to because all of the schools will be shut down.
I am a taxpayer and not a teacher.
First, I know how to spell original, it was just a simple typo. Like I said, I was posting from my phone.
ReplyDeleteSecond, what kind of fool believes that there is a secret black-against-white racist conspiracy going on at IPS based not on a single allegation by one of the thousands of actual parents, students, or employees, but based on an anonymous blog designed for the sole purpose of being able to badmouth IPS without providing any evidence or sources.
Third, if you really are just an unbiased taxpayer, then I assure you, you are taking the wrong side. The real teachers are in the trenches everyday making impressive strides with your tax dollars. IPS B.S. does not represent real teachers. I have a hard time believing the blogmaster has ever actually been a real teacher -- I lean more toward sub or disgruntled office worker or maybe the spouse of a teacher. But I assure you most IPS teachers take are not ignorant hatemongers, and most of us take our jobs much more seriously than Ms. B.S.
To the person who claims to be a secondary ed teacher: You realize that you are one of us who Eugene White daily tells the community that we are lazy, uncaring and don't like children. If that is the way you want to be portrayed to the public then you have some major issues. This blog can get the true story out to the public.
ReplyDeleteP.S. the word is...."original"
You're exaggerating, but even if you weren't, it doesn't matter. I'll be here long after Eugene White. The people who matter are the parents and the students and my principal. Sure, I think IPS is top-heavy and I disagree with much of what is handed down by administration. But isn't that the case with 90% of occupations? Do you think it is a secret black-on-white racist conspiracy with those corporations too?
ReplyDelete"...I think calling Cosby's blog racist is really stretching it." quote from above
ReplyDeleteNo one on here has said Cosby's blog is racist. Check back and reread the posts. You're the one who mentioned racism.
Cosby is a principal of a magnet high school here in Indianapolis; he holds a position of importance in the educational community. His use of profanity including 'f***ing' and 'n****r' on an Internet blog bearing both his name and his picture as personal identifiers is beyond poor taste. It demonstrates a reckless disregard, immaturity, and lack of good old fashioned common sense.
About the blogowner, first of all I think he refers to himself as a male, second he doesn't seem to do much editing of the posts, he just posts the questions, and may also contribute.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I can recall ever being removed was the names of two underaged students posted by a teacher.
I have personally witnessed black IPS high school students make fun of their teachers who were born in Nigeria. The kids said rude and insulting things about the African teachers' accents and about the clothes they wore to school.
ReplyDeleteTo the pompous poster above who claims to be a teacher: Real IPS teachers are busy working with their children and trying to comply with some of the ignorant mandates handed down by Eugene White.....we don't have time to read and post on blogs with our cell phones like you claim that you are doing. Also what is your formula for determining that the blogmaster is a female? Did you use your cell phone on IPS time to determine that also?
ReplyDeleteRe: the myspace page...Went to take a look at the myspace blog, but the myspace blog belonging to the Shortridge principal has been 'set to private'. This sounds like Dr. White spoke some practical words of advice to the principal.
ReplyDeleteWe should all remember that even if a website is removed or 'set to private', it is still viewable in the 'cached' version. Some things just refuse to be erased.
The myspace blog belonging to the magnet school principal has been "set to private". Sounds like someone from the Ed Center had a talk with the man.
ReplyDeleteI was on my lunch. Lots of people check their e-mail, pay their bills online, read something on the internet, etc. while they're on their lunch. Where do you teach that this isn't fairly common? And I guessed female just because most of the guesses I've heard about the identity of the blogmaster are female. But obviously, I don't know for certain.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to have a long leisurely lunch. Most teachers I know use that time for parent calls, grading papers, tutoring students, preparing lessons while grabbing some quickie snack that they brought with them. The only people I know who have the luxury of bill paying, blogging etc on their lunch are Ed. Center administrators or these dozens of academic coaches that float around from school to school.
ReplyDeleteHell,
ReplyDeleteWhite thinks they can. He is surrounded by White women everyday. All the ones that are making changes are white. Guess the poor child theme is working on IPS. We have rigor in an English Workbook, Rigor in the 6 question scrimmage, Rigor in the poorly written Benchmarks. Oh my, an IPS kid can go to a township school and tell that in their English class did a project about his or her background. However, I read one novel, but I have a whole lot of pictures for show and tell.
YOU decide whether you want to do all that work during your lunch. The only people I know who complain about their lunch shift are the burned out, poisonous, and negative staff members who make me and the rest of my colleagues look bad. Regardless of everything about racism, administration, or a lunch period, the WORST thing about IPS is the rampant NEGATIVITY.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I'd love to know the school where you teach where all the teachers are working through lunch and nobody's eating a sandwich while looking up something on a cell phone?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the negativity comment above.
ReplyDeleteGee, you complain about negativity but everything you have posted has been filled with negativity especially directed toward teachers. You need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
ReplyDeleteWhat have I posted negative about actual teachers?
ReplyDeleteOff the topic, but just read this in the IndyStar updates...
ReplyDeleteDecember 1, 2009
Tech students charged with gun possession
Star report
Two Tech High School students were arrested today after a handgun was found in a car parked in the student parking lot across from campus, Indianapolis Public Schools officials said.
The male students, 17 and 18, face preliminary charges of carrying a handgun without a license on school property, possession of a firearm on school property and dangerous possession of a firearm. The students' names were not released.
The loaded handgun, a .22 caliber semi-automatic, was found after school officials received a tip, according to an IPS news release. Both students were suspended pending expulsion, the release said.
I think referring to your peers aa poisonous and burnt out qualifies as a negative statement on your part.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the teacher responsible for supervising those students was on her cell phone pay bills online or posting entries to a blog.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider those who complain about doing their job my peers. Whether you are a 5 week wonder or someone on the cusp of retirement, you know what you got yourself into when you entered the profession, so don't complain about talking to parents or grading work. I have been in several districts in Indiana, and I know from person experience that many staff members in IPS are depressingly negative. They are the ones who create a culture where teachers don't teach and students don't study.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't call me Jane Kendrick or an administrator for stating this, because that will only show your own inherent need to deflect the blame off of yourself.
ut-oh, I better correct my response above and say that I meant "personal experience" before the mudslingers on here accuse me of being an idiot for committing the deadly sin of a typographical error.
ReplyDeleteJust FYI, the person posting about race from her cell phone at lunch is not the same person who referred to negative teachers as poisonous and burnt out. I agree with it, but I didn't post it. Regardless, saying negativity is toxic is not being negative toward teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe teachers on staff at your school are your peers. Perhaps they are not saintly and God like as you seem to think you are but they ARE your peers. Just not perfect like you.
ReplyDeleteThe teachers on staff at your school ARE your peers. Perhaps they are not perfect, saintly and God like in they way you claim but they are your peers.
ReplyDeleteI ask this as a taxpayer. And NO, I am not a teacher nor an administrator who is making my identity up. I am simply a taxpayer.
ReplyDeleteBlogmaster, I wonder if you could start a thread of discussion on whether IPS needs to have massive changes - perhaps breaking the district up into smaller districts or going to all charter schools?
These kids in IPS just have so many challenges to face in life and I just don't know if a huge IPS bureaucracy (which seems to create layers of confusion and probably not enough accountability at every level - from the superintendent on down) - is the best way to help these kids to succeed in school and in life.
Since I went to a neighborhood elementary school and loved it, I have always been a supporter of IPS vs. charter schools because IPS has traditionally been made up of neighborhood elementary schools.
If given to the choice, I would rather see IPS broken down into smaller districts (perhaps four) and bureaucracy downsized substantially with a smaller number of students in each district which might hopefully improve the administrative process, focusing more on individual student needs, improving teacher and student morale and comeraderie all through the ranks.
So, just wondering if anyone else has any opinions about this?
Yes, this sounds good but the problem is that if you have neighborhood schools will there be equity? Would students living in the Post Road area, for instance, have the same opportunity for programming as those living in Meridian-Kessler. I believe in neighborhood schools - but how might we build strong neighborhoods where all kids have the same opportunities?
ReplyDeleteYou are right about inequities in the neighborhood schools, years ago I was at a meeting and a parent suggested that the schools in unsafe neighborhoods be closed. When pressed the "unsafe" neighborhoods all happened to be black. Drive through traditionally black neighborhoods and you will discover lots of closed IPS buildings. Effie Ezzels beloved school 45 is now the Oaks Academy right in the middle of the gentrified Old North Side. For years IPS promised parents in that neighborhood a new school and what they got was a closed school.
ReplyDeleteThe patterns of racial integration in many neighborhoods has changed in the past few years, but I'd still bet the closed schools are located mostly in traditionally black neighborhoods.
Hey, people...what is the BFD over what we do on our lunch periods? Most days I eat at my desk, with the overhead lights off & just my lamp on, so I can relax and rest my brain in peace and quiet. Other days, I'll go to the lounge. Depending on who else is in there, the conversations I hear can be positive or negative. If a negative loudmouth is in there, I leave. It's not rocket science. Avoiding negative people is the smart thing to do. And, YES, I'm a teacher at an elemetary school that has more than it's share of comments on IPS.BS.
ReplyDelete"but how might we build strong neighborhoods where all kids have the same opportunities?"
ReplyDeleteDoesn't this go much deeper than the educational process? Doesn't it have more to do with economic injustice in general - the wealthy classes in Indianapolis- ignoring the needs of the poor (black, white, Hispanic, etc.)?
Wealthy people in Indianapolis try to avoid areas of the city where there are poor people trying to survive. And then how is money being allocated to provide economic opportunity for those living in the inner city?
Instead, we get new sports stadiums and money going to make thing look fancy for the upcoming Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
I don't see how that education itself can change the circumstances of the poor living in the inner city areas.
The person who is writing this (me) is a poor white guy. I feel oppressed by the wealthy elite too.
I work with a black male teacher (same level of expereince)and he is lucky that he was not placed on the "bad teacher list". Just handing out worksheets is not teaching the youth of IPS, what a waste of money and time. I enjoy teaching and I am not afraid of my students, like my peer?
ReplyDeleteYou have got to be kidding me? Can white teachers teach black young men? What a racist question. Disgusting. How dare that question be asked by anyone. If you don't want your child taught by a white woman - then home school them. Absolutely stupid.
ReplyDelete