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After blogging earlier I was sitting on the floor in my daughter's playroom reading the Sunday Paper (Sacramento Bee) while my daughter played with her blocks. When I got to the editorial section-- my favorite-- I was blown away by what I read in a column entitled "Seattle schools too race focused" by George F. Will. (I've mentioned before I think it's odd that newspaper headlines only capitalize the first word... but back to the point!)
I'd bet it's true that every one of you ladies out there on HSB want to make absolutely sure your children don't grow up with racist ideas. I do! It turns out, however, that according to the public schools in Seattle I have it all wrong!
The subject of the article was a lawsuit by some Caucasian parents regarding a race-based admissions process to Seattle's public highschools which aims to replicate the student's White:minority ratio in each school. Therefore, every school hopes to balance it's population at 60% minority and 40% White, which is supposed to correlate with the percentages of students in the system as a whole.
Typical nonsense, I was hardly surprised by that. What absolutely floored me was what Mr. Will wrote regarding some information found on the Seattle Public School system's official web page. Are you sitting down?
The following I have taken verbatim from Mr. Will's column: "Until June, the school distric's web site declared that "cultural racism" includes "emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology," "having a future time orientation" (planning ahead) and "defining one form of English as standard." The site also asserted that only whites can be racists, and disparaged assimilation as the "giving up" of one's culture." (I didn't capitalize "whites" there as Mr. Will didn't...)
Wow! I thought that treating everyone, regardless of race, as individuals was the opposite of racism! It turns out I was wrong! Individualism, according to the web site quoted, is de facto racism! And lack of forethought somehow promotes tolerance! And that racism also must be genetic, as only "whites" can be so inclined. (So if an African-American disparages Asians, that's okay!) Boy, I'm glad the Seattle Public schools are out there enlightening us!
But seriously, doesn't it scare you ladies that people who hold these ideas are educating the next generation? Personally, it terrifies me.
That's the end of my story, but here's a parting thought. I don't know how you ladies feel, but I despise being called "white." That is a color, not a race. I am northern European, and I write that in on any stupid forms where I have to check the box. I return the favor by not referring to African-Americans as "black." By doing that, I would be denying them their heritage. I have to admit, I do agree with that dispicable web site in one way. Assimilation, at least too much of it, IS giving up your culture. As a Christian of European descent, I won't assimilate into modern American culture in many ways. I would respect someone of another ethnicity who felt the same way more than I would someone who slavishly followed American pop-culture to fit in!
And please, ladies, none of this nonsense "We're all just American!" That is our nationality, of course, an entirely different thing than race. That's not our heritage, per se (although my family has been here since the 1620s) that refers to our citizenship. A person of 100% Chinese descent who is a citizen of Mexico would be Mexican-- their nationality-- although not Hispanic. The same goes for Americans.
Okay, time to step-off of my soap-box! |
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