<p>Another thing is, so many of these schools like to scream “diversity” and then get their panties in a bunch if anyone is different from anyone, or there is a story or anything else, that might not apply to every single last person on the planet. Where is the diversity in that? Everyone has to be exactly the same, think the same, look the same, and no one, God forbid, should ever read a story that references a food they might not eat, or a place they might not visit, or anything else. I grew up feeding cows and running on farms. My children have never seen a cow up close. So now, is it ok to mention cows being on a farm in a book when kids in the city might read it? What about mentioning ice skating in a book when kids on a farm don’t have access to ice skating rinks? And if they did, they could not afford it. Or tall buildings? We could go on and on for forever on this.</p>
<p>The conceit behind this is that we can significantly raise minority students’ performance just by being more conscious of racism. That is a profoundly conservative notion tricked out in radical drag. </p>
<p>“No, there’s nothing systemically wrong, we just need to feel more guilty about things. And have drum classes.”</p>
<p>This is really the same hustle that the people trying fix America by yelling at unwed mothers are working - it’s just a slightly different group getting yelled at this time. </p>
<p>But the perverse fantasy that, without making any material change in economic and social conditions, we can achieve vastly different results just by scolding people vigorously - I think that’s profoundly reactionary.</p>
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<p>Various experiments have shown that employment discrimination based on characteristics that are illegal to discriminate on does occur, although it may be difficult to prove or disprove such illegal discrimination in an individual non-experimental case.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/~pager/ASR_pager_etal09.pdf[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/~pager/ASR_pager_etal09.pdf</a>
<a href=“http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/brucewestern/files/pagerwestern12.pdf[/url]”>http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/brucewestern/files/pagerwestern12.pdf</a>
[Employment</a> discrimination in upscale restaurants: Evidence from matched pair testing - Tags: DISCRIMINATION in employment RESTAURANTS – Employees](<a href=“http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/55384817/employment-discrimination-upscale-restaurants-evidence-from-matched-pair-testing]Employment”>http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/55384817/employment-discrimination-upscale-restaurants-evidence-from-matched-pair-testing)
[Antidiscrimination</a> Law and Minority Employment: Recruitment Practices and … - Farrell Bloch - Google Books](<a href=“Antidiscrimination Law and Minority Employment: Recruitment Practices and ... - Farrell Bloch - Google Books”>Antidiscrimination Law and Minority Employment: Recruitment Practices and ... - Farrell Bloch - Google Books)
[Employment</a> discrimination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Employment discrimination - Wikipedia”>Employment discrimination - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I actually read the article, and can’t figure out what century this gentleman lives in. No, it is definitely a problem when white people do it, (“it” being create a club or activity that is exclusively for one race) and I think the problem with the drum corps was as much excluding girls as excluding non brown/black children. </p>
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<p>Agreed, NJres. </p>
<p>I do think white/majority privilege is real. I think it is worth being aware of. However, privilege is not in itself a form of racism; it is a natural effect of the fact that there are majority and minority groups. Of course if I come from a culture other than the dominant one, there will be cultural references, observances, foods, etc that don’t have the same resonance for me that they will for the majority of people. That isn’t sinister or problematic, it is just life.</p>
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<p>However, “white privilege” is probably not the best term, since it implies that white people actually gain from racial discrimination in a macro sense overall, when it is more likely that the costs of racial discrimination in the society and economy indirectly cost white people as well<em>. Of course, non-white people bear more of the costs, since they pay the direct costs as well as the indirect costs, and some individual white people may receive local benefits directly</em>*.</p>
<p><em>E.g. by loss of economic productivity from talented people of the discriminated-against groups.
*</em>E.g. by being hired to a better job than they would otherwise be hired to because the employer passed over a better applicant due to racial discrimination.</p>
<p>Re: #9</p>
<p>Perhaps they could just change the writing assignment to have the students write about making any kind of food with more than one ingredient, so that kids with peanut allergies and very recent immigrants won’t have to figure out what a peanut butter sandwich is.</p>
<p>It’s school, so maybe they could teach the kids who are unfamiliar with PB & J how to make it. It’s simple and should take about 60 seconds. How ridiculous!</p>
<p>Ucb - I’m probably being way too simplistic but since the PB&J is taboo, is there something inherently wrong with the students writing how they make their lunch?</p>
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<p>Do you mean lunch specifically or any food in general? At schools with a lot of kids from poor families, many of them may not be making their own lunches (school free lunch program).</p>
<p>Poor people make sandwiches. PB & J is a staple. Cheap. Surely, you are joking.</p>
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<p>No harm telling students to write about making anything, PB&J sandwiches, guacamole, sushi. If they don’t know, they can do a little research and find out.</p>
<p>Severe peanut allergy is also way less common than people think. Nut sensitivity is not the same thing as severe peanut allergy. </p>
<p>About 10 people a year (adults and children) in the US die from reaction to peanuts. The carpool line is more dangerous. Lawyers threatening lawsuits, even more so.</p>
<p>D’s middle school had a party one evening and a girl died due to ingesting a few crushed peanuts used as a garnish on some Thai noodle dish. It is a serious problem - and difficult to control exposure to peanuts.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s about white privilege I think it’s about cultural assimilation. People don’t immigrate somewhere legally or illegally and expect it to be “the same.” We do young people a dis-service if we don’t even help them assimilate. PB&J controversial?..ha, ha, ha.</p>
<p>As sad as that episode is, I really doubt she or her parents didn’t know about a reaction to peanuts. If you have that severe an allergy, it is your responsibility to avoid any food that may contain peanuts, and to have an epi-pen readily available should such precautions fail. Yes, we can tell everyone not to bring foods that contain peanuts when we know someone might have an allergy, but people make mistakes - and why would you trust your life to a bunch of strangers? Sorry, but the world doesn’t stop because you have a severe food allergy, take some responsibility, and that includes not eating food you absolutely know the ingredients of.</p>
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<p>No we are not joking, and don’t call us Shirley.</p>
<p>“Do you think the academic performance of non-white students in America is being damaged by racially insensitive curriculum?”</p>
<p>Absolutely. White people are not the only Americans though schools and society often equates White with American and Non-white with foreign, other, less good etc. White privilege and racism hurts those who are not white in every sphere and certainly in education.</p>
<p>^^Define “White”.</p>
<p>The point here is that if a kid has never seen someone make a PBJ–and for whatever reason, many kids may not have–assessing their writing skill on the basis of how well they describe the process is meaningless.</p>
<p>The obvious solution is to come up with a better, more open-ended assessment that will more accurately reflect the skills of the full spectrum of kids.</p>
<p>When I was a kid I knew someone who was supposedly evaluated for special ed because when asked the question “Where do carrots grow?” he replied “In the flower garden.” That’s where HIS mother planted them!</p>