Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 10 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 10 months ago by
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I’m a high school senior, and every year, I’ve taken the Honors/ Advanced Placement classes in every academic subject. In not one of those classes, in four years, has there been an African-American kid. There has been exactly one Latino kid. My school has a sizeable overall population of both groups. The rest of the Honors/AP track are Caucasians, Asians, and Indians (mostly girls, too). This is pretty depressing to me; I naively thought that institutionalized racism was gone from the US. To high school students and teachers: Is this common in your schools also? And what can we do about it?
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Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 18, City : Parsippany, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,trust me …me and my sister and alot of black and latino students are in advanced classes..maybe just not in ur school
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Name : kay, City : nyc, State : NY, Country : United States,Do you honestly think for one second your school hasn’t actively, aggressively attempted to recruit ‘annointed victim minority’ students for their Honors/AP classes, if only to avoid charges of ‘racism’? The kids in your Honors/AP classes are the ones who made the grade, and had any interest at all in joining. I’m really sorry if this offends your delicate budding ‘guilty white liberal’ sensibilities son, but you’re going to have to get over those if you expect to function in the real world anywhere other than The Left Coast or The Other Left Coast.
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Name : Ann L. Lowenstein, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Animist, Age : 37, City : K.C., State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : Administrative Assistant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Yeah pretty much. When i was in high schoolIi had AP calculus, American history, lit, psychology, and biology and I pretty much was the only black person in the class full of whites, Asians, and Indians. I don’t know about institutionalized racism but my school required everybody to take at least 4 AP classes but the optional APs like math and sciences black folk seemed to be intimidated by such subjects. Even now as a science major, black folk seem to shy away from those math and science oriented subjects. I think there needs to be programs implimented in middle and high schools to retain more underrepresented minorities in APs to give them confidence to take challenging courses in college in the future.
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Name : Peter, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 21, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class,In all those honors classes you took, did anyone point out that India is part of Asia? Anyway, back to your question. You assume that the lack of certain racial and ethnic minorities in AP classes is the result of ‘institutionalized racism’ and you want to know what we can do about it. Why do you assume it is racism? Do you really think your teachers and administratiors got together and decided to keep black and Latino kids out of AP classes? These kids are in the same school as you and have the same opportunities as you. You should ask them what they are going to do about it. Get over your white guilt. It does not benefit you and more to the point, it does not benefit them.
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Name : Cal19726, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 46, City : Lakewood, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’m not really sure how it works but I think teachers have to give a list of students who should go into the AP classes. The student can request Not to take those classes. I had AP english. I wanted out but my teacher said no. I begged my parents to come to the school. Of course they didn’t agree. Well, the first report card I got an F the next a B then an A and so on. I did learn that I could really study and learn if I wanted to. Th
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Name : Kim, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Presbyterian, Age : 37, City : Douglasville, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : stay at home mom, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,I think a lot of it depends on where you live and what groups are predominant in that area. I grew up in an area that was predominently latino, so most of the kids in those classes were latino. However, that was out of a couple thousand latino students attending the school. Out of the 20 of so caucasian students attending, most of them were also in the AP classes. I don’t know about Afican Americans, but for latinos, a lot of them are first generation immigrants. That means that their parents couldn’t read to them at night, help them with homework, etc. And if any of them came from Mexico themselves, the school system there is not what it is here, so they obviously have difficulties catching up.
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Name : Lani, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : superstitious, Age : 21, City : Monterey, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,It doesnt really surprise me to be honest and if things keep going the way they are, there wont be many white kids either. Indian and Asian parents tend to push their children harder to achieve than white or black parents. Its a large part of their culture. I wouldnt say that it was institutionalized rasism. Nobody is denying people from performing well on their tests, no white person goes to a black or latina house and takes away their books or anything. I have been teaching for a long time and all I can say is blame the parents. I remember when I was in high school my parents pushed me to get good marks. It seems these days as if parents (of course not every single parent) do not seem interested in their children and expect the school system to raise you. If the tests are open to everybody, or your placement is based on your school work, how can it be racist. You achieve because you put in the effort.
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Name : Jay28566, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Kiel, State : NA, Country : Germany, Occupation : English Teacher, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Racism is still present, but more subtle. We may be allowed to aim for higher education and better paying jobs, but the fact remains that Blacks and Latinos are seldom referred to in relation with intellect. We are to be artistic, capable of singing or dancing or else we are viewed as great athletes…but do you see many Blacks or Latinos as role mode for science or mathematics? No, therefore most teenagers do what is expected of them by the society and choose fields in art. Everyone stereotypes: Chinese are suppose to be very smart, Indians are suppose to work hard and become doctors…Is all nonsense, we are all capable of greatness!
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Name : ScarletteLastar, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Half Black-Half White, Religion : Humanist, Age : 22, City : Montreal, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : student/receptioniste, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Nope, I went to an academic magnet school, which means we only had Honors/AP classes, no standard. I would say half or more of the students were black or “minority” students. Do you have any of those schools in your area maybe thats where they all are? Maybe not
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Name : DaneR, Age : 19, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States,HOnors & advanced placement classes are for people who have already demonstrated their competence in the basic classes, working hard, getting good grades. AP classes are for those who intend to go to college. That’s not for everyone. Equality means equal OPPORTUNITY to succeed. Those who haven’t worked for it aren’t entitled to the rewards. Of course these are generalities, but Asians, East Indians and Jews have always placed a great deal of emphasis on education. That’s why more of them have professional degrees and typically earn more than average. It’s not a matter of luck or coincidence. It’s hard work & perseverence. HIstorically, blacks have not placed that kind of emphasis on education. Bill Cosby made that point to blacks years ago and was shot down by the black communi
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Name : ShirleyAvery, Gender : F, Disability : none, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : st. louis, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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