wsj article on lynbrook/monta vista and asians
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB113236377590902105-lMyQjAxMDE1MzEyOTMxNjkzWj.html the article is called “the new white flight” and features such lines as: “On a recent autumn day at Lynbrook, crowds of students spilled out of classrooms for midmorning break. Against a sea of Asian faces, the few white students were easy to pick out. One boy sat on a wall, his lighter hair and skin making him stand out from dozens of others around him. In another corner, four white male students lounged at a picnic table.” …and… “Ms. Gatley, the Monta Vista PTA president, is more blunt: “White kids are thought of as the dumb kids,” she says.”
Good lord.
Comments (17)
Sigh. Comment more when you get the chance of it. I'm spamming the article everywhere because I'm genuninely interested in the reactions people are having about it because I think it's such an awfully written article...
I love the implication that the boy stands out because he is white, and therefore is sadly by the wall, all by himself.
It's so weird. I'm going to bet those kids don't even THINK about the world in terms of Asian/white except in passing, because I know I didn't. Yet here are the adults, telling them it's something they should pay attention to.
Right, because everyone thinks constantly about the ultra-minority at their school. I know I was obsessing about the 3 asian people at my High School for all 4 years.
..and hey, while we're all being so PC, why does the article call Caucasians "whites"? If we've got African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians (which is a ridiculously general term, admittedly), why aren't the "whites" named for an enthicity (even an incredibly broad one)?
That is why there is still the black vs. African American debate. many Blacks don't identify as having ties to Africa and insist on Black. And I think if you ARE the ultra-minority at your school, you DEFINITELY think about it.
I'd rather "white" than Caucasian. I'm not from the Caucasus, but my skin is decidedly pale. European would be better, I suppose.
wow, i swear everyone posted/emailed that article to everyone else
Not a large enough Dataset
But see, this undermines the previous argument; if there aren't enough of a minority to gain general attention, there aren't enough to have real stereotypes, either.
How can you say "whities are dummies" if you've only had classes with three "white" people? That's not enough to form an opinion, or even think about it in those terms.
depends on how wide your brackets are
it is if society at large has an opinion, and if whites are the dominant majority outside that one school (which they are)
But you're not really European either.
My paternal grandparents and my maternal greatgrandparents are all from Eastern Europe. Is this not comparable Angela being being called Asian?
Haha. Yeah. But since you can't be identified by looks it makes it less clear. Race is a confusing issue.
I have a confession. I'm actually reptilian.
Right... they aren't that wide
I thought we were talking about stereotypes these kids formed at this school. Now we're talking about opinions gleaned from... interactions with the white population at large? Television? We're still talking about the opinions of these kids, right?
How does this opinion you're suggesting society at large has relate to the opinions attributed to the kids at this school?
(Now that's a convoluted sentence!)
I knew it!
I know, there isn't really a good "ethnicity" for "white".
Cool.
Re: Right... they aren't that wide
I was more responding to your sarcasm about you being ultra-aware about an ultra-minority. I think you WOULD be aware of this if you lived in an Asian country where the population is predominantly Asian, but your school was like yours in GA, where there were only 3 Asians. Also, I bet the news would pay a lot of attention to those 3 Asians, becasue the majority cares when they are being treated like a minority... like that whole argument that affirmative action was reverse discrimination. If you want to respond, i can become even more convoluted and throw in even more racial issues off-handedly. Wheee!
hahahahhahaha. i'm going to find a way to quote you on this.