Blackness and Education

“I think it was a hard-fought battle back in the 19th century when freed slaves were the first to demand free and public education to all people, and it was a long-fought battle to get those schools integrated. I thought it would just be like a snub to our ancestors.”

This same mother attended a private school herself and the article suggests that her poor experience with private school also influences her choice.
I attended a prestigious private school, myself. I begged my mom not to send me there and she promised me that if at the end of 2 years I still hated the school, she would allow me to re-enroll at my public school. After 2 weeks, I was in love with the school. I’ve had some amazing experiences and some of my closest friends I met there. I don’t begrudge a parent’s right to choose where their child is educated. What I do wonder about is letting one’s own experiences color their expectations for someone else. While I would love it if my child(ren) wanted to go to my high school alma mater I wouldn’t force them. In the same vein, I don’t think it’s fair for this mother to not allow her child to experience private schooling because she had a bad experience.
What really stands out to me, though, is the emphasis on the question about how a child deals with their blackness in a predominantly white setting. One family has a child prodigy and though they can’t afford to send their children to private school they also note that

the school’s lack of socio-economic diversity prompted them to question whether the institution’s values matched their own.

There’s also the couple who visited private schools searching for one to send their 3 children to who say some of their visits,

“also reinforced when I saw the Black students with ‘the look.’ It really looked like a part of their soul was missing. It’s a look I’ve seen, like, ‘I’m here, but I’m kind of not.’ I see that as a price to pay.”

There’s this idea floating around that being black in a predominantly white setting automatically means you lose some blackness. I know because I hear it in the way people ask questions about my time in private schooling (both high school and college). I can’t define blackness. Most people can’t define blackness. So if we can’t define it, at what point are we capable of determining someone is losing it?
I ran into my fair share of black students who obviously didn’t identify as “black” — not in a stereotypical way, not in a conventional way, not in any way. They avoided us so we avoided them. Many of them had, in fact, gone to private school — but then again, so had I so was the culprit really schooling?
Maybe it was — who’s to say — but the end of it is that we shouldn’t automatically assume that sending a black child to a predominantly white environment will somehow strip them of their blackness. It’s like assuming that if your son spends a lot of time with girls, he will cease to be male (as some people do assume) or that if your wife spends a lot of time with single people she will cease to be married. None of these things are true.
This article is careful never to spell out these assumptions. There’s a constant reference to “diversity” which is a lot of hogwash if you ask me. My experience is that black folks have long been skeptical of other black folks who go to private school because, as the stereotype goes, we become stuffy and stuck up; we forget where we’re from; and we look down our noses at everyone. It’s funny how a stereotyped group can often become the stereotypers.
I don’t see anything wrong with wanting to send your child to a good school. Sometimes a good school is public and sometimes it’s private. I know all parents want what’s best for their kids but I would hope that stereotypes, presumptions and personal fears wouldn’t effect those wants.
Anyway… it’s hard to escape a predominantly white setting in America — it’s just the world we live in.

http://theoutlook.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/blackness-and-education/

If given the choice, where would your child go - public or private? Are there advantages or disadvantages to either (outside of education)? Also, how can you determine the lost of blackness? What point system can we use? Lastly, can one ever lose their blackness?

Truthfully, I think people send their children to private schools to expose them to things outside of their realm of reality. Sometimes you need to see something different in order to think about things differently. If I had a choice, it would be private. In a private school setting, you understand that there are higher standards set. Socially, you dont really lose anything because truthfully, the first classroom is the home. It will hardly matter if the first classroom is full of low standards itself.

As far as determining Blackness. Lets get one thing straight. Blackness is a state of mind. What determines Blackness? A number of things actually. One History. You must know who you are and who your people are. You must know where they come from, where they are and hopefully where they are going. Two culturally. Your culture involves a number of things, Music, Art, Social sciences, language, etc. Sometimes even politically. One common thread is the consciousness of upliftment. You want your people to aspire to high heights by showing them those who have paved the way in order for them to do so. Its more than a picture of MLK or Malcolm X on your wall. As far as a point system goes, there is none. The reason I say this because truthfully, our culture is so diverse. You can be Pan Afrikan, you can be only concerned with your American experience. People of Afrikan decent are all over the globe. Afrika, Asia, Europe, Carribean, and the Americas. All of them are connected but have distinct expression and experiences. As an Afrikan you are citizen of the world and the culture at large because historically, our fingerprints are everywhere. You decide what you want to cling to or refrain from and truthfully you wouldn't be wrong because again we are an ancient people.

Lastly, can one ever lose their Blackness? No. Yes, even old Clarence Thomas cannot not be excommunicated. lol Its like women who get perms. Old mother Afrika is always there to remind you that she will not be denied in your hair if no where else. You can fry your hair, she will kink it back. You can dye it, she will send new growth to show you she isnt gone. You can get colored contacts, tracts from Koreans, it doesn't matter. Afrika always is with you even if you are not with her.

This is Asylum.. and I approve this message. lol

Now Asylum I was with you until you started talking about the creamy crack and what have you. *chuckles*.

I agree. I always thought private school was about a better experience. I never thought parents would stay with public schools because they wanted a "blacker" experience.

When (and if) I have children I want them to have the best education possible with the money I have. And yes, home will be the first school.

My children were in private schools until they were in the 5th and 7th grades respectively...

I pulled them out because the school I could afford, could not keep up with my daughter and she needed to be in a gifted program. She was in 6th grade doing high school work... and she was bored. I lived in a really good school district in St. Louis, so after much prayer.. I pulled both of them...

It was never my intention for them to stay in private school once they reached high school because I wanted them to have that entire experience. My initial reason for placing them in private school was because my daughter's birthday was in October and they were going to hold her back a year... she was ready for school.  I kept them there because initially they fed her and she excelled in a way she wouldn't have in public schools. 

I love the foundation that they received and that I was able to control to some extent the environment they were exposed to early in life. They were in Christian schools and they received a learning, spiritual and moral foundation in an educational environment. My children have never brought home a friend I didn't like. I think in part because by the time they were in public schools, they were used to a different mentality of people around them. They sought those same character traits in the friends they made later...

I kept their after school world full friends, family and activities that kept them in touch with their "blackness"....

I don't think that if you go to an all white school you lose your "Blackness". What you will lose is some of that ghetto mentality. Also you might get that watered down black history. Unless the family in the house teaches different. Ya know if these teachers in these public schools didn't have a side agenda and taught with no basis most children would excel beyond those children in privet schools. But of course there will be the knuckle heads in every class trying to bring the class down. I don't think anybody can help that, them type of ppl is going to be there, hell they're going to be everywhere you go.