Comments on: School reclassifies mixed students as white for more funding

By: mj

mj — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:16:42 +0000

oh….and proud of all of it. No one is asking for a child to choose races. but, if a child has one parent from one race….and another parent from another race….on paper….. are they not 50 percent one and 50 percent the other?

By: mj

mj — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:09:18 +0000

But…..if a child from bi-racial parents…has one black parent and one while parent…….why does the race of the child have to be black? Can’t he or she, simply be just as much white as black?

By: amalia

amalia — Sun, 14 May 2006 15:59:03 +0000

Lyonside, I agree w/your comment regarding “both/all. A generic category of “mixed” does nothing in terms of acknowledging the huge array of backgrounds. However, even if all the ancestors are noted, people of mixed background will in America (this is not usu. the case worldwide) be seen as people of color, i.e. non white. This doesn’t automatically mean not acknowledging, for example, your European ancestry as much as your Asian ancestry.

Also, it is not only light skinned AAs that are of a mixed background. Usually in a family, there are dark and light skinned people, so obviously they would both have the same ancestry, so both would be mixed. People seem to think that light skin is a mandatory indicator of a mixed background, which it plainly isn’t.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 22:11:54 +0000

Amen with that…
Teachers are supposed to protect you…not turn you in

By: Brenda Parks

Brenda Parks — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 00:59:19 +0000

I would like to reply to Nina……the BIG IDEA is that these kids had already chosen what race they were…they were called down WITHOUT parental permission…..the kids were identified by TEACHERS…. and sent down

The biggest deal……ok…now that they have identified themselves as white…what about college applications? They are listed by the school as “white”…..hmmm….kind of puts a different perspective on things doesn’t it?

Does this guy still have a position??????

By: Lyonside

Lyonside — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 01:37:43 +0000

MOM:

A couple of notes: “light skinned” African-Americans are usually multigenerationally mixed, if AA-identified. (see other article re: politician dropping names, or in his case, ethnicities).

And I think w/ regards to funding, the magnet school (usually not based on location w/in a school district, but on performance) seems to be part of a larger program that emphasizes diversity. The problem is, they are using straight racial lines when they probably will do the students a service by having a diverse ECONOMIC student body. Noone likes to be the only poor kid in the class; and those who are better off would probably benefit from knowing how the other 90% live.

By: KiandKegan'sMOM

KiandKegan'sMOM — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 20:52:54 +0000

I think this is outrageous, really!!! My kids are biracial. I am white and their daddy is African American. They don’t look like they are white. They look light skinned African Americans. I don’t think it is fair for kids to have to choose one or the other, whether or not it is for funding. The qualifications to receive funding shouldn’t, IMO, be based on the percentage of caucasian students to black students, but on the performance of the students academically, as a whole-racial background not playing a factor whatsoever!

By: Lyonside

Lyonside — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:31:46 +0000

Tris:

Clue-phone: We are BOTH/ALL, not a new category. I’m not down w/ fractions, but neither do I think that lumping the white/Asians, Asian/African-Americans, African-American/Hispanics, and/or Arab/African-American/white/South Asians together into some “multiracial” category is going to mean anything either. all those different ethnicities and cultures are NOT one “identity,” thanks.

If real diversity is what they want, how about making sure that qualified gifted public school students (which is what magnet schools are) draw from the lower, middle, and upper income classes? That’s a much better barometer IMO.

By: Trismegistus

Trismegistus — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:07:00 +0000

Sorry, Bumble B, but there is no such thing as 1/2 White. You either are White, Black, or another race. Perhaps it’s time to add categories for those born by the mixing of 2 races. Then they will have their own identity, instead of the confusion now.

By: Bumble B

Bumble B — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 23:57:20 +0000

I think the only fair method for funding counts is to pie-chart mixed kids and count a kid who’s 1/2 White as 1/2 White “credit.” No rounding up or down. It’s simple math - yet ironically, school’s can’t seem to use such simple concepts that they teach…