Bad news in black and white makes me look inside again

/ June 18, 2014
(From waer.org)

(From waer.org)

A New York State Attorney General’s report carried discouraging statistics about discipline and the Syracuse City School District, I discovered when I read a story by James T. Mulder, a friend and former colleague of mine at the big daily.

Included was the statistic that black students are disciplined at twice the rate of white students.

That got me thinking about race in the city where I live, and our country, and the world. I stand by the beliefs that were ingrained in me by my parents. We’re all equal, we’re all in this together, meet and mix and embrace and blend.

But I worry when I hear news like this that people will choose sides and point fingers and revert to ugly stereotypes.

So over on my weekly waer.org community blog, I wrote a bit about my upbringing, and my experiences as a white man living a life that’s included black friends as a grateful, natural matter of fact.

I’ve asked others in the Syracuse community to comment, to share what’s in their hearts, in the hopes that putting a face on the black-and-white will remind folks that there are good things going on here, too.

If you’d like to read my column for Syracuse Public Media site waer.org, click the link below. You’re always welcome to add your insight there, too.

http://waer.org/post/after-report-about-race-and-school-discipline-whats-your-heart

How did you grow up feeling about race? Do you feel you can live your life race colorblind? Do you feel like your place in the world encourages or discourages a natural integration of daily life?

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44 thoughts on “Bad news in black and white makes me look inside again”

  3. I grew up in a racist household and I hated it! I have always been colorblind and raised my children the same way. I have a lot of friends of diverse ethnicity, and my kids do as well. Many of their black and Asian and Hispanic friends (as well as their sometimes ethnic boyfriends/girlfriends) all call me Mom and I love them all. Good for you! 😀

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  4. what a thought provoking piece, mark. i read your full piece and commented on your waer site, but in summary, i have taught my own children, as well as the children i teach, to be open, welcoming, kind, nonjudgmental, and fair to everyone, no matter who they may be. i’m hopeful that the next generation will do better. to know someone is to understand them and to see they are the same in many ways. i am saddened that stereotypes, discrimination, and negative behaviors still occur. in some schools, as in many other places.

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    • I know from following your blog, Beth, that you have taught your family and kinders the signifance of these life matters, Beth, and thank you for sharing your thoughts here and on the waer.org site, my friend.

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  5. So excited that you did this, Mark! It is an excellent way to get dialogue started and possibly (hopefully) mend the gaps between the people in Syracuse. Don’t feel badly, this is probably close to the national statistic, too. It is sad, it makes me sad.
    My parents were very much marchers and believers. I am blessed with a number of times where they encouraged us to participate in things where many cultures and races were evident. I helped my Mom, along with my brothers, ‘teach’ Head Start out of an African American church basement, when it was not a paying job and we had to haul all our toys and share them, for three summers in a row! We did this in the mornings, went home and ate lunch, then played outside until dinner. It was part of our life, our routine. It taught me so much when they talked about the disadvantages and the prejudices of black children over white. They said something powerful to us, as youngsters, that we were already ‘ahead of the game,’ and ‘lucky’ not to have to deal with prejudice because of the color of our skin. I just have to believe we can bridge the gap and make our lives better, working together on this! I am proud of the way you wrote this today!

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  6. I grew up with very little diversity in my life, “color” wise anyway. Many cultural differences though between the two major regions of my youth. You wouldn’t think there would be that much difference, but there was tremendous difference between the cultures I moved in and out of. On the weekend it was Appalachian with huge differences even within that culture it’s self. Then the city exposure. Our differences are so not based on color alone. I am probably as naive as can be when I think we can and should be able to live together respecting our differences. I’m not in the educational field, so I can’t really comment. These were just some thoughts I had in reflecting on how I grew up.

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  7. I notice that race seems less of an issue with the younger generation even here in the South. Where once a mixed-race couple might feel it necessary to move north for their own safety, now it is more commonplace. And I might be a Pollyanna, but I think the children of those relationships will be even less racist having a bi-racial/cultural background. One can hope, right?

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    • I am with you. I think children of two races are fortunate, as seem to get the best of both in their makeup.

      Thank you for sharing your view, Barbara. I hope optimism is warranted, but news accounts tell of the other side, too.

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  8. Hi

    I think I was born non-racist, however I’m not sure if that is a universal attitude. Once someone said to me racism is complicated. Here in the UK we have a lot of Asian Doctors, I’m not sure if they understand or approve of current working class culture here in the UK. For me the most damaging individual to young black men was Michael Jackson who wanted to be white.

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    • Thank you for sharing your view, MIke Fred. I do not know what Michael Jackson felt in his heart about race, but people assume to know what his beliefs were because his features and skin complexion appeared to change over time, right?

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  10. Growing up in rural Iowa, there wasn’t a lot of people around who weren’t white. Although, my parents were both school teachers and taught us to treat everyone the same. I’ve always carried that with me and while I went to a huge university with a very diverse student body, it wasn’t until I moved to the Southern part of the US that I saw what a huge issue race still is for some people. It’s sad. And unbelievable.

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  11. We had less than half a dozen black students from K thru 12, growing up, but all colors at the university. I grew up watching sassy Florence on “The Jeffersons” or cool JJ on “Good Times” and cute Dwayne on “What’s Happening,” so my friends and I definitely wanted to jump inside those worlds. Couple that with the release of Thriller and wanting to marry Michael Jackson one day, and we didn’t give much thought to interracial marriage. Helen and Tom looked happy on TV, even if George Jefferson called their children zebras.

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  14. This makes me cry because when I was in Jr. High I did something that was right, but wasn’t believed because I was brown and not in the popular group. The popular girls lied and were believed. I’m afraid it will always be this way.

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  15. Important article Mark. When I was a kid and young I had friends from different countries without problems. Later I did learn in the tough way, but now I live in Spain. I’m not racist, but I learned to take good care of myself and stay away from some kind of people. There culture are too much different from what I wish to live with.

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  16. Mark … Unfortunately, this is endemic of education. A reporter in our area won an award for writing about how discipline is meted out differently in our schools. I wrote something similar when I was an education reporter in Utica.

    What opened my eyes to this disgrace was Jonathan Kozol’s books, “Savage Inequalities” and “Death at an Early Age.” From the book cover of “Death at an Early Age,” “In 1964, he was a teacher in the Boston Public School System. He “taught 4th grade at one of the most overcrowded inner-city schools – a place where ‘the books are junk, the paint peels, the teachers call you (the n-word), and the windows fall in on your heads.” I believe he was fired because he taught off-curriculum material such as Langston Hughes poem, “A Dream Deferred.” Kozol went on to be an activist for improving education.

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      • Schools are not equal. They are funded thru taxes. So a more prosperous area would, naturally, have a better equipped school. When the money comes from the same pile, city school districts and county school districts, and schools are unequally funded – that’s unacceptable and an outrage. The kids know they’re being shortchanged. I recall a Mom in Utica, whose son was frequently on the wrong end of the discipline ladder, telling me that she was afraid her son would be lost to the streets.

        Mark, I’m glad you’re raising this issue on your blog and on WAER. It’s something that needs to be addressed.

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