I was walking behind a son and father who were talking about a movie about a well known African American who was still successful despite experiencing repeated violent racism for years. The son asked, "Did all that stuff really happen?" The father said, "I don't know." I wanted to say, yes that happened and many more examples that the movie did not cover. I did not because I wasn't part of the conversation and I did not want to be dubbed the stereotypical angry Black person. Later, I decided … [Read more...]
HCPD Officer and Students
A Howard County Police Department Resource Officer was engaged in a friendly exchange with students after school at one of the HCLS branches before the branches were closed because of COVID-19. It was clear that the officer and the students knew each other, and that there was an established and positive relationship. The officer knew the names of the students, and the students seemed very comfortable with the officer. The exchange seemed very relaxed and friendly. … [Read more...]
No follow-up
Our school staff were assigned to read The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education last year. Unfortunately, there were no students physically in school, so there were no opportunities to practice the lessons. There has been no follow-up this year. This lack of follow-up feels all too familiar. Our School Improvement Plan has African American Students as the focus group for Improving School Quality. "Relationship building" is the focus action. But without instruction to staff, there is … [Read more...]
SRO reactions
Less of a story and more general observations over the past few months of how parents/community members respond to the call to remove SROs from schools. Not surprising, but still disappointing, how many white parents are intent on keeping SROs instead of listening and seeking out the voices of students/ families, many who are Black and brown, who are impacted negatively by police presence in school all the time. This would be the time to amplify the voice of someone who has been harmed, not … [Read more...]
Plant a seed
As a children's instructor I have the opportunity to teach a very diverse population. This opportunity provides me with a way to bridge commonalities between these populations through the content I share. It allows me to plant a seed of understanding and friendship in my classroom. … [Read more...]
limiting college choices
My daughter's top choice for a college to attend was somewhat selective, private college with a high tuition cost which we had determined was within reach both in terms of her academic record and our budget for her college education. Her white, female guidance counselor insisted repeatedly that she needed to go to HCC instead of her top choice. When I questioned her about it, her only explanation was that that was the route her family had chosen for her children and therefore it should be a good … [Read more...]
Coming Together for a Good Cause
I attended the ribbon cutting of the library equity collection and was impressed both by the contents of the collection and by the representation of groups that attended the ceremony. … [Read more...]
20+ years later, high school experience is still the same.
At a recent Howard County Board of Education meeting, a student provided testimony about his experience with racism/discrimination. He rattled off a list of Instagram pages that detail the racist and discriminatory experiences students have experienced in Howard County (ex. antiracisthoco). He asked when will it stop; when will his brother come home and not have to say that someone asked him if he had covid or ate bats. Hearing this made me feel profoundly sad as his experiences seemed so … [Read more...]
Black Lives Matter at GMS
My family lives in Western Howard County and our children attend Bushy Park and Glenelg High School. Last month, the signboard outside of Glenwood Middle School was vandalized. Before it was vandalized, it read "Black Lives Matter at GMS." After it was vandalized, it read "Lives Matter at GMS" with the "Black" spray painted over. In this part of the county, it was predictable and shameful. … [Read more...]
Redistricing Racism
The redistricting process in Howard County is the most blatant example that I have seen of a recent experience that made me think "things have to change". I am aware of numerous people from an entire neighborhood that moved after being redistricted to a "less desirable" school than the one they had been in. … [Read more...]
School Inequities along racial lines
For a county known for its diversity, there is a jarring amount of covert and overt racism whenever new school boundaries are recommended. I've heard and read people say that they don't want their kids "going to THOSE schools" and that "some people just don't value education as much as we do" to explain why some schools (with higher White populations) have higher test scores than schools with high Free and Reduced Meals students (and higher Black and immigrant populations). When explanations are … [Read more...]
Bullying on the School Bus
As we have moved back to in-person learning in the public school system, my daughter (Hispanic) had been picked on by another girl. An older girl on the bus, African-American, comforted my daughter, as she had been crying because of the incident. Later, the girl that comforted my daughter talked to me about the experience and how she helped. Later, I saw the girl's mother at the bus stop and complimented her on how kind her daughter had been to my kindergartner. I'm not sure if this illustrates … [Read more...]
Racist, Much?
In 2019, the leadership of the Howard County Public School System engaged in planning for redistricting, and I was directly involved in that effort and publicly expressed support for equity-based decisions. Some of my White neighbors -- people who share many of my progressive ideals -- were opposed to the HCPSS proposals for redistricting and argued that their children were going to be heartbroken if the plan was approved. On social media, when I bemoaned some of the awful, racist rhetoric that … [Read more...]
Social Media/White Privilege
I was sent a social media post reacting to the HCPSS high school lesson on white privilege. First came the “what grade level is this?” and “why wasn’t this optional”/”why weren’t parents told?” comments which didn’t really take root. Then the inevitable “white privilege isn’t real” comment was made, eliciting 50+ replies. However, more than half of the replies were people trying to convince the poster that white privilege is real. The initial responses had a “I can’t believe you think white … [Read more...]
Students Discuss Anti-racism
In the spring of 2016, a student at Howard HS made a racist video about Black students. One of my children attended Hammond HS class of 2016. She and her friends hosted a sit-in at HaHS's parking lot to protest racism and discuss their feelings about the racist vitriol expressed by fellow HoCo students. They invited teachers and administrators and all HaHS students to participate. FYI. Hammond HS has one of the most diverse student bodies in the county. … [Read more...]
AAPI Stereotypes
I was born and raised in Howard County. I'm half Filipino and half white. Growing up, I experienced extreme fetishism and microaggressions on a daily basis. I was bullied so bad that my Filipino mother couldn't drop us off at school or the bus stop anymore. I graduated from Glenelg high school in 2015, and there I was told by male students that they've always wanted to "f*ck an exotic". They would call me oriental. I had friends tell me that I was "white enough to be their friend, but … [Read more...]
Stamped Book Club
I started a book club to read the book Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram Kendi. Friends and neighbors joined to read and discuss each of the five sections. Both the book itself and the discussions were illuminating and very eye-opening to me. … [Read more...]
School Equity
It was disturbing to see the serious opposition to school equity plan. last year. Especially here, in Columbia, which was supposed to be founded on equality. … [Read more...]
Immigrant Rights
During the Trump administration, I got into a discussion with several neighbors regarding immigration. One neighbor stated that " if people don't want to become citizens they should go back to their country." I thought this statement was very naive and insensitive. At the time this statement was made - one of my neighbors, who was sharing in the conversation, had been waiting for more than 18 months to get approval for citizenship status. This led to a debate of history, culture and rights. More … [Read more...]
How “United” Are We Really?
Ever since the school redistricting process started here in Howard County a few years ago, there are community members who are very vocal online, specifically on a "United" Facebook group. I taught in an elementary school in an "affluent" area. Parents had their children go to a private school rather than go to the "not so affluent" school their children were being redistricted to. One parent wrote "My child will not be going to school with those children, it is a bad school!" Who are "those" … [Read more...]
Opportunity to Read and Understand
Recently asked to create an AAPI booklist appropriate for k-12 students for members of the AAPI task force. Back & forth process of communicating with members of AAPI task force members and the recognition that this needs to be an ongoing process gives me hope for being able to promote and connect Ho Co children & teens with materials to broaden understanding of the experiences of the AAPI community gives me hope. … [Read more...]
Hate and Bias in Education
My daughter (8) wore Bantu knots into elementary school. She was ridiculed for having her hair in a culturally appropriate, but uncommon, hairstyle. Within this same school, she has received requests to touch her hair throughout her different hairstyles including natural and braided. Recently she has asked me to straighten her hair (in order to fit in better and be more accepted). … [Read more...]
Race and Disability
I work with individuals with autism and families...all too often children who are black and brown are diagnosed and receiving services much later than while children by a few years. Behaviors are identified instead of considering underlying disability. … [Read more...]
The Sound of Music
Observing a HCYP baseball game I overheard a conversation between two mom's from my son's public school. One was bemoaning that there were "Hebrew songs at the Christmas concert". I volunteer for Howard County Parents for School Music and we encourage music teachers to have their concert programs reflect the diversity of our community - - and I generally feel so proud about this being expressed at our concerts. Yet this woman was clearly put off by this. I am Jewish and wondered in the moment if … [Read more...]
One Book
My son's high school, Mt. Hebron High School, began a book club open to students, parents and community members called One Book. The club is meant to discuss pertinent issues in our communities regarding race, equality and progress. Our first meeting discussed Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi's book, Stamped. The conversations were powerful and enlightening. The group is just getting started. … [Read more...]
Denying the Problem
"An elementary school in HCPSS had "Black Lives Matter" on their marquee and someone spray-painted over "Black" on Friday. This afternoon, HCPSS leadership (BoE and Superintendent) shared a press release denouncing it as a hate crime and standing in solidarity with BLM. The story doesn't end there. On the Facebook post from HCPSS sharing the press release, many people dismissed the vandalism and criticized the idea of the original message saying Black Lives Matter was a political statement … [Read more...]
Jumpstart not a starter
They started the JUMP Start program to help mix races together but the kids who participate in program really can't participate at the school because they have to catch the bus back home. the school system didn't think to have 2 bus systems. one for right after school and one for student who want to participate in activities … [Read more...]
HCPS vandalism
My Spouse works for HCPSS, One day he let me know of a meeting he was attending about a recent vandalism in a school bathroom. I usually don't ask follow up questions about work, but this time I enquired. To my surprise he said that the incident involved swastikas being painted. I was shocked to hear that this would occur in my community and the idea that children were responsible. This is equally upsetting because my spouses family is Jewish and I know this affected my spouse deeply, despite … [Read more...]
Missing Talent
"My (white) daughter was online in her gifted and talented class. I happened to come in to put away some laundry and glanced at her screen. I was stunned to see that in all the class there was only one Black child, although there are about equal number of white and Black students in the school (Asian kids were pretty well represented). I thought, "Oh, no! There are missing kids. Missing Black talent." And then I felt overwhelmed. "I'm not even in the school system. How are we supposed to … [Read more...]
Blame Game
As I watched the recent debates around redistricting in the county I observed a community that felt even more divided than perhaps in the past. The testimony's before the board of education, the online discussion on facebook groups, and the community conversations were striking as they were filled with disparaging language around those living in poverty, sterotypes of those living in apartment and townhome communities, and Black and Latinx families. There were characterizations of Columbia, and … [Read more...]
