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In the first episode of @chanajoffewalt's Nice White Parents, there's a throwaway line about how the (affluent white) kids in the French immersion program could "get away with murder." And I hope the series follows up on that point. Here's why (thread):
As I find in my research, schools' dependence on middle- and upper-middle-class white parents (for money, volunteer support, and a "good" reputation) leaves no incentive for teachers or administrators to hold privileged students accountable to the rules. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0003122420905793#:~:text=Avoiding%20Us%20versus%20Them%3A%20How,Rules%20%2D%20Jessica%20McCrory%20Calarco%2C%202020
Because teachers are afraid of middle- and upper-middle-class white parents (especially the highly involved ones), those kids are almost never punished. Even when they blatantly break rules. Even when they cheat. Even when teachers know they're cheating. https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/vk8bt/
And this doesn't just happen in racially diverse schools. Middle- and upper-middle-class white kids get a pass on their behavior even in primarily white schools. Because those schools also depend on privileged families for their budget and reputations as "good" schools.
No matter what school they attend, middle- and upper-middle-class white kids learn to see themselves as above the rules. They learn to demand their own unfair advantages. And, because they're afraid of privileged parents, teachers feel compelled to say yes https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190634438.001.0001/oso-9780190634438
When privileged families/kids demand a "pass" for their behavior, they're only thinking of themselves. Or maybe about competing with other privileged kids. But that pass reinforces inequalities in diverse schools like the ones in Nice White Parents and in the system as a whole.
