Social Integration. You vs. Your children

[Art Vandelay]

Katy's fantastic post in Seattle's latest momo rant got me thinking about how different my kid's growing up experience is from mine. I was raised in a monochromatic redneck community. There were a few Hispanic kids in my school and one or two African-Americans. My close group of friends and almost all my day to day associates were white. I served my mission in Washington DC and obviously interacted with people from every continent, well maybe not Antarctica, but I did see the Penguins at the National Zoo. One of the my favorite missionaries was an African-American. He was a fantastic teacher, a hard worker, and a better person. However, I recall wanting to go on splits with him to talk to certain (black) families, because i somehow thought he could magically relate to them, better than I.

Fast forward to last night. Driving back from a basketball game. My 3rd and 4th son are sitting in the back of the car watching a movie, sitting next to Luis, Keshawn, and Kashon (no relation). I doubt either of my kids thought anything of it, since they have lived in this community their whole life. I personally think, this is a much healthier environment for my kids to grow up in, than the one I did.

[Sleeping in EQ]

My generation seems to be a bridge between the old, racially mostly segregated experience and the new multiculturalism.

In my case, music was a powerful influence. Run DMC's cover of Walk This Way was cool, but when Anthrax and Public Enemy did Bring the Noise, that had an immediate impact at my school.

Some DJ played Bring the Noise at a school dance and the white kids and the black kids were out there slammin'. It actually helped people get to know one another better.

[falafel]

My kids are also growing up in a much more racially integrated society than I did in Utah. That is, of course, a positive.

I'm interested (maybe concerned?) about how they are learning to describe the physical appearances of their friends. I tried stay away from any sort of classification or naming of skin color, race, etc. when talking to my kids about people that are of different races, instead preferring to listen how they would do it naturally. Its interesting (sometimes it makes me cringe a bit) to hear what they come up with. Lots of descriptions using color - "he has a brown face" - etc.

Now that my son is getting older, he's starting to pick up on the PC names. He uses African American, where I ten to say blak and rarely use AA unless I'm talking to someone I don't know well. It just seems a little forced to me, but I realize calling someone by the color of their skin (a description that isn't really accurate, btw) isn't ideal. I've started helping my son to learn some more accepted ways of describing someone's race, if it needs to be done. Substituting Asian for whatever odd description he'd come up with (edit: I mean whatever odd description he comes up with for an asian person, not simply labeling any oddly described person as an asian).

Anyway, interesting.

[happyone]

One of the good things growing up an Army brat was that the neighborhoods and schools on the bases were racially integrated and for the most part we got along.

Also, I got to visit/live places I would otherwise never have visited.

[byu71]

My kids grew up in Pleasant Grove and come from a broken family.

They know how to be politically correct, but they have their moments when they aren't. My one son will go off on undocumented immigrants now and then right in front of his wife who at one time was undocumented. She is from Peru and he once went off on some undocumenteds from Mexico. I stepped in because I felt my DIL feelings might be hurt. She joined him railing on undocumented Mexicans.

3 of my 5 children married hispanics. Two of their cousins are AA. When the whole family gets together everyone looks and acts like everyone else is exactly alike.

[jay santos]

Me: grow up outside of utah
My kids: grow up in Utah

[Babs]

My son goes to an elementary school named for a Confederate general. He feeds into a junior high that has one building for the black students and a separate one for the whites. Oklahoma was not exactly a veritable melting pot, but I'm pretty sure this is a step backward.

[falafel]

My son goes to an elementary school named for a Confederate general. He feeds into a junior high that has one building for the black students and a separate one for the whites. Oklahoma was not exactly a veritable melting pot, but I'm pretty sure this is a step backward.

I'm sure there's more to this than you're telling us.

[Babs]

I'm sure there's more to this than you're telling us.

They call it an "honors" program. The latest statistics available are 2009, when there were 2% blacks enrolled in the honors building, and 2% whites in the other one. I was shocked. I mean like staggered. Subsidized segregation.

[Uncle Ted]

They call it an "honors" program. The latest statistics available are 2009, when there were 2% blacks enrolled in the honors building, and 2% whites in the other one. I was shocked. I mean like staggered. Subsidized segregation.

Damn Austin democrats.

[Babs]

Damn Austin democrats.

If you google austin and segregation it's actually a fascinating history. A pretty sad one, but fascinating all the same.

[Paperback Writer]

Damn Austin democrats.

Do you find it ironic that public middle schools in our county (a Republican stronghold) in Texas might be more integrated then in Austin (a Democrat stronghold)?