Posted on 08/08/2004 3:05:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Apparently I am an Oreo. According to the past few generations' terminology, an Oreo is not a cookie made by Nabisco but a person who is black on the outside and white on the inside. Now, I admit that I could switch places with any member of *NSync, a late-'90s boy band, and perform a concert, and the fans wouldn't notice. But that doesn't make me an Oreo. And, if *NSync's fan base is mostly white, that doesn't mean I'm not black anymore. I'll be black forever.
The words black and white don't just mean color anymore. They describe actions, behavior and intelligence. Black symbolizes guns, violence, "ghetto fabulous" behavior, a job at McDonald's, overall failure in life. And white is a Harvard graduate, CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a house in the Hamptons, success.
These stereotypes let all of the air out of a little black kid's balloon. And if the stereotypes don't do it, some other black people will, starting with your education.
It is dangerous for a young black female like me to be surrounded by other young blacks who don't value their education. 'Cause I'll tell you, the feeling can be contagious, especially in middle and high school, when fitting in is in and standing out is way out.
At my middle school, I stuck out immediately. On my first day, I quivered with my *NSync notebook in hand, as I felt my way around school. I was ready to learn and very surprised to find the majority of my fellow black students were not.
"I've never met black kids like this," I told my mom over my afternoon snack. In my reading class their eyes slit my throat as I raised my hand to answer questions. During social studies, I was the only black student who didn't get into trouble with Ms. Burch. She actually liked me; we shared a love of *NSync. Even though I found a connection with Ms. Burch, one that we still share, I couldn't seem to find that basic connection with people who looked like me.
The difficulty of coping with the ridicule became a lot to bear at a time when having and making friends was the issue of the day. Being called an "Oreo" or "Miss Smarty-Pants" and "brainy" became normal, but I was never completely numb to the implications of these words. When the people who should be complimenting and congratulating you on your accomplishments are treating you as if you sell drugs, it doesn't feel as if you are doing the right thing.
This feeling has continued into high school and probably will continue throughout my entire life. But I am tired of being surrounded by those who don't apply themselves because they are afraid of what other people will think.
What will people think when they see you working at McDonald's? Will they think about you or the black race as a whole? I'm looking for a place — a school, a university, a community — where being "young, gifted and black" works for me and not against me. Where I can display my intelligence the way I display my clothes, and speak the way I was raised to speak. And that's not white, black, yellow, green or blue — it's simply the proper way to speak.
I was raised to respect my education and the fact that I am blessed to have an opportunity that others before me didn't have. And I will not waste my opportunities. I will continue to take advantage of them so I won't have to settle for flipping burgers and salting fries.
I will be successful, have an impact and continue to flourish as a young black woman. And for all those who are curious, the only Oreos I'll see will be the ones in my dorm room. But what does it matter — I only eat the cream anyway.
To use your examples, there are many opportunities in the culinary arts. Chefs can make big money and in general make a very comfortable living. They are also highly in demand. Ditto with automotive technology. Auto mechanics are not the "grease monkeys" of yesteryear. Auto mechanics today need to be highly trained to service today's complicated motor vehicles and they command very good salaries. As well, all the "easy" auto mechanic stuff - such as oil changes and changing tires - has gone to the big chains like Jiffy Lube and NTB, where the "entry" level mechanics start out. So if you are going to work in a real automobile repair facility these days, you need to know your stuff and have certifications up the ying-yang.
That said, there should be no room in our public schools for troublemakers and malcontents. My public school education was ruined by these bozos. Think "Welcome Back Kotter" and that was what my high school was actually like back in the 1970s. It was a total waste of four years and thank God I got in the Marines and got straightened out. Otherwise I'd be a worthless bum today like many of my other schoolmates who even today waste their lives in dead-end jobs and hanging out on the front steps drinking beer and smoking whatever.
Let me clarify that. They're LIBERALS.
I don't follow her references to *NSync. I assume it is a band. What kind?
I'm sorry, I can't help you about the band.
They'd attack Biil Cosby a lot more if they dared. I applaud his honesty and courage BTW.
My son attended a school for the gifted and talented in Philly. Most of the kids were black, but many were white or Asian with a few Hispanic.
It's not race, it's expectation. The parents (there's that dirty word) of these kids expected them to do well, pushed them and gave them opportunities for success. The school provided other opportunities. Many of these kids became Merit Scholars. All went to college, and as far as I know, all in my son's class rec'd academic scholarships.
If this girl is clever, her parents should look into a magnet or private school where being smart is the calling card, not something that sets you apart. None of the black kids at my son's school thought of themselves as an Oreo (or acting white) for being smart.
There are plenty of smart, high-achieving, high school kids of color. It's just that you don't hear about them because they are busy studying, engaging in after-school activities, or doing things with their families or church groups. They don't make the papers the way the criminals do.
Bump!
I care about school. Does that make me an Oreo?
What that makes you is one smart cookie :-)
If this girl is clever, her parents should look into a magnet or private school where being smart is the calling card, not something that sets you apart.
*** That doesn't set you apart or threaten your life as it does in many NYC schools.
don't fit the media profile for their 11 o'clock news BUMP
Many parents hope to see their kids do better than they did.
That response bothers me. It is akin to saying, on the war on terror, "Well, hopefully I can find a neighborhood with no Muslims in it." Capitulation and flight do nothing to resolve the underlying problems.
While I certainly understand the self-interest that would motivate an individual's response to send his children to a private school, unfortunately the consequence is that parents who might make a difference slowly bleed out of the public school system. The only thing that is going to change this system in the short term (and probably in the long term, too, as I just can't see complete privatization occurring in my lifetime... and that is what is needed) is concerted and consistent pressure on local officials (school board, board of supervisors, school administrators, etc.). But, if the parents who really care all abandon the system, who is left to reform it?
I could have easily gotten a job at a private school. Yet, instead, I chose to teach at the school in my county that had consistently returned the lowest standardized test scores in the county, save only the juvenile detention home. My life would certainly have been easier at a private school or at the other, much more affluent, school in the county that offered me a job. But the kids at my school need me more.
A mediocre teacher can probably do just as well with the rich kids or the private school kids, as those kids have the culture and the parental support to make up for any minor deficiencies in teaching. My kids don't have that; they need damn fine teachers just to make it. What good does it do to dump lousy teachers onto the kids who can least afford to have them?
Make no mistake, the attitude I infer from your post (and I admit that it is an inference) is that it is OK for the parents to follow their own best interests and get their kids into the best schools. I sympathize with this and agree somewhat. But recognize that the very same principle justifies good teachers abandoning failing schools as well. So the next time you look at some inner-city academic hellhole and want to decry the crappy teachers there, just remember that you yourself expressed the justification for that situation, because the good teachers took your advice, looked out for themselves, and left. So I would be interested in your solution for the millions of kids trapped in the public education system, because uncaring or inattentive parents won't pay to give them the best. Do these kids deserve to fail? Do they deserve to be thrown to the wolves? If not, then what is the solution?
I don't expect everyone to operate solely out of altruism (I certainly don't. The school I am in offers me an unprecedented opportunity to shine. While other teachers are failing miserably, I have posted 100% and 92% SOL pass-rates in my classes over the preceding two years, with students that others find difficult to teach. So I certainly do gain something by forgoing the "ritzier" schools, but I am still doing a harder job than I would have to). But if some people aren't willing to stand up and make a difference, things will never change!
Agreed wholeheartedly! That's one of the consequences of the "liberal mentality" in schools today. Sometimes little Johnny needs to be tossed out on his ear, so that the rest of the class can learn. Not sent right back to class by an [unprintable] administrator, 10 minutes after cursing and verbally threatening his teacher (actually happened).
No less than FOUR (4) times was it mentioned by the author in an article that had absolutely nothing to do with a has been boy band...
Thought it was odd, either way..
Unfortunately, hope requires no effort. Many of the poorly-educated parents I talk to express grand hopes for their children while not bothering to lift a finger to help guide them onto that path. Heck, in many cases I even feel sorry for them, as those parents are completely ignorant of what it takes to succeed themselves, and have no more ability to counsel their children on academic matters than they have to solve eigenfunctions! Can you imagine my shock the first time I realized that I was talking to a parent who honestly didn't know (and I truly believe she didn't!) that letting her child stay out all night was going to negatively affect his school work (I called to complain that he was sleeping in class)?
So it doesn't take outright ridicule to dissuade children from working hard. Hell, just the absence of constant pressure to work hard is usually enough. And many times the parents don't know any better themselves (which is why they are unskilled/low-skilled laborers themselves).
One point of clarification, however. I said "parents" above, when in many cases it should properly be rendered in the singular. So many of the truly disastrous cases I have seen start partially in the fact that only one parent is involved. If you want your kid to succeed in life, marry the person that you had him with and stay with that person! That cuts the statistical danger by a dramatic proportion right there...
The Democratic Party have brainwashed a whole race.
"And white is a Harvard graduate, CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a house in the Hamptons, success. "
Hatred is how the Democratic Party keeps blacks brainwashed.
School is a sink or swim proposition for many, and I will confess that I spent most of the time sinking, but I made up for that later on in life, after high school, because I personally took the initiative to learn new things and to learn many things I hated to do in school or had trouble understanding. I only wish that I had the luxury of having the internet when I was in school.
I was smart, but I wasn't the brightest kid in my graduating class, but many tell me today I'm very intelligent, even going so far as to say I know too much, that I am a walking book of knowledge. LOL
This I believe is the biggest reward, save for being an ego booster.
Yes. Learning is life-long and living is a good teacher.
This transcends race, IMHO.
But it is emblematic of a way of thinking, as the author points out early in the piece. It's not about race (whether you're called Oreo, or nerd). And the Dems have tapped deep into this line of thought. In fact, it may underpin much of socialism, unionism, etc.
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