Student ejected from ceremony for graduating while black

[Julien_Cassels]

I thank you for your reply. I feel that the school (and many, for I do hear about this every year) is in the wrong for reacting the way they did with police getting involved, but the student also could have expressed himself in a different manner. The schools I went to were not state but private. There we had people from all over the world, ranging from rich privileged backgrounds to being on scholarships from Palestine and Afghanistan. I personally loved how despite all our different backgrounds, we got along, shared ideas. We did have a dress code the entire year. The school was breeding a generation to go to the best colleges and onto respectable jobs, which like it or not I accepted as requiring a suit and tie.

I liked how in class and during graduation we had a dress code. I get that the origins of the code did not take into the diversity of the student body, but during our free time was when we wore whatever we chose and expressed ourselves and our home cultures as we pleased, in a place where people would say “That scarf (it wasn’t a scarf, but I can’t remember the name) is really cool, does it mean anything?” or “You want to be a boy dressed in short-shorts? Whatever, let’s go to the cafeteria and chill together”

And…yeah, I was more than a little angry with your reply. It makes me physically sick when I hear about injustices. I honestly wish everyone could have had the opportunities I did, and I do what little I can on a day to day basis to call out friends, or more often acquaintances I am required to spend time with, on their intolerant bullshit. So yeah, it also makes me angry when there’s even a suggested comparison between what I say and the kind of people whose actions make me physically taste vomit.

Again, thank you for your reply. It gave me a little more perspective on things

[d_r]

@milliefink

It’s not up to me to explain why you think that’s an insufficient answer to your inquiry, a line of questioning that smells an awful lot like one particular thing:

And your repeatedly asking the same question looks just like that to me.

I imagine that you never have to deal with this kind of thing. In fact, neither do I, as I teach at a university and I’ve not ever had a disciplinary problem with my students, but our handbook is very clear on what I am supposed to do if I have a student who acts up in class: I’m supposed to ask them to leave. If they refuse, I am supposed to call campus police and have them ejected

There are of course unsanctioned alternatives one could imagine, and I’ve occasionally considered which I might try instead of phoning security. I could, for example, tell the student (this is in front of all the classmates, remember) that if they don’t leave they can expect an F for the semester. I could simply dismiss the class - which punishes the other students - and bring a case against the student in student court. (There are also times when this would not be possible, for example during the final exam.) I could dismiss the student, then have the school withhold the degree, or put something on the transcript. In the long run any of these are probably far worse for the student then just being escorted from the classroom, and some could get me or my school in serious trouble. For example, mentioning a student’s grade in front of the class would certainly be a FERPA violation.

The point is, for me this is a real potential concern to which I have had to give thought. I consider myself fortunate that I have not been in a situation where I have not had to implement any of these policies, but I have colleagues who have, and the teachers I teach (who by the way are mainly not white) have to face this all too often. Teachers do not have the luxury of sitting back, juggling hypotheticals without consequence, and making lazy accusations over the internet.

[jamesnsc]

I’m taking great care with my wording, so please, if something I say causes a knee-jerk reaction, please ask me - in your own words, what you thought I meant & give me a chance to clarify. Don’t forget that good written communication skills aren’t a privilege we all enjoy, but after reading this thread I feel like there is an angle that perhaps needs discussion/examination. Or not. I have been known to make mistakes, from time to time. If I’m well off the mark - plz just disregard this post.

It’s been my experience when visiting schools (I’m decades past this event but sometimes work InfoSec with schools) is that “Zero Tolerance Policies” have run amok. Recall that ZTP were instilled because school admins “couldn’t be trusted” to make case/case decisions & in the name of achieving the exact same result for a variety of transgressions - in the name of equality - which in many cases, that was truly needed.

Fast forward to now and ZTP is micro-managing admin to student interactions. It is quite possible that there is a ZTP in place for “any disruption” during graduation that results in the offending student being ejected. It’s also possible that any deviation from established dress code instantly equates to a “disruption”, and per ZTP the local admin has zero discretion in determining what is or is not a disruption, but that anything that deviates one iota from absolute conformity == disruption that must be stamped our per the school boards ZTP.

Along this train of thought then, it is equally possible that ZTP exist that forbid the administration from interacting with the student body for disciplinary actions and, that being the reason LEO’s were there - per ZTP, that it must be a LEO that interacts with a “disruptive student”.

The admins could well be horrified by, and powerless to change, this result. In my heart of hearts tho, I think this but one cog in this particular machine… anyway.

With the above said, I would think that any admin stepping in to defend this child’s actions would be admirable- but with the way the job market is & how hard it could be to get another school job after being fired for going against both policy & LEO’s… I dunno.

I do see that there is a MASSIVE problem here, but I fear race sometimes distracts us from the underlying systemic issues that not only allow such a travesty to take place but go even further and encourage LEO’s to act as jackbooted thugs where our - OUR - children are concerned.

[anon33466019]

What boggles my mind is if this happened in the private sector, the person at worst would be sent home by hr or their manager. But realistically nothing would happen, since it isn’t actually a distraction.

But I still stand behind Dance Off.

[GulliverFoyle]

I’m glad we were able to deescalate our antagonism and have a real discussion. Sometimes anger is like a living thing between people that takes both of them over if they let it. I’m glad we ultimately didn’t.

I also went to a private high school. Growing up I was home-schooled between grades 4 and 9. This was my choice. My sister went to public school and had, on the balance, a positive experience. I chose to take my parents up on the offer for homeschooling. There’s this misconception about homeschooling that it’s just your parents being your teachers. One reason it was open to me was because my parents, who were only mildly religious, were part of an interfaith homeschooling community. But by the time I was in 10th grade, I wanted to have the experience of a big high school. Problem was, I tested into the 10th grade, but the school district where my dad was stationed would only let me enter at the 8th grade because of my young age. So I explored my options. I found a tuition-free boys boarding school that accepted students who qualified based on a combined evaluation of grades, exams, an essay and an interview. I was accepted at the 10th grade, though I lived in the dorm with the 9th graders the first semester to see how I acclimated. One of the best times of my life.

I brought all that up because we too had a dress code. And chapel every morning at 6:30 AM. Like your school, we had boys from all over the world. The reverend not only made sure every student was allowed to express their ethnicity, he even worked with the students to set up services for their own faiths. At chapel boys were expected to wear their dress code, but also encouraged to wear their ethnic dress over their shirt and tie, as long as they cleared it with him first. Though I was already agnostic at the time, the Rev was a role model to me on how to find common ground and respect people who come from different backgrounds, and I, even now as an atheist, look back on his chapel services with both pride and affection.

[milliefink]

@d_r

Teachers do not have the luxury of sitting back, juggling hypotheticals without consequence, and making lazy accusations over the internet.

Sure, but they should also recognize their responsibility for learning about their own likely racist tendencies, and about how such tendencies can lead them to treat students who are not white badly.

Btw, saying so is not a way of “making lazy accusations over the internet.” It’s instead a way of highlighting, as the incident in question does, a common form of racism. Many studies show that in such cases, calling in LEOs and otherwise overreacting is far more common when the student is black.

And you know what else is also common when such situations get highlighted and discussed as probable instances of racism? White folks marching in and claiming that the real issue we should all be talking about instead is how tough it is to be a teacher. I admire teachers at all levels and agree that their jobs can be very difficult, but that’s just not the issue here.

[Phrenological]

@d_r

Teachers do not have the luxury of sitting back, juggling hypotheticals without consequence, and making lazy accusations over the internet.

What does this have to do with teachers? Zero Tolerance Policies are the requirements of lazy administrations.

[hello_friends]

Let him graduate. If someone has a problem with my decision, I can handle the weight more than a student.

And then … dance off.

[oranpkelley]

Just name-calling, you mean to say.

[anon33466019]

Take it to the bridge, maceo.

[anon34697667]

@d_r

Teachers do not have the luxury of sitting back, juggling hypotheticals without consequence, and making lazy accusations over the internet.

However, teachers have the luxury of exercising discretion and recognizing when a student rightfully points out a rule is wrong, and blindly following it is wrong, and insisting everyone follow it is wrong. If you can’t do that, you shouldn’t be teaching.

[hello_friends]

[enso]

Now I’m sorry I posted this. It BURNS!!!

[milliefink]

[Virginia_Llorca]

Seriously? And, if you are Hawaiian, you should be allowed to wear that hula skirt. Unless it is a school award, it is inappropriate.

[Virginia_Llorca]

If you cannot adhere to an institutions policies, you are an anarchist or a baby. Y’all preach anarchy, ya’ know?

[anon34697667]

[d_r]

[quote=“milliefink, post:278, topic:78756”]
Sure, but they should also recognize their responsibility for learning about their own likely racist tendencies, and about how such tendencies can lead them to treat students who are not white badly.[/quote]
This is a person who chose to teach in a progressive white-minority mixed-race school, I think it is rather presumptive and arrogant to assume that you’ve done more reflection on matters of race than they have.

[quote=“milliefink, post:278, topic:78756”]
Btw, saying so is not a way of “making lazy accusations over the internet.” It’s instead a way of highlighting, as the incident in question does, a common form of racism.[/quote]
This thread continues to be saturated with epistemic commitment.

[quote=“M_Dub, post:283, topic:78756”]
However, teachers have the luxury of exercising discretion and recognizing when a student rightfully points out a rule is wrong[/quote]
Whatever makes you believe that? In fact, teachers are second-guessed on their decisions all the time. You’re doing it now.

The school district is now re-evaluating their commencement policy, which is a good thing. The zero-tolerance policy on adornment is probably something inherited from inner-city schools, where they are worried about gang symbols (and where the cops would have already been standing by), but this probably doesn’t make sense in this middle-class suburb. The student’s political statement has had its desired effect.

As much as I loathe the fact that I’m in agreement on this issue with posters who do not believe in the existence of structural racism, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. The accusations that have been made are completely overblown.

[anon34697667]

@d_r

teachers are second-guessed on their decisions all the time. You’re doing it now.

On that point, you and I are in total agreement. Calling the police to kick a student out of his graduation because he’s wearing a kente cloth is a grossly inappropriate, unjustifiable overreaction, and the teachers/officials responsible should be second-guessed right out of the jobs they are clearly unqualified to have.

[hello_friends]