Readin’ yes, whitin’ no
Kid-school principal’s war on ‘race privilege’
On the last day of school, Principal Darlene Cameron of Star Academy-PS 63 in the East Village gave her small faculty a chart defining racist and nonracist institutions and asked them to think about where their school fits in.
A non-racist institution, among other things, is conscious of and aims to wipe out a culture of “white power,” “white privilege” and “inherent white advantage.”
“We fit into the category of white power and privilege!” a white teacher at the K-5 school told her colleagues.
The concept that whites enjoy everyday benefits simply because of their skin color has become the rage.
Elite private schools have grappled with the notion. The Post exposed an extreme case — how the Bank Street School for Children on the Upper West Side made white kids feel guilty about their “whiteness” while heaping praise and cupcakes on kids of color. The school’s diversity director stepped down after the report.
Now public schools are jumping on the bandwagon.
After recent killings of black men by cops and murders of police officers, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña called on educators to tackle “tough conversations” about race, violence and guns.
In addition, Fariña announced a new curriculum that emphasizes social justice. She also recommended a K-12 reading list compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center, “Perspectives for a Diverse America,” which includes selections on race, gender and LGBTQ issues. In K-2, for instance, kids can learn the true story of Z and Vielpunk, a couple of gay male penguins rearing a chick in a German zoo.
The ninth-through-12thgrade readings include a 1990 essay, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” which lists 50 hidden benefits whites enjoy. No. 17: “I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.”
The chart handed out at Star Academy, written by an Illinois-based anti-racism ministry, angered some parents questioned by The Post.
“When you start sending out things like this, it divides us,” said Robert Powell, a black dad in The Bronx who served on the city’s Panel for Educational Policy. “It’s a subtle form of racism.”
Education author Sol Stern called the chart “leftwing propaganda” and “brainwashing.” White privilege “is an argument, not a fact,” he said.
But David Bloomfield, a Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center education professor, who is white, lauds the idea.
“It reminds me a bit of when ‘Heather Has Two Mommies’ was recommended reading by the DOE before same-sex couples became mainstream,” he said. Greater awareness can help teachers pick books that reflect other races, he added.
Star Academy students are 65 percent Hispanic, 20 percent black, 10 percent white and 4 percent Asian, records show.