New York, NY — The New York Times announced Thursday it is releasing a new podcast series titled Nice White Parents, about how white parents are preventing black and brown children from succeeding in public schools.
This new podcast from Serial Productions is about the 60-year relationship between white parents and the public school down the block. Its premise is reportedly the reason government schools are failing “black and brown kids” is due to powerful “white parents.”
Reporter Chana Joffe-Walt states in an audio clip the basis for the project is research that led her back to New York City in 1963, when optimistic white parents insisted that a new school, intended originally for black and Hispanic children who lived in “the projects,” be built near their neighborhood instead, so that their white children and the minority children could attend school together.
When the school was finally built, however, Joffe-Walt reported the white parents never actually sent their children to the school. In the series, she relates some of the conversations she had with some of the white parents to examine why they failed to follow through with their stated intentions.
The New York Times argues that, “
American public schools do not guarantee each child an equal education — two decades of school reform initiatives have not changed that. But when we look at how our schools are failing, we usually focus on who they’re failing: Black and brown kids. We ask: Why aren’t they performing better? Why aren’t they achieving more?
According to the Times, “Those are not the right questions,” the Times says. “If you want to understand what’s wrong with our public education system, you have to look at what is arguably the most powerful force in our schools: White parents.”
You can contact Bennett through The Liberty Loft’s website. Be sure to subscribe to The Liberty Loft’s daily newsletter. If you enjoy our content, please consider donating to support The Liberty Loft so we can continue to deliver great content.
