How White is Too White to Teach Black Students?

"What's good in the 'hood, bro? said Jim, the science teacher, as he attempted to fist bump with the student.

Student response:  "Nothing."

Jim, in this case, is a REAL-LIFE 60-something white male who teaches at a predominately white private school in my area.  The student he tried to "be down with" is my grandson, Jarod, who is the ONLY black student in Jim's science class. 

The interaction between the two came to a head last week when Jim was trying to quiet down the class----at which time my grandson said to Jim, "I wasn't doing anything.

Jim's response:  "Boy! If you say that to the police, you're going to jail!"  
So what in the hell was that comment for???

Jarod says he sat in silence but two of his classmates, who were furious over the comment, reported it to the 7th grade advisor.   

I learned about the incident, after picking him up from school:

Me:  "How was your day?"

Jarod:  "I had to have a meeting with my advisor about Jim."

Me:  What?!  What happened in gym?"

Jarod:  "No---Jim, my teacher."

Me:  "O.K. so what happened?"

And that's when he shared details of that particular incident.  BUT THERE'S MORE!  According to Jarod, Jim is always trying to talk "black" when he speaks to him (or what he thinks is black speech) but he speaks properly to the other kids in the class.  Obviously Jim has been watching too many reruns of  Good Times because he must believe all black families come from the Projects and we all speak broken English. 

Once I dropped Jarod off at basketball practice, I got on the phone and called his advisor for the 4-1-1.  She confirmed everything and agreed with my stand on the issue.  She said one of the young girls who came to her was extremely upset about the way Jim talked to Jarod.  She also said that student was among some who are currently reading Rolling Thunder:  Hear My Cry (Mildred Taylor) and have developed a heightened awareness and sensitivity to racial issues.  I say good for them and am very thankful they took up for my grandson because Jarod probably wouldn't have shared it.

Here's what I know about Jim:  He's an older, white male, who's been teaching at my grandson's school for 13-14 years.  Surely, he's seen quite a few changes at this private school during that time frame since blacks were probably not even going there when he first started.  Jim also gives me the impression he has never taught or had much interaction with black students.  When I met him, I tried not to view him as racist; instead I saw a older, conservative white male who wasn't personable and appeared to be unapproachable to me as a black woman.  He did, however, interact quite nicely with the white grandparents when we visited his class during Grandparents Day at the school.

As I explained to the advisor, she did not want me or my daughter to have to come up to the school to lead a session on diversity training because we certainly would!  She assured me it would be handled. We'll see...........................