I was with you initially, but after thinking about it could be argued that creating classes that are overwhelmingly white in an overwhelmingly non white district are something approaching segregation. In the end, all that is being done to the “advanced” students is that they’re being offered the same education that their peers are getting. Resources spent on the advanced learning program could have been spent on offering a better quality of education for the entire school. I’m sympathetic to both sides of this issue but I don’t find it simple.
Did you miss that part of the article or have you intentionally excluded the presence of Asian students in your reply because it makes your argument stick better? I don't think it meets the definition of segregation when a subset of multiple groups are given special treatment due to their aptitude on topics that are inherently race-agnostic. Yes, those with money and power can better educate their kids compared to the poor, but so can those without money who simply value education higher (speaking as a 1.5 gen immigrant who grew up extremely poor). Why are we always the first ones to be penalized in the name of racial equality?
Like suspending classes because they were too white?
> I'm not saying you are racist or that you should atone for the sins of your white peers
It's even worse, we're talking about innocent children and referring to them as "oppressors".
Speaking of racism in the U.S., however, nothing you say will change the dozens of firsthand experiences that I endured as a minority immigrant growing up in this land. I say this not from a place of bitterness, but from a place of sadness: I too wish racism wasn't real or as heavily perpetuated as it actually is. Working in SV almost makes me forget the shit I had to endure because it's much less visible from the ivory towers of the west coast. But my friend, racism is very real, and it is very alive. I'm not here to say whites are evil and we are noble - it's simply that being in the place of power gives you many more avenues with which to abuse.
Let me say this one last time: shutting down a gifted class due to its racial make up is the wrong way to go. It's the lazy way to "establish social justice". I say this not because I believe racism isn't real - I say this because this is reverse racism. If what we want to build is a world that is accepting of all individuals regardless of their race, we should accept that racism exists and devise reasonable solutions to combat it. Punishing white kids is not the way to go, nor is denying that racism is alive.