The Palm Beach, Florida, school board is rethinking its controversial statement to combat “white advantage” from a statement about “equity” in education.
The “Equity Statement” posted on the school district’s website, reads in part:
The School District of Palm Beach County is committed to dismantling racism and other systems of oppression and inequity. We will create equitable and inclusive schools that ensure students have what they need to be successful in school and life.
Achieving racial equity requires proactive and continuous investment in historically marginalized groups who have endured centuries of systemic oppression. The School District of Palm Beach County is committed to dismantling structures rooted in white advantage and transforming our system by hearing and elevating under-represented voices, sharing power, recognizing and eliminating bias, and redistributing resources to provide equitable outcomes. … (emphasis added)
The School District of Palm Beach County acknowledges the existence of—and will eliminate—systems, processes, and mindsets that perpetuate race, ethnicity, poverty, disability, language status, undocumented status, religious affiliation, gender identity, and sexual orientation as predictors of achievement.
The portion about “white advantage” has riled the community and led to board members rethinking the statement.
“Your statement is dividing us, and it incites racism,” mother Jessica Martinez said during a Wednesday school board meeting, according to the Palm Beach Post.
“Being a parent of both a Hispanic and a Caucasian student, this equity statement leads me to believe you’re viewing my children’s academics by the color of their skin or their ethnic background,” she said.
“Equity, as you are calling it, is a political view and it is racist,” parent Amanda Silvestri said.
“You mention dismantling white advantage, which is an opinion. None of this despicable, political, racist nonsense should be pushed on innocent children and has absolutely no business being taught in schools,” she continued.
The statement was approved by the board May 5, but since parents have objected, some board members are rethinking it.
Board member Karen Brill said the portion about “white advantage” should be removed but indicated it would not make much difference, as it would not be “in any way weakening our positions.”
Brill voted to approve the statement earlier this month, but only “because her eyes were hurting during the drafting process and she was not able concentrate,” the paper reported.
Board member Alexandria Ayala did not appreciate the about face.
“Confronting racism is uncomfortable,” she told board members at the Wednesday meeting. “As soon as we get criticism and feedback, folding under the pressure instead of analyzing how we could’ve done a better job to give clear direction to our administration is not the option.”
Schools are advised to discuss “advantage” instead of “privilege,” according to a 2016 column in Inside Higher Ed.
“The language of advantage, I propose, is a much cleaner and more precise way to frame discussions about racism (or sexism, or most systems of oppression),” education assistant professor Stephen J. Aguilar wrote.
“The distinction between ‘privilege’ and ‘advantage’ is important because ‘privilege’ is not a particularly useful phrase to incite change in the minds or actions of others,” he said.
“When we shift the language to that of advantages and disadvantages, it foregrounds how unjust and arbitrary some of those advantages are — while also allowing us to quantify relative (dis)advantage better,” Aguilar concluded.
“The language of privilege, on the other hand, obfuscates the systems of oppression it is meant to highlight. It is time we move on from using it.”
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