College Prep School Hosts Seminar for Those Guilty of 'Parenting While White'

You’ve likely heard of “driving while black,” but have you or someone you love been caught “parenting while white”? If so, a school near Tacoma, Washington may be able to help.

Private college preparatory school Charles Wright Academy (CWA) was religiously born. According to its website:

Sam and Nathalie Brown proposed the (1957) founding of a boys’ school to Bishop Stephen Bayne of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, who gave the concept his blessing, and plans went forward. …

In September 1970, Charles Wright Academy admitted its first girls and has been co-ed ever since. The school maintains its historical ties to the Episcopal Church, but it does not teach a specific religious doctrine as part of the curriculum. The school is open and welcoming to families of all religious traditions as well as those with no religious affiliation.

The Academy — which goes from pre-K to 12th grade — lists its values:

Excellence

Compassion

Integrity

Respect

Perseverance

And its mission:

To inspire active, joyful learning while nurturing and challenging our students to develop the character, creativity, and skills to successfully navigate the future with confidence.

In the spirit of challenge, faith-related CWA recently hosted a parenting symposium.

As depicted on Twitter, a school handout advertised Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging events planned for Fall ’22. Among them: “The Importance of Discussing Social Identity with Your Kids.” Arguably of more note:

Parenting While White

Wednesday, November 9, Upper School Commons, 5:30-7:30pm

The description:

Join our facilitator Dr. Elizabeth Denevi to discuss the importance of talking to white children about race. We will learn some strategies about how to do it, along with mistakes and lessons learned. The goal of these conversations is to create community and have a place where parents can ask important and challenging questions about navigating healthy identity development.

Bonus:

Light dinner provided.

These days, whiteness appears profoundly problematic:

White Woman Who Lectures on Racism Says All White People Should Shut Up

Tufts University Hosts ‘Unpacking Whiteness’ Program, Declares the ‘Game Is Rigged’

Extremely White College Professor Fights the Lie — and ‘Disease’ — of Whiteness

UC Berkeley Professor Told Students Abolishing Whiteness Means Wiping out White People

And you have to start them early:

Cartoon Network Schools Kids on Racial Righteousness: You Must Never Be Colorblind

Experts Warn of the Racism of 3-Month-Olds, Recommend Antiracist Training

‘Antiracist’ Infant? Childcare Chain Says Babies Should Learn ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’

Those interested in CWA’s parenting assistance were also pointed to a prerequisite: listening to the Teaching While White podcast episode “Parenting While White.”

Additionally, December 8th saw the Academy’s “Understanding Whiteness Affinity Group for Parents” seminar:

Join facilitator and coach Dr. Elizabeth Denevi for continued parent education specifically for white parents and guardians. Dr. Denevi will facilitate the December, January, and February sessions and will offer additional small group coaching to a few interested CWA parents. These parent volunteers will eventually co-facilitate the group with Dr. Denevi and in the spring will be the facilitators of this new parent group. Please reach out to Denise Williams if you are interested in volunteering for coaching and facilitating with Dr. Denevi.

For a few decades, the country seemed to have come upon an established truth: Race is irrelevant. Someone should be judged, it was said, by their character and not their skin. At some point recently, those in charge clearly decided that was all a mistake. Their resultant efforts to correct course have been nothing less than tremendous.

Back to Charles Wright Academy: Hopefully its melanin-deficient, social-justice-minded moms and dads can fix their flukes. Given our era of adoptive identity, maybe they can simply learn to “parent while black”:

Suburban moms ≠ white women

Wednesday on a special episode of the podcast, we chat with a few amazing moms from the Virginia ’burbs about last month’s election, CRT, and parenting while Black.

Don’t miss it!
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— The Suburban Women Problem (@TheSWPpod) December 7, 2021