Update (2/8): This morning I contacted columnist Vincent Carroll to find out if Cherry Creek intended the statements in the training material to be examples of what not to think about white people. His reply: “No, the district definitely was NOT suggesting that those were things we should not believe about white people. ”
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…in Greenwood Village, Colorado. According to Rocky Mountain News columnist Vincent Carroll, the following was found among skin color deep-only diversity seminar material:
‘Most white people most of the time” share the belief that “bland is best” when it comes to aesthetics.
They believe that “wealth equals worth” and that a wife is “subordinate to (her) husband.”
In communicating, white people “don’t show emotion” and “avoid conflict, intimacy.”
They share an ethic of “win at all costs” and possess a “master and control nature.”
Cherry Creek School District apparently cirulated this drivel to area schools as part of “diversity” training. The school district is using stereotypes to teach teachers about diversity. Hmm…I don’t think I’m intelligent enough to grasp that. Am I allowed to question the intelligence of these bureaucrats? Or would that be too judgmental?
It reminds me of that far-out stuff Leonard Jeffries used to talk about. Quoting Wikipedia: “[Jeffries] also stirred controversy with his analysis of whites as ‘ice people’ who are violent and cruel, while blacks are ’sun people’ who are compassionate and peaceful. He further claims that blacks are superior to whites because of their higher melanin levels, and his lectures often turn to racist and antisemitic tirades.”
OK. 
What Cherry Creek is doing reminds me of something Seattle Public Schools did. On its public web site, the school district contended, among other things, that only whites could be racists and that “having a future time orientation” (long-term planning; goal-setting) was a white trait and therefore, racist. After much ridicule from bloggers and Andrew Coulson of the Cato Institute, the school district removed the embarrassing text. For more info, read my post on the mess.
Also see Andrew’s op-ed here and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s follow-up story, which mentions Andrew and the fall-out.
I’m so glad I’m not a liberal anymore. Good night! 
Addendum: I must have “internalized” Carroll’s title. I didn’t realize until a second reading that it contained the word drivel. I usually try to be original, but there you go…
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Can anyone even make a stab at why this is ok without twisting themselves into a politically correct pretzel?
Most white people most of the time†share the belief that “bland is best†when it comes to aesthetics. – [For those of you who have a passion for color and form and shape and performance, suck it up for you are just pale imitations of the true artistes of the world]
They believe that “wealth equals worth†and that a wife is “subordinate to (her) husband.†– [Impoverished countries don't really "embrace" their lack of wealth, but are enslaved to it...just a thought]
In communicating, white people “don’t show emotion†and “avoid conflict, intimacy.†[Oh you poor poor frigid people...you need the non whites of the world to show you how to live and experience your feelings and how to indulge in passion even if it comes tinged with a hint of violence...the analytical mode is so inferior... Though we should embrace all cultures, some [the uptight ones] are simply “unembraceable”]
They share an ethic of “win at all costs†and possess a “master and control nature.†[whites are just natural born oppressors. Hence, slavery as opposed to the benevolent regimes one sees elsewhere in the world among non-white cultures]
This is exactly what I want my children and grandchildren to learn about THEIR culture because self esteem is so so important.
“Can anyone even make a stab at why this is ok without twisting themselves into a politically correct pretzel?”
I assure, some will try! But since we ‘avoid conflict’ it shouldn’t be a problem for them.
Of course, ‘avoiding conflict’ makes it difficult to ‘win at at costs’. It’s so hard to ‘master and control’ while ‘avoiding conflicts’, not to mention doing it in such a way as to remain as ‘bland’ as possible! But, since we all ’share these belief’s’, we shall overcome!
Wincing! Is it possible their list of white “traits” was supposed to be an example of the way stereotypes are so wrong when used about any group? Heavens to Betsy, I sure hope so! The kids in this school district are in deep, deep trouble if these people actually believe this stuff.
My wife made an astute comment this afternoon while feeding out 14 month old son. “H” is the product of a black mother (my wife) and a white father (me). She said, “He will not be white, nor will he be black. He will be a human being.”
But since folks like those at Cherry Creek School District insist upon seeing life in racial terms, I propose the following modifications in their seminar material for human beings like our son:
‘Racially-mixed people half of the time†share the belief that “bland is neither here nor there†when it comes to aesthetics.
They believe that “wealth equals a certain degree of worth†and that a wife is “subordinate to (her) husband on alternating days.â€
In communicating, racially-mixed people “sort of show emotion†and “sometimes avoid conflict and intimacy; sometimes not.â€
They share an ethic of “win with a average amount of effort†and possess a “coax, beg, nag, beseech, and (if need be) implore nature.â€
“Can anyone even make a stab at why this is ok without twisting themselves into a politically correct pretzel?”
Is that a serious question?
Anyone apart from the racial supremacist can plainly see the nonsense in ascribing ‘characteristics’ to skin colour. People who choose ’sides’ in ‘racial debating’ are just picking a ’side’ without examining their arguments honestly. They will listen to most arguments ‘against’ the ‘other side/colour’ and dismiss most arguments ‘for’.
The truth is …. it is all nonsense.
Slightly OT to start, but I’ll get there, honest: I’m a white male who grew up in what my wife likes to call a “color-blind” family. Didn’t matter what color or creed you were, just wipe your feet on the “WELCOME” mat and be polite. I’m old enough to have driven from NJ to Florida in the very early ’50s, and to have seen the cotton fields and tar-paper shacks. In Florida, an office building had a “Whites Only” sign on the water fountain; when I asked what that was all about, Mom explained. And I was a very confused 8-year old, because it just didn’t make sense. Which my Mom and Dad agreed on. And they were conservative Republicans. Which brings me to: We pulled our son out of the Cherry Creek school system and sent him over to a Jesuit high school. Interesting mix of kids, and not all Christians. He has the same “color-blind” view of others that my parents instilled in me, and I’m proud of him.
P.S. Please keep posting
That quoted text block was really quite amusing, in a demented sort of way.
And anyone still wonders why white guilt has run its course?
This is stupid. It’s unfortunate for the district.
…and the kids who are subjected to this kind of stuff. Further, it gives diversity a bad name.
And we can’t dance, either.
Don’t forget our total lack of rhythm and our love for macaroni and cheese.
What can you say? This type of racist drivel is the result of the civil rights movement changing from a movement of God (remember when the civil rights leaders who were pastors were really pastors???) to a movement of confusion. With a basis in God’s word, we know that God made us with different skin tones but identical souls. Without God’s word, everything deteriorates to drivel.
Trey
Trey, respectfully, we shouldn’t forget the role that the Christian religion played in slavery. The bible was written in a barbaric age, and only total re-interpretation of many passages of the old and new testament will get around early (and relatively recent) Christian attitudes to slavery.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/string/string.html
WARNING: Whiteness can rub off. Beware.
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Detective Foster: Yeah, and we’re not going to fall for a banana in the tailpipe.
Axel Foley: [Mocking him] You’re not going to fall for the banana in the tailpipe? It should be more natural, brother. It should flow out, like this – “Look, man, I ain’t fallin’ for no banana in my tailpipe!” See, that’s more natural for us. You been hanging out with this dude too long.
“This morning I contacted columnist Vincent Carroll to find out if Cherry Creek intended the statements in the training material to be examples of what not to think about white people. His reply: “No, the district definitely was NOT suggesting that those were things we should not believe about white people.” ”
Why not contact the district itself? It would be interesting to hear their response.
I MUST be white because I LOVE macaroni and cheese! Well maybe not because I hate mayonaise.
Wait…
Eighteen comments in and NO ONE HAS QUOTED WEIRD AL?
I fear for our educaion system.
Yes, we are all white and nerdy..
They left out our dependence on Mayonaise, Wonder Bread and Milk!
I am just rollin’, on my Segway…
They share an ethic of “win at all costsâ€
I found this the most interesting. Are they saying that non-whites take pride in losing? How is THAT not racist?
Hey, I am all over the wife is “subordinate to (her) husband†part, but don’t tell my wife, she will hurt me!
#17 Tiffany, how do you feel about Miracle Whip? White folk don’t really like Mayonaise either, they just call Miracle Whip “mayonaise” kinda like tissues being called Kleen-ex regardless of who made it.
Ben – I don’t like any kind of mayo, at all. I’m a mustard on my sandwiches type chick.
I love mayo, and hate Miracle Whip, yet I’m white. Or…. [cue ominous music] AM I?
I don’t know RedBeard. I thought all white folk were just like me!
My wife hates Mayo too, but I just chalked that up to her not getting the memo. You did get the memo didn’t you?
Tiffany, that’s okay. God loves mayo lovers and mustard lovers. Me, I like mustard too, but I don’t like Catsup. Or is that Katsup?
JohnD, they Bible and slavery is a complicated topic and I really don’t have the background to fully discuss it, but I would like to point out that God’s plan has never been that any person enslave another. The Old Testament gave guidelines to limit slavery (it was in effect long before the Bible was written, note that the writers of the Bible had at one time been slaves in Egypt). It is the first ancient document to give rights of any kind to slaves, including a mandatory “jubilee” where they would be periodically freed.
The New Testament did not sanction slavery, it did have guidelines for how slaves should live so that in thier slavery, the gospel could spread.
Finally, those people who used the Bible to justify enslaving a race were evil. It is one of the biggest abberations of American history and is to our shame that it ever happened. As Peter said in 2 Peter 3: 16, “His letters (meaning Paul) contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”
So, what I am saying is that I believe people who used the Bible in the past to justify slavery are subject to judgement. And I shudder to think of what that judgement will be.
If I like mayo AND chipotle sauce both on my Alabama-style barbecue, what does that make me?
Probably nauseated.
Re #12: Don’t tell Kraft that mac & cheese is a “white” dish–they’re running commercials with a black mom & her son.
Besides, isn’t mac & cheese a traditional side dish at Thanksgiving in many Southern homes? We never had it, but I have friends who did (and still do).
Redbeard @15… You’re just too damn funny!
Re: macaroni and cheese. I’ve been in Memphis for seven years. Macaroni and cheese is a good southern side dish. You find it at all the best meat and three restaurants, along with okra, fried green tomatoes, corn pudding, turnip greens, and sweet potatoes. I have, with my own eyes, seen both black and white folks eat it — at the same restaurant, at the same time.
Yummmmm……
Well, all but the sweet taters. Those I’ll give away.
If you were to go back to the Seattle School District you would find that their diversity programs are alive and well, but have just retreated from public view. Institutions that implement these cannards? Should be required to post their diversity documents online. They should also allow market forces to take preference.
I like my food either red or green…Yummm!
Thanks LaShawn for shining the a light into PC rat holes in our left owned and operate public schools systems. I still find it hard to believe educated people can be this whacked, but we know they sure can, now that we have an alternate media in blogs like yours to report on it.
Of course stupidity like this would never get to parents through the MSM. One has to wonder if the religion that worships diversity as a diety, isn’t actually making race relations worse.
And I read Ward’s book and thought it was a great inspiring read. I didn’t know much about him. I left the book at my local diversity office after I finished with it. I am waiting to hears if there are any screams or barking.
How Orwellian. In the name of fighting racism, they are in fact racist.
In our modern world, it is basically impossible to be racist or rude when it comes to caucasian people.
After WWII, it was said that the next fascism would come from the left. I think we are very close to seeing that come true.
Thank God the Cherry Creek Schools did not carry their racist attitudes to an extreme such as the recent denoting of Obama as “articulate.” Now THAT would be totally inexcusable and worthy of outrage while saying that whites believe in “winning at all costs” is innocuous at worst.
sarcasm off…
Ever notice how no one is supposed to stereotype — unless said stereotypes are positive towards minorities and negative towards whites?
I’ve long ago realized that these diversity educationists just cannot have sense made of them. Engaging one in an actual debate is beyond farcical.
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