Serial Serial

Loved the first season. Thank you!

I am a nice white parent. But I am from Serbia - which makes the meaning and implication of this term totally different. However, the realities of segregated schools are felt here, as well, even though Serbia has a practically a 99,9% white population. Here’s the thing - modern segregation is not about race, it’s about class, and you really gloss over this term in the podcast. It’s mentioned here and there but it’s not given due weight. You even have code-words for class, such as “advantage”. Sure, class is historically intermingled with race in the US, and, not coincidentally of course, upper classes are majority white. But it still doesn’t make this a race issue. I’m pretty sure most white parents in segregated upper class schools are really not racist in a traditional sense. I’m also pretty certain there are some black or brown upper class kids in those upper class schools. But those nice white parents are sure as hell classist and some of their black and brown peers might be as well, in what is a very uncomfortable twist of perspective. What those nice white parents have is wealth and influence - and this is what gives them power, not the color of their skin. Sure, the color of their skin is aligned with the amount of wealth and influence, but making it just, or primarily about race, is missing half the point. I bet a rich white kid is unmeasurably more likely to look down on a poor black kid, than a rich one. Take my country. Up until some 20 years ago we lived in socialism. That had its flaws, but than came rampant capitalism. We’re all white, right? But the past 20 years made us all far from equal in terms of wealth and influence. This societal divide spilled over to the school system, as well. What was once what you describe as the great equalizer, very similar to that Success School (I actually thought they must have conecptualized it based on the communist era eastern-european school system to some extent) - strict and authoritarian but highly effective in terms of academic success - now became a typical classist structure, where those at the top suck up everything, while those at the bottom get crumbs. It’s still a public school system we’re talking about, and, again, everybody’s white, but the key factor determining your access to good education is wealth and influence, i.e. class. I don’t think that’s much different from your experience, even though nobody here is black. And I think you’d have a more thorough understanding of the issue if you have examined it from a class vintage point, as well as race. Other than that, it’s an excellent program and, while hard to digest, really urgent and necessary. Thank you.