Here is the controversial “joke letter” that set off the firestorm at a private school in Seattle.
Quick background: last Saturday, a former math teacher at the Bush School named Truman Buffett posted an online video that accused school administrators of tolerating bad behavior—including open racism—from students whose parents were donors. His case in point was this letter, which was circulated by a senior at the school whose friends are known around the school as the “Real Rich Boys’ Crew.”
Buffett believes that administrators decided against suspending the student—who was waiting to hear back from the colleges he’d applied to—because of his parents’ and his friends’ parents’ financial influence at the school. Read more about the controversy (and a kicking and screaming comments thread) here.
The letter is here (click to enlarge):
“Racist and patronizing bs is common at these rich kid schools, no matter who their “diversity director” is.”
I know, I read ‘Tom Brown’s School Days’ too.
Wow, slow news day(s) in the Pacific Northwest, huh? Don’t you guys have some kind of tunnel to blather about? Maybe a report on how much it’s raining? We can always use an update about Rupaul’s drag race, whatever the hell that is.
Once again we are reminded of what a dishonest and one sided publication The Stranger is, endlessly perpetuating gossip and representing one side of a story. As a Bush student, I find their coverage of events remarkably shallow and one sided, and the comment responses more so. To “Meg,” who seems to believe that the word of the Stranger and of Mr. Buffet is more valuable than the world of students. Truman has certainly made a variety of false claims, and has over simplified a complicated issue, I wish you wouldn’t draw conclusions so quickly, considering you’ve heard only Truman’s side of the argument. It’s also worth mentioning that the student body was, and largely still is, very upset about these events, but we recognize that it’s a complicated issue, and that Truman’s telling of it is not entirely accurate or fair. Finally, you have stated that there is no dispute over whether this happened, that is false. Yes the letter did happen, but Truman’s account of the punishment is certainly disputed. I don’t think you have enough information to be making judgments here.
So let’s summarize:
1) Truman was “let go” by the school. The decision was made in 2010, before this letter (dated 2011) surfaced. This blows a big hole in his story. He didn’t leave Bush in a rage because of this incident. His contract was not renewed because he was physically hurtful to students.
2) It was not the administration’s decision to not air Truman’s video. Truman actually approached a current Bush student with this story and asked that it be part of a broadcast. Truman guilt-tripped the student, claiming that because the school had just had “Privilege Day”, it would be terrible not to take action and show the story. The student consulted Upper School teachers and they agreed that Truman was manipulating the student into airing a story that was one-sided and not fit for the broadcast.
3) The Bush School Administration agrees that this is letter is rude and scarring, despite its joking intent. While suspension was heavily considered, the Administration confidentially decided to take no action, much to the disapproval of the Upper School faculty.
4) Because these decisions are technically confidential, nobody knows exactly why this decision was made. The Administration stresses that it had absolutely nothing to do with the family’s background of alumni and charitable generosity.
While there is not proof for 100% of this side of the story, there is much more proof on this side than there is on the other. The Stranger should take this into account before smearing an institution.
Okay, BushStudent1; give us some more information. How was the student who wrote this letter punished? Did the writer circulate it as well, or was that done by other parties? Was there a consequence for circulating it around the school?
Was the letter addressed to an African-American classmate of the writer? Or to some made-up name? Or to the writer him/herself?
Are there any other facts you’d like to make public? I’m not asking for the name of the writer, of course. But it’s easy to tell us we don’t have all the facts, and a little harder to supply some.
Wallace -as he admits in his letter- got a low GPA. (The Bush School curriculum is challenging and rigorous and low GPA’s are nothing new there.) Thanks to his low GPA, he was forced to apply only to lower end colleges- he wasn’t “in the running” for good ones. He only was accepted into very low-end, not-prestigeous colleges. (He is curently attending a so-so college right now.) He IS a racist kid, (as evidenced by his belief that this idiotic letter is humorous self ridicule). He wrote this letter using racist-ridicule-“black”-jargon to make fun of himself. (Obviously he was trying to lessen the humiliation of his own poor showing). The letter IS racist (for those of you not getting the subtlties.) The letter makes fun of African Americans. That’s racist. The administration recognized that an element of the letter was extremely racist (its use of ridicule jargon and its use of the “n” word and its implication that an African American admission counselor would have low standards, poor grammar, etc.)…so the administration had meetings and “school forums” and tried to teach the student body a lesson from it. In the end, since a suspension meant the kid wouldn’t go to his low-end college, Wallace got off without a suspension. The teachers were outraged. (Maybe they should have been sorry for him that he is too dumb to understand the elements of racism in in his joke.) The headmaster “seemed to crumble” when the teachers yelled and screamed at him that this wasn’t fair. (Obviously they were sick of this obmoxious kid)…but the headmaster held firm (something he is known for -making a decision and holding his ground). Admit it: He has a tough job. Admit it: You might have made the same ultimate decision in his shoes….and then YOU might have held some “school forums” to try to address the underlying problem of the racist vernacular in the letter the kid wrote to HIMSELF. (And of course the “n” word, which our popular culture is struggling with these days, as some comics are trying to de-power the word- actually confuses some- STUPID – kids. (The smarter ones get the sublties of racism- the slower ones take longer to understand it.) That’s why we thank god for a school like Bush which puts endless effort into educating all these kids and trying to make a difference. Even when they are sometimes stuck with an obnoxious little shit that everyone in the community knows is an obnoxious little shit. He was about to LEAVE the community. Everyone was waiting to breath a sigh of relief and be done with him. Good riddance. Go to your mediocre college and good luck getting a job in life if you aren’t smart enough to understand your stupid prank making fun of yourself is actually a racist prank and demeans people who – unlike you- punk- WERE smart enough to make it at places like Harvard. Anyway- the headmaster’s predicament kind of reminds me of Obama’s: He went into office with great ideals and high hopes and lots of plans and promises, but over the last few years he has had to make crappy, morally questionable choices over and over again-because that’s what happens to presidents (and headmasters) in charge in real life…they have to deal with crap, and compromise, and chose one bad choice out of two bad choices- and then they have to take the shit of everyone screaming and yelling that they made the wrong choice. And once and for all: THERE WAS NO RICH KIDS’ CLUB. Kids in that class used that term as a joke to MAKE FUN OF SAAS kids who DID have a club like that.
A suspension is likely an appropriate punishment for writing and distributing this letter. The report was, however, that such a suspension would have further consequences which would result in a punishment inappropriate for the offense. Should the author be suspended? Yes. Should the author be disqualified from his (or her) school of choice? That seems unduly harsh.
The punishment for this letter should impact the student’s month, not the student’s life.
Ever read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court?
@56. I am a current Bush student and a relative of one of these alleged RRBC members. I’m going to address each of your questions as best I can.
1. It is still unknown who wrote the letter, and even whether or not this person is/was a member of the Bush community. Therefore no punishment was given. A three-day suspension for the recipient, as I understand it, seemed too harsh to the administration for simply finding this letter funny. Further, while the recipient was involved with “circulating” the letter, it was not to the extent noted in Truman’s video. Only ONE copy is known to be received by the recipient (prior to the administration finding it and subsequently producing more copies), and this copy was viewed by around ten to fifteen members of the community. There was no papering or mass-distribution of the letter; far from that. To say that this joke effected the entire community is untrue if only because very few members of the community read it. No one will dispute, however, the enormous harm that could have resulted had the letter become more widely read. And now, thanks to its publication in this fine journal, this damage may indeed occur.
2. I am unsure what the consequence was for “ciculating” the letter. As comment 45 notes, the administration had a difficult time deciding what the “perfect” punishment would be given that so little information could be used as hard evidence.
3. The letter was addressed to a white member of the alleged RRBC. No connection has been shown between the recipient and the author.
4. Additional facts: Truman NEVER spoke up once to the school about this matter while he was still employed there. That he, of all the members of the Bush community, created this video is/was quite surprising to current students given that he had never previously expressed a notable interest in the matter.
Kiley has called the rumors about Truman to be false. While I cannot speak to alleged affair, I can to the allegation of Truman physically abusing a student. This so-called “rumor” is fact. In the Winter term of 2008-2009, a story was published in the student newspaper that, among other things, questioned Truman’s fairness in grading. After reading the article, Truman found and then pushed the student who authored the article against a wall before tearing into the author for what he believed were false claims. He then proceeded to yell at the teacher who taught the newspaper class, forcing this teacher to tears.
Follow up story!!!
http://tinyurl.com/32nkxh3
Brendan, any comment on @59?
After the awesome writing you’ve done on the drug war and levamisole tainted cocaine, it’s disappointing to see you get suckered into this crap. Step up, stop pandering, and report, or let this shit drop.
@clashfan Most of the “facts” you were requesting in response to your questions were more or less presented by #59. That said, it’s not my obligation to present facts for you, my criticism is of the harsh judgement made by the Stranger and its readers, despite not having the facts. If you don’t have the information, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions and make harsh judgments, and most people here who are not Bush students, including the Stranger, don’t have the information.
@ 59, so you don’t know who wrote and sent the letter? No one knows? I think I recall from upthread some people stating they knew who it was, and the kid was a colossal jerk.
I didn’t watch the video, because several commenters stated it was long-winded and self-serving. And I’ll admit that Truman might well have an axe to grind. But I am concerned about students who bring to school racist materials, pass them around, and joke about them.
Please take a look at #31 and her friend’s story of facing racism in a private school setting. Regardless of whether any black students saw the letter, they were harmed by it. That letter continued negative stereotypes of black people, and brought them into an academic environment for the amusement of privileged white students.
#63 People think they know who wrote the letter, that’s very different from knowing, and for the faculty, who was going to hand down severe punishment, certainty is very important. It wasn’t nearly as “damaging to the community” as Truman claimed. As a Bush student, I read the letter for the first time from the Stranger, having been apart of some conversations about the letter, I never found anyone other than faculty that was offended. Not that that makes it okay, but it’s certainly worth mentioning, this whole thing happened a year ago, and to the majority of people, it wasn’t a big deal…
“I never found anyone other than faculty that was offended”
Well that just suggests the student population at the school tolerates racism. This more than anything else tells me there is a problem there. It’s not a very strong endorsement of the ethics of the student body.
So what I’ve learned is
-Students of The Bush School don’t get offended when other students are racist
-Students of The Bush School get very offended if the school is criticized.
I didn’t really put much stock into this teacher’s story until I read some of the student postings.
Maybe spend 10% of the energy you spend defending the school, standing up against racism within the school. I’m sure you’ll ignore that, but blame yourself for the school school’s reputation for being a hotbed of spoiled white racists.
Remember on this comment blog: you are talking to 14 and 15 year olds. Don’t forget that. Remember who YOU defended and who YOU thought was cool in high school (What do you think of them now?) Let’s hear, also, what YOU are doing to teach kids/your colleagues/the world about racism? Cuz the Bush curriculum and the Bush effort is doing more than you, probably. What does YOUR workplace look like? Folks, if you all have a problem with the fact that some people get an amazing education because a lot of them are paying for it ( and a lot of them are on scholarship)…if you have a problem with that- let’s talk about THAT then. Cuz that is an interesting topic. THAT sounds to me what you are all sick jealous about. THAT is why you all are jumping all over Bush School. You just don’t want it to be there in the first place. Cuz you sure as heck are making a big fuss over a high school incident that happens at every high school…and high school kid attitutes that happen at every high school. Maybe or else you could write about teachers who become teachers when they shouldn’t- when they actually have problems and pick on kids and manipulate and bully them? That’d be interesting topic too. Especially when they are good manipulators and actually have acting ability and actually have YOU wrapped around their little finger.
As yet another Bush student, I’m very hesitant to say anything on this matter in a forum which is infested with readers eager to make allegations, point fingers, and call a student body filled predominantly with bright, progressive young people racist.
Let’s think about this for a second. Let’s all stop pointing fingers. We have to demand a higher level of critical thinking, and a higher level of respect from each and every one of us. It’s sad to see a conversation such as this be turned into a witch hunt. Racism is the new communism, so it seems!
I’ve read countless posts which could be put in three different categories:
– Bush is for wealthy students who can’t get into public school AP classes
– Bush is full of students who tolerate racism
– Bush is full of wealthy students (NOT true, myself included.)
For those who have not attended Bush, have not been to Bush for any reason, perhaps it would be better for those people to leave this conversation. It’s easy to come to a conclusion on a complex subject when a person simply does not understand.
That said, if you insist on being a part of the conversation, please do you best to refrain from insulting an entire student body. You don’t know us. Do not insinuate that we are racist because one or two students supposedly didn’t care about the letter.
For people who are so conscious of judgment and bias… it saddens me that many of these readers so quick to judge an entire group, using biased information.
Sounds like a new type of “ism” to me.
Read all the comments. It is very clear. As several have already expained: only a handful of kids ever actually saw the letter. It was tossed into the garbage very early in the story. (Probably when one of the few students read it and said: “Whoah that is some racist shit dude – what is wrong with you?”) Maybe ten or twelve kids saw it before it was tossed. When it was later searched for and dug out of the garbage and later discussed with the student body in the school forum, it was described as an “offensive- letter” with “racist language”… the kids never were shown the letter. Only the few, few kids who first saw it when it was brought to school- only THEY ever saw it. (And probably went around the school saying: “Man, Wallace is a racist idiot – I don’t believe him, man!”…So teachers took notice. So when one kids says: “It didn’t really bother me”…that one kid is being a clueless teenager. (Or was Wallace writing that?) If it was a schoolkid, then translate: “The teachers all got mad…it sucked…they lectured us…teachers made a big fuss…it didn’t bother me.” Something really fanatastic about the Bush school: It is THAT kind of kid who goes through an incredible transformation by the end of his/her four years of high school. They actually grow up.(99 percent of them.) It does take four years to watch these kids grow. Get off your sanctimonious high horses, people, and take a look at yourselves. You are going to do a lot of real damage if you start printing the lies and crap outlined on the web…a lot of children are going to be damaged. You are self indulgent and irresponsible – you are obviously counting your online hits and views and posts and getting all excited and proud over an illusion you have created. In print the readers aren’t going to be able to see his video read the comments and figure out the obvious truth for themselves, the way people can online. Once you write about it in print and frame the story on his terms then that makes you a twisted manipulator too. It’s wierd, because when the Bush school has election polls over 95% of the kids vote democratic in the mock elections. Yet apparently you see a name like “Bush” and decide you are just going to take revenge for the last administration’s idiocy. You really are a bad reporter without any depth or understanding of who or what you are talking about. You actually sound a lot like another “Wallace” to me. Just another extremist- just another slow, attention seeking loud mouth.
@68 some of us enjoy watching the loony left shooting each other in the face. It’s what you’re good at especially when it’s 100% white liberals arguing with each other whether calling yourself ‘ nigga’! is racist.
It should be noted here that Truman Buffet and Brendan Kiley are facebook friends and both involved in Seattle theater.
“Truman Buffet and Brendan Kiley are facebook friends and both involved in Seattle theater.”
I guess mentioning that in their little campaign here would have been…..ethical or something.
Um, I hear people speaking like that all the time- especially around McDonalds on 3rd & Pine… It’s sad when there are people in the US whose first (and only) language is spoken like that. BTW, I think this kid has a future in comic writing.
@65, I want to revise my statement, today at school we devoted the first third of the day to discuss all the events that have occurred, and yes, there were many offended people. Having had a chance to read the letter, we can all agree that the content is very offensive. That said, my point earlier was that, contrary to Truman’s account, last year very few people actually saw this letter, it was a little joke among the students that wrote it, until the faculty picked it up. Finally I want to point out how remarkably hypocritical you and the many posters here are. You preach about how stereotypes are terrible, can you really not see that this page has become a forum for you guys to spread your stereotypical views of private schools. Honestly, you immediately take the Stranger’s word for this, despite Truman’s reputation, then generalize that our community is racist because of the actions of a few students. You say our reputation is of being racist, I think that’s what you want it to be, and the Stranger knows that, and that’s why they publish crap like this. You have only one side of a complicated issue, and you use that as justification for rude generalizations and harsh criticism of a school to which you have absolutely nothing to do with, that is sad.
@ 67, you don’t get to decide what I discuss. Your argument sounds a lot like, “If you’ve never been a cop on the street, you don’t know what it’s like, so your opinions on this shooting are worthless.” Nowhere in your post did I see any ownership of this letter being racist, nor of the harm that the letter has done. What I read is defensiveness and an attempt to deflect responsibility. That’s the very behavior that gets people up in arms about racism.
@ 62, 64, 73: When all we have is one side, then yes, people are going to leap to conclusions. That’s why I asked you for more facts. Not “facts”, but facts. As I said before, it’s easy to criticize, but harder to add something constructive. Regarding your statement about the origin of the letter “People think they know who wrote the letter, that’s very different from knowing”. If the writer of the letter is NOT who others believe it to be, how do you know this? Do you know who the writer is?
I’ve stated this before: Even if students of color did not see this letter before this week, they were still harmed by it. Did you read the comment @ 31?
I graduated from Bush. I am Black. I am offended.
@ 74 (“clashfan”)
“Nowhere in your post did I see any ownership of this letter being racist, nor of the harm that the letter has done. What I read is defensiveness and an attempt to deflect responsibility. That’s the very behavior that gets people up in arms about racism.”
I am not addressing the letter. I am addressing the posts in response to this letter. I am not deflecting responsibility, I am addressing an entirely different issue: which is the harsh and sweeping judgments being made about entire groups of people.
And, “As I said before, it’s easy to criticize, but harder to add something constructive.”
Exactly. I think we can agree on this one. As you read in my comment, I do say that if you want to contribute to this conversation, you should do so in a way that doesn’t leap to conclusions about people. For the sake of media literacy and critical perspective, you should do this. If you opt not to then that’s your own deal.
Now let’s address “students of color” (do I have to mention that I’m technically a minority to get any respect? *That* is racism). Furthermore do I have to mention that I’m female? And thus would be subject to the sexism that was embedded in the letter? It’s absurd that I have to do this in order to prove that I’m not a racist. But with these things said, please—everyone, think about the effect you have on others when you share with the world you thoughts and feelings about a group of people you know little about.
Also, Clashfan, you might find this post interesting (this and others like it can be found here: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-r…), I’ll copy and paste it for convenience:
“I am a student at the Bush upper school, and have been at Bush since middle school. I am on 99% financial aid, and am a student of color, so I do not have the privileges of my rich, white, male counterparts. However, these differences have not prevented me from fitting in or being comfortable in the Bush environment. Never once in my many years here have I been openly attacked for my race. Sure, there have microaggressions here and there but Bush is not perfect, just like every other school on the planet. It sickens me to hear the Stranger post these untruths about this school and dirtying our name to the community. Bush has gone out of its way to make my experience here comparable to other students, despite the large financial gap. I suggest you all seek out both sides of the story before formulating opinions, and I suggest The Stranger to look into more legitimate methods of journalism, because this is just disgusting.
Also, Truman, you were fired, get over it and stop trying to have your revenge. We are a strong community, and through open forums and discussions we will get through this ruckus you have stirred up.”
This is what you said in your post, Clashfan: “Even if students of color did not see this letter before this week, they were still harmed by it.”
And I must say. They absolutely were hurt by it… and they among others are hurt by the comments posted on these articles. All I ask is to keep that in mind.
@Clashfan, I’m really sick of hearing this same argument from you, EVERYONE at the school admits the letter is racist, many people were hurt, and almost everyone thinks that it is wrong. You’re completely missing the point though, this doesn’t have anything to do with you, and you have one side of something complex, trust me, you’re missing a ton of valuable information here. Also, I’ve said this many times, it’s not up to me to fill you in, this isn’t your concern and just because you don’t have all the facts and I haven’t given you more doesn’t mean you can generalize the entire school based on dishonest and shotty journalism. You’re being very hypocritical in this situation. Finally, no one knows who wrote the letter, it may have been many people, we have good guesses though. The suspension was decided to be unfair by the faculty because there was NO evidence pointing to the suspect, and because there were likely a few friends involved. It wouldn’t be fair to severely damage someones future without any evidence and ignoring the fact that others may have been involved.
@7 it’s not a joke about sex number, it’s a joke about killing crips. That’s why it’s signed BLOODZ FOR LIFE
Look guys, I can tell the majority of the people calling this article out as racist are white. Chill the fuck out. This article is simply an expression of frustration with affirmative action. I wouldn’t be surprised if the creator is a kid who got waitlisted at Harvard writing about a black colleague who got into Harvard with a lower GPA. Yes, the letter goes over the top, but when emotions are involved, a lot of people will say things they might not say in a rational state of mind.
The fact of the matter is, the racist themes in this letter are extremely underwhelming, some being simple exaggerations of real world themes (a 2.9 won’t get you into any Ivy League college, but a black kid with a 3.9 has better chances than a white kid with a 4.0). Basically, I think it would be a waste of a child’s future to suspend the kid responsible for writing this. And that’s coming from a Garfield kid.
Here is an interesting fact. Truman called the letter a “page long nigger joke” and most of the comments on this page simply refer to the racist part of the letter. That’s pathetic. The part that offended me the most was the “P.S.” section which is extremely sexist. You are all ridiculous if you are only aware of the racist part and it shows how one track minded Truman and the rest of you are. Heaven forbid someone say something about a person of color but go ahead and calls females bitches and hoes all you want, there is nothing wrong with that. Pathetic and nauseating.
First off, you are all stupid.
Second off, I know the kid and he wrote about himself and to himself. Yes the kid is white. He DID NOT massively distribute it himself.
Third off, If you think this is truly racist, you must live in a cave. Yes he used the N word which is not ok but this is tame stuff. I honestly think it is actually a pretty funny letter. Most of you stiff upper lip white limousine liberals say much more racist things behind closed doors than this. Go take a chill pill and look at news that matters.
BushStuden1, what am I being hypocritical about? I haven’t written anything stereotyping Bush School or its students. Which argument are you sick of? The one where I state that given one side of a story, people are going to draw conclusions? I believe that’s true; do you disagree? You keep saying that the whole thing’s complex, that we don’t have a lot of information. I’m asking for people who were there to fill us in.
Is it that you wish no one would talk about this incident?
The poster @ 80 says that he KNOWS the recipient was, in fact, the writer. Was there any kind of discipline for that student? I can understand not wanting to wreck a kid’s acceptance into college by suspending him, but I wonder if *any* consequence was given.
Here’s why I care: I work in a high school with a large percentage of students of color. Many of these kids are bright, and should go to college. Too many of them do not, for a wide variety of reasons. The stereotype of black folks talking in an uneducated way–no matter the setting–is one more slight, one more reason for them to not believe in themselves. Bringing that stereotype into a school, to my mind, makes it worse.
Also, I forgot to thank you for telling me about the school-wide discussion. That sounds like a great opportunity for everyone there to discuss the situation and have their voices heard. I think last year would have been a better time for that, but better late than never.
@ 76, I’m not interested in discussing how others in this thread have behaved. If that is your only interest, then we don’t have much to say to each other. I’m interested in discussing an instance of racism in a school, and the consequences of that instance. I didn’t ask you to prove you aren’t a racist. I infer from your comments that you think I am racist, and/or disrespected you. If that inference is correct, can you explain where I gave that impression?
@Clashfan
“Also, I forgot to thank you for telling me about the school-wide discussion. That sounds like a great opportunity for everyone there to discuss the situation and have their voices heard. I think last year would have been a better time for that, but better late than never.”
Everyone at the school agrees. While most people were frustrated that this occurred a year late, many were happy to have this opportunity.
————-
“Here’s why I care: I work in a high school with a large percentage of students of color. Many of these kids are bright, and should go to college. Too many of them do not, for a wide variety of reasons. The stereotype of black folks talking in an uneducated way–no matter the setting–is one more slight, one more reason for them to not believe in themselves.”
Granted. I do not condone this letter, neither do the majority of Bush students.
————-
I think we disagree on less you than you think—the majority of Bush students would agree that indeed the letter was racist. Indeed solidifying stereotypes is a deplorable activity.
That said, I wish you would realize that these comments have been whirling round and round. It doesn’t have to be an “us versus them” situation.
Lastly:
“I’m not interested in discussing how others in this thread have behaved. If that is your only interest, then we don’t have much to say to each other.”
I don’t see why not. I think that the issue of judgment and stereotypes is inherent in the conversations taking place as a result of the letter and this publication. And, given that judgment and stereotypes riddled posts throughout the thread, I thought that it was an essential topic to bring up.
That said; the reason I felt disrespected by your comment was this statement here:
“you don’t get to decide what I discuss. Your argument sounds a lot like, ‘If you’ve never been a cop on the street, you don’t know what it’s like, so your opinions on this shooting are worthless.’ Nowhere in your post did I see any ownership of this letter being racist, nor of the harm that the letter has done. What I read is defensiveness and an attempt to deflect responsibility.”
I think what gave me a hostile impression were the words ‘defensiveness’ and ‘deflect responsibility’. I was commenting about a different type of bigotry; and there were countless of other posts dedicated to the letter, taking responsibility, etc. I commented on those topics in numerous other posts, as well.
I felt accosted by the harsh tone of the passage and the way it seemed to insinuate a nonchalant attitude toward the letter. It was simply something I chose not to discuss in that post, and I felt that your analysis of my “argument” was unrepresentative of what I wrote.
@ 82, Thank you for your thoughtful response. I tend to in reverse order of points presented, so to address your last thought first:
Upthread, you posted “For those who have not attended Bush, have not been to Bush for any reason, perhaps it would be better for those people to leave this conversation.” Right there, that sounded to me very much like ‘move along, nothing to see here’. Can you see that from my point of view? It seemed to me that your only interest was in covering over the letter and its consequences, and defending your school. I did not see many posts in this thread from members of the Bush community taking ownership. I didn’t read much of the other thread; I am more interested in the letter itself than a video about it.
What I was looking for is some recognition that there is a certain kind of kid at Bush who thinks that this letter is funny. Not all, certainly not a majority. But there exists a group of white, privileged, relatively wealthy students who see nothing wrong with the bigotry in that letter. I did not see that in your post at #67, which is the first post I saw from you.
Where you said, “I am not addressing the letter. I am addressing the posts in response to this letter. I am not deflecting responsibility, I am addressing an entirely different issue” . . . I think that if you care enough about Bush’s reputation to go on a board and tell people to chill out, then possibly the cause of the furor should matter to you too. I can’t tell you what to feel about anything, of course. But it seemed (up to that point) as if you cared more about Bush’s reputation than the issue that was tarring that reputation. (That thought is clear in my head, but maybe not in my words; please tell me if it’s not clear to you.)
I did say “if that is your only interest”‘ ‘that’ meaning how others in this thread behave. Obviously it’s not your only interest–thus, our conversation. Talking about this stuff is hard, and I appreciate you sticking it out.
Just to address a few of your points:
“I think that if you care enough about Bush’s reputation to go on a board and tell people to chill out, then possibly the cause of the furor should matter to you too.”
I’m going to assume that you probably are already aware that I care about the ‘cause of the furor’. If I didn’t, it would be absurd that I’ve spent this much time reading every single post and article in relation to it. That said, I haven’t been combing through these posts because I care about “Bush’s reputation”. To be completely honest, that doesn’t mean nearly as much to me as other issues at this point.
One of those issues is, to me as a student, the affect of the letter on this student body.
In your 81st post you discussed how “bringing that stereotype (such as those stereotypes dispersed throughout the letter) into a school makes it (their ability to believe in themselves) worse.” (*note* I understand that this is taken a bit out of context, I don’t mean to misquote you, just cite something you said which I agree with).
The affect on the Bush student body has been both positive and negative, I would say. But my original post was not meant to deflect blame, or to protect the reputation of the school, nor was it even meant to hurt the feelings of posters whom were not affiliated with the school. My post, plain and simple, was written because I felt it necessary to protect my fellow schoolmates.
I agree with you, 100%, that stereotypes are hurtful. They may seem funny to others, they may even seem true—but that does not excuse them. After reading the original article and its comments as well as this article and its comments, I needed to post. My post was, I agree, hasty and impassioned. But my single intention was to protect my fellow students *from the sweeping stereotypes directed at an entire student body*.
I saw insults on our intelligence, sweeping generalizations about our economic means, about our humility… innumerable posts about the spoiled nature of the community.
So, because I couldn’t stand to see the wanton judgment continue, I posted, in response to a myriad of different posts and accusations, in an attempt to protect my schoolmates. Not their reputation, per say, but their self confidence. When a kid hears he or she is stupid, racist, defensive, and ignorant, it doesn’t help the situation. It makes it worse. It makes it hurtful. In the end, such accusations may even hinder a student’s intellectual growth in terms of cultural competence.
With all this said, I hope we can finally agree; and I hope you understand why I wrote (perhaps a little haphazardly) what I did.
Oh, and lastly: “But there exists a group of white, privileged, relatively wealthy students who see nothing wrong with the bigotry in that letter.”
While I can confirm that there are “white, privileged, relatively wealthy students at the school”, it would be wrong to classify them all as their own group. I’m not exactly sure how you would like me to respond to this. I’ll do my best, and I’ll be completely honest.
To the best of my knowledge, (and my knowledge of this is fairly sound since I have spent the majority of my life at this school, and know every single student at this high school by name, and know many quite well) I honestly cannot think of anyone who ‘sees nothing wrong with the bigotry in that letter’. Yes, it is true, I can think of a few students who originally considered the letter ‘funny’. But this is completely different from seeing nothing wrong with the letter.
Because of the turmoil this letter has stirred up, the student body has benefitted in that, through conversations much like this one, most of us (by most, everyone who I personally know of and with whom I’ve had a conversation about this) have concluded that the letter is harmful. Furthermore, those students who may have considered it funny at one time no longer do. I think it’s important to give these kids credit for that, not disparage them. It’s easy to consider this school (an, albeit, “elite” institution) filled with groups of privileged white students who care little about the affects of this letter.
But that’s just not the case. I don’t say this out of defensiveness. I say it because it’s true. I hope that is enough for you. If you want to see for yourself, maybe visit sometime.
Lastly, in any school there will be cliques, circles of friends, etc. And although the school has a smaller populace of minority students than perhaps most schools in Seattle have, it is not because the school itself has a racial bias, and it is not because the students discriminate. Spend enough time here, and one would realize that the students are actually very intermixed in terms of socio-economic status, gender, and “color”.
It is true that I myself have always been very critical of whether Bush “put its money where its mouth is” in terms of living up to its chatter of diversity and earned/unearned disadvantage. I would absolutely agree that there are times where students make blunders in terms of racial stereotypes. But then again, we all do. Everyone in the world does.
We make mistakes. We sometimes out of ignorance repeat mannerisms and slang we hear on TV. Is this bad? Absolutely. Is it something we’re conscious of? Increasingly so. Is it something we’ll overcome? Well, that’s the beauty of life, isn’t it — We get to work on this stuff.
I can’t speak for other students, but I can speak for myself. I’m working on it.
I hope this was, to some degree, the response you were looking for. I’ve tried hard not to ‘deflect’ anything. This is what I believe. It is my “truth”.
Let’s please stop calling him Truman. His name isn’t Truman. He is Carl Roger Buffett. If we are going to be “truthful” in this conversation, let’s start by calling the guy by his real name and then let’s start by fact checking this absurd video.
Carl, did you really think you could make a video and that your past wouldn’t come back to haunt you? That people from Oberlin wouldn’t see this and call you out on the obvious lies? “Teaching” in Los Angeles public schools? With no degree and no teaching experience?Let’s give them a call today and see what they say. If you were there teaching, we should be able to find a record, right?
To say that stereotypes “may seem funny” and “may even seem true” is to get at the root of this problem. There can not be excuses for perpetuating stereotypes. That is what these kids need to learn through a creative curriculum and constant staff effort. The school needs to continue to work extremely hard (HARDER!) (HARDER!) to make sure kids don’t have this kind of “it isn’t so bad” attitude. The school MUST make sure ALL kids graduate understanding (perhaps by more exposure? more volunteer work in the community?) that stereotypes are NOT truths. A professor/admissions counselor at Harvard would NOT have poor grammar. African American intellectuals must NOT be portrayed as crips and bloods. (Let’s find YOUR loser relatives and portray YOUR cultural community in terms of THEM.) Furthermore, your last comment: “When a kid hears he or she is stupid, racist, defensive, and ignorant, it doesn’t help the situation. It makes it worse. It makes it hurtful. In the end, such accusations may even hinder a student’s intellectual growth in terms of cultural competence” – that kind of attitude is far too protective. Any Bush kid (or parent!) who would defend that letter or that kid NEEDS a slap in the face or two. Wallace needs a wake-up call or he is going to go through life as a biggot rather than appreciating all various peoples for their extraordinary variety and, individually, appreciate people for their individual merits. It may be true as one comment said that Bush School statistically graduates students who do BETTER in college than they did at Bush (because the grading policy at the school is so stringent and because the GPA’s are so consequently low). It may be true, obviously, that the kids at that school are ALL bright and intellegent- regardless of their GPA’s – given the school’s stringent grading policy- and they may ALL come away with an extraordinary education. But on some level, I’ll say it again- that kid – and anyone making excuses for him- needs some comeupance. He needs someone to call HIM names and ridicule HIM and wake him up. Likewise, anyone at the school who wraps their protective arms around him and around that kind of bigotted mindset- they too need this kind of wake up call, or the Bush School is going to be left behind in the 20th Century dust. Clearly the school is in a unique situation because the school has a well known diversity director and a strong curriculum in place to continually work on and address these issues. Clearly the school should be proud of the many articulate, open-minded students who have posted here. But why should the “Wallaces” be left behind? By the time the “Wallaces” are seniors, shouldn’t they know better? Come on, Bush School, you are almost there- but you can do better.
stereotypes perpetuate stereotypes- as I said before in a previous post- I hear people speaking like that all the time- especially around McDonalds on 3rd & Pine… It’s sad when there are people in the US whose first (and only) language is spoken like EXACTLY like that.
People do talk that way- and not just blacks! Stupid white trash imbeciles trying to act like a badass rapper also enunciate in this appalling manner. The rap/black media glamorizes the life of a rapper and stupid people get in line trying to imitate it. The sad thing is that as soon as these rappers make a pile of $$ the get the f—%k out of the inner city and try to act like rich white folk. Case in point Queen Latifah; not only is she bleaching and straightening her hair she’s wearing lighter and lighter makeup and dropping her ghetto tough attitude. She created a tough badass rapper image, made a shit load of money from the suckers who fell for it and now she’s trying to act like a rich white woman. Word. People who enunciate like the individual in the letter exist and making fun of it is as harmless as this Onion lampoon: Ghetto Talk
BTW, I think this kid has a future in comic writing.
How is YOUR vulgar language, Mr. You Look Like, any different than the language in a rap song? People swear and curse and use vulgar language, as you have just done, when they are ticked off. You are obviously ticked off. But imagine how some minority kids must feel in this white world of privilege we live in. Don’t you think they might feel like swearing a LOT? And their music might express that? It’s wierd that in one way you demand that Queen Latifa behave more like you,(and stop rapping), and then on the other hand you get really mad when she DOES (behave more like you)…
Update! After four different emails and two phone messages, I just got a call from a lovely woman at The Los Angeles Unified Public Schools records department annnnd…..no Truman “not my real name” Buffet or Carl Roger Buffet has ever worked for them. When I explained that he claimed to have taught in Los Angeles right after the riots, she grunted and said “Honey, I hear things like that almost every day. If he did come down, he didn’t work for us and he didn’t stay after the cameras left. None of them did.” Ouch.
No reporter can responsibly report on this story without reading the multiple comments on the several (three??) blogs Brendan Kiley has also posted on this topic since May 15. To find the blogs follow these instructions: 1. At the top of this page, CLICK on the author’s name: “Brendan Kiley.” Then, 2. at the page you arrive at next, look on the right side of the page and click on the word “blogs.” Next, find Kiley’s blog about this story from Sunday, May 15: “Bush Math Teacher…” Read all the comments! Don’t report on this story without knowing the real story – that is irresponsible journalism. Next, scroll down to find Kiley’s blog from Tuesday, May 17: “The controversial Bush letter”. Read all the comments to BOTH those blogs. Also read the recent “The Real Rich Boys Crew” article and comments… only then will you begin to have an idea what really happened and what really is going on here – and then you will have better leads for what to investigate in this story. Brendan Kiley has also posted elsewhere about this (he is really on a jealous rampage), but he closed those other blots to comments in order to be controlling. Brendan Kiley is, in his own way, a bully. Don’t mimic his behavior by reporting on the story like a giddy schoolkid without carefully considering all the information. Doing that is just a waste of journalistic skills and integrity.
Bottom line: this is a HATE CRIME & should be treated as such. Shame on the parents, the school, & the racist brat who wrote it!
This article is incorrect in a very important detail of the story. No person ever stepped forward as the author of the letter, and there was never conclusive evidence that any one person was the author. The school could not have been expected to punish someone without any real knowledge of who it was. Also (and this detail is absolutely CRITICAL to the story), the administration did not suspect that the letter was sent from one student to another. The “primary suspect” in all of this was the person the letter was addressed to. The way this article is written, it spins the story to make it sound like the letter was sent with some kind of malicious intent. It wasn’t. It was a joke, most likely written by the person it was addressed to.
I went to Bush (year 2010). I am white, and I am upset/offended by this letter and the school’s lack of action taken to prevent future racial stereotyping within the school community. Although I acknowledge Truman Buffet’s many flaws and mistakes, I believe that they are irrelevant to this matter.