Woke Dad Ashamed Son Goes to ‘White Kids’ Private School, But Proud He Protests ’Imperialism’

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Progressive writer Noah Berlatsky worries that the moral superiority of raising his son to be an “anti-racist” activist might have been undercut by sending him to private school.

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Berlatsky opened with a humble brag, extolling his son for organizing an in-school protest calling to change the name of Columbus Day to something that doesn’t “celebrate white imperialism.”

“As you’d imagine, my wife and I were very proud,” writes Berlatsky. “We’d hoped to teach our son anti-racism, and here he was doing anti-racist activism in his own small way.”

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“In paying for him to go to that school, we were at least partially abetting a system that benefits more affluent people. And affluent people in the US are often (though not always) white,” Berlatsky confesses. “We sent our son to a school that taught and encouraged anti-racism. But teaching people to be anti-racist doesn’t necessarily address the structure of racism itself.”

To better understand the tension, Berlatsky turned to Mississippi State University sociologist Margaret Hagerman — an expert in “white kids.”

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According to Hagerman’s research {snip} even the wokest of parents, who teach their children about racism and even encourage activism and charity, only “solidify” the system of oppression.

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So how to solve the dilemma? Hagerman’s ultimate advice to Berlatsky was for parents to stop thinking so much about their own kids and start thinking about what’s good for social justice.