I want to file this in the category of "people trying to do a good thing and missing the mark...by a MILE." (Pun intended. It's the mile-high city. GET IT?? Ok, sorry, that sucked.) So a Denver high school attempted to educate its young black and Latina female students by a targeted ad campaign with posters titled "101 Things Black and Latina Girls Should Know." I look at this and see, well, they recognized that young women of color are subject to different (maybe multiple) cultural standards and may have different needs, and tried to "reach" these students. Upside: messages like "Your body is beautiful just the way it is." True, and accurate. More young women across the spectrum need to be reminded of this in a culture full of body shaming and totally ridiculous dress codes for high schoolers (don't get me started on rape culture). Downside: "wearing too much makeup looks like a clown" and "twerkin' and grindin' ain't cute." Ouch. No. Stop.
Apparently there were also "101 Things Black and Latino Boys Should Know," and this included at least one message about striving for careers other than professional sports and rapping.
The posters were taken down, the school apologized, several students said something to the effect of, Ok good try, but that was quite offensive. If this is how the conversation starts in high school, how does this affect us as practitioners working with college students?
You know what I would have found interesting? A similar campaign composed of messages from the young women themselves: "101 Things Black Girls Want You to Know" and "101 Things Latina Girls Want You to Know." Instead of trying to impose standards on them and tell them about themselves, let's let them tell US about themselves.
Here's the link: http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/04/denver_public_high_school_blasted_for_racially_insensitive_posters.html
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