By Kendra James
On 2-3-14 I sat down to live tweet the television premier of the documentary American Promise. The film follows two Black students, Idris and Seun, as the begin kindergarten at an elite college prep school in New York City and highlights the challenges and as they face along the way.
A Twitter Recap of POV’s “American Promise” on PBS
On 2-3-14 I sat down to live tweet the television premier of the documentary “American Promise”. The film follows two Black students, Idris and Seun, as the begin kindergarten at an elite college prep school in New York City and highlights the challenges and as they face along the way.
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![racialicious]()
(I’m @wriglied and I attended @TaftSchool for high school, so the film’s subject matter is one near and dear to my heart.) -
![racialicious]()
If you’re not able to watch, you can read abt American Promise at The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/when-minority-students-attend-elite-private-schools/282416/ … and NPR: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/17/236240437/tough-love-and-lessons-from-american-promise-film … -
![Kristy_Watkins]()
@racialicious Do you know if it’s streaming anywhere? I have no TV. -
![racialicious]()
American Promise is also available to stream on the PBS site (USA only, unfortunately) through March 6: http://www.pbs.org/pov/americanpromise/ … -
![racialicious]()
We’ve touched on minorities and race in independent schools on the R before too: http://www.racialicious.com/2012/08/02/guest-in-a-strange-house-the-racialicious-review-of-the-prep-school-negro/ … -
![mstharrington]()
@racialicious I was at a screening with Idris’ mom and they said it came out to only a couple hours per month. -
![riseUPwoman]()
unless the parents are rich @racialicious“”Diversity..big commitment. ..won’t accept a kid if they cant handle the work,” Dalton Admissions -
![TAPPhD]()
@racialicious It is so odd that ppl think diversity & talent is an either/or proposition. It is often both/and -
![phiinthesky]()
@racialicious What does handle the work mean? Didn’t give a donation? -
![MochaLisaccino]()
“@racialicious: Kids of colour as defined by admissions: Black, Latino, Caribbean, Asian.” … No #NativeAmerican (as usual) -
![racialicious]()
.@MochaLisaccino It took a whole meeting at one point when it came to putting separate checkboxes for “Black” and “African-American”. -
![racialicious]()
.@MochaLisaccino I work in IS admissions– if you’re NDN, unfortunately you’ve gotta check the “other” box. -
![matanaroberts]()
@racialicious god, i thought this was over. -
![mstharrington]()
In seeing American Promise, I was reminded of how little it takes to care about people…@racialicious -
![mstharrington]()
…and how, after only 2 hours with them, how deeply I cared about those two boys… @racialicious -
![mstharrington]()
…and how, those boys are the boys on the corner and on the train, and how all too often we don’t connect the two. @racialicious -
![DrJasonJohnson]()
“@racialicious: And I watched two AA girls get kicked out…. trumped up honour code violation charge.” I saw that when I was in college too -
![reggieshuford]()
@racialicious I was the first and only black graduate from Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington, NC, in the mid-80s. #americanpromise @povdocs -
![racialicious]()
.@reggieshuford I was the first Black legacy student to graduate from Taft. The school was founded in 1890. -
![_AJCousins]()
@racialicious @MaryRobinette Not exactly the same, my kid’s in our 75% Latino CPS school b/c I didn’t want the all-white school of my youth. -
![racialicious]()
I was fairly certain I was going to get into Brown, based on where I went to high school. I didn’t: http://www.racialicious.com/2013/04/10/to-all-the-white-girls-who-didnt-get-into-the-college-of-their-dreams/ … -
![TheRealJStan]()
@racialicious While I generally support a “college going culture” that genuinely freaks me out. -
![juss_jai]()
@CitizenOjo @racialicious Only for the students who they are tracking or consider college material. that is the public school method. -
![evamckend]()
I graduated as only black girl in grade. Product of Early Steps. I’ve come a mighty long way. #grace #AmericanPromise @racialicious -
![donnayford]()
@evamckend @PromiseFilm @racialicious @ileducprof#AmericanPromise #BlackEdu @donnayford … we need to thrive NOT just survive as Blacks -
![tchmathculture]()
@racialicious heartbreaking. -
![raquelnamuche]()
@racialicious watching this it seems like his parents are constantly disappointed in him. so frustrating to watch these interactions. -
![TheLadyPeridot]()
@racialicious And honestly the process should be about where you think you’ll be happiest not the name of the institution -
![BlancaVNYC]()
@racialicious I chose private university over state school.The private university’s racial climate was extremely hostile. #AmericanPromise -
![BlancaVNYC]()
@racialicious but, private university w racially hostile environment paid my whole tuition. I felt stuck. Chose college over being healthy. -
![BlancaVNYC]()
@racialicious these are the kind of decisions students of color from low income backgrounds have to make and it still makes no damn sense. -
![racialicious]()
American Promise is done airing, but remember you can livestream on the PBS site until March 6: http://www.pbs.org/pov/americanpromise/ … -
![LakshmiGandhi]()
@racialicious Also, given that Idris worked so hard for the Obama campaign I was surprised no one pointed out to him that BHO started there. -
![racialicious]()
.@LakshmiGandhi Kept wondering about that. His parents seemed unable to focus on anything positive during that college process. -
![brownivy]()
@racialicious Quite the contrary actually. In fact, a major culture clash for me was class-based, NOT racial…and that included other PoC. -
In the morning Gene Demby of NPR’s Code Switch asked what people thought of the documentary. With sleep and a few hours to think about it, these were my final impressions:
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![wriglied]()
@GeeDee215 It brought up some good points abt schools, but I can’t get over how bad the parents came off looking. -
![wriglied]()
@GeeDee215 Idris’ parents– the filmmakers, I should specify. -
![wriglied]()
@GeeDee215 @Ngongang I felt like it was very surface. A lot of things thrown out, but no one was questioned on any statements. -
![MissJennifer215]()
@GeeDee215 I agree with @wriglied. Started off good and but turned into a shaming and mockery of sorts IMO. -
![wriglied]()
@GeeDee215 @MissJennifer215 @Ngongang I think there would have been more to be said about admissions/perception of Black boys from… -
![wriglied]()
@GeeDee215 @MissJennifer215 @Ngongang the staff at Dalton? But no one pressed for any response there when they were interviewed. -
![wriglied]()
@GeeDee215 @MissJennifer215 @Ngongang They just let them throw out statements like, “we have a problem with AA boys” and didn’t elaborate. -
![wriglied]()
@GeeDee215 @MissJennifer215 @Ngongang And I think an examination of that as it related to Idris wouldve been more interesting than… -
![wriglied]()
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![MissJennifer215]()
@staceyNYCDC @wriglied @GeeDee215 @Ngongang and then on the other hand we have Seun becoming less and less apart of the narrative -
![wriglied]()
@MissJennifer215 @staceyNYCDC @GeeDee215 @Ngongang Part of me wonders if Seun eventually just said, “Please leave me alone.” -
![wriglied]()
@MissJennifer215 @staceyNYCDC @GeeDee215 @Ngongang I wouldve. If anything that film made me glad I was in boarding school AWAY from parents.
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