Nice White Parents - Ep. 1

Serial

2020/08/20

Overview Shownote Highlights Transcript Chapters Pins

Shownote

It’s 2015 and one Brooklyn middle school is about to receive a huge influx of new students. Reporter Chana Joffe Walt follows what happens when the School for International Studies’s 6th grade class swells from 30 mostly Latino, Black and Middle Eastern...

Highlights

This podcast episode examines a pivotal moment in 2015 at a Brooklyn middle school, where a dramatic demographic shift sparked conflicts over resources, values, and the very definition of a 'good' school. The story follows the tensions that arose when an influx of white families transformed the student body and the school's culture.

03:07

The real force shaping public schools is white parents.

12:15

White families saw it as positive, while students of color recognized it as gentrification

34:29

The school's status rose due to the influx of white families

53:05

Bilingualism makes one sophisticated

Chapters

How White Parents Became the Real Shapers of NYC Schools

00:00

The French Program That Divided a School Community

09:26

When 'Saving' a School Damages Its Reputation

34:29

A Gala at the French Embassy Exposes Unspoken Tensions

50:03

Transcript

Speaker 1: The first episode of this series is free. But to hear the whole thing, you'll need to subscribe to The New York Times, where you'll get access to all the Serial Productions and New York Times shows. And it's super easy. You can sign up through A...