Welcome to America, now join the PTA?!

There are soooo many things wrong with this Silicon Valley Moms Blog post from a week ago (and some of the comments that followed): The Problem of the White PTA. [Hat-tip to ARP den mother Carmen for the link.] As a fourth-generation Asian American, as a father, and as a former teacher in a multiethnic working-class urban public school, I had so many strong reactions to this one I had to take a few days to breathe before posting about it here. Okay, so I did write one teensy comment there and pointed to it at Kimchi Mamas [who are discussing it again today], but for me, hey, that's self-control. Just go read it all and you'll know what I mean. Then come back here and let's talk about it!

UPDATE: Looks like I missed the original poster's clarification post, but now, both posts seem to be down (after a flurry of responses by the Kimchi Mamas posse, heh). See here and here for more on what you missed.

UPDATE 2: Okay, so the co-founder of SVMomBlog had the posts taken down (see her comment on KM reprinted in the comments to this post), and posted a public apology. But I guess enough folks said that the dialogue was needed that they reposted only the comment threads, but not the original texts (follow the links above to see what folks are saying there).


***Speaking of parental participation in education, though, check out our new RiceDaddies Empowerment in Diversity Challenge via Donors Choose. Our dollar-for-dollar match ends tomorrow, so let's put our money where our mouths/typing fingers are!