New York Times faces backlash over 'Nice White Parents' podcast
The limited-series podcast explores how white parents may be to blame for failing public schools; reaction on 'Outnumbered.'
The New York Times raised some eyebrows on Thursday with the announcement of its new podcast, "Nice White Parents."
"Nice White Parents," a limited series from the publication in partnership with Serial Productions, will focus on "the 60-year relationship between white parents and the public school down the block."
"We know that American public schools do not guarantee each child an equal education — two decades of school reform initiatives have not changed that. But when we look at how our schools are failing, we usually focus on who they’re failing: Black and brown kids. We ask: Why aren’t they performing better? Why aren’t they achieving more?... Those are not the right questions," the Times described. "If you want to understand what’s wrong with our public education system, you have to look at what is arguably the most powerful force in our schools: White parents."
In the preview clip, journalist Chana Joffe-Walt noted her findings of a new school that was supposed to open up near a housing project back in 1963 and how "White parents" urged the board of education to open it near the "White neighborhood" to integrate White children with children of color. However, when the school eventually opened, none of the parents living in the projects enrolled their students. Joffe-Walt apparently spoke to some of those parents for the podcast.
The introduction to the new podcast did not receive the warmest welcome on social media.
"Disintegrationists are now claiming that if you are a good parent who wants to educate your child in the best possible way, you are inherently racist because you are exacerbating racial inequality. This holds only if you are white," Ben Shapiro reacted.
"The timing on this assault on public schooling couldn’t be more perfect," Commentary associate editor Noah Rothman tweeted.
"This is not only incredibly bigoted, it’s also so, SO ignorant. Anything to protect the corrupt teachers unions," conservative podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey said.
"When a major news outlet unapologetically embraces racism...." Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, swiped the Times.
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