Terms of the Conversation

Ann Hsu (Chron photo)

Ann Hsu, who was appointed to replace one of the three San Francisco school board members recalled in February, is herself being asked to resign for saying [bold added]

one of the biggest challenges in educating Black and brown students was their “unstable family environments” and “lack of parental encouragement to focus on learning.”

She is accused of making "racist" statements, which fits the definition of racism if she is generalizing individual attributes ("unstable family environments") to every member of a racial group. IMHO, this is no different from saying that blacks are disproportionately poorer than whites, therefore all whites discriminate against all blacks or therefore society should make reparations to all blacks.

Your humble blogger much prefers that society judge, reward, and if necessary punish people based on their individual circumstances.

(Chart from U.S. Census)

However, if the rules of conversation about race mean that we have to look at group properties, then Ann Hsu has plenty of evidence to support her statement. For example the 2020 U.S. Census showed that the overwhelming majority of white (76%) and Asian (87%) children lived in two-parent households, which are only a minority of black households (38%).

The National Center for Education Statistics, a government agency, produced similar numbers in 2016:

In 2016, the percentage of children living with married parents was highest for Asian children (84 percent), followed by White children (73 percent); children of Two of more races, Pacific Islander children, and Hispanic children (57 percent each); and American Indian/Alaska Native children (45 percent). The percentage was lowest for Black children (33 percent).

Because of the high correlation between family stability and educational achievement, it's not a great leap to claim that one is a major cause of the other. (If other factors are key, then propose, quantify, and test them.) Of course, coming from a two-parent household does not guarantee high achievement, while many kids who are raised by a single parent are enormously successful; these statistics mean little when it comes to predicting the outcome for a specific child.

But if people insist on talking about group outcomes--and by implication doling out benefits purely due to membership in a group--then group characteristics, including behavioral tendencies, are fair game.

Ann Hsu should not retract her statement, unless all parties agree to stop making generalizations about race.