Black Assistant Principal plus White Principal Equals No

I think the worse combination at a school is a white woman Principal with a Black woman as Assistant Principal. It is a match made in hell. I do not see how any Black woman can thrive in that environment. I feel especially sorry for those who have to work under a white woman who has just come into that "power" because that white women will throw anyone under the bus and deny credit to anyone who deserves it. And this was the situation at my middle school from hell...plus throw in a racially ambiguous second Assistant Principal in the mix, just for fun.

Having a white woman leading a majority minority school is sinister. A white, middle class, bitch-faced woman in a sea of brown faces sends all types of wrong messages to the students, their parents, the staff, and the community at large. I have often wondered if school districts place white women in these positions because they hate them and want to teach them a lesson (What is the long term effect of this? Are there any studies? Do white women have MORE compassion for minorities, or do they become [more] hardened and lean into the Republican beliefs of their white male counterparts?).

Another part of me believes that white people, in general, need to be put in these positions in order to see beyond the comforts which they have been afforded in society. We Black people are tired and we do not always have the energy to bring ourselves out of the pot of crabs then continuously fight to bring the others out. Many of us are just a couple of generations out of poverty and can tap right back into that poverty by visiting our extended families. Plus, white people like to use us to tap into the Black communities when they need a cultural translator and "face"...which is the de facto purpose of the Black Assistant Principal. But they do not compensate us for our efforts for the extra time and physical and mental energy we expend, so we end up "doing it for the culture".

My Black AP seemed exhausted and unhappy. Although there were three administrators at the school, the students mostly only mentioned her. I remember her stating that people needed to build rapport with the students in order to get them to listen to them. Well, actually, I heard all the administrators say something to that extent. But Black AP was the only one I saw actually doing it. So, when I heard she had packed up her office in December (which I, too, had done by that point), I hoped she was headed for greener pastures.

When we returned after winter break, there was no official announcement of Black AP's disappearance. There were faint whispers around campus about who saw what and when. However, upon request, the white Principal informed us that Black AP was on medical leave and would return in March. And I was thinking, do people really pack up their entire offices when they are returning in two months?I knew it was game over and that I definitely had to get the fuck out of there.

The students repeatedly asked me what happened to Black AP. I was in total shock that no one had told them. My response was,

It isn't my place to tell you, but you should know. This is wrong.

And I didn't tell them...because I thought it should come from "leadership;" but I did feel like a piece of shit due to my lack of disclosure [along with also knowing that I was ready to leave at any minute]. That was the type of culture at school. We had had several teachers that disappeared from the school before the Black AP and the students were not officially told about them either. And when a teacher was switched from one subject area to another, her former students were not informed about the switch.

The last time I worked under a white woman Principal and a Black woman AP, the latter asked to leave. Thankfully, she received her wish...and was replaced by another Black woman AP. The District knows the game they are playing. Years ago, they were under fire for having a lot of Black Assistant Principals that never became Principals. If this is what they were putting them through, then no wonder. I guess nothing came of it.

What school combination is better than white woman Principal, Black woman AP?