The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations: They Assumed my Big Black Son Was Only There for Football

My husband and I walked up to the entryway of the fancy DC private school bustling and electrifiying with activity because it was an Open House.

The excitement of visiting one of my son’s top choice of high schools came to an unceremonious end when one of the administrators at the door scanned his stocky frame, perhaps his almost locked hair, and pointed us in the direction of the Athletic Section of the Open House.

“Football!?! Over there!” the pristinely dressed man in an expensive suit with nicely coifed hair billowed before swiftly moving on to direct other 7th and 8th grader prospective students and their parents.

Whoa! And there it is!

The soft bigotry of low expectations.

Dismissed with a 20 second glance.

Microagressions are the worst!

All the internal, external, unconscious and conscious biases about the limits of my child’s potential were handed to us swiftly, but not unexpectedly.

My son, Jarrod, ultimately did not attend that school and went on to another quite prestigious institution, well known for sports, its spectacular award-winning musical program and also its academics, DeMatha Catholic…