Anne Sullivan school in Riverstone / Mumbai (Paris, Lexington: house, transfer, private school)

[Ghost Town]

The accusations against the OP are pretty funny.
Indians want to hang out mostly with another Indians.
It is more of a cultural thing rather than racial.
Moreover, there are many different ethnic groups within India and they don't get along well with each other. So they prefer to hang out not only with any random Indians, but more with the Indians from their own province and same social level back in India. It's pretty complicated.
I have friends from India and they are all good people but when you are a minority within large group of Indians you just won't fit.
Have you ever attended any Indian parties in Houston where the guests are all Indians? It is also sort of discrimination, don't you think so?
So I understand the problem of OP and definitely he needs more diversity.

[mikeyyc]

Originally Posted by dcmatt

Maybe I hit some kind of "personal" string and I apologize if that's the case. That being said I am just stating the facts. I am not talking about deporting, value or whatever you're describing. That's not what I am talking about here. You're trying to connect 2 different issues here and that's not what I am dealing with. On a different note I think you went way too far in calling me a bigot and you should apologize. I could call you "close minded" and "no value add to diversity" but I won't. I will just be ignoring you and your emotional rant. Is ok if you couldn't add any value to this discussion.

I didn't call you a bigot. I chose my words carefully. I said your actions are like those of a bigot. Not you are one, not anything else. I apologize for any confusion or insult, and want to reiterate that if I thought you actually were, I wouldn't waste my time debating the point. Making a false equivalency between Riverstone and Mumbai is just flat out wrong. Now if you were talking about PaTelfair...

[ipuck]

OP, call a spade a spade.

You don't like the school with 70% Indians. I get it, people usually like to be with the same type of people for obvious reasons.

My wife feels the same way as you and will never let the kids go to ASE. It is not racial, you just feel more comfortable. When I first moved to Sugar Land in my old house, the whole block was Indians with the exception of 1 couple across from us with multiple kids in every house. However, the kids almost never come out to play.

My suggestion is to move to the Riverstone areas that are zoned to Settlers Way or Commonwealth. Commonwealth is only slightly better than ASE but not much better. It is probably still 40-50% Indians and 25% Chinese, and the rest are Caucasians.

[dcmatt]

I own you an apology as well if you feel my Riverstone / Mumbai comment was out of line. My intention was to describe the Anne Sullivan environment which I agree is not a reflection of Riverstone as a whole. Please accept my apology. The neighborhood is large, great and diverse. Just the school could use a little help.

I also feel very empathic with your own challenges and I wish there was a magic fix for all of this.

Originally Posted by mikeyyc

I didn't call you a bigot. I chose my words carefully. I said your actions are like those of a bigot. Not you are one, not anything else. I apologize for any confusion or insult, and want to reiterate that if I thought you actually were, I wouldn't waste my time debating the point. Making a false equivalency between Riverstone and Mumbai is just flat out wrong. Now if you were talking about PaTelfair...

[Ocdmama]

i have to say this is a hysterical post. Being brown, i am having trouble with my kid being stuck in a 98% rich Caucasian school and has trouble getting friends as they keep to themselves...what should i call it, Paris? I am not going to move her because she has to deal with life and real world when you are in a crowd and dont "fit" in.

For OP - yes its tough when you feel your daughter doesnt socialize but look on the bright side, she will learn how to spell, do her math, ace her exams, not get in trouble and become either a doctor or engineer and be rich and successful. At that point, you wont care how many friends she has.

[dcmatt]

I don't buy that one at all :-) Sorry. This have nothing to do with being white, black, brown, yellow or rainbow. What I am describing here is a very "closed doors" cultural group of kids refusing to accept others. Is it racist? absolutely not. Is it cultural? Most likely yes. Are the parents to blame? Probably yes. Can the school do anything? Probably not

As for your situation I am very very sorry and I would love to understand more. I am surprised to see your kid not making friends in a 98% rich caucasian school. Are they racist? That's not cultural for sure, we're batter than that right :-) But please help me understand

In terms of Paris. You know if you're not from Paris you ain't French, right?

Originally Posted by Ocdmama

i have to say this is a hysterical post. Being brown, i am having trouble with my kid being stuck in a 98% rich Caucasian school and has trouble getting friends as they keep to themselves...what should i call it, Paris? I am not going to move her because she has to deal with life and real world when you are in a crowd and dont "fit" in.

[TotallyTexasBound]

Originally Posted by Ocdmama

i have to say this is a hysterical post. Being brown, i am having trouble with my kid being stuck in a 98% rich Caucasian school and has trouble getting friends as they keep to themselves...what should i call it, Paris? I am not going to move her because she has to deal with life and real world when you are in a crowd and dont "fit" in.

For OP - yes its tough when you feel your daughter doesnt socialize but look on the bright side, she will learn how to spell, do her math, ace her exams, not get in trouble and become either a doctor or engineer and be rich and successful. At that point, you wont care how many friends she has.

ocdmama - Do you really believe that? There are many adages about the value of someones life being the relationships they have with others, not material possessions or your measure of "success". It is a pretty sad outlook for your children if that is what you are promoting. I know many people who are brilliant and hard-working, but their lack of common social skills result in them being limited to their lower-level engineering position. And I know quite a few dullards, who have found success in spite of their ineptitude - mainly because they possess great social skills. The saying "It's not what you know, it's who you know" resonates in these instances.

dcmatt - Why not look outside of school for social activities? There are a lot of opportunities out there: Girl Scouts, athletics, art, church groups, volunteering.

[detachable arm]

Originally Posted by Ocdmama

For OP - yes its tough when you feel your daughter doesnt socialize but look on the bright side, she will learn how to spell, do her math, ace her exams, not get in trouble and become either a doctor or engineer and be rich and successful. At that point, you wont care how many friends she has.

She will also learn how to cheat through every step of the way and then bring that type of incompetence into the corporate world.

I went to Fort Bend ISD schools in the 80s and 90s and had many Asian friends. This new wave of immigrants are from a totally different cut of cloth Vs. back then. People are much more into self segregation now, and some of these “I was third world yesterday” folks are some of the most greedy, superficial people I have ever met. It is something to understand before buying a home esp if you have kids in school.

[Failed Engineer]

A lot of the parents in Riverstone ARE the kids who grew up in 80s/90s FBISD, Clements, Travis, and Kempner grads. Most of their kids have been raised to congregate with all, participate in social outside of school activities like sports and will have no issue befriending anyone of any race.


The other half of the story is the recent immigrants or non-professionals who've never had friends outside of the Indian culture. They are those that have stretched their budget to buy their homes there and live in multi-household homes. They gravitate to what they know with no intended malice. Many of them have insecurities that they are "beneath" people like the OP because of cultural and language issues and feel if they have no real path to friendship with people unlike them their kids will suffer the same fate and therefore try to keep them in the Indian "bubble".


It's 100% the wrong approach by them and the Indians that have assimilated are trying to help the newer ones, but there is a perceived gulf there too (I have an Indian friend who moved from Riverstone to Oak Forest largely for the same issues that OP has, and I know they are not the only ones to have done so). I don't know what the solution is, but referring to ASE as a slice of Mumbai only serves to reinforce their beliefs.


Like in most communities (right or wrong), the minorities here will have to take the first step to garner goodwill with the majority. So it's up to the OP to strike up conversation with the dissimilar parents if they want to create a social fabric. Starting with the assimilated parents will be easier. You can easily tell when you are at the school by how people talk, dress, communicate with their kids, etc. That may not be what you want to hear, but the truth. Otherwise it's probably more of the status quo.

[swopoe]

Originally Posted by Failed Engineer

A lot of the parents in Riverstone ARE the kids who grew up in 80s/90s FBISD, Clements, Travis, and Kempner grads. Most of their kids have been raised to congregate with all, participate in social outside of school activities like sports and will have no issue befriending anyone of any race.


The other half of the story is the recent immigrants or non-professionals who've never had friends outside of the Indian culture. They are those that have stretched their budget to buy their homes there and live in multi-household homes. They gravitate to what they know with no intended malice. Many of them have insecurities that they are "beneath" people like the OP because of cultural and language issues and feel if they have no real path to friendship with people unlike them their kids will suffer the same fate and therefore try to keep them in the Indian "bubble".


It's 100% the wrong approach by them and the Indians that have assimilated are trying to help the newer ones, but there is a perceived gulf there too (I have an Indian friend who moved from Riverstone to Oak Forest largely for the same issues that OP has, and I know they are not the only ones to have done so). I don't know what the solution is, but referring to ASE as a slice of Mumbai only serves to reinforce their beliefs.


Like in most communities (right or wrong), the minorities here will have to take the first step to garner goodwill with the majority. So it's up to the OP to strike up conversation with the dissimilar parents if they want to create a social fabric. Starting with the assimilated parents will be easier. You can easily tell when you are at the school by how people talk, dress, communicate with their kids, etc. That may not be what you want to hear, but the truth. Otherwise it's probably more of the status quo.

As a parent there, not Indian, this is not entirely true. And I am on the PTA board, so I am very plugged in to what is going on at school.