implicit nerdiness

Racial stereotypes of all kinds have always bothered me. One in particular has been rolling around my mind today - the idea that being black carries with it "coolness" while white skin automatically signals "nerd". I hate that students who are interested in school are branded as acting white, the ultimate "loser" insult. That in order to fit in with your race you must project a sort of 'cool' image, rather than embracing your inner interest in math, in chess, in reading, in computers, in whatever.

My kids constantly make jokes about white people that appear in movies, pictures, or cultural references around school. The first thing a student does when they get frustrated with me will be to imitate my voice -- I cringe when their exaggerated verbal caricature sounds so much like me, yet so obviously nerdy. The patronizing tone they use when they joke about white people doing something awkward makes me want to point out that there are plenty of so-called "nerds" at our school, and plenty of white people that aren't walking awkward dictionaries. Just another chasm between the races; perceptions that neither side can quite get over (or want to?), no matter what anyone might show them otherwise.

This all came rushing to my mind when DT said, out-of-the-blue, near the end of class, "Hey ms. m, you cool, for your color. Other people might not think so, but I think you are."  This should have been a teachable moment, but the bell was about to ring, and I got caught off-guard. My first instinct was to take it as a compliment, but I can't let go of the left-handedness of it...