White people can take for granted that there are models of successful adults to watch and learn from. They grew up looking to presidents, military leaders, movie stars and characters in literature and in all sorts of positions of leadership including in education were of white models. They learned their exceptionality was by ethnicity or religion.They are told stories about names being changed as they came through Ellis Island or lived through the first Catholic president controversy. They survived all that and found common ground in race and in the democracy we are. But, it seems that finding common ground, or even models, is harder without the racial commonality.  Read more...