Was your gifted program just a class of high performing students or was it a group of people who scored 130+ on IQ tests?
Mine was the latter and we only had 7 ppl, while for some people (i guess) gifted was for people who did well in classes.
Which was yours?
F'real.
Start with intelligence quotient, a trainable measure of students relative to their peers as a data point for counselors to use.
Then, let a eugenicist get hold of it and turn it into an absolute measure of intelligence that white people happen to score higher on.
Desegregate schools.
White parents panick, need alternative means of segregation, introduce the gifted program, premised on test scores and IQ tests.
Said kids get told they're smart their whole life when in reality they're just white with less trauma.
They get to a point where hard work and a growth mindset is required. They have no tools to deal with it.
They burn out.
What a fucking grift.