Doug Mann wrote: > In my opinion, racism (the belief system) is consciously > promoted in order to justify race-based discrimination and > "colorblind" discrimination that generally gives whites > privileged access to education, housing, jobs, and services. > And the K-12 education system is the primary vehicle through > which racism (the belief system) is perpetuated.
It's interesting that I can agree with much of Mr. Mann's analysis and believe instead that "colorblind" definitions of justice and rights are the only fair process. I believe that if you remove the inherent inequities and discriminatory polices in the educational system that you will no longer need to rely on race-based discrimination (affirmative action) to level the playing field. > Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson > testified against the proposed Diversity Rule, arguing that > it was a lot of unnecessary red tape, and that the money > require to implement such a mandate could be better spent on > other things. However, the Minneapolis School District has > since come up with a much more complicated accountability > system that doesn't tell you whether the district is making > progress toward 'closing the gap,' and has no value as a > tool to measure the effectiveness of programs and staff in > relation to the goal of 'closing the gap.' I would hope that by this point, many people in Minneapolis have realized that Carol Johnson's role here as superintendent was to maintain the status quo, not to "close the gap." And that this role was strongly supported by the power structure in Minneapolis, namely the DFL, the Star Tribune, etc. > "Schools bring little influence to bear on a child's > achievement that is independent of his background and > general social context; and that this very lack > of an independent effect means that inequalities imposed on > children by their home, neighborhood, and peer environment > are carried along to become the inequalities with which they > confront adult life at the end of school." > In other words, the goal of "closing the gap" is unrealistic, > so why bother? Yes. There's not much difference in effect between claiming it's just too much for those poor Black folks and claiming that nothing can be done because of the culture of poverty. > I think that a lot of people in Minneapolis, perhaps a > sizable majority, want the schools to have an accountability > system that is aligned with the goal of closing the gap and > want school reforms that will close the gap. That's why > the superintendent and school board members say that > improving student achievement and closing the gap are their > top priorities, but... Here I think you're mistaken. I don't think that there are more than a handful of people in the city who are interested in closing the gap. The others are either disinterested or more interested in the seeing that THEIR children receive what they believe is a good education. In my opinion they are no more concerned than White parents in Boston in the '70s or those in Little Rock in the '50s. Minnesotan liberalism is only skin deep. Michael Atherton Prospect Park TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
