In a message dated 8/17/2003 7:02:16 PM Central Daylight Time, Micheal Atherton writes: > Ron Edwards wrote: > > > But he [Gallman] gets it wrong twice when he says, first, "That > > piece is no longer the bedrock for the African American > > community...we have gotten away from the African-American > > community having a culture, an environment that says education > > is important." This is an indictment of the local branch of the > > NAACP, which does nothing but foster the kind of negligence he > > outlines. He also gets it wrong when he is reported as saying > > it "will take generations" to fix. > > Although it is now possible for any individual African American > to be successful in today's American, it is likely that it "will > take generations" for African American culture to develop the > supports and needed emphasis on education opportunity. To deny > this reality fosters its perpetuation. > I completely agree with Edwards and disagree with Atherton and Gallmon on this point. I am not satisfied with promises that things will get better over the course of several generations. I believe the K-12 education system can be reformed so that differences in academic achievement between blacks and whites will be rapidly reduced. And if fair employment and housing laws are also aggressively and effectively enforced, the income and education gap could be closed completely in a matter of several years.
> Doug Mann wrote: > > > I also think that institutionalized racism has always had > > its broadest and deepest support among the propertied classes. > > Poor whites and poor blacks have a lot more in common with each > > other than they do with rich people who look like them. > > The problem with Mr. Mann's argument is that rather than > a ruling class, the most populous propertied class in America > is middle class. It is not the rich that have to be convinced > of the need to establish educational equality, it's White Middle > Class Minnesotans. > Ordinarily the point of view that is predominant among members of the wealthy propertied classes molds "public opinion" through the news media (which gets most of its advertising revenue from the wealthy propertied classes), foundations that try to influence public opinion, and politicians and political parties that depend on donations from wealthy contributors (the Democrats and Republicans), etc. A lot of people who self-identify or are widely regarded as "middle class" merely own some personal property, such as an automobile and the house they live in, have an average-to-above-average income, and / or have some education beyond the high school level. In my opinion, you are poor if you have to work for a living, and if you are poor you probably have more in common with poor people than with rich people who look like you. If you are poor, it is likely that your interests are best served by supporting the type of school reforms which I advocate. And I think that a significant minority of white, middle-class people in Minneapolis already do, judging by the number of votes I received as a candidate for the school board in the 13th ward and other predominantly white, middle class neighborhoods in 2002. I think it is necessary and possible to convince "white middle class" Minnesotans of the need to close the academic achievement gap between blacks and whites. I think it is impossible to convince all, or even most, but I believe that many, perhaps the majority of white "middle class" Minnesotans will eventually see the need to close the education achievement gap. On the other hand I think that it is impossible to convince a majority of the rich that it is necessary, possible, and desirable to close the education achievement gap between blacks and whites, and between the poor and the "middle class." The lions share of the benefits derived from superexploiting blacks have gone to the wealthy propertied classes, i.e., the rich and almost-rich who own businesses, large investment portfolios, etc. Anything that greatly reduces or eliminates poverty generally cuts profit margins, which is bad for a profit-driven economy. -Doug Mann, King Field http://educationright.tripod.com 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
