Michael Atherton wrote Sunday: Although it is now possible for any individual African American to be successful in today's American (sic), 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.
Eric Mitchell wrote It's taken me a while to admit, but I agree with Michael Atherton's post too. Let me also say that I am getting a little sick of this 'racist' tag being thrown at some Blacks by Whites ... Maybe its subjective what Gallmon said, but being African American, living and interacting in the community, serving the community, leading the community and serving briefly on its school board certainly gives him credibility in what he percieves is a problem in our community. Certainly gives him more credit than someone who speaking from the outside. ... Go to any teacher and ask. ... Gallmon simplied echoed what is being said and addressed in our community. PeterJJ responds: You guys are kidding right? (1) You still have it backwards (or is it upside down?). It is to affirm this cultural lie that fosters the perpetuation of poor education. I'm astonished at the claims made. "Any can be successfull?" Does this include all the "any's" (80%) of Black youth in the justice system or the 83% who don't graduate from high school? And if "any" why then must it "take generations." These are mutually exclusive. (2) Al Gallmon is the spokesperson? How does his eight years trump Ron Edwards' 40 years in the community? More importantly, how does his "subjective" statement trump the empirical facts and figures used by Ron Edwards? How does Al's narrow involvement trump Ron's broad involvment? And how does Al and his preacher/forum buddies going ballistic over Ron's book before it came out and telling their constituencies that they should neither buy nor read the book trump Ron's honest attempt to look the truth in the eye and not be afraid of it? What are they afraid of? You want a spokesman? Don't call Al or the NAACP. They speak for Whites. They speak for another DFL supported jobs for Black leaders program that keeps Black leaders from leading (hey, money talks). Ron is only a spokesman if you seek someone wanting to speak for truth for all, for someone wanting equal access and equal opportunity for all, Black or White or other. And if you want "objective" not "subjective" and you want "empirical" data and an a historical understanding over feelings of the current myths and quagmire of Minneapolis, read his book. And what is "ask any teacher about?" That's good. In other words, ask any fox guarding the hen house. Not a good idea. To pull out one of the oldest political chestnuts, yet correct regardless of which party is using it: we need not an echo but a choice. (3) Gallmon is the guy who colluded with White voters to become NAACP Prez (they all knew the gal he would shortly replace was leaving town for another NAACP assignment; why do they think we are so stupid?); Al and the NAACP "pulled a Florida," as it was put to me by Blacks other than Ron, when the NAACP disqualified most of the Blacks voting for Ron. 85% of those voting for the winner were White. The NAACP is not a Black organization any more. It is a DFL shil and its politics in maintaining control are vicious. Jesse, in the latest Time magazine, warned Ah-nuld that in politics he'd find the real predators. We see them in the NAACP. We see them at Holllman/Heritage Park that the NAACP is supposed to be tracking but is turning its eyes the other way. Al and his friends represent the Planatation bosses. Ron represents the field hands. Which do you think will tell you the HUMAN truth? (4) There is an easy way for us Whites to stop calling either Blacks or Whites racist: end it. Ron's book outlines how to start that process. I have yet to have one person refute one line in the book (one exception: Ron quoted a number from the Skyway news that in turn was quoting a consulting firm that had the wrong number itself; nonetheless, he was, otherwise, re Hollman/Heritage Park, "dead on." (5) This "feel good ideal" about "any" is followed by the the equivalent of the James Baldwin statement Ron quotes in his book that Blacks are told to have "Patience, and shuffle the cards." It is a real put down. It flies in the face of the results in school districts like Milwaukee where, with vouchers and a different approach, AND EVEN WITHOUT PARENTAL SUPPPORT (the latest excuse of choice is now to blame lack of parental involvement, so that once again the institution is off the hook) they immediately turned around performance of urban ghetto kids. To jump on the "it will take generations" bandwagon reflects deeply felt racism: it again says Blacks can't make the leap. This is the tired old argument of the 1998 Kerner Commission Report, which has been the Democratic Bible for keeping Blacks down, that Blacks are not like other immigrants and thus can't make it like them. I lived in the Ramparts area of L.A. (for Fx fans, "Shield's" turf) in South Central L.A. Half the buildings I passed on the way to 9th grade were burned to the ground after Rodney King, as was the corner where I sold newspapers. We had gangs. The area is filled with Korean green grocers, etc. They made it without knowing the language well. But they weren't living under the "guidelines" of the Kerner Commission Report. (6) Yes, culture is huge. But the human being has a spirit that can grasp culture and shake it and make it something wonderful and new. This is what inner city schools are doing where allowed to do so with vouchers. I know the term vouchers is making some on the list hurl, but facts are facts. Indeed, in the 70s, in graduate school, the prediction of socialist social science professors who didn't believe in vouchers still predicted that because the liberals had turned education into a jobs program for education school factories that eventually vouchers would be used to shake up the public schools, which they believed would then change and negate the need further for vouchers. We'll see. (7) If its just Black culture, then why do White law makers and teachers, as in D.C. and other cities, NOT send their kids to the public schools? You want to change the schools? Make it mandatory by law for every legislator who has to vote on the state of education, whether funding or policy, that his kids have to attend the public schools. Watch the change come with the speed of lighting. They'd break the back of the unions faster than was done to the air traffic controllers, and this time it would be by the Democrats. (8) So what culture are we talking about? I maintain we are NOT talking about Black culture but White culture. Lets again go the "Bible, the source," Ron Edwards' book, which is more and more relevant every day, almost a living testament to the current times of Minneapolis: "The Minneapolis Story, Through My Eyes." Check out Chapter 7, "The Corrupt and Racist Education System." Ron backs it up with data from the school system. Here are Ron's subheadings for the chapter: "Poor Schools for Poor Kids to Keep Them Poor" "Clubbing the cubs into inferiority and helplessness" "Stop clubbing and teach skills, optimism, and hope." (9) On p. 119 he writes, "The reality is that ONLY education on one end AND jobs on the the other end can save the city...." Or, as he likes to quote Nellie Stone Johnson (who with HHH formed the DFL; see Interlude 3 of his book), "No education, no jobs, no housing." (10) Minneapolis is not the only place. New York state courts have ruled that the state is ONLY obligated to provide "a minimally adequate opportunity" (p. 120). They define adequate as eigth grade education. As the one dissenting judge said, the court was saying the state had "no meaningful obligation to provide any high school education at all." Hence the book of some years ago on education entitled "Death at an Early Age." (11) Ron hits the nail on the head, p. 121, when he says the problem is that the city has now accepted the noton of what he calls "a new concept: minimum education." As he notes, just "as a family of four can't survive on the minimum wage" so too with "minimum education," one can't survive in modern society (despite what the New York courts above said), but oh how it helps those "in power" as Ron goes on to say that it "keep minorities in their place: with minimum education for the lowest forms and lowest paid labor, but no more. They will make sure there is no chance for them to climb the ladder of social mobility" (pp. 122-123). (12) On p. 124 Ron notes, quoting Minneapolis statistics, that only 58% of Hispanics and only 63% of African American 4th graders can read, which prooves his point. Its NOT the culture of Blacks, ala Gallman and Atherton and Mitchell, its the union/DFL/education POWER CULTURE of Whites. Gallman and Atherton and Mitchell are just perpetuating White racism. Yes: racism, bigotry, segregation, call it what you will, it is prejudice in action, its "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Finally, as Ron notes, "only 17% of Black males graduate from High School in Minneapolis." What do you think Whites would do if that was for Whites? Indeed, the thread on Carol Johnson leaving as Supe of Ed for Tennessee was essentially writer after writer condemning the school system. But no one had solutions. Want some? Begin with Ron's book (soon to be in your local library). (13) Now read what Ron says about the emergency of Black males (pp. 154-156 in his book and Blog entries #90 on his web site, www.TheMinneapolisStory.com). How fast Whites would act if this was White youth. (14) Doug Mann has attended meetings, researched the topic, and written papers on it, and he is trashed for only attending Lucille's Kitchen for the past year. Its the ideas, not the people, that should count. Can you refute his educational paper that he shared with this list? I've seen only ad hominem arguments. (15) Read Ron's summary re education on p. 126. Show me why what he writes is not true? This thread is another example of the truth to which he speaks. Why does Minneapolis keep saying YES to what it should be saying NO to in terms of education (the 4th, 5th, and 6th bullet points on p. 303)? Ron likes to quote Martin Luther King's "You can't keep a lie going forever." The lie is that there is no racism. The truth is that there is. Ron is trying to reduce the time of "forever." In Ron's words, lets stop clubbing the cubs. 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 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
