Ron Edwards writes, www.theminneapolisstory.com web log #194 "Too many of those wanting to be spokespersons for the Black community refuse to be honest: they refuse to stand up and say “Hey, this is my city too, and I want my Black face on it too.” Whites do it all the time. There is nothing wrong with saying we want it too. The error is in denying we want it or denying we said it, for no one believes it, Black or White. It is not racism for the White to want a White Superintendent nor racism for the Black to want a Black Superintendent. This is why Staten and English erred when they say the issue with the schools is not the color of the Superintendent but the qualifications and process (see their The Strib op ed at http://www.startribune.com/stories/562/4160619.html), because at the community forum where Jennings was roasted, they made it clear color IS the issue: “When you start looking for a permanent superintendent, you've got to look for an educator, preferably, and let me be very clear, a black educator," as quoted in City Pages (see http://www.citypages.com/databank/24/1193/article11581.asp). Let me repeat: nothing wrong with that. And given the results of the previous Black superintendent selected by the same process as Jenkins, they lose even more credibility."
[Doug Mann] Supporting a candidate for superintendent on the basis of their racial identity is racial discrimination, regardless of the race of the discriminator and the race of the beneficiary of the discrimination. If your strategic goal is to "close the learning gap" between blacks and whites, it's probably going to a mistake to support any candidate that the board comes up with, no matter what the race, because the board, which doesn't care about "closing the gap," is going to chose someone who doesn't care much about closing the gap. If the board members actually wanted the next superintendent to close the gap, they would invite public input and conduct their deliberations out in the open, and they would stop complaining about how everybody else isn't pulling their weight. -Doug Mann, King Field REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. ________________________________ 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
