Matt Schwei wrote: > I was a delegate at the convention and there were rumors that Ms. > Henry-Blythe had met or had intentions of meeting with Steve > Sviggum to discuss circumventing(?) the Public Employment Labor > Relations Act (PELRA). Ms. Henry-Blythe and other school board > members spoke out against these rumors to the delegation but to no avail. > I think the labor interests may have trumped the need for racial > representation on the school board (a very interesting internal DFL > dynamic).
Let's suppose this rumor was false. What does this say about the delegates and the convention process? That you can destroy the career of a good person just by generating rumors? That the convictions of delegates are so shallow that their decisions can be swayed by unsubstantiated rumors? I don't think that we should forget that rumors were used throughout the Jim Crow Era to persecute minorities, often with devastating results. Oh the other hand let's suppose the rumor was true, the question is how true? Is it true that she had met with Sviggum, but discussed something entirely different? Maybe she had met with him and discussed PELRA, but on a completely different topic? And, maybe she had discussed circumventing some aspect of PELRA, but the result would have significantly benefited African-American students in Minneapolis. As John Kerry has stated "...we must ask more in return," from labor unions in regards to educational reform. Mark Snyder wrote: > Well, I'm not a DFL member and so I wasn't at their > convention, but I do have a theory as to why Sharon > Henry-Blythe was not endorsed. > > In the past several months, the Minneapolis School > Board has brought upon itself a pair of public relations > disasters with regards to hiring a new superintendent and > possibly closing schools. Both of these have probably led > a lot of people to believe that the School Board lacks > communication skills and/or wasn't particularly interested > in seeking community approval for their plans. > Sharon Henry-Blythe currently serves as chair of the School Board. > I realize this isn't as compelling as conspiracy theories about > PELRA or achievement gaps, but could her lack of support simply > be a matter of holding elected officials accountable? I could buy this argument IF the DFL leadership had made a concerted effort to insure that African American students were represented by SOMEONE of their own race on the school board. I could buy this argument IF there were not one single African American in Minneapolis qualified and willing to serve on the school board. HOWEVER, I can personally think of several African Americans who are qualified. So please explain to me how in the last year the DFL leadership has not been able to find a qualified candidate? I personally think that Ms. Henry-Blythe should ignore the pettiness of the DFL and run for reelection. My bet is that Mr. Shapiro will, in fact I'd give odds on it. Has anyone considered that the person who called for the quorum count might have wanted to insure that a third candidate wasn't endorsed? I wonder why that would be? Probably has nothing to do with the fact that the remaining candidate was African American. But of course, I don't want to start any rumors on my own given how susceptible people are to them. Michael Atherton Prospect Park 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. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ 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
