--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> In a message dated 5/27/2004 10:18:28 AM Central Daylight Time, Ken
JoJorissen
> writes:
>
> << Are you contending that racism is the cause? I can see it as a motivating
> factor, but I don't see how racism itself could directly cause "the huge
> racial
> learning gap." Could you please state what you think the direct causes are
> and
> then tie them back to being racially motivated? >>
>
> I am not contending that racism, understood as the belief that one race is
> superior to another, by itself, is the cause of the racial learning gap or
> necessarily the motivating factor for everyone who supports a racist status
> quo in
> the schools. Maintaining a big racial learning gap, however, helps to
> reinforce the belief that one race is superior to another.
>
> On the other hand, I have heard people say they are not racist or are racists
>
> unlearning racism who also say that the racial learning gap is a reflection
> average differences in academic ability between races, and that there is not
> much that the schools can do about it. And if you don't think something can
> be
> done, why waste the time and effort trying? That's just a matter of being
> "realistic." That was the basic idea expressed in nearly all of the
> letters-to-the-editor that I saw in the Star-Tribune in the fall of 1997
> concerning a
> proposal by the state board of education that would have required schools to
> monitor
> the racial learning gap and to come up with plans to close that gap. A
> majority of the legislators were so outraged by that proposal, and by those
> paragons
> of political correctness on the state board of education that they voted to
> abolish the state board of education.
>
So you are saying there are lying (even if to themselves) white racists that
are actively and possibly coconsciouslyeeking to keep a wide racial learning
gap. And (I'll stop full quoting here because data is data) you point to
seemingly credible data about the effects of "ability-grouping and curriculum
tracking" and resource disparities between the mostly white and mostly black
schools on the racial learning gap. You then say that those two mechanisms were
and are used to keep the racial learning gap wide. That is all very possible.
As a candidate for the school board you want to do what?
Again, my goal here is the best education possible for everyone. That means an
effective school board. And in my mind an effective school board is one that
plainly states problems and potential solutions.
Regards,
Ken
Ken JoJorissenWhittier
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/
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
