>>>>> "AM" == Alberto Monserrate <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
AM> I've been following with great disappointment the previous
AM> posts on whether Peggy Flanagan was endorsed by the DFL only
AM> because she is Native American. It's amazing that we're having
AM> this discussion in 2004. Gente de Minnesota endorsed Peggy,
AM> David Dayhoff and Sandra Miller, because of their willingness
AM> to reform a school district with a lot of need to reform. We
AM> also endorsed them, because we felt the board needed a change
AM> from the current incumbents. We endorsed because of their
AM> passion for education. We also endorsed them because of their
AM> previous experience, and their knowledge or willingness to
AM> learn about the issues that Latino students, teachers and
AM> district employees face. Race or ethnicity was not the main
AM> reason for endorsing (David is anglo), but it played a role
AM> and it should play a role.
OK, I was one of those who said this, and I stand by it. It was not
meant to be insulting, and it was based on reading (1) the Southwest
Journal profile of Peggy as a candidate and (2) the literature I was
handed.
Note that I am a DFL voter, and I am inclined to be sympathetic.
If *I* couldn't find her positions on the issues in her own
literature, there's a problem. Attacking the messenger is not going
to solve that problem.
Also note that I did NOT say that she was endorsed only because she
was an aboriginal American. I don't have any insight whatsoever into
the endorsement process.
But our school system is facing serious challenges, and it needs
school board members who will address those challenges. I have since
followed up on her web site and I don't see any discussion of those
challenges, nor do the four planks in her platform seem to me to be
other than "motherhood and apple pie."
I never said that Peggy was a bad person, or even that she shouldn't
be a school board member. I *did* say that she did not make a good
case for why she should be elected, and I stand by that.
If you are for Peggy, you can either get defensive about this; or just
decide I'm wrong (but I urge you to look at her campaign materials
before you dismiss me); or I think you could spend your time more
productively helping her make a clearer statement of why we should
vote for her, and how she thinks we can work together to make the
public schools a more stable environment organizationally, and one
that will serve its students as well as possible.
Remember, it's the candidate's job to convince us to vote for her;
it's not our job to convince ourselves. Just to keep an open mind and
inform ourselves. Beating us up because she didn't do a good job
convincing us is not the way to to change our minds.
--
Robert Goldman
ECCO
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