At 07:28 PM 1/6/05 -0600, WizardMarks wrote: >Picky, picky, picky and parochial too.
I don't think so, Wizard. I'm really not interested in East Coast/North Central States cultural differences. To use a less inflamatory example: I deal with Deaf Culture on occasion and that is a whole culture you are possibly unfamiliar with. (Yes, when a group of people has its own language, mores, habits, customs, and rites, they have a separate culture and Deaf Culture DOES have all those cultural artifacts. Incidently, D.C. is totally open to people of all races, GLTB, and any other group you might happen to think of.) I believe Deaf Culture is a fine addition and a necessary addition to the larger American culture, and I'm extremely happy to see how much Deaf Culture has grown in the Minneapolis area in just the last decade. This is an extremely tight culture for those who embrace it. It is strongly social, supportive of its members, a place you can count on help when you need it. Incidently, you don't need to be deaf or even hard of hearing to be a member of this culture. CODAs have just as much of a place as DODs. What is tends NOT to do, however, is to prepare kids for life in the mainstream, and that is where I take issue. There is nothing wrong with living in Deaf Culture, but for 98% of the people who support that lifestyle, Deaf Culture just doesn't offer a living there. The money is more easily made in the mainstream and I take serious issue with people who feel that Deaf Culture does not have an obligation to teach kids raised in that culture how to THRIVE in the mainstream. Not just cope with the mainstream, but THRIVE! That very catchy phrase, "Deaf can do everything but hear" made great hype, but it's just not the case. According to various studies, people with hearing impairments tend to be either unemployed, considered unemployable, or are working at jobs for which they are vastly overqualified. I don't think Deaf Culture is doing enough to change that. It's doable, it's just not being done often enough, well enough, taken seriously enough. After they've got the paycheck in their hip pockets, members of Deaf Culture can go home and re-enter their own culture with my blessings and participation if they invite me over for supper. Now I see a parallel to the Deaf Culture attitude in the Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools, and I do not like it a bit! If a high school kid copies her Brash or abrasive manner of dealing with people, are they MORE or less likely to get offered and be able to keep a decent job? I have also lived on the East Coast. Abrasive behavior doesn't enhance the effectiveness of a good team leader out there, either--at least not among the people I lived and worked with. SOOooooo, no. I don't think Minneapolis people "are such delicate flowers that no one can talk to us except in a quiet, self-effacing way, being sure to dance around the issue and hem and haw for a while. Neither are we flower fairies who need to be coaxed out from under the foliage with honeyed words." I do think I'm unhappy that we don't seem to have a Superintendent who sees the importance of leading by example, particularly since she is definitely a role model for both the young women in the schools and the people of color. Emilie Quast SE Como (parent of two graduated MPS kids) 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
