Longtime list members know that I frequently have disagreed with Mr. Atherton on education issues over the years. But when Mr. Atherton correctly points out that there is inherent racism in the enormous achievement gap that exists between white and nonwhite students in the MPS, I don't believe that is either name-calling nor a rules violation. If Mr. Goldman feels tainted by those words, perhaps he ought to consider how "segregated" even supposedly "integrated" schools such as Southwest have become. Many of the students in the prestigious IB program there are white; most of the nonwhite (a plurality of them Latino, I believe) students are not enrolled in IB. The gap in class as well as race is obvious in the hallways and cafeteria. Nor is it any secret that parents who know how to work the system have created what amounts to enclaves--overwhelmingly white in racial composition--in many schools in the southwest quadrant of the MPS district. To deny or ignore this is to accept the status quo. And as Mr. Atherton properly reminds us, we should be ashamed of a school system that officially fails to graduate nearly half of its students, with the failure rate disproportionately falling on nonwhite students. I take issue with Mr. Atherton's belief that endemic issues surrounding poverty are not at least as much to blame for this shameful situation as the skillful machinations of upper-middle class parents on behalf of their children or the inaction of MPS administrators. I also think it disingenous to separate "culture" and "poverty," given how much of an impact one's economic status has on one's environment and way of thinking about his/her place in the world--in other words, on one's culture. Hypersensitivity to frank discussion about the pervasive impact of race in our society is one way racism is perpetuated. And lazily adopting the notion that most racism in this country is the result of "the Klan" and its sympathizers is conveniently counterproductive to rooting out racist behavior. As a white parent working on behalf of my child in the MPS system, I acknowledge my privileged role in this process. I attempt to mitigate my culpability whenever possible...so long as it does not hurt the quality of my son's education. But to deny that racism is not present in the way MPS functions and dysfunctions, and to deny that my son probably benefits more from the functions and suffers less from the dysfunctions because of his race, class, and, yes, culture, is to be less than honest with myself and our public education system.
Britt Robson Lyndale ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Minneapolis Issues'" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 9:44 AM Subject: RE: [Mpls] Doug Grow's Mythology > > Mr. Atherton's use of name-calling ("racist," "segregation") in this > message, in my opinion, crosses the boundaries of polite discourse > and, possibly, the rules of conduct for this list. > > It's hard for me to see how we will ever form a coalition of concerned > citizens to build a better school system for all, if any honest > difference of opinion is to be met with this kind of abuse. > > I invite the rest of the list to read my comments: I agree with > Mr. Atherton that the schools need fixing. I don't recall EVER > implying or stating that poor children could not be educated. > > All I have said was that we should try to level the school system > UPWARD, not DOWNWARD, and attempt not to harm the parts of the system > that function well, in fixing those that don't function. > > For that, I get branded as some kind of Klan member. Thanks a lot. > > I put it to you that it is counterproductive to abuse the people who > are willing to stay in the city and slug it out to make the schools > work well for all. There are plenty of people who have voted with > their feet and left the school system altogether. I suppose if one > wishes to swell their numbers, this is a fine way to do it. I don't > see how that will help anyone. > > -- > > Robert P. Goldman > ECCO > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > REMINDERS: > 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
