Britt Robson wrote: > 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.
I am not denying that poverty does have some impact, but I believe that culture is more important. There is no study that I have been able to find (I've look for years), but anecdotally you need only look at examples of families whose cultures emphasize the importance of knowledge and learning to see that income is not the determining factor; e.g., look at some Asian immigrant cultures and Jewish immigrants in the early part of the last century, or Black families where there is both personal and cultural support for educational priorities (Note: It's not enough to -think- that education is important; almost everyone reports that they believe that education is important). There's a professor at the U whose preliminary investigations show that the more carefully you define SES the smaller its effects on acheivement. (That is, when SES is loosely defined the more likely studies are to find what they are looking for: that poverty is an important factor. The latter is my conclusion). > 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. I am also not interested in "...rooting out racist behavior." I am interested in insuring that all students have equal opportunities for success. Prompting the MPS to narrow the acheivement gap though educational and institutional reforms does not necessitate the rooting out of racist behavior. I would just hope that White parents realize that there is implicit racism in the way that the District functions and that they support policy changes that reduce its influence. Michael Atherton Prospect Park 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
