There are some things that I see a certain segment of Black people do which make me cry inside with shame and make my blood boil in anger at the same time. Their actions have no basis in logical consistency - even though Clayton and Gwinnett are two separate and distinct systems and thus these operatives are acting independent of the other.
While it is true that they act independently in theory they are bound by the same common motivation - the desire to provide the best education for their children. Their Black children.
Thus the two articles that I will report on about the political/racial educational dramas going on in metro Atlanta.
In Gwinnett County Georgia:
AJC: Gwinnett NAACP calls for superintendent’s resignation
In Clayton County Georgia:
AJC: Clayton superintendent will stay, mayors tell parents
In summary - the Black activists in Gwinnett County, in a power play, are seeking to topple the leader of their top performing school system. In Clayton County, a district which has recently lost its accreditation - the school chief will remain. I realize that the dynamics in Clayton are different (ie: their leader is new) but the underlying facts are the same. One of the reasons that Clayton County got in trouble because it had a revolving door in its leadership over the past 8 years and this lead to the void in leadership and direction that brought it to its present form.
In this case the Gwinnett NAACP is not operating in the best interests of the EDUCATION of their children. They are working to exert their POWER after feeling that they have been "dissed" by the superintendent's refusal to apologize to them as they demanded. Most people are satisfied with assuming "racism" and working to expunge the offender. If only this was the case.
First - the vast majority of the Black people who living in Gwinnett County today MIGRATED THERE from failing school systems in Dekalb and Atlanta. A good number of them moved there for the quality schools. If we ignore the political ramblings that have been present in this school systems that they have departed (Dekalb has gone through several leaders in a cloud of controversy and Clayton's difficulties are well documented) this issue in Gwinnett should be seen as a PATTERN that develops when a CERTAIN ELEMENT OF BLACK PEOPLE gain power over a school entity.
In evaluating these two districts it becomes clear that these Black Operatives don't have THE EDUCATION OF THESE KIDS as their PRIMARY driving force. Race, Politics and Ideology subsume all other interests.
In Gwinnett the issue stemmed from the study of why Black students receive more disciplinary actions that all others. In the past 2 months this issue has been tabled and the goal of bringing down the superintendent has taken its place with the NAACP. We are now derailed from our focus on the key question that needed resolution and are instead engaged in a pissing contest.
AJC's Maureen Downey Nails It: Two spurious claims of racism serve to trivialize the real thing
2 comments:
You probably are no longer posting here but I hope you read this comment. With regard to Gwinnett County: You do not have all the facts. If y knew that more than 60% of disciplinary panels involved African American or Latino students, perhaps your 'take' on this issue would have been different. Having one or two token employees in the distroct office does not absolve one of their racist practices. The demographic in this county has been chaning for the past 7-8 years, yet the teaching/administrative positions have not changed. Latinos make-up approximately 12-13% of total student population, yet you can count the number of Latino administrators on one hand. The school board has been sued, and lost, for these diaparities. Obviously, you and Maureen Downey get your facts from the same place. Better yet, perhaps you live in an exclusive community like Downey who can criticize charter schools and minimize the opinions and feelings of minority parents. BTW, she is not even minority. I so love how White people try to tell minorities how they should feel about things. Luckily, there were some White people who were also offended and disgusted by Wilbanks' statement. All is not lost.
[quote]If y knew that more than 60% of disciplinary panels involved African American or Latino students, perhaps your 'take' on this issue would have been different. Having one or two token employees in the distroct office does not absolve one of their racist practices. The demographic in this county has been chaning for the past 7-8 years, yet the teaching/administrative positions have not changed[/quote]
I am a resident of Metro-Atlanta. I have several friends who live in Gwinnett County.
Again - the context.
Most Black people have migrated to Gwinnett County for the purposes of gaining access to the favorable schools.
You talk about the lack of DIVERSITY in the school administration. Sir - if we reset the clock back about 20 years - the same comments could be made about Dekalb and Clayton County.
Today there is massive DIVERSITY in these districts yet.....parents are fleeing these systems in order to procure quality educational services for their children.
DIVERSITY has been acquired but what has been lost in Dekalb and Clayton?
With respect to the quantity of disciplinary action against non-White students - this is a problem all over.
It appears that the problem is with the confluence of cultures.
A recent family gathering heard a cousin of mine tell about the struggles of a Black male in an overwhelmingly White school. Daily racial "prods" from the White students provoked him to act out physically. In as much as he was so frequently the common denominator in the confrontations the LILY WHITE school administrators too often viewed him as the problem.
With all due respect - as I choose which "problem" to focus upon - I choose to invest in the larger PROBLEM DOMAIN - the majority Black school systems.
You appear to be less troubled by the sheer number of disciplinary problems in a majority Black system such as Dekalb or Clayton or Atlanta than you are that in a system like Gwinnett there appears to be a DISPROPORTIONATE number of offenses beyond the population of Black students.
Thus you are inclined to put the onus upon ME to explain what this proves if not RACISM.
The truth is that even in All Black schools you won't find disciplinary totals that are less than majority White settings. The only thing we can note is that there will be no response from the NAACP against these all Black school settings.
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