tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post7294586775005459362..comments2024-03-28T10:49:14.510-05:00Comments on Horizons: Obama administration tackling the school to prison pipelineNancy LeTourneauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-28020700430642418512013-07-23T01:07:58.089-05:002013-07-23T01:07:58.089-05:00It's a good thing to tackle the "school t...It's a good thing to tackle the "school to prison" pipeline, and getting rid of "zero tolerance" so that early offenders are given second and third chances is also a good thing.<br /><br />But you go overboard -- as Obama does in his speech -- in implying that all black male disproportionality is rooted in racism, and that it has no validity.<br /><br />You imply as he does that these cases are merely the basis of profiling and in fact fake -- that if only we gather the statistics, why, we'll blow this thing out of the water.<br /><br />But you haven't. If you can find unfair cases and even false and fabricated cases in Missouri, you can't find them everywhere.<br /><br />In New York City's schools, we know that in fact it's not the case that these are all fake and all the result of "racism". Why? Because we live it every day. The experiences of my kids in the tiny white minority in these schools, including assaults that caused me to have to safety-transfer my son, were very real and not fabricated. One case involved a triple felon who at the age of 19 was still repeatedly returned to the regular school class room where he unsurprisngly repeated his offenses.<br /><br />You can't say that in *New York City* that the problem is white teachers, as it is in some other state in suburbia. We have black principles, black assistant principles, and black teachers, as well as white and Hispanic. In situation after situation, you see the violent incidents mainly involve blacks attacking other blacks.<br /><br />You really need to look at the facts unflinchingly, and not be driven to politically-correct sweeping generalizations. If we find that in fact the statistics of the disproportionate number of black youths is true, then it doesn't follow that we have to feed the "prison industrial complex," a concept that is tendentious all its own, of course. (In many of these cases, as I have personally witnesses, every effort is made to put offenders into alternative sentencing programs and diversion programs.)<br /><br />I think there are reforms that have to be made -- an end to "stop and frisk"; a better bail system more accessible to the poor; more lawyers; better diversion programs that really help people.<br /><br />But first you have to admit the truth of the situation. It's not merely about profiling and racism, and when you see these crimes play out in a school with black leadership and nearly all-black population, perhaps you'll concede that. The country is diverse, and not every school fits a pattern.Catherine A. Fitzpatrickhttp://3dblogger.typepad.com/wired_statenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-43266205552060726312012-03-13T16:33:18.872-05:002012-03-13T16:33:18.872-05:00What the hell is wrong with Sowell? He's the ...What the hell is wrong with Sowell? He's the same guy that said The Civil Rights Movement wasn't necessary. I know it's hard to believe that young black children are being discriminated against in our schools. I like what Jane Elliot said about the whole thing: "We don't have dropouts we have forceouts. We make things so uncomfortable that they quit. Then we say they don't want to be educated." <br /><br />Cornel West, Thomas Sowell, Arianna Huffington, and the rest of those dipshits can fuck themselves with a rusted screwdriver. <br /><br />Vic78 <br /><br />P.S. Excuse my language. Having to tolerate these assholes upsets me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-37701304895227177142012-03-13T12:38:31.333-05:002012-03-13T12:38:31.333-05:00I just want to offer a big THANK YOU for even brin...I just want to offer a big THANK YOU for even bringing up this crucial subject and problem.<br /><br />Not to sound radical BUT for a long time I have viewed these schools as minimum security prisons. When childen begin dropping out at age 9 there is a big problem. In too many school it is a soul killing experience. <br /><br />Incompetent teachers is a problem but so is the academic content, nothing that relates to life as they know it or will know it. Useless content which has no relevance to this new world they must live in.<br /><br />Books written by out-of-touch people (largely white), approved by school board by out-of-touch people (largely white or not empowered to protest AA/Asian/Hispanic). <br /><br />We should weep with the agony of what we are doing to our children. If this is our future, we will not survive as a nation.<br />Smilingl8dyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com