tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745081.post3799425430659174609..comments2023-10-25T12:01:08.734-04:00Comments on A Political Season: The End Game is Not Diversity, Its EducationPolitical Seasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09609253738367441591noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745081.post-27065450593747992352009-03-06T19:11:00.000-05:002009-03-06T19:11:00.000-05:00Hello Aaron... First off, let me thank you for com...Hello Aaron... First off, let me thank you for commenting. But let me also say that I don't think you understand our position. We've been engaged with our district on this issue for a number of years now, and perhaps by reading that post, you were not afforded the benefit of hearing all of the conversation that had taken place before. Understandable... <BR/><BR/>I wrote a rather lenghty post about a year ago that specifically speaks to the idea you raised in your comment; that by arguing against re-segregation, we were advancing some romantic notion of black children magically benefitting from proximity to white children. You are correct in your assertion that proximity has no inherent value and that the goal should be a quality education for all children. We share those sentiments completely. The $64,000,000 question is, how do we realistically achieve that. Bearing in mind of course, that there are millions of children in school now, who can not wait for a national shift in consciousness, the erection of hundreds of thousands of accredited and financed charter schools, the rewriting of several major tenets in teacher contracts, demographic and/or cultural shifts in thinking regarding education, or any other abstract notions. We have to soberly address the questions: "What do out children need?" & "What can we change?" <BR/><BR/>When you have a few minutes, click on the Education tab in the right sidebar of our page... I've written more than 40 articles on Education. Check this one out when you have a chance. <BR/><BR/>http://www.wichitanaacpblog.com/2007/09/diversity-and-achievement-post-deseg.html<BR/><BR/>I would tend to agree with you that diversity for diversity's sake lacks substance. (In fact, a few years ago, I very Publicly argued against busing for deseg and for neighborhood schools) but that's not our point. Since then, we have reviewed a TON of research and literally hundreds of data points which point to succesful evidence-based education strategies. We've met and/or spoken with Nationally recognized experts and pioneers in the field of education and education research. Since then I have changed my position; not based on any fanciful notions and/or historic ties between civil rights and integration (and Certainly not because of any lack of critical thinking), but precisely because we want the same things you called for. And Ironically Aaron, this is a necessary part of the strategy to get us there. <BR/><BR/>You've seen it, haven't you? If I'm not mistaken, you're from Indianapolis right? My old company (Ryan Intl Airlines) used to have an office in Indy, so I've spent quite a bit of time there... But Aaron, you've seen what happened since IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools) went to the "select Schools" plan back in 93. You've seen what happened to the education system and performance outcomes. The National Center for Education Statistics listed Indianapolis as having only a 30.5% graduation rate which was an Aggregated number. IPS "defended itself" by saying the number should actually be around 40%. <BR/><BR/>A successful strategy will require that several key components be assembled together. I can assure you, the post you commented on is NOT our "strategy", it is only one leg of a 15-legged stool; a single piece of a much larger puzzle... :) <BR/><BR/>But the one area where I think we DO disagree is on the substance of the doll tests. To think of them merely as 'emotional sweeteners' is to miss the real point and the brilliance of the legal argument in Brown v Board. <BR/><BR/>The Strategy of the movement was to end legalized segregation. (At this point you have to separate the strategy from the vision) The actual 'case' of Brown V Board was far more philosophical than concrete. <BR/><BR/>The Brown's weren't suing to move their child from a poorly supplied, underfunded school into a 'better' school. In fact, the case was elevated 'because' the schools in question were equal, and only then could the philosophical argument be made. The argument in Brown V Board was NOT that black children should not be segregated into poorly attended or inferior facilities. That had already been established in Plessy V Fergussen which called for facilities to be separate BUT EQUAL. Had the Brown's come from an inferior school, the courts could simply have ruled that the Topeka District increase spending to achieve "Equity". <BR/><BR/>The legal argument was far deeper than that. The NAACP argued that there was a genuine and demonstrable harm imposed upon a black child by creating entire institutions just so others would not be burdened by their presence. The psychological effects (which would manifest as self-hatred, anti-social behavior, defeatist attitudes, pessimistic outlooks, etc) could be demonstrated and assessed, and had been in Dr. Clark's 1950's doll tests. The Doll tests were not 'sweeteners', they were absolutely foundational to the case and are still applicable today in an even Larger context. We are now witnessing the manifestation of the inevitable outcomes of the Doll tests, but our Educational system has fallen so far that we no longer have the historical information or context necessary to make the correct diagnosis. We treat Brown V Board as just an old court case from a by-gone era with little relevance for us today. And in so doing, we disregard the hundreds of hours of psychological, sociological, legal, and educational research laid out for us by some of the most gifted minds we have yet to produce. The fact that the doll tests could be randomly replicated in 2007 means that for all that we have accomplished, we have yet to dismantle the psychological engine that powers many of our community's dysfunctions. When many of our children look at academic achievement and english mastery as "white", how in the world could we disregard the doll tests? As those children with those sentiments enter the work force without the educational resume or language skills to compete, how in the world can we afford to ignore the doll tests? The doll tests are a symptom; they are pointing us towards something, they are trying to tell us about a larger and far more fundamental problem. THAT'S what Thurgood was saying. That's why Brown V Board is one of the most significant cases ever heard by the Supreme Court. And that's why the Doll tests matter. We shouldn't trivialize them; we do so at our own peril. But I really do Thank you for the dialogue!KMyleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04487100068273663529noreply@blogger.com