[Durham INC] New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas

[Tom Clark]

Thanks to all for this very thoughtful discussion.

I've always advocated for racial integration in schools and in general.
 But after seeing the same battles over and over, it became apparent to me,
perhaps to the point Christine's is making, that, economically speaking
anyway, integration is an implicit promise to the community that there will
*never* be enough resources to provide every child with a quality
education.

That is, there will always be some higher-end standard, whether say, the
pre-merger Durham County School system, or some magnet, private or charter
school scheme, that some in the community will demand for their own
children, but that we 'simply can't afford' to provide for each and every
child, and that if that affects some groups more than others, well, 'what
are you going to do?'

Indeed, too much of what we call 'community,' the very 'village' that it
takes to raise a child, is formed by the contention between groups created
on either side of this divide--the chief, but hardly only, example of this
phenomenon being Dr. King's 'most segregated hour' each Sunday.

I know some feel it is unrealistic, that it reduces the 'riddle' Carl
speaks of, to some pie-in-the-sky, unsolvable proposition, to say so, but I
think the basic truth here is this:

We probably won't really solve this problem until we have the same
confidence that arranging for quality education for everyone could produce
better citizens as we do that arranging for a military that can conduct
several anti-insurgent wars in the Middle East while simultaneously staying
ready to fight nuclear wars with Russia or China or Iran, really makes us
secure.

Not that we shouldn't keep trying.  Thanks again to all.

TC

On Sat, May 19, 2012 at 2:07 PM, Pat Carstensen <pats1717 at hotmail.com>wrote:

>  To Rev. Kenney's point, this old article is still useful
>
> http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/08/thin-ice-stereotype-threat-and-black-college-students/4663/
>
> "My colleagues and I have called such features "stereotype threat"—the
> threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype, or the
> fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype.
> Everyone experiences stereotype threat. We are all members of some group
> about which negative stereotypes exist, from white males and Methodists to
> women and the elderly. And in a situation where one of those stereotypes
> applies—a man talking to women about pay equity, for example, or an aging
> faculty member trying to remember a number sequence in the middle of a
> lecture—we know that we may be judged by it."
>
> We should also be aware that to a shocking degree, little white boys are
> NOT sitting next to little white boys in our schools.  There are 5 white
> boys at Glenn, 3 white boys at Y. E. Smith, 14 at Neal.  Even when the
> statistics look integrated, even if the home rooms look integrated, when
> the AIG teacher shows up to take the gifted kids to the accelerated math
> and reading classes, most of the white kids get up to leave (my theory is
> that all the dumb white kids are in Chapel Hill (-:).
>
> I agree with Christine that we could be spending less on bean-counting.
>  The point of all the choice we have is that if people vote with their
> feet, we'll need to control less.  Some kids need a smaller school, some
> kids want an arts-centered curriculum, some kids might benefit from a
> single-sex school, no-one wants their kids where 2nd graders write about
> killing cops when they can do a free-write.  I don't know what we do with
> schools with a lot of 2nd graders emulating older brothers and uncles who
> aren't exactly living inside the law.
>
> The problem with just going back to where "minds are identical" (beyond
> that no two minds are identical and only parents can really judge about
> what qualities they want to see in their kid and want to have the school
> match) is the degree to which life opportunities come from informal
> networks, many of which are formed in neighborhoods and schools.
>
> Regards, pat
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> From: revcwkii at hotmail.com
> To: christinebbd at yahoo.com
> Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 16:01:31 +0000
> CC: inc-list at rtpnet.org; inc-list at durhaminc.org
> Subject: Re: [Durham INC] New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas
>
>
>
> This is a difficult riddle to solve.  I offer that given the disparity
> between black male achievement and that of other demographic groups,
> including black females, there is something deeper at the core.  The only
> alternative would be to assert a cognitive difference between black males
> and the rest of the population. Let's not go there.
>
> Is the difference stirred by race, poverty or something deeper.  My point,
> in the beginning of the last email, was to bear mention of the multiple
> layers to this problem.  It is true that schools aren't responsible for
> fixing all that aisles society. I agree that it has been easy to blame
> schools for all that pains us, and that simply isn't a proper assessment of
> what is taking place within the schools.
>
> What I do know, as a black male who has raised black children, is there is
> a difference in the psyche of black males that often goes unmentioned
> within the context of education reform.  I know what that feels like first
> hand as one who was highly gifted, the product of a middle class upbringing
> and enrolled in a school with an overwhelming white majority.  I've seen
> how the same impacted my son, who graduated from college with the highest
> GPA in his department, who, despite his above average intellect, finds it
> difficult to move past how he is viewed.
>
> At issue, in part, is how black males are viewed, and how making the
> transition to all things considered normative is attached to ones ability
> to gain affirmation from those holding their future.  That's a difficult
> concept to understand when standing outside that struggle, and I get that.
>  Lifting it here is important due to how often this pops up in
> conversations with black males, both young and old.  The psychological
> damage is profound.
>
> What does that look like? Why try when doing so doesn't matter.  Black
> males have to contend with how they are viewed before they set foot in a
> classroom.  Their self-esteem is damaged by all the hard work that goes
> into having to prove that they aren't what others think.  White males don't
> have to contend with that.  That dread is deep, and the wounds impact ones
> ability to remain focused on work that, in the minds of so many, will fail
> to produce what is promised.  It's simply too hard to work past all of that.
>
> Get this.  I deal with it every day. Even now, with all the degrees and
> awards dangling from my wall, it
> is an uphill battle.  Even now, despite all of that, I can't find work.
>  Despite the load of applications sent out begging someone to give me a
> try, no one calls. No one. Is it because I'm black.  Maybe. Maybe not, but
> it certainly hurts when less qualified white men get the nod when I know
> what I bring.  It fuels a radical spirit that so many can't understand.
>  That ache launches a deeper struggle not to lash out because the promise
> came back null and void.
>
> My son, King Kenney, has the same struggle.  Despite his incredible
> talents he's overlooked.  He, like his dad, wonders why me? What is it
> about? How do you inspire black men when the end result is to strip
> yourself of so much that defines who you are and what remains at the end of
> it all is the creation of the imagination of someone else.
>
> What does that look like at the end of the day? We're asked to volunteer
> and speak out, but how do we feed our families.  Imagine being a black boy
> sitting next to a white boy who gets called on rather them him? Imagine how
> it feels knowing that you're just as smart but not being treated as if that
> is true.  Imagine not getting that job, and not even being considered after
> playing by all the rules.  In time you simply give up.  You give up because
> none of it matters.
>
> Until we address how we think about black boys, honestly, none of this
> matters.  And that comes from a man fully aware of what it means to stand
> on the other side of all that potential.
>
> That's the issue no one wants to discuss
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 08:10:39 -0700
> From: christinebbd at yahoo.com
> Subject: Re: New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas
> To: revcwkii at hotmail.com
> CC: inc-list at durhaminc.org; inc-list at rtpnet.org
>
> Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.  Your thoughtful explanations
> of the problems, which you've seen from first hand experience, match what
> I've seen as an outside observer.  Perhaps it's because I was on the
> outside looking in that I'm able to view it from a different perspective.
> Here are my thoughts on what you've shared with me...
>
> You said "It is certain that their are multiple reasons behind the
> failure in public education.  My point is a simple one - that the merging
> of the school systems is a work in progress that is hindered due to the
> implications of race and class divide."
>
> Respectfully, I don't agree progress is hindered due to race and class
> divide.  I"ll return to the premise that white males sit next to black
> males in the same classroom.  I sat with both in the classroom many times
> (as a teacher at Agape Corner School).  What was the difference?  Both
> races have bright, intelligent minds.  As they sit at their school desk,
> both have the same opportunities and choices to listen/learn.  Generally,
> there is no difference between a black child and a white child, a rich
> child and a poor child, with regard to having the ability to learn.
>
> And this is where I draw a line.  A school's function is to educate.
> Period.  Inside the classroom, there is no implication of race and class
> divide. A black child can learn math.  Period.  Does his race halt him from
> learning math?  Does being poor halt his ability to learn?  (One could
> insert an arguement here such as 'if a child can't afford to eat breakfast,
> then yeah, being poor would affect his ability to learn', but for the
> moment let me continue with what I'm trying to say...)   A school's
> function is to educate.  It is not an educator's job to solve social
> problems.  In the 50's (correct me if I'm wrong?  I wasn't alive after all)
> social problems were outside the schoolroom. Yes, they were segregated...
> but were they working?  Black families were solid back then, weren't they?
> Yes, they were repressed, but beyond the racial/class divide, weren't black
> families solid?
>
> It was in the 60's social problems outside the classroom were brought
> inside in an effort to solve the racial/class divide.  And education took a
> back seat to the social problems.  We've been attacking the public school
> system for half a century, with demands that an educator solve social
> problems.  And that's not their job.  An educator's job is to educate.
> Period.
>
> Get back to education the way it works.  It works when it's segregated.
> Like it or not, it works.  Get back to the job of educating minds that are
> identical!  Let the black community celebrate their rich heritage and
> culture!   Education dollars are wasted trying to solve social problems
> through busing, bean counting in an effort to spread the poor equally among
> the rich... on and on it goes. Close down the high schools with thousands
> of kids, and get them back to their community where "it takes a village"
> can help with the social problems.  "It takes a village" was shot to hell
> with desegregation.
>
> Desegregation did the job it was supposed to do in one sense, racial
> inequality did disappear nationwide (remember, I'm from the outside looking
> in) ... let desegregation retire so educators can get back to the job of
> educating.  Yeah, a neighborhood school is going be segregated.  Solve the
> segregation issue OUTSIDE the classroom.
>
> I'm trying not to write a book (smile).. and you wrote other comments I'd
> like to address, but since this is a list-serve it might be best if I
> narrow the focus of my email to just this point?  I hope you'll forgive me
> for not addressing the rest, it's not that I lack a desire to respond.
>
> Christine Chamberlain
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Carl Kenney <revcwkii at hotmail.com>
> *To:* christinebbd at yahoo.com
> *Cc:* inc-list at durhaminc.org; inc-list at rtpnet.org
> *Sent:* Saturday, May 19, 2012 9:32 AM
> *Subject:* RE: New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas
>
>  It is certain that their are multiple reasons behind the failure in
> public education.  My point is a simple one - that the merging of the
> school systems is a work in progress that is hindered due to the
> implications of race and class divide.  Your argument is making the same
> contention.  At issue, at the end of the day, is how do we do better at
> solving the achievement gap?  To deny the feelings of those parents who,
> for whatever reason, feel not being heard, obstructs progress toward a real
> solution.  My point is not to divide, but rather to move us forward in a
> way that benefits all students, regardless of advantage or the assumption
> of having more.  Your argument seems to end on the same page as mine, that
> something isn't working.
>
>
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-- 
Tom Clark
919-274-7463
tomcie at gmail.com
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