13-Yr Old Allegedly Persecuted by Teachers for “Radical” Essay on Frederick Douglass
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” Frederick Douglass
On Saturday, February 18, 2012, the Frederick Douglass Foundation of New York presented the first Spirit of Freedom award to Jada Williams, a 13-year old city of Rochester student. Miss Williams wrote an essay on her impressions of Frederick Douglass’ first autobiography the Narrative of the Life. This was part of an essay contest, but her essay was never entered. It offended her teachers so much that, after harassment from teachers and school administrators at School #3, Miss Williams was forced to leave the school.
We at the Frederick Douglass Foundation honored her because her essay actually demonstrates that she understood the autobiography, even though it might seem a bit esoteric to most 13-year olds. In her essay, she quotes part of the scene where Douglass’ slave master catches his wife teaching then slave Frederick to read. During a speech about how he would be useless as a slave if he were able to read, Mr. Auld, the slave master, castigated his wife.
Miss Williams quoted Douglass quoting Mr. Auld: “If you teach that n****r (speaking of myself) how to read, there will be no keeping him. It will forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.”
Miss Williams personalized this to her own situation. She reflected on how the “white teachers” do not have enough control of the classroom to successfully teach the minority students in Rochester. While she herself is more literate than most, due to her own perseverance and diligence, she sees the fact that so many of the other “so-called ‘unteachable’” students aren’t learning to read as a form of modern-day slavery. Their illiteracy holds them back in society.
Her call to action was then in her summary: “A grand price was paid in order for us to be where we are today; but in my mind we should be a lot further, so again I encourage the white teachers to instruct and I encourage my people to not just be a student, but become a learner.”
This offended her English teacher so much that the teacher copied the essay for other teachers and for the Principal. After that, Miss Williams’ mother and father started receiving phone calls from numerous teachers, all claiming that their daughter is “angry.” Miss Williams, mostly a straight-A student, started receiving very low grades, and she was kicked out of class for laughing and threatened with in-school suspension.
There were several meetings with teachers and administrators, but all failed to answer Miss Williams’ mother’s questions. The teachers refused to show her the tests and work that she had supposedly performed so poorly on. Instead, the teachers and administrators branded her a problem.
Unable to take anymore of the persecution, they pulled her from School #3. Wanting to try another school, they were quickly informed that that school was filled and told to try “this school.” During her first day at this new school, she witnessed four fights, and other students asked her if she was put here because she fights too much.
Long story short, they took an exceptional student, with the radical idea that kids should learn to read, and put her in a school of throwaway students who are even more unmanageable than the average student in her previous school. To protect their daughter, her parents have had to remove her from school, and her mother has had to quit her job so she can take care of Miss Williams.
To date, the administrators of School #3 have refused to release her records, even though she no longer attends the school, and they have repeatedly given her mother the run around. We at the Frederick Douglass Foundation have contacted school administrators in regards to this situation and have also been told to hit the pavement.
That’s what we intend to do. If this school will sacrifice the welfare of an above-average student whose essay, that they asked her to write, they find offensive, we intend to make everyone aware of this monstrous injustice. The school has a job, and it is not doing it. We would like as many folks as possible to call the Principal of School #3 and complain about this injustice. Her name is Miss Connie Wehner, and she can be reached at (585) 454-3525. This treatment of Jada Williams cannot stand.
March 15-17, 2012
4th ANNUAL FREDERICK
DOUGLASS FOUNDATION
LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Washington Marriott Hotel at the Metro Center
GET TICKETS HEREFrederick Douglass
I have one great political idea. . . . That idea is an old one…..The best expression of it, I have found in the Bible. It is in substance, “Righteousness exalteth a nation; sin is a reproach to any people” [Proverbs 14:34]. This constitutes my politics – the negative and positive of my politics, and the whole of my politics. . . . I feel it my duty to do all in my power to infuse this idea into the public mind, that it may speedily be recognized and practiced upon by our people.
This is true…there is an unspoken understanding amongst Whites to respond when a Black person speaks up in a radically truthful manner. They don’t like it and the conspire ………..
I pray this racially motivated injustice gets NATIONAL attention. This sort of injustice has happened in Rochester, NY more than folks may think. I had a similar situation happen to me in 2007 at Monroe Communty College. I was dismissed/kicked out as a Human Service major due to writing a required report that exposed racism and inadequacies within the educational dept. The powers that be….th…en had the audacity to file FALSE criminal charges because I did not shut up. The Divison of Human Rights in Rochester covered this up and I have been “black balled” in this town ever since. I have paperwork to prove my truth !!! This situation involved a white girl….she went on to graduate inspite of NOT doing required work and I was dismissed . Oh yeah, it happened. Many people knew, but did not seem interested or surprised.
Hopefully…the right people are watching now!
An “unspoken understanding amongst whites”?. Wow, as a white man who completely agreed with this article on how offensive the treatment of this girl was I must point out how racist your remark was. “They” don’t like it and “they” conspire. Maybe you don’t notice that referring to whites as “they” is also racist. I’m white and my father was married to a black woman before my mother. I have a black brother, and an adopted hispanic brother.I regularly try to help out in poor communities in my area. Also, its ignorant people, not white people specifically who commit racism. Or maybe you haven’t learnt yet that racism is committed by all races. When I was growing up in ny I was jumped a few times by a group of black kids who jumped me because I was white (which they had no issue of informing me about). However I have never referred to blacks in general as racist or “they”, those kids were simply angry and ignorant. Perhaps you didnt mean to say what you said that way but think before you speak, or you wont be doing anything to help a problem, just further dividing it.
I don’t think Terasa Harris waz singlin u out Matthew Tomlinson.
U should think b4 u speak cuz u ain’t blk & u will neva suffer bondage or the stigmatism of bein blk. Blk ppl learned racism frm white ppl. So u can say we wrong 4 labeling u az they or them ppl, but tht iz exactly what u r cuz u ain’t blk.
I’m black but saying what color I am should not be an automatic credential saying that I am right or wrong in my opinions. While we, as a race, may have learned racism from our oppressors it is our own fault that we continue to perfect and propogate it among ourselves. We need to remember that we did not get here by ourselves. Yes, we were brought here as slaves by some whites but we were also freed through the help and efforts of whites. “They” were safe houses along the Underground Railroad. “They” marched alongside us in Alabama. “They” rode with us as Freedom Riders. “They” voted for President Obama. “They” are us with less melanin!
We, as a human race, are never going to find perfect racial harmony on this side of heaven but we won’t even get within shouting distance of it if in our language and attitude we continue to be divisive. Mr. Tomlinson is not speaking up because he was singled out. Quite the opposite, he is speaking because he was, by the color of skin, included in an unfair generalization. I would have the same complaint if someone had said that blacks have issues with whites.
Pronouns are handy things but not for blanket generalizations.
I just wanted to thank you for such an awesome post. It’s this thinking of each other and blaming each other as groups for the actions of individuals that divides us along these lines.
We’re all humans, it’s time we started acting like it.
What does all that have to do with this child being persecuted for telling the truth?
Terasa and Melony,
You are making Matthew’s point for him. It’s this narrow minded thinking that perpetuates hate and racism. I’m sure the kids that jumped Matthew didn’t learn to discriminate on their own. You both are judging all white people based on the views of a much smaller faction of racists. What these teachers did is indeed heinous! As a black teacher in an urban school district I see first hand the continuos cycle of the “ghetto mentality” being passed on. More often than not my greatest challenges are not always the students, but their parents! Black people need to stop looking to white people as the source of all their problems and look at themselves and their communities. Start by making education a priority instead of glorifying rappers, athletes, and drug dealers. I see potential being squandered everyday and at times feel powerless because I can’t force people to be motivated to learn….I really could go on and on about the true underlying issues, but I’m don’t have the time.
S/n judging by your pic Melony, you are too old to be typing b4, iz, blk, az, and cuz. If you really want your comments to be taken seriously, I’d suggest you stop. An English course may help too.
*high five* that last comment…I thought it but didn’t say it! LOL
Was that really necessary. Insults like that only highlights personal ignorance, which is for me, worse than cyber jargon.
Moreover, how are we going to agree to disagree and come together to make sure that this issue does not go unpunished? From my perspective, we all have different perspectives of the problem but the fact remains that there is a problem. Maybe you can be effective in addressing it from your end and others can address it from there end. However, we as educators, professionals, administrators and policy makers will not resolve the problem by slanging mud at each other and pointing fingers. There has to be a better way.
Tanya,
I joke that here in America we have a process for dealing with problems. First we figure out who to blame, then we create a committee to study the problem. There is no third step. Your right there is a problem, and the question is what are we going to do about, beside flap our gums? We do all have schools in our own neighborhood.What is going on in those schools and can we put some pressure to get things changed.
You are right in the the teachers dropped the ball. How many students do you get before you get one that really wants to learn? This is the type of student most teachers dream of, what can make teaching worthwhile if you have even a few of these.
I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist. However the more we go out looking for it (that includes everything in life) the more you will find it. I am white, my husband is black, and we have 3 children. I don’t think dwelling on the past, or blaming a group for the behaviors in the past help us in anyway. If we want to get past racism, we need to look past race.
Honestly, you should take care on how you present yourself.
Ever SINGLE race, nationality, and creed has been subjugated to slavery at some point in recorded history. Every. Single. One! In particular, white people had been sold as slaves for THOUSANDS of years in the Arab slave trade. So take your suffrage BS elsewhere. You have never been a slave. Never! Just like I never have. Blaming white people who had nothing to do with African slavery in the US is less than childish, it is infantile.
So there … you don’t know what it’s like to be stigmatized because you’re white! You don’t know what it’s like to be stigmatized because you’re Irish! You don’t know what it’s like to be stigmatized because you Polish! And on and on, because apparently you don’t know a lot of things. If I were you, I would take this 13yr olds advice, and educate yourself.
Looking at the composition of this person’s comments, it is apparent the lack of English in the structure. This is the results we do not need, Black, White, or whatever complexion.
RE: An “unspoken understanding amongst whites.” You are confusing bigotry with racism. Bigotry is a type of mental illness in individuals that separates human beings into groups, and values some group(s) while de-valuing other groups. Sometimes this comes about because of deeply traumatic treatment of one’s family and friends by another group (I’ve known concentration camp survivors who hated anything German). African Americans have, as a group and as individuals, been traumatized by continuous bad treatment–slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, “tokenism,” etc.–but white people as a group just do not “get” this. Which leads us to racism. Racism is a mass mental illness that infects groups IN POWER, who have power over another or other groups. Racism, as has been said before, is “bigotry plus power,” Our entire system of government, economics, culture, and societal mores have been shaped by racism of white Americans as a whole throughout our history. The victims have been, most obviously, Black and Indian people, although every “foreign” group from Jews to the Japanese, from Hispanics to Hungarians, have suffered some degree of racism by the dominant society (white, mostly Western European). For white people to say, “Hey, I’m not a racist–I’ve got Black friends” or “–I never owned slaves or lynched anybody” ignores the high probability that they have benefitted a lot from an American Dream society that has and still does dis-advantage Blacks and others economically, politically, culturally, and socially. Call it their American Nightmare. And part of it that Black folks need to survive this system while whites are privileged by it; as in slave times, Black men and women have learned that they must be careful not to become a target, not to be too noticed , not to stand out. This is a survival mechanism. For generations, Blacks have had to not show just how capable and intelligent they could be for fear of white retaliation for their being “uppity.” And God forbid that they should point out these realities to white folk, because they may get slapped down. And that brings us to Miss Williams’ essay…
Mr.Saffold. that is perhaps one of the best articulated pieces that I have read. Thanks for intellectualizing this problem and precarious situation. This is all encompassing and thorough . I do not have enough superlatives to bestow upon you. I applaud your virtuosity.
Just by the numbers, far more whites live below the poverty line than African American’s. I’m sorry if you grew up in a ghetto, but the same exact problems exist in tailor parks.
It’s a socioeconomic problem, not a race problem.
Martin Forde, by the numbers more whites live below the poverty line? By the numbers this is true, but that is because there are more whites in this country than blacks. Whites make of 64% (196,817,552) of the entire population of this country yet on 9.9% of whites live below the poverty line.
Blacks make up only make up 12% (37,685,848) of the population yet 27% of blacks live below poverty line. This is very disproportionate.
Sorry, I have to agree to disagree…. It is easy to gloss over the issue of race when blacks and poor whites have always had a somewhat of a distant relationship. But the fact remains that whites, poor or not, still benefit from whiteness. This is an unfortunate truth, just like lighter skinned blacks benefit from their lighter skin, even within community. In this case it is important to look at the language used by the accusers to describe the young lady. The critical analysis of her academic environment was described as a result of being “angry”. This expression has been commonly used by whites to silence and negate racial intolerance.
Lovestar,
I won’t disagree that race plays apart. The complaint against her, is much the same as it was against Fredrick Douglas, she doesn’t know her place. Actually she does know her place, it just happens to be a lot higher than her teachers are ready for. Dullards as teachers seem to take offense when facing a person who may be brighter than they are.
As far as agreeing to disagree, you have every right to your own opinion. Like you I am a human being and yes I can be wrong or I may miss something. Even a little thing like being a man can make understanding what a girl and women goes through difficult sometimes. Same as being white sometimes can blind us to the evils of racism. But none of us has to stay blind, all of us can learn from the other people around us. I have sometimes had younger people show me things that I had not realized, and I have told them so. Nothing shocks a younger person like having an older person admit that the younger person has taught them something.I try to avoid the usual games that older people sometimes play on other people.I won’t say that I always succeed, but I do remember what used to make me mad when I was the younger person.
Janurary 20th, 2009 obviously proves that Black people “must be careful not to become a target, not to be too noticed , not to stand out”…HAHAHA..First off, if you don’t know what happened on that day, or even have to look it up, you shouldn’t be able to comment on this post. But the underlying message is that people need to stop making excuses because of their ethnicity, heritage, skin color, etc. Instead they need to start learning that while they may be disadvantaged, (including poor “trailer park” white people) if they work hard and put in enough effort anyone can accomplish anything they want. No “white run society” is going to put down blacks/minorities with good ideas and a strong work ethic because of their family history.
Proof: A country “run by white people” voted a black and technically “native american”/hawaiian man into the most powerful position in the world.
You are so idealistic and clueless. Whites historically have held Blacks back and will continue because they are racially scared. Most Whites are racist either consciously or subconsciously. The subsconscious can be helped but the conscious …hopeless. No offense just the truth.
@Matthew Tomlinson:
I’m afraid your post looks to me like an example of exactly the kind of self-righteous defensive knee-jerking that is almost certainly motivating the treatment of Jada Williams. It’s the kind of behaviour that greets any mention of racial issues with alarming consistency, shrilly defending one’s own Nice Guy bona fides and calling down the person impolite enough to raise the subject as a troublemaker, a radical, or (most favourite ploy of all) “the real racist.” I doubt it amounts to conscious conspiracy, but for certain it’s a predominant pattern of derailment that is proving very damaging.
As a white woman I am offended by your comment which shows that despite having had close contact with many people of color, you still “don’t get it”. An essential element of institutionalized racism is power. Since Black (and other non European-Americans) people have almost no power, and certainly none over white people, it is impossible for them to be truly racist. Prejudice however doesn’t require a power position. But some prejudices (the word means to pre judge, to judge prior to knowing) come from experience. The experience of non white people in this country has created a, mostly accurate, prejudice that is sometimes reflected in offensive (as opposed to defensive) behavior….thus kids beating you up for being white. The essence of this story is a disgraceful reminder of how power (the teachers) continues to oppress the powerless (the students, especially those of color), and especially when they stand up for themselves. Here’s to uppity kids!
But is that only people of color that have no power. Since power is based partly on wealth I would say all poor people have little power. Even most of the middle class has very little real power. Look at our elections, it is all about who can raise the most money, which means they are bought and paid for before they are even elected. So who do the politicians work for, those that have the most money. If you haven’t given you congressman at least $100,000, he could care less about you regardless of color.
In fact keeping the poor divided by color and culture is one of the best ways to keep them from having power. After all the working poor outnumber anyone else, but we spend so much time fighting among ourselves that we never are going to have any power until we begin to see we share the same problems and have much of the same fears and share many of the same wants, to be treated decently.
Fear and hatred are a great way to control people and keep them from thinking, therefore keep them from taking action. Getting rid of education is a great way to limit our thinking and to control us. All poor people are the N word in this country, being poor is a crime, the ultimate sign of moral failure, though strangely being wealthy is considered a sign of moral superiority, no matter how you made your money, and what crimes you committed to get it.
Allow me to correct you. Racism is a term you obviously do not understand. It was termed by white people for white people. It is institutionalized and practiced only by those able to control and have power. Blacks do not control or have power over any one or anything significant. For example, we do not own hugh companies or corporations that hire and fire. Whites own and control almost every corporation or company not Blacks so since we do not have this kind of power or this kind of control we therefore can not be racist. We do discriminate and are very prejudice but racism is exclusive to non-Blacks. Research the topic.bbbetter understanding. Racism
Terasa, I’m white. I was unaware of such an “unspoken understanding” to conspire against anyone. You do realise that generalising about an entire race is…wait for it….racist, don’t you? Please think before typing such spurious garbage in future.
As to the ridiculous behaviour of these so called educators, every effort should be made to remove these morons from their posts, as they’re clearly not fit to hold them. I’m sure Miss Williams will be okay eventually, she does seem like a bright kid after all, but I feel real pity for the kids that are left behind with these cretins.
Oh you really think she’ll be alright huh? She’s being shown that to tell the truth is wrong. She’s being shown that what blacks suffered for years is nothing and she will be alright. Disgusting!!!!!!!
Ug, please. I’m a White person, who, upon seeing a Black person speaking up in a radically truthful manner, stands back and ADMIRES!!! (And often, secretly wishes I had the courage to do the same). Having said that, I must respectfully submit that to lump all the “Whites” together and attribute ANYthing to the entire group as a whole only perpetuates the problem. The human civilization will advance dramatically when we learn to see one another as individuals, and the color of our skin will be of no consequence at all.
I will leave you with this: there is a sizeable block of “whites” who took to the polls and voted for a Black man, who then won the presidency…we’re remaining quiet, ’cause we don’t want to disturb the Republican delusion that noone is paying attention
I happen to be one of the whitest people on earth and I cheered as I read this article. I’m sure you’re speaking in generalities as opposed to a sort of blanket condemnation so I’ll let it slide.
Please don’t bicker and argue over who’s more racist, or who’s more disadvantaged. The truth is that Jada Williams was treated horrendously. It doesn’t matter whether you’re white, black or blue, anyone can see that. The question is what will you do about it? Have you called the principal of her school and told her (politely) that what she did was terribly unjust and only gave proof to what Jada was saying?
The best way to rid ourselves of the prejudices that we ALL carry with us is to think before we speak, think before we act, and be as fair as possible.
Everyone slips up, I’m a teacher myself and if you are a teacher you work every day to make sure that you don’t call on any one student more or less than others. It’s a tough job and usually I would say that teachers are admirable contributors to our society.
Obviously what happened to Jada doesn’t fall into the category of quality teaching. But we can’t change what happened, we can only try and improve as time goes on. What Jada sees everyday will continue if you don’t call. Don’t let that school think that they can treat students that way and they won’t. But be careful when you call, be careful that you don’t comport yourself as poorly as they do. Be careful that you’re not racist in your accusations of racism. We have to be the change that we want to see.
“When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, ‘This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,’ the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives.” -Robert A. Heinlein
as a teacher in primary school i have great concerns for our future leaders as i see first hand the inbreed and ingrained racially discriminating injustice that is shown towards children of color by a lot of my white colleagues , its heartbreaking to think of Ms Williams feelings and how she must feel completely let down by the very people who are supposed to be encouraging and supporting her educational journey. i pray she becomes successful and remains blessed..x*x
I say take it to court and hold them accountable for their actions because then they will have to have proof and show evidence of having done so poorly in class. Aside from that the teacher should have never copied the essy and showed it to anyone else…I wouldn’t put it past her calling the other school and telling them she is problematic just so she couldn’t get into anything other than the school of misfits.
Why am I not surprised? America has yet to deal seriously with her racism. The stench of her pathologies oozes like pus from her infected pores. Historically in America enslaved Africans were murdered if discovered learning to read and write, and actually reading and writing.
Here is a young Black Jada Williams a student desiring an education for herself and her fellow students being harassed and persecuted by a racist Rochester school and school system. This courageous young lady dared to speak out against ineffective teachers and an ineffective principal receiving paychecks, without delivering effective instruction. Teachers protected by Principal Connie Wehner and her racist administration.
Please continue the fight in support of this family. Lets take it to the Supreme Court in hopes of finding a favorable resolution. The rights of Black, Brown, Red, and Yellow children must be protected.
I made my call to Principal Wehner’s office. I encourage you to do the same. The Struggle Continues
Some things change, some things remain the same. Racism is still doing well and strong in america.the job market is very racist and has learned to hide it much better. the education system has also done it.
1960s. All over again.
Things have been going backward since Reagan was elected President in the 80s.
They were just so taken by surprise when Obama won (he was supposed to lose based on his race and lack of insider connectionss alone) that they went into overdrive and it has been driving them nuts ever since.
The devil hears their voices. They are carriers of his message.
Sadly true.
I congradulate ms. Williams for her intellgence and insight for a 13yrd old. You showed them their shame. Race has nothing to do with it, because when fools are shown they are wrong they repeat it instead of fixing it. (Read proverbs).
Will everyone on this page and who come later please write to http://www.whitehouse.gov and solicit the help of The First Lady and Mrs Biden for this young lady. Obesity to them is a problem but this is much bigger and spreding much faster. It seems that the School system is developing a slave mentality that must not be allowed to stifle our youth. She is not the first and won’t be the last. Just a couple weeks ago a teacher was suspended from his job because of an essay a child wrote, and because he went the extra mile to get info that would assist the child in understanding why the “N” word should not be used in public or certain context. The Princial made two visits to the classroom to listen in before deciding, or discussing what he saw as a problem with the teacher. The sad part about it is the teacher who thought so much of the student as to try and lead him in the right direction was caucasion, the Pricipal was African American, but the article was careful not to discuss the childs race. Whatever the race he got more help from a well informed caring teacher than from the powers that “should not be”.
Is it possible to get a copy of this student’s essay? I found this page on Your Black World Network, and am glad I did–I didn’t know your foundation existed. For several years, my friend Akili and I would take turns reading “What to the Slave Is Your Fourth of July at an annual 4th of July gathering. It prompted me to read everything this great man wrote. How I wish we had someone like Frederick Douglass today in this country!
Obama is our Fredrick Douglass perhaps
Alright, so I get the whole ridiculous teacher and administration reaction by persecuting Ms. Williams. Uncalled for and absolutely wrong, unacceptable, and unprofessional. My question and reaction (to her quote about the “white teachers” not teaching the students how to read and the Foundation stating that “the school has a job and they aren’t doing it”) is: Are the parents of these illiterate children doing anything at home to teach their children how to read? Are they reading them books at night and helping the kids with their homework? Are they taking them to the library instead of online? Are they disciplining their children when their grades fall below failing? (by discipline I mean take away video games, or cell phones, play time, etc.) Or do these parents expect society and “white teachers” to raise their children? I think the problem of illiteracy reaches far beyond race and that maybe parents (black, white, hispanic, asian, etc.) should stop blaming teachers, politicians, other races, and everyone else and start trying figure out what they can do at home to fix the problem. Life is what the individual makes of it, NOT what society makes of it. BUT that’s just my opinion.
@Karli
Miss Williams addressed the teachers and students, she challenged the black community to become learners. Check it out again, there’s the answer to your opinion.
I think the schools treatment of this young lady is disgusting not to mention unconstitutional and i encourage everyone to contact the school/principal. If that does not work than the next step is the school district. I can tell you firsthand that a school’s principal is SUPPOSED to work for the students and it’s never the contrary! This young lady wrote about on a topic she was passionate about where she expressed her opinion/beliefs and was disciplined as a result? Is this not a gross violation of her 1st amendment rights to freedom of expression? What message is the school sending to it’s other non-caucasian students? That your history is to be interpreted the way we deem fit? Part of the reason why children are clueless about thier history today, is because people want to feed it to them suger-coated! We need more students like Miss Williams, that are not afraid to embrace their history for it’s truth. Miss Williams is aTRUE LEADER in my eyes!
I am so sick of white people and their antics. I know it sounds mean-spirited, but so is what this teacher has done.
@ Matthew Tomlinson – Blah, blah, blah. Who cares…
It isn’t white people, as an entire race, who are collaborating on so-called antics.
It is the cultural biases towards blacks and whites that marginalize so-called antics and the people, black and white, who call them out are dismissed as “radicals”.
You will find many white people who support Ms Williams and are appalled by the actions of the school administration. Although white people will never know first hand the sort of discrimination and adversity a black person has to suffer in a white man’s world, it does not make their support less invalid or insincere. Rejecting them or perpetuating the “us vs them” mentality accomplishes nothing. We succeed only in being spiteful and isolating ourselves, our problems and our message.
For white racists, there is no more comforting thought than to know black people are sticking to their own kind and keeping their complaints and their views to themselves and their silly “radical” groups. It is when other white people take interest in the black community that racists get up in arms and expose themselves.
We must persist in seeing each other, even those who oppose us, as fellow human beings if we expect to be treated as fellow human beings.
@jaydubs: AMEN! So many people seem to forget that it was the message of brotherhood, of being judged “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” that brought us as African Americans the freedoms we enjoy today. And it didn’t just work here. Before there was a Martin Luther King there was Mahatma Ghandi who proved in his own country with his own people that change was possible. What worked before can work again but its going to take rethinking titles. Instead of classifying people as black and white why don’t we use more inclusive language like mother, father, sister, brother, and friend. “It doesn’t matter what color you are, as long as your blood runs red.”
I have made the call to the school. If for no other reason, it is to make those in “charge” of our youth aware that we cannot sit and simply accept that which “they” feel is best to keep any segment of this society “in line”.
As previously stated, the more thing change, the more they stay the same.
The girl touched on something that the teachers couldn’t handle; that racism is not “over,” and that there is an institutional structure that keeps some young black people uneducated. Lacking awareness about this, some white teachers do not know how much they play into this, and so, have played into it even more.
I don’t know if Ms. Harris meant all white people, but when we start to say “they” and make people “other,” it can shut down dialogue. The bottom line is, this student is thinking critically and bringing Frederick Douglass’ story full circle to present day reality, and instead of fully honoring her embodiment of the spirit of Douglass, she is being punished.
Being suspended is unjust, but also indicates that Miss Williams is “unfit to be a slave.”
It’a great to write a comment but also lets all call the principal. Call often!!
“And A child shall lead us” is a quote somewhere in some book, perhaps you know where it is. As we people of the United States strive for equal justice, we are continueously undermined by those power mongers who in situations like this one rear their ugly heads. I have must to say in and about this matter and this comment page is insufficient to contain the contents, however, I am inspired by this young woman coming of age and will be continuing in my vigil to utilize the learning process to level the playing field in our society. In Philadelphia we have an annual Anti Bondage Day Festival and for more than 35 years we celebrate the advancements of those in our society who are and have been oppressed. I along with Ms. Williams are engaged in a fight in which we shalll not turn our back or shy away from.
Isaiah http://www.focusongod.com/Isaiah-11_1-10.htm
I’m not suprise at this one bit!!! Our rise will be their fall and they will do in and everything to keep us down. They feel threaten by Africa American who speak up. Theyre so afraid that the horrible things they did to us in slavery, We will do to them. So they wants us to stay ignorant. So this doesn’t speak for all whites. Because if it wasn’t for some White people during slavery helping us escape we probably wouldn’t have come this far.
“Our rise will be their fall” really? Martin Luther King Jr would be ASHAMED of you. I’m white and I lived in a predominantly black area for a couple of years. I was constantly judged and hated because of the color of my skin and yes, it sucks, but I never have done anything hateful to any black person. I will not raise my children to care or even notice what race someone is. Perhaps you should remember what the African Americans who spoke up said. Like this, for example:
“The negro needs the white man to free him from his fear, the white man needs the negro to free him from his guilt” MLK Jr
majority written on here goes totally against all that was written by this girl. all for equal opportunity and against hatred. great job for the girl….smh at all who wrote in hatred, and ignorance on here. theres all the same “types” in each race. most importantly only way to change it is with yourself. for your doing the exact same thing that YOU dont like. If you dont like it….then stop doing it yourself and lead by example. otherwise your all going to continue to stay in the same bag with that ONE rotten apple that ruins it for the bunch…only a couple posts on here that actually has a ray of hope. the rest…your just continuing on the reason why people are still racist….were all supposed to live in peace and harmony and not wish ill against another, nor one race having more “power” than another …wow, base your worth on that? really? know I wouldnt want to be catorgorized just because another of my race did something aweful. Is that fair for ANY race? no especially now in these economic times. cant we all just get along and base each relationship on each individual like its supposed to be done? holy c**p what a concept…
Congratulations to Miss Jada Williams for STANDING UP to the hypocrisy of our American public school system overall in this nation.
It basically hasn’t changed since even when I was a grade schooler back in the 1960′s. That’s a SHAME.
A LOW DOWN, DIRTY one, at that.
I realized as a elementary school student that many teachers didn’t know HOW to TEACH me. And they didn’t CARE to know how……………
America has NEVER really committed itself to EDUCATING People of Color, even after radification of the 13th Amendment and signings of both the Civil Rights & Voting Rights Acts.
IF it had, there would be NO disparities in funding and equiping between schools where predominently Blacks (and Latinos) attend and those where mostly Whites (and Asians) go.
It’s NOT been a “figment of our imagination” that The Powers That Be don’t want People of Color to obtain good a sound, broad-based education. The purpose of which is so that our people can’t get higher paying jobs in this increasingly technological employment market and society.
We KNOW what’s at stake. The Future of our Progeny and RACE.
IT’s the SAME psychological/ideological WAR we’ve been engaged in for almost 5 centuries now in America. And even though the current CEO of America gets HALF his DNA directly from Mother AFRIKA,
VERY LITTLE has changed in the “Eagle’s Nest.”
But one thing is VERY certain, Miss Jada Williams WILL be HEARD from in the very NEAR Future…………..
I agree with you. I wrote my thesis on what you are saying. Robert Merton had the right idea. http://www.accel-team.com/pygmalion/index.html
Why should educating “people of color” be any different than educating whites, or hispanics, or asians, or native americans? We’re all people and I don’t think that lesson plans need to be tailored to race. Isn’t that the exact kind of segregation we’ve been trying to get away from? One of my best friends in school was hispanic and she was an AMAZING student, the teachers educated her the same as everyone else. However, her parents pushed her to be the amazing student she was. She wasn’t allowed to bring home a report card with anything less than a B on it (and neither was I). I know a teacher who said that she’s tried to get parents of some of her black students to get involved with their kids and push them to strive for more, but they won’t. There are problems on both sides of the fence, and there’s a previous comment from a woman who says she’s a black teacher and she has the same problem with black students. We need to stop making race such a huge issue and start working on educating everyone better, but parents need to start stepping up too.
As an attorney this treatment cries out for legal redress. “injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.”
Death, Dumb, and Blind^____Black people wake up…
>
Oh I forgot to add I would take this case for free.
Mr. Mathew, you listing all the people of color you are connected to and your help you give in poor communities is exactly the problem. Some one who is not racist or better yet someone who is aware of their privilege and works to educate the uneducated folks who suffer from racism, do not list anything about their dealings with folks of color, you just are, because you have no need to defend! Check your self and try again! If you were offended by what the first post said in regards to “THEY” then say that but the rest is bogus and for the birds!!!
Good to see this 13 year old to take education so seriously.
That’s a credit to her and her parents.
I’m calling that school tomorrow.
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This babyMs. Jada Williams is very intelligent and courageous! Shame on school #3 for not nurturing this young woman who spoke truth to power! She has a great future! I hope that a legal fund will be established to make her and her parents whole: mom had to quit her job, her school records are being kept away from her and her family. I will donate!!!
I left a message for the principal and a*s’t. prinicipal. Shame on them for a lack of leadership and appropriate nurturing of the children; all the children.
They have the responsibility to bond the human races together and prepare them for the betterment of this world BUT they are taking us back in the dark past…….they are in the wrong proffession.
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As a former high school teacher, white, teaching in a 97% black school with kids from predominantly low SES backgrounds, I can affirm that issues definitely arise in the classroom concerning differences in culture, not necessarily race. The only way to overcome this is to get to know students — go to sports games/practices, talk after school, visit them at home or a restaurant for tutoring. Then it is easy to understand their actions, and it gives you a connection you can build to empower them.
That being said, I think there is more to this story than what was reported. I have been in these kind of situations before, and there is no way that an entire school would stand against such a bright, talented, and passionate young girl if this was the whole story.
I am glad you believe in the system but I was forced out of my position in Texas because I stood up to the ignorance, advocted for children, and tried to raise the bar. I am working on book I intend to call “Teaching with Dignity” and hope that if you see it you will buy it and read it. I have 12 years in the system and in the end it is my opinion that it is the teacher’s who are at fault and I wrote my thesis on this premise. I tried to get teachers to change and instead they complained to the administration who prceeded to eliminate me. I was a thorn in their side because I wouldn’t just keep my head down, and my mouth shut. I know there are cultural issues but I succeeded with students they said were “unteachable” and this p****d them off because it showed that the students were capable and their teacher’s doubts about their ability lead to their in ability to achieve. I believed in them and they began to believe in themselves. This was unorthidox because the status quo is still stuck in the 50s. Robert Merton http://www.accel-team.com/pygmalion/index.html
Great..I am so proud of this young lady…she has a future ahead of her but it will be a struggle, which has already started. Racism is very much alive and kicking. I read a great article about this subject if anyone is interested in this issue. The Chicago Reader has a story titled “The Color of HIs Skin” about a young man who was killed during the 70″s. Read it and speak up just as we need to speak up about what is happening with this young lady. The looks on their faces is priceless.
“This is true…there is an unspoken understanding amongst Whites to respond when a Black person speaks up in a radically truthful manner. They don’t like it and the conspire ”
Tell me, WHO GAVE YOU THAT MEMO? WIKILEAKS?!!!
I started a moveon.org petition for Jada’s plight. Please share it on your facebook, pinterest, twitter and all social media you participate in.
Help Jada Williams Get Her Grades!
Dont talk about it…DO SOMETHING!! Call the school like I did!! This will get swept under the rug like everything else!!
Racism exits on all sides, whenever you paint a whole of a people as being anything that is bigotry. Bigotry is an equal oppertunity form of hating.
Fredrick Douglas was considered radical in his time because he did not know his place, according to society of the time. Actually he knew his place very well and it was taking that place as his that was the radical move. He was a very smart and dignified man, the fact that he happened to be black probably scared a few White people who could not rise to his standards.
But White people are not the only bigots, you will find them mong all the people in our country. My ancestry is Southern, and yes some of them owned slaves, so yes we have black branches in our family. But I am not restricted to being like my ancestors, nor do I feel need to defend their actions simply because they are my ancestors.
When a local Black activist needed fifty warm bodies to launch the first chapter of the NAACP in my town, he felt comfortable enough to ask me to become member. I fully understood why some of the Black people wanted to see what happened to the first members before they took the risk.No one knew what the reaction would be in my small town. So for one year, I was a card carrying member of the NAACP, until there were enough Black members to keep it going.
But even my actions were not all that odd, as my father, born in Texas, would help launch the first black group in his union. Neither he nor I are saints, we have our faults, Racism is just not one of them.
Are you Chris Blackwell of Island Records?
Subsconsciously you are.
Jada Williams will go for she is smart, she has guts and she refuses to act like a victim. As she pointed out students must be learners. That is their main job as students. No one can force you to learn, nor is it a matter of having good teachers or bad teachers. Most teachers are going to be mediocre as most people are mediocre. If you have one or two good teachers you have been fortunate. Nor is learning limited to school, nor does it end when you stop going to school, or at least it should not end.
A girl who does well in school is not likely to be all that popular in school, not even among her fellow students. Those that are not good students will tear her down, she will be called a teachers pet, she may even be claimed to being too White, as if ignorance is part of being Black. But she understand that your only true friend in life is yourself and if you are not doing everything that you can to move up, no one else is going to do it for you. She is going to be a force to be reckoned with, and her value to our country will be great because most Americans don’t understand what she does.
The rise and fall of our country is not going to be because of our alleged leaders, leaders don’t make it happen, they just take the credit. Nor is it a matter of one group has to win and the rest have to lose. No the more educated we all become the better a people we become. The less educated we become the poorer all of us become as a people.
A person here said that as the Black people rise the White people are going to fall. Actually the White people will fall because they no longer care enough to push themselves up. An people that starts talking about the alleged good ol’ days is past its prime. But their fall will not raise anyone. If Black people rise, it will only be because they have become determined to do so, no matter what.
But meanwhile it is the Latino people who will be the majority in another couple of generations. Now whether that will help them, or not, again will depend on them. But whether American will fall or recover will depend on what each of the people do for themselves, or to themselves.
Meanwhile many of the younger people are beginning to realize is that these old ways of dividing up people mean less and less all the time. Why, for the simple reason is that none of us are pure anything, nor can we be in this most mixed of countries. I can trace my family back 12 generations, for my father’s family and my mother’s family, but even I cannot be sure what I am, only what I look like.
Think on it, if your parents represent two different families, and your grand parents represent four different families and your great grand parents represent eight different families, then twelve generations back you have 1040 families that have dumped genes down the line to make you “you”. So none of us can be sure what we really are, except that somewhere far enough back we are all related and mixed, in more than a few ways. There never has been a pure race of any kind, beyond human.
The teachers forgot to tell this girl, until it was too late, that it’s a sin to be smarter than the teacher.
To: Miss Jada Williams,
Well done. Don’t give up. Great minds tend to encounter great resistance.
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Can we have a little perspective here? Let us remember she is 13. She is writing about what she sees. She has teachers. They are white. She has classmates who are not learning. She sees a connection between education and jobs and her future. As an adult, as a teacher, to treat a child with this behavior is unbelievable. What has this response taught her? Her teachers aren’t teaching. They are angry because she spoke up. They have effectively removed her from class, from school, from the district where she has the right to go to school. NYS Law demands it. I hope she realizes she has done a good thing by expressing herself, not a bad thing. To be this open, this honest, this insightful at 13? I am going to remember her name..
Ya’ll need to take the militarys approach to racism, we’re all green…..
Ya’ll need to take the Army’s approach to racism – we are all green.
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it is wonderful that the black community as well as the Latino community are finally waking up to the fact they are being wholesale short changed by teachers and their unions. look at Los Angeles where for years Latino children were being molested. look at Wisconsin where teachers were raiding the state and leaving the children in Madison to a life of poverty because they are not learning.. look at the teacher’s union and President Obama refusing black children the chance at a good education in charter schools that are achieving. is it not sad that a black president would prefer his union buddies to children escaping the “hood”. sad that Atlanta put in failing teachers to fail the children. everyday i go by a Catholic school to see children of all colors wearing school uniforms and know they will be headed to higher educations. the reason the kids are there is because Arizona tax payers can designate money to these schools, the Christian school are succeeding. public schools because of bloated administrators, unions and teachers who continue to fail minority students
I just hope that this girl doesnt lose her ambition over this. We need her to succeed, cus the black folks who are standing up are standing up for bs. We all can learn from Young Jada. I wish I payed attention when I was her age, Id be further than I am now, as far as liberating my people.
Tim,
The only problem with private schools, even religious ones, is there are not near enough of them to take up the slack if you pull kids out of public schools. Those that are working to destroy our public schools forget to mention that, because those who want to destroy our public schools are working to end education. You can only fund private schools with government money by taking it out of public schools. It was the idea of public schools that brought education to the masses. Back in the days when all schools were private, only people with money could afford them. you really need to know a bit more American history. Again it is a case of how bad you want to learn. Fredrick Douglas did not go to school, though he did get a chance to learn to read. It was his desire to learn regardless of how hard that made him an educated man.You can’t teach kids who are not interested in learning and you can’t teach kids whose parents don’t care about education. Without both parents that value education and kids that are hurting to learn, no teacher, no matter how good, can teach anything.
Quite frankly most kids in all of our schools, and most parents do, not value an education. Talk to those teachers about what happens when they try to get a parent to come to a parent teacher meeting about problems with their child’s learning, or lack of it. You can tell in preschool and in the first three years of school, which kids will do well and which kids will not do well.If you have not taught them the basics of reading and writing and basic arthritic, the rest of school afterword is little more than baby sitting. Kids that are not interested in learning will only get in the way of those kids that want to learn.
In my own case I was a lousy student.My real learning came later in the library when I found things that I wanted to know about. Even now with the Internet, I can find out correct information much faster in a book than by checking the Internet, because most of the Internet information is BS. So I have to check far more sites then books to determine which sites have factual information.Just because it is on the Internet does not tell you if it is true. The intern is mostly just the fastest rumor mill invented, because anyone can post anything with out providing any back up.
Chris,
I appreciate all of your comments on here and agree with you. Thanks for speaking up!
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not to add to the fire, but this girl was not the victim of bigotry our racism, she was the victim of speaking her mind in a society that values complacency above free thought, she saw a problem and spoke her mind and more power to her for it and more voices speaking out against the injustices passed on those that would think and speak freely
The school staff members sound like jerks, based on this account, but Miss Williams’ thesis may not far behind them in jerkiness.
Her criticism of teachers (as summarized by this article, as I haven’t read her actual paper) makes her sound like a suburban Tea Party critic of public education:
Does anyone know if this school has been cited for failing to comply with Federal guidelines under FERPA? FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) was enacted in 1974. It is a set of regulations that applies to those institutions that receive funding from the Department of Education. FERPA was written specifically for students and guarantees them the right to inspect and review their education records, the right to seek to amend education records, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from those education records.
An education record is defined as any record that directly identifies a student and is maintained by the institution or educational agency or by a party acting for the institution or educational agency. A key distinction of education records is that education records are shared. Education records can exist in any medium including the following: handwritten, typed, computer generated, videotape, audiotape, film, microfilm, microfiche, e-mail, and others.
I was pushed out of my position as an elementary public school in Texas. I advocated for children and complained when bad decisions were made. I earned my Master’s in education one month after I had to resign to avoid termination. My thesis was that teachers are to blame for the “Achievment Gap” on standardized tests, between the underprivilaged and their white middle class counterparts, because they don’t have the same expectations for these students and their lack of expectation shows up as lower achievement. How much do they doubt these underprivilaged students? About 20%, the same amount they perform below their middle class counterparts. I have pretty much given up on public school because as much as they talk about raising the bar, anyone who tries to actually do something is removed or persuaded to resign. The teachers who remain are encouraged to keep their head down and their mouths closed, and keeping their job is their main incentive.
Leland
No I an not that one. I am afraid no one would ever pay me for having any singing ability. I like singing, but I am just not very good at it.
I left a message with the Principal’s Secretary. I know it doesn’t mean much and most likely will fall on deaf ears. But the fact is, people need to speak up more now-a-days. Otherwise this behavior and idiocy will continue. Take 30 seconds to speak up and make the phone call. Press 7.
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Ron, I am a great believer in speaking out. That goes for all of our rights. The more our rights are in danger the more stubborn that we have to be about using them. By the way for those who will go one to college or university, nobody cares there if you make it or fail. So only the student can decide if he/she is willing to fight hard enough to make it. It is a lot harder than high school ever was. You are either the most dependable friend that you ever have, or your own worst enemy.
A comment earlier about bigotry was right on. As another indicated, it can exist within races, as well as being cross-racial. I had a black friend years ago who visited his girl friend’s church and had to sit at the back because he was too dark to sit at the front … the black church was divided by degrees of color! He was very upset by this … “they treated me like I was an Indian or something” was his comment. Fresh from being looked down on for something he could not help he was looking down on someone else, with his justification being that the Indian was somehow less worthy than he.
My friend showed the root of the problem, but sadly did not understand it. HE FELT INADEQUATE, SO TO MAKE HIMSELF FEEL GOOD HE HAD TO CLAIM HE WAS BETTER THAN SOMEONE ELSE (thereby moving himself one step up the ladder). All that any of us want is to feel worthwhile, to ourselves and to others. Education will help but the real solution is to treat others as decent individuals.
in case anyone was wondering, I just called the school, and got a message that the office is closed.
I admit it. Right now I am conspiring against the blacks in my community. My white friends and I wait for them to leave the room at work so we can sabotage their efforts. I’m being facetious, of course. Look, obviously racism exists amongst some whites. After reading some of what was posted here, I believe their is some amongst some blacks, as well. If you are black and over 50, you have an excuse. I’m white, but with black, red and yellow family. Guess I’m more off-white than white. Please don’t judge all by the ignorant actions of a few. And good luck Ms. Williams.
Having been thrown out of school for freedom of speech as well this means something to me.
The point is there are never enough smart and enough brave people. So I think it behooves us to support someone who is both.
Miss Williams has the making of a find strong woman. Do we ever have enough of them, any more than do we have enough fine brave and strong men? I am often amazed how much trouble I seem to get into when I point out some of the less nice things in our history, but I remember that our ancestors never thought that the United States was good enough, that there was not a reason to make it better. It may have upset their fellow citizens, but it also made us become a better country. Seems to me that we must do the same. I am old enough to remember the fifties and the sixties,and nothing gets me madder than someone suggesting that those times were better. I remember them too well when being even slightly different was treated as being somehow subversive. I remember the fear of World War Three breaking out. I remember the violence of the people, the police, and the government. Now we are better off,but we still have a lot that needs improving. We can’t improve this country by giving up or just pointing the finger of blame. We have to make a difference, starting with how we treat each other. A person who cannot give respect is rarely worthy of respect. Promise little, but always try to do a bit more than you promise. And learn the power of the word NO. This is how you set the boundaries of what you will allow. It can be hard when you must use the word no on your friends who want to do something you feel is wrong, or when it is coworkers, or a boss , or a politicians. What we do and what we allow though our own silence is just as bad as whatever is being done or not done by others. This is our country, it is your country, treat it as yours, same with your neighborhood, town or city, your state. Make it better. Help your neighbors, help your friends when need be. Give other people around you hope, encourage them whenever possible, we have far too many discouragers. Notice the good and the beautiful no matter how small, if someone is doing good, let them know that you have noticed. At my age I am trying to become the elder that I wish that I had known when I was younger. I remember every stage of my life,and by remembering I tend to be a bit easier on those that are younger.The last thing I would ever want to do is crush their spirit, if crushed they will never become what they might become. With a bit of notice and a bit of encouragement, who knows what the might become and how valuable they may be to our society. This much each of us can do, regardless of who we are or our status in society.
Wow….Having been thrown out of school for free speech i can relate.
To remind of what Jada Williams wrote: “Miss Williams personalized this to her own situation. She reflected on how the “white teachers” do not have enough control of the classroom to successfully teach the minority students in Rochester. While she herself is more literate than most, due to her own perseverance and diligence, she sees the fact that so many of the other “so-called ‘unteachable’” students aren’t learning to read as a form of modern-day slavery. Their illiteracy holds them back in society.
“Her call to action was then in her summary: ‘A grand price was paid in order for us to be where we are today; but in my mind we should be a lot further, so again I encourage the white teachers to instruct and I encourage my people to not just be a student, but become a learner.’”
From this I think it’s clear Jada is saying that the fault lies both with the teachers *and* the students. Neither are doing their jobs. It’s not clear to me whether the children are so averse to learning and effort that their teachers have given up, or the teachers are so incompetent and lazy that the kids are bored and uncontrollable. Maybe it’s both. Or perhaps it’s that these teachers do not know how to teach *these* students. I think we’d have to know more about this situation to figure out whether racism is the *fundamental* problem, leading to the teachers just not trying. Or whether the peer pressures among students to not “act white”, or to not cooperate with the white teachers because they’re white (perhaps some black student racism going on?), and/or the failure of parents to raise their kids with a love of learning has created barriers that these teachers are not equipped to overcome. And they don’t know what to do about it.
Maybe the teachers started out racist, and that’s the whole problem. Or maybe – and I think this is most likely – because they don’t know how to meet the challenge that these students pose, these teachers have given up and ignore their difficult students – not having the insight, bottomless energy, determination, dedication, and giftedness of a Marva Collins.
These students need at least 3 things to become learners: parents who want them to learn; teachers who know how to interest, inspire, and teach them; and the kids themselves have to be willing to allow themselves to be inspired, even if they’re not self-motivated like Jada.
If you don’t know who Marva Collins is, have a look at this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marva_Collins
http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=6&category=educationMakers
I highly recommend her book “Marva Collins’ Way”.
Too bad there aren’t more teachers like Marva Collins. Maybe Jada Williams will be the next to put on her mantle.
Another book I would like to recommend is “Inside American Education:The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas” by Thomas Sowell.
It was first published in 1993, but I believe it is still very relevant today.
This book has nothing to do with racism, so what could it have to do with Jada’s situation? For one thing, it charges that potential public school teachers of high ability *tend* to be discouraged by certain requirements that are not as off-putting to people of lesser ability. For example, Sowell writes that the American public school system has a legal requirement that education courses be taken by those who want careers as tenured teachers. He says that these courses have been almost unanimously condemned by scholars who have studied them and teachers who have taken them. Sowell says that these courses tend to filter out the education students of high ability, who “refuse to subject themselves to the inanity of education courses, which are the laughing stock of many universities.” Students of high intellectual ability are repelled by these courses. Students of meagre intellectual ability are attracted, because the courses are easy. Since private schools do not have to require education courses of their teachers, many aspiring teachers who can’t stand to take the courses seek employment in private schools, or decide to take their brains into some other profession entirely. (This is not to say that *no one* of high ability is willing to stick it out.)
This is just one of the scathing charges Sowell makes against the educational establishment and the laws surrounding it. But the cumulative result is a system far below the quality that it could be, and too many teachers unfit for their jobs.
The poster who joked that the teachers were resentful of Jada for being smarter than they were may actually be right.
Change is gonna come; it’s been a long time coming,but change gonna come.!
Such a nice cliche, but what does it really mean, nothing. Change can be for the better, but it is just as likely to be for the worse, especially if we just wait around for it to happen. We don’t know which way change is going, but we have to be ready to survive whatever ever it is. This country could just as easily become another poor third word country struggling with a debt it can never pay off, but forcing greater suffering on most of the people. The wealthy can move to any country that they want, but the rest of us are pretty much stuck here. Most countries are pretty picky about who the will let in.
WeAmericans have made the mistaken idea that we are special. Once a people think, that they begin to do stupid and often horrible things. Every other civilization has collapsed and so can our. But we can’t seem to face that.
How many poor people have trapped themselves by the debt they have allowed themselves to get into. Nothing more alluring than the easy payment plan, yet you cannot know how long your will remain employed, or what your boss is going to pay you.Sometimes business just closes down and walks away with out paying employees.
Do you have the money to pay lawyers to fight for you a few years, a decade or more? So the first thing you have to do is get rid of debt. Only without debt do you have any choices that you can make. Even then you only have a few choices. But with debt you don’t have any choices.
Poor people cannot afford to have bad habits, that will milk you dry as well. How much does it cost you to smoke, how much does it cost for you to drink, how much does it cost for the drugs that you use, medical or otherwise? Just another way to keep you poor. You certainly can’t afford to gamble. Now that is something that you can decide to control, but if not it will control you and enslave you. That is something that you do to yourselves.
Ironically we do it to have a good time. How good a time do you have being addicted? I had to learn to dump all those things, except the gambling, because I never did find losing money to be exciting. But I had to stop smoking, drop the drinking and give up on some drugs. Now that money can go into things that I really like to do. You can take responsibility for your own life and when you do, you gain some power. You never have any power by playing victim. Now I did that rather late in life,how much better if you do those things when you are younger,or never get into them at all.
I have read a few comments but not all yet (there’s a lot!) but I am very shocked. I live in Montreal, Quebec CANADA and I attend university, and I recall a particular class that I took and we discussed racism in the war and the fact that black soldiers were placed in the front lines knowing they would get killed first and then the white soldiers could come and ‘save the day,’ so to speak. The class had heated conversations, and things got ugly even but at the end of the day, that was then and this is now. Not to dare say that racism doesn’t exist anymore but that we’ve evolved some. I cant believe that narrow-mindedness still exists to that extend, that a young woman, within her impressionable stage (pre/teen), cannot attend school in order to get her education. Appalled.
Going a step further, the professionals in this situation ought to be ashamed of themselves and the manner in which they’ve conducted their business. What are they trying to prove to their young black students? What are they trying to prove to their young white students? How do they think these young people will go on to address others in their daily lives? Their behaviour is unacceptable and should not be tolerated.
Miss Williams keep your eyes on the prize; do not be distracted by naysayers. Your are our bright and shinning future. I looked foreward to hearing more from you. I am going to call the school.
Please do not forget the point. the point is that this student did a good job on her assignment and then was ridiculed to the point where she is now, not accepted at any school in the area. It seems “they” the teachers and admin are like Mr. Auld. Will the Mrs. Aulds please stand up?
Unfortunately This to be Honest is nothing New,Thats what Fredrick Douglass was saying back in the 1800..that`s why the Slave master did what he did to his wife for teaching Him to read..All the thing we get are tainted goods and that includes the education we receive from kindergarten through high school and college. Anyone that has read Nat Turner,Malcolm X or Martin L King, or has studied History should know about Oppression,Its nothing New…I applaud this you Girl for realizing the truth that`s been known for decades..How many others people have understood this same effect they Slavery has had on our people.The Jews people don`t want anyone to forget the Holocaust but many of white America would like to forget Slavery or relegate it to something trivial that happened years ago and they did`nt have anything to do with it!. How many other people could be taken from their homeland and placed in a strange place and made slaves and not allowed to learn to read or write and taught a foreign Religion for 400 years,then are supposedly set free,then a new set of laws are enacted to further the slave condition(Michelle Alexander,The New Jim Crow) and they expect Us to forgive and forget and make It in a society who`s whole purpose since you were brought here to America was to enslave you!(Douglas Blackmon Slavery By Another Name)..at least give us the 400 years you took to allow us to reach that goal.Slavery did not truly end until the 40s but now there is a New Slavery!
It is important for all of us to know the history. Black History is not separated from American History. It is history on a timeline that can not be dismissed. It happened and when I think about my great-great grandparents being slaves and my great grandfather being born free and having land and hiring workers to run his farms in 1863 in Georgia. He could read and write and calculate his own expenses because he could read and write. It is important to know the history of your own and other Blacks who paved the way for us.
Its sad. The teacher should not have copied the essay. That was inappropriate. She should be suspended . Also, she should have taken the time to assist the child in her writing. Not to change her thoughts but to help tie in loose ends.
I had a situation in the 70′s in college and found the situation. I had individuals and friends that assisted me because I refuse to be railroaded and kicked out. My situation involved a white professor but I fought for what I believed in. There was no way I was going to tell my parents that I was kicked out the institution. I ended up getting my masters also. You must fight for your beliefs regardless.
The usage of the n word today can be applied to any ethnic group.
Yes, I am Black and I am somebody.
Vee, You prove a point, life is unfair, but you still don’t have to let that stop you. You got farther than me, so you had to really work at it. You could have failed and used your teacher as an excuse, but instead you fought harder to get what you wanted. But I think that runs in your family and you are stronger for it.
Black history is part of American history, it also makes America what it is. As does the history of ever other people in our country. Take away an one group of people and we would not be the country we are. Each people added to our country.
We are the ancestors to our descendants. What will they think about us. Will they be proud of us are embarrassed by us. We are making the future and this is the history of it. Do we make change happen, or do we wait for it to happen while making excuses why we can’t do anything until those people change. Excuses are reasons that we invent to justiyf our own not doing anything.
I have never met a compassionate person who has never suffered. I have never met a strong person who had not lived through rough times. I have never met an successful person that waited around for someone to help them.
We have to take full responsibility for our own lives. We have to make it in the world the way it is, not the world we would like it to be. We can’t wait around for those people to change. We can never give up on ourselves, but we must be fully honest about what we are, and stop making excuses. And that goes for all of us.
We never have full control over what happens to us, but we do have full control over how we choose to react to what happens to us. That is a lot more power than we realize. Happiness is an internal strength we build that not only helps us survive what happens to us, but makes us keep wanting to find out what happens next. Misery is a lot easier to accept because it does not require much from us.
I think it’s interesting–and almost frighteningly ironic–how many white folks are getting offended about the posters in this forum being honest and telling it like it is. Jada Williams has her work cut out for her . . . and for the rest of us. I am white, but when I hear a person of color telling me how racist whites are, my first reaction is not “oh, but I’m not racist, by saying all whites are racist, you’re the racist one”, etc. My first reaction is “I need to hear this. I need to listen.” Part of being a white racist in the United States is feeling that you have the privilege to be an individual above all else, even while enjoying the omnipresent privilege of your cultural race.
Erik,
I always listen. One can always learn more. Like the year I was a member of the NAACP. The magazine was a learning experience by itself, something I would never have seen in the normal media which deals only in accepted stereotypes that won’t bother the majority. It is the same reason I do read the Black history books in my local library and the same reason I have put such books in the library because it just might inspire a black kid to aim higher.
The higher a young person aims, the higher that they will reach. Just like the man we have now in the White House. He didn’t follow stereotypes which is why he is the President of the United States. I think a great many of us had not expected to see that yet. Thank goodness that he didn’t wait around for us to make it happen, perhaps starting out as a vice president candidate.
Now I am waiting to see the first woman President. If she were to be a Latino woman I am sure that would have a major affect on those people as well. Young people are too dumb to know what is impossible, as a result sometimes they make the impossible possible and amaze us all.
By the way as White people will soon be a minority, I think we would do well to study what has worked for other minorities. Ah I would start with what has worked for black people as they led the way. Learning Spanish as a second language might be wise as we are going to have closer ties with Mexico, Central and South America.
In fact all of our kids might find that learning more than one language might be very wise. As the future is uncertain, who knows what country our young people may find employment in. We may need to do as our ancestors and the young ones move to a country they can make a better living in, or that has even more freedom, if our local fundamentalist gain control.
Always we all should keep all of our options open,no matter what country we end up living in, including the United States. Meanwhile whomever ends up running this country better be well trained and well educated, so I think we best get to fixing our school system.We cannot afford to have anyone badly education, as any of them may be running this country some day.
To echo Eric a bit, this has a revealing thread. Most posts, especially from white people, have completely misunderstood racism and bigotry (see my earlier post). It is no wonder, though, when one understands that ours is a racist nation to its core, and one of the evidences is the vast disparity between whites and Blacks in terms of income levels, ownership and quality of homes, personal financial wealth, health care, etc. Intellectualizing the issue–as Christopher apparently attempts–by “studying up” on Blackness and Black culture provides a thin veneer for the consciousnesses of whites so they can pretend to themselves that they are not racist. A racist society would not long last if its dominant group realized how evil and rotten racism is, so part of the racist system is to provide various “outs” so that members of the dominant group do not see how immeshed they are in it. Therefore, believing things like, “Anyone can make it in America–all they have to do is work hard,” subtly provides a way to discount the disparities mentioned above. Lines like, “Well, I never enslaved anyone, so I have nothing to feel guilty of” gives plausible deniability to the fact that white people benefit much, much more from our racist system of White Power than people in any minority group. (Incidentally, unless there is a drastic “Revolution of values” that Dr. King called for 40 years ago, even when white people comprise a statistical minority, they will still hold the power they have always enjoyed in this country.) And referring to people of different ethnicities as “those people” is a sure indication of deeply denied racism.
As a some-time addiction counsellor, I believe that racism and racist attitudes may not manifest themselves in individuals as bigotry–many whites who unconsciously are emmeshed in this racist system will earnestly claim things like, “Some of my best friends are Black” as if that was relevant to the problem of eradicating racism–and may be a form of mental illness or a “thought addiction.” In any event, the cutting edge of both racism and bigotry is the inability to recognize the absolute kinship between human beings, and carry the crazy idea that there are “they”s and “those people.” In other words, until we see that all people, each and every one, is our brother or sister, aunt or uncle, or grandparent.
Now, if we really had THAT attitude, what would be different? Well for one thing, for most of us if we saw one of our family members suffering, we would move heaven and earth to help them. So what would happen if when we saw starving Somalians or dead or wounded Afghans, we were struck by the overwhelming insight that THEY ARE MY FAMILY MEMBERS!! AND THEY ARE SUFFERING!!! And we would move heaven and earth to help them. We would start with direct aid, but soon realize that there are forces at work in the world–mighty forces–that actually CAUSE suffering like that in many places in the world. If we went to East Africa to aid our Somali brothers and sisters, we might learn that their suffering is not “natural” or self-inflicted, and that before white people invaded Africa, there had been for thousands of years kingdoms and empires that were greater than anything Europe had produced. We would find that colonialism did immense damage to Africans (and folks on other continents) and that NEO-colonialism–which is the main economic system governing poor countries–is worse even than colonialism. The Western bankers don’t only destroy the lives of Americans, but they and the institutions they run–like the World Bank and IMF operate in ways that ensure that the poor get poorer and the Western elite grows richer, because both colonialism and its modern incarnation are designed to take from the poor to give to the rich.
We would become so angry that such a system was hurting not only our brothers and sisters in Somalia but on Main St. USA, that we would revolt against and tear down that system, and replace it with something humane, that valued people over profits and wealth, something along the lines of Dr. King’s “Beloved Community” for all people.
The proper response when we hear criticisms of the White Power Structure from “those people” is not only to listen, but empathize. To recognize and admit, “Yes, I’m beginning to understand. If I were you, I would feel the same way. What do you suggest I do to change this rotten, filthy system?”
Thomas, You are good at constructing straw men to suit your own purposes and to back up your own opinion. Please don’t try to tell me what I really think or if I am racist or not. You can speak for yourself, but out cannot speak for me. I am not impressed by phony intellectuals.
Let me explain something to you.when I came back from Vietnam I had an absolute hatred of the white race and did my best to avoid white people as much as possible. For over a decade I didn’t have even one for a friend, I could not stand to be around them.
I finally cured myself of that as it was not healthy, but I have no ties to my ancestors even today and that includes my own father and mother. I am still uncomfortable with being around white people longer than an hour or so, necessary in my shop in the tourist business. So you have just proven that you don’t know what you are talking about.
Racism,no one here has said it is over, but it no longer is coming from one side we can see plenty of it in all people in their actions and thoughts about other people and all of us know that.
I hated my father for the damage he did to everyone in my family, including me, but I did not start healing until I realized that not only was I the only one that could heal me , but also the only one who would care to. That is true of each person, no matter who hurt them originally. Healing is a personal responsibility and no one ever accomplished it while holding on the the victim mentality.
By the way as it has been ignored by most of the people posting,
Jada williams did not put the whole of the blame on her white teachers for not teaching but also on the black students who refused to be learners.
Notice that she still managed to be a top student in spite of her bad teachers. Again that is true of all good students, because most teachers are mediocre at best and have always been.Certainly that was true when I was in school and i suspect it has always been true as long as there have been schools and teachers. My problems being a student had nothing to do with the quality of my teachers, or the lack of quality.
I would not be surprised if Jada herself would not be shocked about what you are trying to read into her situation. Regardless of the teachers and even the school, I suspect she will still go far in spite of it because she is not about to allow anyone to stop her.
Unfortunately one cannot say that about most of the students, regardless of their color. They are too busy looking for excuses and playing victim.
This article may be a reflection of many bad things in our society, but it also shows something good, that many people likely missed. In her essay, Jada Williams stated, “A grand price was paid in order for us to be where we are today; but in my mind we should be a lot further, so again I encourage the white teachers to instruct and I encourage my people to not just be a student, but become a learner.” Did anyone catch that? She wasn’t saying that it was the fault of one side or the other. Both sides, both blacks and whites, EACH had their own problems and drawbacks. I’m sure there are many black students, like Jada Williams herself, who study hard and truly learn, and I’m sure there’s many white teachers who truly instruct their students without caring about race or ethnicity. Jada Williams is a person we should all strive to emulate, she realizes that there IS racism in this world, and it IS a problem. But it is not the problem of one side or the other, it is a problem that all of us have, and that we all must strive to improve upon.
Chris wood,
You are one of the few to see what Jada was actually saying about the problem. Most everyone else is using her to fit their own agendas and care nothing about what she was actually saying.
You actually paid attention to what she said and meant.
Unfortunately, I am not surprised by the actions of Jada’s school & the gang mentality of the subsequent schools; the pack of wolves disguised as educational administrators are trying to break that intelligent girl down but it’s only going to encourage her to push forward b/c Jada, like Frederick Douglass, refuses to be mentally oppressed. She’s so wise beyond her years & has shed light on a somewhat hidden fact. I just don’t understand why the parents don’t sue. The school’s refusal to produce Jada’s assignments is ridiculous AND if pursued legally, her schoolwork CAN be subpoenaed.
Complaining to the school’s principal is NOT enough. Formal complaints need to be written to the school board & beyond! C’mon now; wake up!
I agree Crystal that Jada is not going to give up, especially as she realizes that she has a lot of people rooting for her. If she can get her essay to the internet, there are going to be a lot of people who will want to read it, so far more than just a few stupid teachers.
Good post, Matthew. I think we all need to focus on where we’re going and not so much on where we’ve been, if we are ever able to demonstrate the fundamental human respect for one another that we are all entitled to.
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Oh my God. I sat here and read just about every one of the comments on here. And every one is talking about how they’re getting offended. Guess what? Its life. s**t happens. Then you die. Yes, there are people that are racists or just don’t like someone or something. but there are 7 billion people alive today, I’m sure you can find someone in the area that you are in to accept you the way you are. there are good people out there, surprisingly. and its not just white people or black people or mexicans or whatever that are holding the human race back by not letting them do something. its the people that get b**t hurt about stupid s**t. and yes i do agree that she shouldn’t have gotten kicked out of school for her essay. everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and express it. in that way, i agree with this article in the fact that the girl was treated wrongly. but the point of the essay is racist in itself. you’re black? cool story. you’re white? cool story. every race has its positives and negatives within its culture. just like life. accept it and get the f**k over it.
Philip
Our view of how our life is going is often colored by what we pay attention to the most. I used t be quite an angry and frustrated young man, starting with the fact the world did not operate the way it was supposed, it want fair and I suffered from all the longings of a young man and wanted it all now.Meanwhile no bad thing was ever ignored, no matter how small.
Well I am an old geezer now, I have been through a major set of health issues that almost killed me, even had five operation on one eye so that cannot read with it, and have balance problems, nearly deaf in one ear, and use a walker outside, barely can smell of taste much of anything and not even have a s*x life. Sounds horrible to a young person, who would imagine being dead might be better.
But I no longer expect the world to be other than what it is, I am amazed to note how often people are honest, even when it costs them, amazed to find beauty in the midst of even ugliness, enjoy the young people I meet, don’t find any need to play old man games on them, notice every good things no matter how small, ignore any bad thing that does not endanger my life, do a few things each day that I really doing, try to encourage people where I can, even about things like getting older, read a lot more and watch a lot more movies when I can. I am lot more relaxed.I am even taking on a long term project that may are may not be possible for me to do, simply because I have wanted to do it for over fifty years.
Just the difference in attitude and focus is the difference between being angry and frustrated and happy and relaxed.All this in the same basic world I have always lived in with the risks and problems hopes and dreams I have always had.
As Will Rogers said”People are about as happy as they allow themselves to be.”Look him up, he was a Cherokee cowboy humorist.
My sister once told me that some teachers were neglected as kinds and they take their revenge out on other kids and they have a vast audience. I went to a school that had been segregated for three years. I oppression from the teachers was deplorable. The white teachers cheated you out of grades and opportunities to participate in and win championships and scholarships. The black teachers were brown nosers and help to suspend as many Black students as possible. When I had my children, the same bull was going on and I thank God that I did not work, because I would have lost my job. My children were persecuted because I would not allow anyone in the school system to demean them in any way. The were not the smartest or the best behaved, but they did not deserve the treatment rendered because the system did not appreciate my handling of situations involving my children. I have had teachers to talk about my childs hair (he had a bush in the 3rd grade (1978), two teachers had liquor in their desk drawer, one homosexual was identified by my son because he believed the teacher was molesting his friend, I would not allow the school to suspend my son, my child was allowed to be off campus without notification to me, and the list goes on and on. I live in the District of Columbia and the school situation here is deplorable. Students are deprived of education on a daily basis. If they come to school with the wrong color shirt, if they come to school late (most that are not at school fifteen to half hour early will be late because they have to go through metal detectors), they do anything not liked by a staff member rather in the class or in the hallway in route to class or recess, they will be suspended or expelled. If ten absences/suspensions are given to a child, they have to be evaluated for special education. The Black population has a great special education population. Some kids spend their entire education life in special education. Special education teaches little, and are more like prisions for the mentally and physically challenged, and some of these charter schools that have provided special education have been closed because of this reason. When students complain of the abuses received at schools, public and chartered/private, they are suspended or expelled. I have grandchildren, nieces, God children, and kids who want to talk to me, who tell me of the unjustices that still exist for children of color. Some of the parents of these children have to maintain an abundance of control because some of the episodes of supposed disobedience are so unwarranted and cause parents to lose time from work that the parent wants to whip on the school administrators who perputrate these travesties. More oversight should be put into the school system. Cameras in the classroom and the hallways would be a good system. I bet there would be a significant change in these classrooms. Unlike the cameras that monitor traffic, these cameras will not make money for the governments, so they will “never” be incorporated. On the contrary, the governments would probably lose money from law suits because the neglect of these children will be EXPOSED. We do not need angry children. And all of these children are not angered by what is happending to them at home, they are just as angry by what happens to them at school ias they enter through the metal detectors, n their classrooms, in the cafeteria, in study halls, and on the way from school. The government permits the neglect because they give the right to the school system to expel your child at will and also have no protection other than police, who are paid to protect government property, not children. I am so sorry that Jada Williams had to go through what she went through, but someone has to expose these educators for what they are. They are criminals who are robbing our children of their education, self respect, and their hopes and dreams. Look at what the teacher did because they did not like that she felt that the teachers were not teaching and that children were being left behind if they were not learning. These children are sure to be the future prisoners or derelicts of the future thanks to the educational institutes of the United States of American who promote “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.”
These are exactly the kinds of things that have to be brought to a stop. Think what society loses b this.How many kids that could have become our future scientists, inventor, business people, doctors, lawyers, government leaders,military leaders, technicians ,artists, authors, artists, scholars and more are being lost to lousy schools and lousy teachers, and administrators. The same goes for the lack of support from the Parents, who do not push education.
How badly is our society and our nation being impoverished of its future, by not encouraging our best kid, regardless of back ground to become what they could become. The future survival of our nation is endangered by this.
Lets increase the pay of our teachers so that some of our brightest young people will move into teaching. If we do this we can then afford to be a lot stricter about the quality of our teachers. Teachers are more import part of education, if they are no good, then everything else you invest into a school is wasted.
I don’t understand why her parents are not suing the school, because ANY parent has the legal right to see their child’s classwork, grades, school record.
But this young 13-year old child is right, that is exactly what is happening to young Black children in public schools, whether consciously or not on the teachers parts, and that would include Black teachers as well in most cases.
What is also true is her reference to, ” “white teachers” do not have enough control of the classroom to successfully teach the minority students”. We have known that since integration first began; it is like ‘the thing that we dare not speak it name’, because we don’t want to offend the so many wonderful teachers that happen to be White, and because we don’t want to further add to the already debilitating stereotypes that too many teachers already see our children as, rather than as they see any other students, i.e., White students.
Considering the devastation that public schools and integration has wreaked on generations now, of our children, maybe it is time to that we all talk about it.
Well perhaps you need more good quality Black Teachers. Remember teaching is the poorest paid of all the professions. that is not the best way to encourage qualified people to take it up.
As for lawsuits it is a question of what do you gain and what do you lose by doing so. It is also a case of whom do you hurt by it.
In this case you can’t sue the people responsible, just the school system and the system has the use of tax payers money to fight you and drag it on. Winning can also be losing, if you win the case and get even more hatred directed against you. So the family may need to decide if it would be worth it especially with the level of discrimination in our legal system
The world is not fair so don’t waste you time waiting for it to become fair, never going to happen. There have been successful Black men and women since before we were even a country, and they were successful under far more difficult times than now. Troubles and trials are used by some people to find their strengths. I have never met a strong person nor a brave person who has not had troubles and trials to endure. I have never met a compassionate person that has not suffered.
Someone trying to pin a stereotype on you, then live the opposite of it as you can, don’t live the stereotype. Want better images of black people, then create it yourself and get more of you into the media, create a better media. If you go into business, make sure that you treat your workers better than the businesses around you, become part of the solution, not another part of the problem.
Train that brain, get your skills together and stop making excuses and you will win out. Work together with other Black people, more people working together the stronger they can be. Mentor Black kids, set high standards for them. Help each other. To get what you want are you willing to risk your life, Dr. King was willing to do it, and he is one Black person no one can forget. It is all about what are you willing to do to get want you want.
I understand your point of view, but, really, the same way most people take your kindness for weakness, most people take your not doing anything about being wronged for a green light to run all over you and to continue to do the same wrong over and over and over.
If the family sues the school, then EVERYONE has to explain their part in this racial harassment, the child being given lessor grades than she deserved would have to be explained or proven that she was not given lessor grades than she deserved. The school system would have to cough up big money if they win the law suit and big money in attorney’s fees even if they did not. Most companies, including the public school, inc., are not about to pay out more money in a law suit that what they pay you in salary, and without terminating you. Also, other schools would be (or should be) reluctant to hire you as a teacher if you are doing things that are clearly against school policy, rules and regualations, discriminatory, abusive and will cause the school system to have to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions or dollars.
That’s why people sue, not only for the money, but it is the only way that a wrong can be REALLY corrected in many cases.
Gigi,
I understand your point view and a great many people would agree with you.But let me mention a completely different case.
A women I know moved into a small town in North Carolina and lived there for six months. She was being hassled by the local crack cocaine dealer on the street for not buying any. So she went to the town council meeting and tried the bring the subject up. However the town council wasn’t interested in Crack Cocaine dealers in town and chose instead to attack her religion, Wicca. She was verbally attacked at ever town council meeting and this lead to physical attacks on her person, her home, and her animals and orders to the local police to not investigate any crime against her. Her house was totally trashed eight times, her animals were tortured and killed and she was beaten twice, her vehicles sabotaged to try to get her killed
She was finally forced to sue the town council for their continued harassment and won every case right up to the United States Supreme Court. Nothing has changed and not a single crime against her has ever been investigated by any police agency. I reported on this case for several years and know the lady.
Another Wiccan, a man , moved to town and his house was set on fire while he was napping. That case has never been investigated. Now both of those people happened to be white, didn’t do them any good though in fighting the good ol’ boy system.
Look at this recent case of a black teenager killed in Florida, and a rich kid at that. The guy that killed him has a rich ex judge for a father, and he has never been arrested in spite of the fact that the investigating officer said he should have been arrested. His police chief over ruled him and turned the killer loose. Now we are supposed to believe that a 140 pound black teenager would attack a 240 armed white man and this justified being shot. Meanwhile the boy’s family has all kinds of support from all kinds of people. So far no affect.
So if this Black girl’s family questions going to court on this case, I think I can understand their decision. Meanwhile I strongly doubt that girl is not going to go one and become one h**l of a hard fighting successful Black Woman.
Oh for Christ’s sake…can’t we ALL just get ALONG!
Mary,
Of course we can, so the question is do we want to? There are always going to be people who benefit by keeping people all divided up. Being divided keeps us powerless. Cooperating the good people are the majority and can win. So it is our choice whether we work together or stay helpless.
Meanwhile a small advance, Zimmerman is now in jail and going to stand trial but only because people worked together, regardless of who they were,what color they were, or even where they lived. Go going people.
Now lets go to work on our schools o make them good schools and centers of learning as Jada Williams suggested.
My heart is full of sadness after reading this story and the responses. Where are your compassion people? Why when events such as this take place. Why do we make these black/white issues? Do we not see that this is a child? Do we not realize that this is a way for the Devil to keep us in bondage?
The best way to deny us power as people is encourage us to fight each other instead of working together. I can assure you that school are rarely better in mostly white schools either,dumbing down of education to make dumber citizens that the “important” people can control by their emotions is going on nationwide.
Nor is it just wealthy people and politicians, look at some of the foolishness being pressed by conservative religion, such as Intelligent design and lets take medical decisions out of the hands of a women and her doctor. Let outlaw the right of people to speak against the government doing wrong. No as long as we keep playing the white/black game we all will lose. All people in this country, regardless of race, have the same powerful enemies trying to take away their freedom and rights, Religious Right, the Wealthy, and the Government. Unfortunately the Democrats and the Republicans are not much different any more, bought by the same wealthy people.
Haha ya u go son! i gunna agree witchu her. Aint nobody gonna tell u how 2 rite a essay.
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