Racism

Covid 19 means more time to speak to the people we don’t often talk to.  I have been speaking weekly to my 94 year old aunt, a woman I avoided for many reasons I won’t go into here, and not for the reasons in this post but underlying sentiments of hers must have been coming through loud and clear for years.

Our conversations started out light.  We talked about health, loneliness, family, children and grandchildren.  She then started complaining about two of her grandchildren’s liberal ideas, surprising to her since they grew up in a family that gave them everything. I told her I thought that was wonderful. Her son raised great kids and I told her how my kids felt the same.  She then went on to tell me how lucky kids were today and how easy it was for them to do well.  I didn’t agree and told her so.  Things might be easier for those who came from prosperous backgrounds but those without the background or education still struggled.  In her day it was easier to succeed if you had the drive.  Inflation is way ahead of income now.  From here we moved to the protests.  She kept insisting Black people have it much better now than they did when she was young.  And, while I agree things are better, I kept trying to tell her that better was not good enough.  Just because she sees some Black faces on the news doesn’t mean all have the same opportunities. Blacks are still being treated differently and harshly by law enforcement.  I couldn’t convince her of the inequities I saw at Packemin and how, while no one would admit it, there was still a big difference when it came to race treatment in advanced classes and in discipline.  I ended up saying goodby and hanging up.

Racism is alive and well.  

Just Stating Facts

Ricochet got me thinking about the racial make up of my classes. My calculus classes are close to 100% Asian or South East Asian, with a few Caucasians from somewhere in eastern Europe and a token Hispanic from the Dominican Republic. My geometry class has 3 African American, 8 Caucasians, 9 Hispanics, 13 Asians, and 3 from South East Asia. My low level ninth period has 5 African Americans, 7 Caucasians (not one born in the United States), 12 Hispanics, 4 Asians and 4 from South East Asia.

When I once asked someone for an explanation as to why vocational and general programs were ended, I was told they were racially segregated. I was told that a disproportionate number of minority students were being "dumped" into those programs and ending them was a way to even up the playing field.

I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. Has NYC truly been able to put a stop to racial segregation in its high schools?

(Don't even think of writing a comment about the minority kids not being able to do the work. It's not true and I won't publish it.)

Blue Vs Green

Three parents were distressed about their child's math performance. Two parents had green skin and one parent had blue skin. Click here for the rest of the story.

A Benefit Of Being At A Very Big School

Mrs. White went to see Mr. AP because her daughter was struggling in math. Little White was one of the kids moved (without parental or child consultation) from a four term class to a two term class. Mrs. White wanted Little White moved back. Mr. AP said "No. Just go to tutoring and Little will get the help she needs. What period does Little have lunch?" Little responded, "Period 9." "Oh,", responded Mr. AP, "there is no tutoring period 9. She will have to find help somewhere else. Thank you for coming in."

Mrs. White and Little left, walked the halls and wondered where they would find this extra help they were promised.

My Saturday Rant

I probably shouldn't be writing this, but after reading Chaz's last post, I have to.

Schools are in serious trouble. Many of the kids are incapable of learning what we are required to teach them. Vocational and general education programs were eliminated because they were used as dumping grounds and were stratified racially.

The kids are not learning and not succeeding. My racially diverse school has kids failing, kids representing all ethnic groups. And, while vocational programs might have been segregated, lower level classes, repeater classes and advanced placement classes are segregated as well. We've done away with the programs but not with the racial issues when we did away with these schools.

Goals seems to be the new catch phrase that will help everyone succeed. A girl in the tenth grade, whose goal is to have an organized notebook, will never be able to master any levels of higher learning. The same is true about the eleventh grade boy whose goal is to come to class daily or even the ninth grader whose goal is to stop being a disruptive influence in class.

The kids are failing and someone must be held accountable. You can't blame the politicians. They sit in their ivory towers and only see the problems, not the causes. You can't blame the principals because they are busy sitting in their fancy offices coming up with plans that sound great on paper but have no hope of working. You can't blame the parents. Education is the job of the school, not their jobs. And you can't blame the child, that would be politically incorrect. Since teachers are on the main front, they must be the cause.

Yes, blame are the teachers. We are at fault. We are the ones dealing with these kids every day and if they are not succeeding, we are doing something wrong. The older teachers can't succeed because they resist change. They won't even try sitting the kids in a horse shoe. They resist the workshop model. They fight technology. And, since most ATRs are older teachers, why bring them back when they will only worsen the problem.

The young teachers, as Chaz says, are pliable. They only ask "how high", when told to jump. And, when they don't produce, they can be shown the door. Without tenure, they have no job protection.

The UFT and the AFT are some of the most powerful organizations around. By standing against education as it is today, they will be standing up for teachers. If the Principals did not have such pressure on them to keep their school an "A" and "well developed" they might be more willing to hire some of the more experienced teachers. These are the people that know how to teach,no matter what the data shows. There were always principals who refused to hire experienced teachers. Even under the old transfer system, they hid openings whenever possible.

The NCLB laws are not only being followed in the United States, they are being adopted all over the world. We as educators must take a stand against them. Not taking the stand is the same as taking a stand against education.

(and all I planned on posting today were my pretty red pictures from Ikea--oh well, ranting is more therapeutic)

I Need A Drink

My colleague on a health sabbatical missed an exciting faculty meeting today. I'll just have to right about it to keep him posted.

My huge school is on a 12 period day and because of the different time schedules of so many teachers, Suit is forced to hold conferences multiple periods. Some teachers luck out and get to go to a conference during a lunch or a prep so they don't have to stay extra. I'm not that lucky. I'm stuck staying the extra period at the end of the day. Of course, listening to Suit and then going to teach is no bargain either. He would not stop talking during the period four meeting and refused to let teachers leave at the end of the period. The teacher who comes into the room after me was really late to class. She has a difficult class and is always after them to be on time. Coming late herself set a bad example. When she finally arrived, she was really upset. The kids gave her a hard time about being late too. She told him "Principal Suit was holding a meeting and he would not let us leave." The same thing happened at a meeting I was at a few years ago. The only difference was that I got up five minutes before the end of the meeting and walked out. When Suit complained I told him "I have a class in the trailer. I'm not going to be late." He didn't like my answer but he knows that I am made of Teflon and he can do nothing to me. Others are not in that position and must take his abuse.

The meeting I went to began with a lecture about using the new call sub station and EGS (electronic grading system). We were told that computers would be available in the school but we would be much better off working at home in our pajamas. I vote for not working in school in my pajamas. We then listened to the AP of security. This guy looks just like Terence of South Park (big mouth, nothing intelligent ever coming out of it). He was telling us how effective the school was going to be in dealing with lateness. He plans on having his C-6 hall patrol people doing sweeps. Too bad my colleague isn't in school this semester. If he had a hall patrol, I know how much he would love the sweeps. I don't think anyone in the room thought this plan would work. But Terence sure had a good time standing in front and talking. Next to speak was Suit himself. First he talked about our Quality Review and patted himself and the staff on the back. The stupid teachers actually applauded. He talked about differentiated instruction. He wants us to talk to every student individually. He wants us to speak to special education teachers and ELL teachers to find books that are easier for some students to use. All this with 5 classes and a C-6 assignment. I think the guy is on drugs. He then talked about the biggest problem in our school--Black males not getting advanced and honor diplomas. He's finally woken up. I've said for years that this group is not being cared for. I've said for years that this group faces major discrimination. No one listened. Now that the school is faced with the group bringing down the stats, he wants to address the problem. He said a bunch of racist stuff, stuff he claimed was based on facts. After teaching six classes and a C-6 assignment, I didn't have the energy to challenge him. I just watched the clock and made sure to leave when the period was up. I did take a cell phone call in the middle of the meeting. I hope it got on him nerves. As people were leaving he mentioned our next PD would be in January. I definitely feel a severe headache coming on.

The White Tree

This was taken from another blogger but it is important for everyone to read.
THE WHITE TREE: OLD HATRED IN THE DEEP SOUTH

During the past two years a saga has been unfolding in the small town of Jena, La., that harkens back to an era that the United States would like to think has long gone by. An era marked, in this small community, by violent and grotesque hate crimes and inequality, a time when Black Louisianans were taught to stay in their place or pay the consequences. Sadly it seems that time has passed by unnoticed in this rural southern town, which still clings to the “old” southern way of life. Blacks and Whites do not socialize, and racism is regarded casually as a natural part of life.

The story that proceeds is one that seems out of place in an era when we have a Black democratic contender for the Oval Office. It is a sobering reminder that old ways run deep, and hate and fear do not fade away easily, especially in the Deep South. Unfair trials, intimidation and notions of White Supremacy still deeply affect people of color living in this sleepy Louisiana town, which has recently been rocked by international news coverage.


“The White Tree”

On August 31, 2006, a small group of Black students asked permission from their school board to sit under the schoolyard tree, dubbed the White Tree. The White Tree was so named because of an unspoken rule that, since the school’s inception, barred Black students from enjoying its shade. The school board told the kids they could sit anywhere they want. However, the next day when the students arrived to school the tree was adorned with three nooses; two of the nooses were black and one was gold—the school colors. To White residents, the noose was nothing more than a tasteless prank. But to the Black community, it was a threat and a harkening back to the times of public lynching and burnings.

The racial tension ran high between White and Black students of Jena High in the days that followed. The school board’s decision to lessen the punishment of the boys involved in putting up the nooses to a simple slap on the wrist—three days suspension instead of the recommended permanent expulsion—only exacerbated the tensions. The school board dismissed the hanging of the nooses as a harmless “prank,” and the superintendent told the Chicago Tribune that “adolescents play pranks…I don’t think it was a threat against anybody.” The harmless “prank” was not taken so lightly by the Black community of Jena. Perhaps it is because of Jena’s not so “harmless” past. Jena’s dark past is no secret, the racism is not veiled. If you search Google images for “Jena Louisiana”, the first two pages contain photos of lynching, burnings, and Klansmen.

Journalists visiting Jena have been dumbfounded by the racial separations in the town. However, most White residents in Jena are strangely adamant about not being racist. “I don’t think we are racist here,” said barbershop owner Billy Doughty, “We never talk about race.” But Doughty has never cut a Black man’s hair, and he never will—something he tells his occasional would-be Black client. “I don’t cut Black hair. I don’t think it’s racist. I just don’t do it,” he explains. Caseptla Bailey, a Black mother whose son is facing attempted murder charges, explains that “[Jena] is very racist and they don’t even try to hide it. It’s like, stay in your place or else.”

On September 6, Black students staged an impromptu sit in under the “White Tree” to protest the light punishment given to the students who hung the nooses. A school assembly was quickly convened. Surrounded by White police officers, the White District Attorney General, Reed Walters, warned the Black protestors that if they did not stop making a fuss over this “innocent prank…I can make your lives disappear with the stroke of my pen,” implying the filing of maximum or death sentences against the Black students involved.

The events that followed blatantly show the extreme hatred, fear, and institutionalized racism that dogs citizens of color in Jena. About three months after the noose incident, a Black student was assaulted by a group of White students as he entered an all-White party held at a locale called the Fair Barn. The victim was assaulted by White students and struck unaware in the face and then beaten with beer bottles and punches until adults intervened. There is no documentary evidence that any of the White students were ever charged.

On December 4, 2006, a few days after this event, during lunch hour at school, the same boy that was beaten at the Fair Barn party was verbally assaulted by one of his attackers. The White boy used the N-word, and taunted the boy for getting his “ass-whipped” at the party over the weekend. The White boy was also close friends with the boys who hung the nooses. An altercation ensued, with the White boy reportedly being knocked to the floor by a group of six boys, although only three of the six boys charged were actually involved, and rendered unconscious. The victim, Justin Barker, was in the hospital for three hours before being released and attending a school ring ceremony that evening.

The boys involved in the attack were arrested in under an hour and charged with aggravated assault and premeditated aggravated assault. Then, in an astonishing move, District Attorney Reed Walters, the same man who threatened to “wipe [their] lives out,” upgraded the charges against the alleged attackers to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder.

On June 28, 2007, Mychal Bell, the first young man to stand trial, was found guilty by an all-White jury and a White judge of second degree battery and conspiracy to commit second degree battery. All witnesses called were White and many of them had close ties with the District Attorney and the victim’s family. He will be sentenced on July 31. He could face up to 22 years in jail. After the ruling, Edna Thompson, a longtime friend of the Bells, was quoted as saying that “the best thing, if you’re Black in this town, is to stay out of the system, because once they get you, you’re done for. You’re not getting out.”

It is imperative that these six Black youth are not tried in Jena, La., as the town has proved itself unfit to provide them with a fair trial. The local community has been organizing and there has been international attention and outcry regarding the unfair treatment of these young men. They have their whole lives ahead of them. Bell is a star athlete who had offers from UCLA and other top schools. A racist, small-town community should not have the power to ruin their prospects for a happy and prosperous future.

Get Involved!—Write, email, or call one of these local organizations:

The Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO Box 2798, Jena, LA 71342
jena6defense@gmail.com

Friends of Justice
507 North Donley Avenue
Tulia, TX 79088
www.fojtulia.org

ACLU of Louisiana
PO Box 56157
New Orleans, LA 70156
www.laaclu.org
(417) 350-0536