Guest Editorial by The Composer: "Earned distrust" a call for change

Welcome to RedEye's front page The Composer!  I look forward to your continued informed, intelligent, involvement in the debate/discussion.  This post is submitted as a guest commentary, with links and graphics inserted for emphasis and clarity.  Future post will be under The Composer's byline.~RedEye

 

Amidst a completed prelude of rolling thunder and pouring showers, a scene of calmness covered the atmosphere of 200 White Street, as the central office for Huntsville City Schools served as host for a press conference organized and administered by the North Huntsville Community United for Action (NHCUA).

This group consists of local ministers, elected officials, community leaders and concerned citizens of the Huntsville community. The press conference was called to bring awareness to the  issues that continue to plague the local school system, particularly in north Huntsville where the population is majority African-American.

About 30 individuals, not including representatives of HCS: Rena Anderson (Director of Community Engagement) , David Driscoll (Director of Community Spying?), and local media were in attendance.

The initial gathering was typical as people reconnected with one another and discussed the various issues relative to the community, including newly elected school board members, the SAFe initiative, the untimely and tragic death of Julian Jones, and the fact the group was not allowed to assemble on the steps of the central office.  What happened to the right to assemble on public property?  Our tax dollars fund the Annie Merts Building, right? Help me out here if I am wrong! If we were standing in any of the front yards of private residences near central office, then maybe I would entertain the request, but I digress.

The demeanor was serious as a focused listened to a prepared statement delivered by Rev. Montgomery, pastor of Union Hill PB Church after opening remarks by Rev. T.C. Johnson, pastor of St.Luke Christian Center.  Rev. Montgomery highlighted factual data showing African American students are 41% of the student population, slightly over 70% of out of school suspensions, and more than 60% of school expulsions.  This indeed is alarming, and leads to the conclusion that racial profiling is at an all-time high in Huntsville, AL. This gave notion to the most recent scandal which Rev. Montgomery referred to as a "scheme".

It’s sad that we have to resort to the Internet and to the press to air our issues instead of sitting down at the table of fellowship and work out our problems/grievances like civilized adults. District 1 school board member Laurie McCaulley was not present, as she probably saw no purpose in dealing with her former allies of NHCUA,  or maybe she was enjoying fall break.  The question then becomes, what incident will garnish the magnitude of revelation that will force all parties to compromise and embrace one another as children of God?

Overall, the press conference called for the resignation of Superintendent Wardynski. If not obliged, his termination at the hands of the BOE was also requested. It is my personal opinion Casey Wardynski is regarded as he is, simply because he is of his military background. Think about it, the military is designed by ranks; therefore you have a certain rank to be addressed by those in command. The Superintendent probably believes that his board members will serve with the best interest of their respective communities in mind. This means that he would be able to trust those that represent the various districts to provide the necessary information that will lead to his ongoing decision making. He probably would pose the notion that if the board member says the district wants it like that then I can move forward with my proposal. But when the board member is not transparent and is working behind the backs of the constituency you can expect inaccuracy will be at the forefront of all parliamentary procedure. Inaccuracy in curriculum implementation, funding, and general planning has been the Achilles heel of HCS. We now face probably the biggest divide since the Hereford prime days!

Some of the following questions were asked by members of the media: What is your next move? Do you believe that the situation is unfair for Black kids? What specific actions have you done to improve the community?  What do black students in north Huntsville want.   Al.com reporter Mark McCarter asked “Have you met with Wardysnski face to face?” to which the audience responded by laughing  hysterically.

Transparency and communication are not now, nor have they ever been, one of this Superintendents strong suits. When asked if all board members had been contacted. Rev. Scruggs, pastor of First Missionary Baptist church, and immediate past President of the National Baptist Convention, reminded them of the Prayer Vigil held earlier this year, at which Mayor Battle, Superintendent Wardynski, and all school board members were in attendance.

If you missed the press conference, you missed a special moment! Surely some people will attempt to label this as a race card movement, but facts don’t lie. We live in a dual society, and we have a dual school system. I challenge members of the community to visit all schools and learn the educational arena that trains our students for the real world.  I also encourage all citizens to participate in the political system, as your eyes will be opened up to new discoveries and certainly new ideas.

To the brave men and women who continue to fight for justice, thank you for your persistence and perseverance. Keep fighting. I encourage you to go even further beyond your consistent efforts as the urgency of now is like never before.

-          The Composer

Update~ Mo Brooks is right (pun intended) #waronwhites

No brainer

Mo Brooks (r. AL 05) is the Trent Lott (r. MS) of the republican party.  Like Lott, he said publicly what  some circles say privately.  Don't get it twisted, some (not to be confused with all)  aren't mad at what Mo said, they are  mad because he said on the radio and on TeeVee.  Rule 101 of James Crow Esq. is don't reveal your identity or your strategy.  If you hate blacks/women/Hispanics/LBGT, pretend you love them, that way you can be more effective  in thwarting their success or advancement, i.e. justice system, school system, housing system, banking system, employment system, and last but not least the social system.

"I want the American people to start recognizing what the heck's going on," Brooks said. "When the Democrats bring up race time after time after time, what's the theme? It's skin color. Who are they saying who dislikes whom? They're saying the whites dislike the blacks, the whites dislike the Hispanics and the Democrats are the ones who will protect you from those whites.
"That's the subliminal and sometimes open message."

Rep.Mo Brooks has a documented history in the 5th Congressional District, this is not his first tell us how you really feel moment.  This is the former appointed DA who voters, black and white, rejected in the general election (thank goodness). This is same individual who ran for a seat on the Madison County Commission and won due to it's gerrymandered composition.  This is the gentleman, who believes whites have a higher I.Q. than blacks, and children who live in public housing should not be allowed to attend south Huntsville schools because they lower test scores.  This is the sitting United States Congressman who was forced to withdraw use of the word socialist on the house floor, and,  who refused to back off his "anything short of shooting them" illegal immigration threat.

 And Mo says democrats are waging a war on white folks?

" Certainly if you were to flip the coin and a white person were to say vote for me because I'm white, it would be an uproar and deservedly so. So why do we allow blacks to say vote for me because I'm black or Hispanics vote for me because I'm Hispanic? " 

 Shhh!  Don't tell anyone but that is exactly what Mo Brooks is saying to his base, you know, the people who hate President Obama more than they love themselves.

Not to be left out, AL.com's  Mark McCarter wasted no time jumping into the fray to defend Mo by attempting to drag state Representative Alvin Holmes into Mo's mess.   This is not about Alvin Holmes or anyone else.  It's about Mo Brooks and the dark heart that is represented by his views.  These views speak to the content Mo's character, and those of his supporters, not to Alvin Holmes character, or any other false equivalency.

Congressman Brooks is an embarrassment to the state of Alabama, and the voters who elected him.  He is not the first Alabama politico to rant racist views, but hopefully he will be the last.  Voters have the chance to send him, and others like him, to the unemployment line.

Before Mo and Company took over, north Alabama was considered to  more cosmopolitan (for lack of a better word) than other parts of the state because of it's diversity. These views most certainly do not represent the diverse community Mo was elected to represent.  Huntsville depends on federal programs to fuel it's economy.  Local leaders must be cringing with fear.  Of course I won't hold my breath waiting for someone to step up and denounce, repudiate, and reject Mo Brooks they way they made candidate Obama reject Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  That would be too much like right (pun intended).

Let me end by saying we all have some degree of prejudice in our hearts, but it takes power to exercise racism.

Ordinarily we might expect to hear talk of a “war on whites” from those on the radical fringes of American society. When the phrase comes from a sitting member of Congress, the rhetoric is far more alarming.

I'm talking about you Mark Kennedy and the Alabama Democratic Majority.  Where are all those candidates you were going to recruit once you got rid of Joe Reed and his bunch?

In theory, these are the kind of remarks that would tarnish, if not irreparably harm, a politician’s career, but Brooks has very little to worry about – his Alabama district is ruby red, and this fall, Democrats won’t bother to run a candidate against him.

 Enough!

The Judge Slams The Sham

Here we go again.

You know the drill.

Use the power of the press to marginalize and minimize legitimate concerns of people of color.

And yes, I'm going there.

 U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala saw through the ruse,  and dropped the hammer on HCS board member Laurie McCaulley's  little "community conversations" masquerading as "a citizens workshop on unitary status" planned for Monday night.

Things in court grew tense as Haikala talked about a "citizens' workshop" that board member Laurie McCaulley has planned for Monday night at Butler High School. McCaulley earlier this week told AL.com that she had decided to host the event to help establish a "template" of the community's wishes for Superintendent Casey Wardynski to refer to during desegregation negotiations with the Justice Department.
In a scathing 107-page opinion she issued June 30, Haikala criticized the school board for a lack of communication with the public about its plans for redrawing school zone lines.
"These sorts of conversations at this juncture could cause problems down the line," Haikala said.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for  AL.com sports/opinion writer Mark McCarter, who once again took it upon himself to be a crusader for the status quo, and bash local NAACP President Alice Sams for saying she planned to attend, but other black leaders planned to boycott the sham, I mean, event.

"But to those who would cavalierly dismiss an opportunity like this to be heard, don't be surprised when people stop listening to you everywhere."

So let me see if I have this right (pun intended),  if the black leaders boycott the event, white people will  stop listening to them?  Sounds like a veiled threat and some racial code words to me.

Psst Mark McCarter!  White folks listening to black folk sound oxymoronic (sic).  Didn't you get the memo?  They certainly didn't listen to black elected officials and community leaders about the Johnson High School name change.  They certainly didn't listen to the J.O.Johnson Alumni Association's petition and march against the name change . They aren't listening to the valid concerns some people have about locating the new north high school less than half a mile from an active rock quarry , without conducting a health risk assessment.  

The education system in our city remains an area of great racial divide. The Huntsville City Schools have gone from an era of being ineptly managed to heavy handed leadership. By its nature, tough decisions that won't sit well with everyone must be made. It's a lightning rod for people with an agenda, often people who have no children involved.

Now where have I heard that Huntsville City Schools were ineptly managed under the former superintendent, and it's a lightning rod for people who have no children involved?  Oh I know.... right wing radio host Dale Jackson, Superintendent Casey Wardynski,  and Mayor Tommy Battle,  people who have no children involved.

The education system in our city remains an area of great racial divide by design,  hopefully we are coming to the end of an era, the tough decisions will be made, and Huntsville City Schools will be a shining example for others to follow again. 

I sure do miss the good old days when the media kept public officials from lying to us instead of enabling them to lie to us.

 Can you hear us now?

Mark McCarter "claims" he writes columns on news and sports for The Huntsville Times and al.com.

Columnist Mark McCarter

Here we go again.  In a blatant show of white privilege Mark McCarter uses the power of the press to marginalize and minimize legitimate concerns of people of color.  And yes, I'm going there.

What do I mean by white privilege you ask?

White privilege refers to any advantage, opportunity, benefit, head start, or general protection from negative societal mistreatment, which persons deemed white will typically enjoy, but which others will generally not enjoy. These benefits can be material (such as greater opportunity in the labor market, or greater net worth, due to a history in which whites had the ability to accumulate wealth to a greater extent than persons of color), social (such as presumptions of competence, creditworthiness, law-abidingness, intelligence, etc.) or psychological (such as not having to worry about triggering negative stereotypes, rarely having to feel out of place, not having to worry about racial profiling, etc.).

Mark McCarter missed the mark (pun intended) again with his latest attempt to defend the indefensible actions of  HCS Superintendent Casey Wardynski, the Board of (mis) Education, and their ongoing assault on north Huntsville's J.O. Johnson High School community.

Let's recap
 
The black coach who built the Johnson Jaguar championship basketball team was transferred so the white coach could come out of retirement and bask in his glory, and,  the parents who dared speak  up against the firing (which even McCarter admitted smells more fishy than a boat-load of rotting tuna) are called protesters, like that's a bad thing. 

This story shouldn't be all about the coach, either. But it's impossible to tell it without him as the central figure.
Doss came out of a short-lived retirement, having left Butler, where he won five titles between 2004-2011. The key, Doss said, was "Dr. Wardynski had the confidence in me to be able to do this."
Senior guard Lionel Love, who had those team-high 18 points, confessed that "we were upset (at the change). But at the same time, we knew we had to keep pushing forward and accomplish our goals. And we knew Coach Doss had a great record."

 The most disappointing and disturbing fact in all of this is McCarters' attempt to use the words of   the chief protesters son to undermine the initial concerns, which remain unanswered.  Why was Maurice Ford demoted? Was it so that "The Great White Hope" could come out of retirement and lead this predominately black team(who had already proven themselves) to victory and enhance his profile ? 

I am not a lawyer but I watch a lot of Law and Order on TeeVee, one of the things I learned is always look for motive,  means, and opportunity.   What was the motive behind the firing of Ford and the hiring of Doss?  Who had the means to fire Ford and hire Doss?  Who had the opportunity to fire Ford and hire Doss?  I will give you a hint, their name starts with the letter W.

McCarter also used the power of the press  to discredit those who continue to protest the illegal name change and potential building of the new north Huntsville High School less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

The bitter irony in this defeat is that it comes the morning after still another protest.
Groundbreaking was held Friday for the new Jemison High that will replace Johnson in August 2016. Many Johnson alums and supporters have been irate that the Johnson name will not be carried over to the new campus, and several protesters gathered to claim they were "not included" in the decision process. But it's disingenuous to suggest they haven't been heard.

No, it is disingenuous to suggest those with questions and concerns have been heard Mr. Mark McCarter, Sir.  As a matter of fact, those who make the rules are breaking the rules right under your nose. If you've been reading this blog, or The Geek Pavaler's blog, you would know that in their haste to treat the taxpayers of District 1 like second class citizens, the HCS BOE violated it's own naming policy.

There is one thing on which we can agree, it's not about the name on the outside of a building, it's how the name got on the building.   

New Rules, hand pick a committee giving the appearance of diverse viewpoints, while stacking the deck with people  in favor of your point of view,  hope the people won't notice because after all, they are Johnson grads nod nod wink wink.  

It is also about the BOE  purchasing land to build a new $65 million dollar school in an area where people aren't building $65,000 dollar homes because of it's proximity to an active rock quarry.

These are facts you may want to consider the next time to you claim to write a column on news and sports for The Huntsville Times and al.com. There is a rumor circulating that most of the assertions  in your article are factually incorrect. The next time you claim to write for The Huntsville Times and al.com you might want to attack the message instead of the protesters, I mean, the messengers.

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to go make some protest signs singing If I Had a Hammer.....

The views expressed on this blog are mine and mine alone.  

The Shirley Sherroding of "Possibly Progressive People" by "white conservative media" and left leaning blogs

You know the drill.

A possibly progressive group holds a press conference

I'm pretty sure the folks who called the aforementioned news conference have good intentions, possibly even progressive intentions, but as most of us have learned, good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes. And poorly chosen words at a press conference not only can't be called back, they are a virtual guarantee of bad press.

I guess it depends on what the definition of poorly chosen words IS. Yes, that's a snark.

The media takes a snippet of the groups remarks out of context and distracts from the real purpose of the press conference.

What we heard in the statement and ensuing answers was more rhetoric instead of solutions.

What we heard were alarming veiled threats. The penultimate paragraph ended with the vow that "We are committed to this end and are willing to fight for (it) if necessary."

Then, to conclude, President John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable."

If those weren't veiled threats, they were a poor choice of words.

The pile on commences.

Sams ended her speech with a bold statement.

"Those who make peaceful revolutions impossible make violent revolution inevitable," said Sams, who quoted former president John F. Kennedy. When asked to clarify her remarks and how it applied to the context of the school system, she referred back to the original quote.

"You know what the quote means," said Sams. "I quoted the president (Kennedy). He was a peaceful president, so I did a quote. You can interpret it anyway you want to, I just quoted."

Voila! That's all the righty's need to call for a Race War. Thanks, Mark McCarter.

George Wallace said
February 15, 2011 at 10:48 am
I say bring it on. I’m down for a race war. Everyone can use their 2nd Amendment remedy and God will favor the righteous.

Let's take NAACP Alice Sams remarks in context. She wasn't making a veiled threat. She was quoting President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I could see McCarter and others taking it as a veiled threat if the NAACP had a history of violent revolutions. The violent revolution Alice Sams is referring to metaphorically is seeking legal redress and remedies.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954),[1] was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which allowed state-sponsored segregation. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and the civil rights movement.[2]

Speaking of rhetoric in abundance, McCarter needs to look in the mirror.

What we heard were assertions that the Huntsville City Schools, under the 10-year leadership of a black superintendent and with a diverse elected board, have regressed to become "a dual school system; one for black students, on the North end of town, separate, unequal and academically unsuccessful and one for the white students on the South end of town, marginally academically successful."

What we heard were complaints about "the extreme disparity in the test scores" between black and white students. Alarming, no question. Sixty-seven percent of white students passed at level IV and less than 27 percent of black students passed at that level.

To my question about the accountability students and parents should have rather than placing it on the school system, Sams merely said after a long pause, "I'm not an educator so I'm not going to answer that question."

What you heard is not what was said. The Huntsville City Schools didn't become a dual school system under the 10year leadership of a "black superintendent", it was dual school system long before she was hired. As for the "diverse" school board, one black member has one vote and is often voted against by the white majority. So, in essence, they are a token with no real power.

To your question about the accountability of students and parents, what about it? The students and parents don't run the school system. They don't appropriate funds. They don't set policy. They don't hire and fire teachers, administrators and support personnel. All they do is pay taxes and vote. How dare you try and blame black parents for the achievement gap and the sad sorry state of the Huntsville City School System. What revbobbob said all the damn way.

I re-headlined it: White conservative editor in Alabama minimizes concerns of black residents

mooncat has a nasty little habit of telling grown black people what they should or should not say and how they should or should not say it too. Can you say condescending?

Know your message and communicate your message. Activists earn positive news stories with well prepared* statements that go beyond simple complaints, with a willingness to engage members of the press and the patience to answer questions as long as the reporters will hang around. After all, when you're trying to earn positive media for your cause, you must first convince these people to tell your story. The press is not the adversary, they are the conduit to a larger audience. If you want that audience to hear your story, you have to convince them your cause is just and your ideas are worthy of coverage.
*"Well prepared" means parsing all the words to make sure your meaning is clear and not subject to misinterpretation and eliminating information that's off topic. It's a good idea to get two or three people of different backgrounds to proof the statement and make sure it conveys the proper message.

Alice Sams doesn't need anyone to tell her what well-prepared means, and she wasn't trying to earn positive media whatever that means. The purpose and intent are to put Huntsville City School leaders on notice that black children will no longer be left behind. How's that for a choice of words? In this case and in most cases regarding fairness to black folks, the media most certainly is the adversary. McCarter chose to ignore the substance of Sams remarks by taking a snippet out of context in a veiled attempt discredit the legitimate concerns of "possibly progressive people".

Psst, Possibly Progressive People! The next time you want to call a press conference call me. I'll be happy to write your press release, statements and field questions from the media. In other words, I'll make sure you are "well prepared".

This is the media we have instead of the media we wish we had. They can dish out the violent revolutions but they can't take them.