#KatrinaAnniversary "The Logic of Genocide"

Alan Chin 84-year old Milvertha Hendricks wrapped in an American flag blanket after spending five days on the street at the Convention Center. New Orleans ...

Today's Must Read by Glenn Ford

The best thing that could happen to poor Black people is for a Katrina-like catastrophe to hit their city, scattering them to the four corners of the country. So says an article in a leading “liberal” magazine, which maintains that “the forced exodus of Katrina should be replicated as public policy, for the good of both the purposely displaced and society as a whole.” In the real world, white supremacy and capitalism created the ghettos.

Katrina was a human rights disaster 

The human rights dimension of the disaster became clear immediately after Katrina struck, when the media struggled to find the right words to describe the estimated 1.3 million people uprooted from their homes and scattered around the country. Some called them "refugees" — a term met with outrage by Gulf residents, since it officially applies to citizens of another country crossing borders. "Evacuees" was also inaccurate, since tens of thousands of people — largely due to a flawed and scandal-ridden emergency response — were never "evacuated" after the storm hit.

Every Kid is Money  

This week commemorates a grim anniversary. Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. It wiped out the entire public school system and cleared the way for what has become the nation's first fully charterized district. In the New Orleans Recovery School District, traditional neighborhood public schools are gone, replaced by privately run charter schools.

B-but President Obama says New Orleans is moving forward after Katrina.... 

"Not long ago, our gathering here in the Lower 9th might have seemed unlikely," Obama says in speech excerpts released by the White House. "But today, this new community center stands as a symbol of the extraordinary resilience of this city and its people, of the entire Gulf Coast, indeed, of the United States of America. You are an example of what's possible when, in the face of tragedy and hardship, good people come together to lend a hand, and to build a better future."

EYE guess it depends on what the definition of moving forward IS.... 

“Plan and simple, the recovery efforts of the last ten years in New Orleans mostly benefited White residents,” said Ernest Johnson, FFLIC’s Statewide Juvenile Justice Reform Campaign and Policy Director. “America’s comeback city is one where the Black median income remains less than one half of the White median income. It is a city where the Black unemployment rate is nearly three times the rate of White unemployment rate. It is a city where only 30% of residents in the predominately Black Lower 9th Ward have been able to return to their homes. It is evident that recovery was out of reach and unavailable to African Americans.”

The more things change..... the more they don't. 

Meet the new #Segregationist, same as the old #Segregationist, now they are the #media

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly (Credit: Reuters/Micah Walter/AP/Douglas C. Pizac)

New Rules:  Instead of standing in the school house door, the new Segregationist sit in front of cameras and microphones while using the public airways to enable media driven racial stereotypes.

It is not simply that Black people are victims of a numbers game. Rather, there has been a wholesale P.R. campaign on the part of those on the right to associate all public goods and services, from public schools to public assistance, with the bodies of undeserving people of color, particularly Blacks and Latinos.

Yep, the white, male dominated, media enables elected officials , and others in position of power and influence, to drive a false narrative.

Any discussion of welfare or public assistance in this country is rife with dog whistles from the right toward the lower elements of their base, who in Pavlovian fashion, respond to code words about welfare and public assistance by conjuring images of the undeserving Black and Brown poor.

Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever, from sea to shining sea.

In his new book “How Propaganda Works,” Yale philosopher Jason Stanley argues that while a “liberal democratic culture… does not tolerate explicit degradation of its citizens,” there are “apparently innocent words that have the feature of slurs, namely that whenever the words occur in a sentence, they convey the problematic content. The word welfare …conveys a problematic social meaning.” I am suggesting that the word “public” in our political discourse is becoming just such a tool of political propaganda as well.

Who needs George Wallace when we have the media?

 Despite bright spots in the mainstream media for representing race and gender diversity, like Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC, the output of the industry largely still appears white and male. Almost 40 percent of the U.S. identifies as nonwhite and women make up more than half of the population, yet popular media outlets largely remain homogenous. Missing diverse perspectives from the media landscape can have wide-ranging detrimental effects.

Ya Think?

"Don't believe the hype, this is NOT ‪#‎schoolchoice‬. This is #sabotage, #racism, and #abuse."

The "Southern Strategy" never gets old h/t Field Negro 

Charter School operators continue to make billions by pushing harsh discipline practices that ‪punish black/brown/poor children, under the guise of providing them with a quality education.

 While the conference sponsors point to charters and vouchers as needed options for low-income families trapped in low-performing school systems, critics argue that public resources should be reserved for conventional public school systems. They say privately run charters infringe on democracy, as charter school boards are typically self-selected instead of elected.
School choice critics wanted to share their views with conference attendees but said the $400 registration fee was too costly. So they protested outside.
"We would prefer that funding would be kept in the public school system," organizer and parent Gina Womack said. Charters should be held more accountable, to ensure that children are fairly disciplined, she and others said. 

Charter schools are a big part of the problem.

State Rep. Phil Williams (r.) and his gop cronies are pushing for Charter Schools under the guise poor, black children can escape under performing public schools.  Bull Poo.  If Phil Williams and the gop really cared about the education of poor, black/brown  children they would address the funding inequities instead of whining about  the myth of throwing money at the problem, and trying to destroy the Alabama Education Association.

 Charter schools are just another way the conservatives try to backdoor privatize education.

 The premise is that they hope to be able to convince the district to allow them to operate multiple charter schools under the premise they can do things cheaper.  Do you really want your kid being educated by a for profit company basically doing the work of the lowest bidder? With all the private schools here in Alabama, bleeding parents dry for the simple fact they don't want their kids to have to go to school with brown or black kids, the state seems to be ripe for laws allowing charter schools.  Now parents will be able to have their "school choice" at a fraction of the cost private school would have required.

 Segregation today = Segregation forever.

 Let's get one thing straight right off the bat...if Charter Schools provided options for poor/black/brown children, it would NOT be a top priority for Alabama republicans.   Charter Schools are the  vehicle republicans drive on the road to privatized  public education.  Although Charter Schools are funded with tax dollars, Charter Schools don't have to accept ALL children, regardless of race, income, gender, disability, or athletic ability.They can pick and choose the cream of the crop and leave the rest behind. 

Mission Accomplished

Gov. Robert Bentley's new segregation policy director has worked under some controversial regimes in high-profile efforts to turn around failing schools.
Emily Schultz, 28, began her job as Bentley's segregation policy adviser in November, with a top priority of getting a law allowing segregated schools passed during the next legislative session.
Previously, the Birmingham native worked under Michelle Rhee, who became chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools after the mayor took control of the district and cost him his job.

Follow the money

RedEye

"The View From Here" Truth Spoken by James Baldwin, Then and Now

Author James Baldwin's speech before the National Press Club, 1986

EYE will return.

#hsvboe Standing in the front door by going around to the back door.

Former Alabama Governor George C. Wallace standing in the front door of the University of Alabama June 11, 1963

There is an old saying  "If you can't get in through the front door then go around to the back door", which is exactly what Huntsville City Schools is doing, under the capable control and command of retired Colonel, turned superintendent,    Dr. Casey WARdynski in his continued quest to stand in the front door of the Huntsville City Schools.

After his presentation, the Board of Education authorized Wardynski to file the Motion for Approval of his plan. The City of Huntsville is therefore fighting the Department of Justice in court over which plan should be adopted. This motion will be decided by the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Northeastern Division. You may download the motion here.
There was no discussion of how much this litigation might cost during the board meeting. And they answered no questions from the members of the public attending Thursday’s meeting.  Our litigation happy superintendent and board are taking us into more legal action.

Remember back in June when  U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala dropped the hammer on Huntsville City Schools, saying she could find no evidence they weren't operating a dual school system?

The judge ruled late today in Huntsville's months-long desegregation dispute, clearing the way for federal attorneys to roll up their sleeves, dig deeper and and stay longer.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala didn't approve the city's plan to redraw school zones.
And she didn't approve the Justice Department's plan.
Instead, she appointed Chief Magistrate Judge John Ott to oversee months of mediation between the two as they examine all aspects of racial disparities across Huntsville City Schools.
She also called for appointment of a Special Master to oversee the court's ongoing fact-finding in the case.

Key words:
U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala didn't approve the city's plan to redraw school zones.
And she didn't approve the Justice Department's plan.

So how does HCS go around to the back door?  They rename existing schools after schools that haven't been built yet, and Viola!  Back door open.

The go-to phrases at Ronald E. McNair Junior High's first open house Thursday night was "Team McNair" and "Go Wildcats."

More than 200 parents, students, faculty and staff attended the event for the newly formed school, which combines students from Davis Hills and Ed White middle schools. The school will be located on the Davis Hills campus until the new facility on Pulaski Pike opens in 2016.

All vestiges of Davis Hills are gone, from its name to its color scheme to its mascot. In its place is the McNair Wildcat, prominently displayed throughout the school, and the new school colors of royal blue, black and white.

My sources tell me the facility on Pulaski Pike, you know, the site located less than half a mile from an active rock quarry,  has some ahem issues and it's become the Jemison/McNair Mud project.

THE LAND on Pulaski is>> A MARSH LAND DEVELOPMENT. The dirt is in piles as a future barrier, but the graded soil will not dry! It's going to cost an additional $4 Million Dollars to correct the foundational process of that development. It would have been better to buy a few homes near JOJ and expand the property requirement (acreage wise) and build a whole new school on the existing property then to spend undue dollars on the base of this project.

In the meantime the media keeps praising failure and calling it a success.

As they have repeatedly demonstrated, the Editorial Board of The Huntsville Times knows who they need to suck up to in this town, truth be damned.
On Thursday, September 11, 2014, the editorial board published an opinion entitled, “Transition from Textbooks to Digital Tools, as Led by Huntsville Schools, is Proper Path,” which joined in the chorus started by Dr. Wardynski, supported by Education Secretary Arne Duncan (in town on Tuesday on the public dime for meetings that excluded the public), that the only way forward in education is to continue down the failed pathway of the district’s 1:1 Digital Initiative.

 Some of us tried to tell some of y'all this superintendent would turn this process into a fraud and a farce.

In light of the blatant disregard Dr. Wardynski has for parents, students and citizens concerning transparency as evident in the comments made by Federal Judge Haikala: "The Court strongly suspects that the district has chosen not to share many of the reasons for the choices that it made as it shaped its student assignment plan."
In light of the hostile working environment that Dr. Wardynski has created which has resulted in at least 735 people choosing to leave employment with the district since August 2011;
In light of the declining standards of education that we are seeing in our finest schools as the district transitions to teaching nearly exclusively mathematics and English Language Arts;
We the undersigned respectfully request that the Huntsville City Schools Board of Education request the resignation of Dr. Casey Wardynski as superintendent effective immediately.

Can you hear us now?

#hsvboe

Blast from the Past

I am sharing this comment from Mack Lyons I found in this post while doing research for my in depth analysis of the rezoning hearing.   

Al.com commenter Drambui said this on August 19, 2011

"Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!"

 Mack Lyons said this in response on August 21, 2011

Casey, if you're reading this, don't do this. You'll only end up with the Department of Justice's foot up your ass behind this, which, when it comes down to it, is effectively promoting the re-segregation of the school system. If you think you're worried about doing the job you were hired to do, imagine how it'll be with those DOJ wingtips traveling up your intestines.

Those guys at AL.com should be glad they have a little Topix-lite they can vent on. It warns everyone else about the attitudes that still linger around the Deep South.

Un Huh.  Very prophetic, only the wingtips traveling up Casey's intestines were high heel pumps worn on the feet of  two 30 year old lawyers working in Washington D.C. At the Justice Department .

In the documents, the DOJ says Huntsville's plan emphasizes racial lines already in the city. It also says that even with major changes in 32 of the 40 schools, it would leave most students in segregated schools.
The court document also claims that under the district's plan, identified African-American schools would lack access to advanced educational material that is easily available to identifiable "white schools."
The most significant change in the district's plan, according to the DOJ's filing, is the closure of Butler High School, a school with a majority of African-American students. However, court documents say that under the district's plan, those students would go to a school with a less diverse population.
"The district's plan falls short of its desegregation obligations," the DOJ said in the documents. The state said they are open to continued discussion with the district.

 To be continued.....

Who will represent the black/brown/poor students of Huntsville in Federal Court on Thursday, May 22, 2014?

The Justice Department would rezone University Place Elementary from Jemison High to Huntsville High. Here University Place students sit for 2012 kickoff of Mayor Tommy Battle's Book Club. (Huntsville Times file)

^This is what Huntsville City Schools looks like in 2014.^

^This is what Huntsville City Schools looked like in 1963^

The persons who are supposed to represent the children in the first picture are on the side of those who want our schools to look like the second picture.  Those who represent the children in the first photo are marginalized, and victimized.

What is wrong with this picture?

Stay tuned for Keeping Them Honest Vol. 2

How can the NAACP Legal Defense Fund speak for the class without speaking to the class?

"Many of our nations' most cherished notions of justice and equality have acquired the force of law because of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Funds, Inc."

As I read the brief filed  by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the Plaintiffs in the HCS desegregation lawsuit, I wonder how an organization steeped in civil rights law could be so out of step with the Plaintiffs, as outlined by the United States Department of Justice in their motion opposing the school districts rezoning plan?  Is this a case of divide and conquer?

Wardynski and the BOE, enabled by the media, insist the NAACP LDF sides with them against the Department of Justice.  I have read the BRIEF OF PLAINTIFFS REGARDING MOTION OF DEFENDANTS FOR APPROVAL OF DEFENDANTS STUDENT ASSIGNMENT PLAN page by page, line by line, footnote by footnote, and it is my understanding  the special counsel for the Plaintiffs (Norman J. Chachkin) is not opposed to the new school construction plan because of penalties the BOE would incur if they don't start construction of the new Grissom and the new Johnson High Schools by a certain date due to Arbitrage (Page 6-7 and footnotes page 6).  The Plaintiffs attorney (NAACP LDF) reserved the right to oppose the rezoning plan and further litigate whatever issues he deems are in the best interest of the class.

The motion filed by HCS request the courts approval, and DOJ agreement, to build a new Johnson High School and a new Grissom High School (footnotes page 4). The court did not approve, and the DOJ did not agree to closing Johnson, renaming Johnson High School , or combining Butler High School with Johnson High School.  In other words, the LDF has not dismissed this lawsuit.

That said, I can see how some  interpret the motion as the NAACP LDF siding with the school board, and that is what Attorney for the Plaintiffs, Norman J. Chachkin and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (not to be confused with the NAACP) need to clarify publicly and in plain English.

Counsel spoke for the Plaintiffs without speaking to the Plaintiffs, and therein lies the problem. Chachkin justifies his actions by noting  he has a special obligation granted to him by the court in rule 203, as amended in 2003, to protect the rights of the class.  The class needs to know if he is with the class or, with the school district.  Should the court revisit the decision to name a specific counsel/ firm as special counsel for the Plaintiffs?   

 I'm just saying..... the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has some splannin' to do.

Contact Information:
Norman J.Chachkin, Attorney for Plaintiffs
nchachkin@hvc.rr.com

Sherrilyn A. Ifill
President and Director-Counsel NAACP LDF
sifill@naacpldf.org

Johnathan Sandville
Chief Development Officer
jsandvill@naacplld.org

Update~It's Friday the 13th for those of you who get a kick out of that type of stuff

 

 Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 09:24:18 AM CST

  

I don't care if it's Friday the 13th, 2013 or Friday the 13, 2009,  I will always remember Friday the 13th as the unlucky  day my posting privileges were revoked at Left in Alabama,  and the lucky day I was forced to start my own blog.  It wasn't the first time I first time I was banned/booted/censored, and I'm sure it won't be the last.  Para quoting the great poet Langston Hughes  I swear to the Lord I just can't see why Freedom of Speech means everybody but me.

Speaking of Freedom of Speech, here is your laugh out loud for the day...Talk radio host Dale Jackson has the nerve to scold Huntsville City Councilman Will Culver for "attempting to to chill free speech."

Let's recap gist, emphasis mine.

Conservative talk radio host Dale Jackson came to Thursday’s Huntsville City Council meeting with a stern message for Councilman Will Culver.
During a council meeting on Aug. 22, Culver said he may sue Jackson for alleging that Calhoun Community College hired Culver in 2010 for political reasons. Culver, a former Huntsville police officer and chief city magistrate, spent about two years at Calhoun as a criminal justice instructor.
Jackson said a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case, New York Times v. Sullivan, “raises the bar very high” for a public figure to successfully sue a citizen or journalist for libel.
“Asking you questions is allowed, and it should be encouraged,” said Jackson. “You should not be attempting to chill free speech. It’s very important. People have died for that right.”
Jackson said legendary University of Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant is the only public figure from the state in the last 50 years to successfully sue someone for defamation.
“You guys are public officials; don’t (threaten lawsuits) to people,” he said. “It should never happen again.”

That's right (pun intended), Dale Jackson,  the same person who was not a journalist before he was a journalist, who screens callers for his radio show, and censors African American comments on his blog has the nerve to scold the African American City Councilman about Freedom of Speech.  Oh, OK.   Psst Dale!  Your 15 minutes of fame are up, you may sit all the way down now.

People in the Rocket City are celebrating the largely unsung hero's who integrated the public schools 50 years ago.  And that's fine, but if you walk into any Rocket City School 50 years later the student population will look like it did 50 years ago.  Symbolism is nice, but substance is better.

Speaking of symbolism and substance,  why is everyone is acting like they are surprised the University  Greek system has a little race problem, and that bad old habits of the past are not the same bad old habits of the present?

UA's student newspaper The Crimson White broke the story yesterday, reporting that while students at several sororities wanted to recruit a black student, alumnae and advisers overruled them. 
Alumnae from one sorority threatened to pull funding if they admitted the girl, who students called a stellar candidate with a 4.3 high school GPA and close familial ties to the University. 

Left in Alabama's resident Sorority Girl says it's not segregation by the schools, but by the students themselves.

 AKA... (4.00 / 1)

...is a black sorority.  And while there were member who were hassling the poor black girl who joined our white sorority, I can't say for certain (and in fact I doubt) that this was behavior that was encouraged by the chapter itself.  I can certainly say that the national AKA organization does not condone such.
That's why this isn't going to be easy to crack down on.  The University of Alabama when it was integrated had previously had an official policy of discrimination.  The Greek organizations have no such policy and in fact are very diverse in some chapters (though this is rare).  Plus, there's not exactly a stack of complaints from people who have wanted to cross over into other organizations and feel that they were discriminated against.  And even if there were, you'd have to still be able to show that there were not other factors (GPA, conduct, etc.) that contributed to not being accepted.
Affirmative action scenarios are insulting to all parties and are in fact a polar opposite of the very purpose of the Greek system-- which is to be grouped with similar interests.  If you're bringing in a black girl who plays no sports into a white sorority filled with jocks just because she's black, it's going to be miserable for everyone.
I know there have been issues of racism among some members of sororities and fraternities.  Perhaps it would be best to start there.  I know that those are not actions of the organization itself, but that student is just as much a representative of that organization (as well as the school and any other club he/she belongs to) if he's hanging out of the frat house and yelling racial slurs.  That behavior should be reprimanded by both the school and the fraternity.  And if it is not, then we can safely assume that there's a problem, and the group in question can be addressed by the school.  If it is addressed by the organization involved, I don't see any reason to penalize the group than I would denounce all Muslims because of a terrorist who yelled "God is great!" before he blew himself up.  I know that Alpha Delta Pi had conduct codes and a system set up for dealing with such issues.  And I'm willing to bet that most of the others do as well.

WRONG then. WRONG now. The last paragraph hits the nail on it's head. The purpose of the Greek System for African American is public service, not wanna be jocks and debutantes.  Black Greeks can cite examples of recruiting whites. Can white Greek organizations do the same? NO.  Now if  you're black and can play sports and add to their trophy case that's another story.....

"Alabama is now No. 1 in the country and it is hypocritical to cheer the boys on on Saturday afternoon and lock the sisters out of the sorority on Monday," Jackson said in an interview Friday afternoon. "The school should come down hard on those sororities."

Speaking of the bad habits from the past being the same bad habits of the present, remember when some  people (not to be confused with all) said they were withdrawing their financial support from the Alabama Democratic Party as long as Joe Reed had power?

I'm just saying....

"For those of you who are tired of hearing about racism, imagine how much more tired we are constantly experiencing it." - Barbara Smith

Why I can't support the Alabama Democratic Majority

I've received more emails from Judge Mark Kennedy and the Alabama Democratic Majority than I ever did when he was Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party.   It appears Kennedy and Company looted the Alabama Democratic Party's email list because I never gave them my email address or my name.  As far as I'm concerned they raided the Alabama Democratic Party of its valuable resources to start their own separate but equal party.  Much like the Segregation Academies that sprung up in the south like mushrooms after the Brown v. Board decision.

The Alabama Democratic Majority was formed because the Alabama Democratic Party was seen as the party of black citizens (like that's a bad thing) and it drove white men out in droves.  I remember being at a local Democratic County Meeting where the topic was how to get white men to come back to the democratic party.  I said then, and I say now, the only way to get white men to come back is for the Alabama Democratic Party to turn it's back on its core principals and beliefs.  In other words, turn into the Alabama Republican Party.

 If white democrats want white males to rejoin the democratic party they should start by working on their friends, relatives neighbors, and co-workers who put party over people.  Tell them to quit voting against their own interests.  

SaintSatinStain said: Some things like rational gun regulation are neither left nor right; some things like we feed, clothe, shelter, and insure all neither left nor right; some things like the Constitution protects all individual citizens, right, middle, and left is neither right or left. Just saying. Say the obvious because some of you have forgotten if you ever knew and felt. 

It seems to me the Alabama Democratic Majority may have forgotten what the Alabama Democratic Party has always stood for, and decided to pander to those who might vote for the right (pun intended) democrat. 

 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politics? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a stand that's neither safe nor politics nor popular but he must take the stand because it's right."

It's no secret that I didn't support Judge Mark Kennedy as Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party because, to be honest,  I was concerned about his lack of experience, and his close ties to former Congressman Artur Davis (DINO).  Say what you want about Joe Reed and Nancy Worley but the fact remains they delivered more tangible benefits to the Alabama Democratic Party than Mark Kennedy ever has. This is one reason why I support the ADP.  So while the ADM wants to make this an "old versus new" argument and demonize the "old guard", when you consider what Reed and Company have accomplished in this state that in itself should make some of you question the motives of the ADM...that is If you are a Democrat.

 The Democratic Party has been infiltrated by progressives, there in lies the dilemma, there is a  difference between Democrats and Progressives and the two will never be one in the same. 

I have to take issue with Joe Reed's assertion the chair of the Democratic Party should be a white man or women, that's reverse affirmative action in my view.  The next chair should be elected based on the content of their character not the color of their skin.  IF whites don't want to be affiliated with a party where the person welding power is a person of color they can join the Alabama Democratic Majority or the Alabama Republican Party.

The former staff of the ADP have resigned en masse, effective at noon yesterday and most of them will be working for the new organization.  Former ADP Executive Director Bradley Davidson will be the Director of the ADM.  Coincidentally, the ADM's Birmingham office will be located in what was the ADP's field office in that city, the very office the ADP's Executive Board recently directed Kennedy to close.  Kennedy also said the ADM will have an office in Montgomery.  He very pointedly said that the ADM is not a political party and "does not stand in opposition to our state Democratic Party", but rather intends to augment and improve it.

Yeah right.  Pun intended.

 "No one can cooperate with folks who do nothing to pay off their debts but in fact add to the debt and then walk away,"

Today's Must Read
Alabama Democratic Party in Serious Trouble

But what if it is hidden racism?

Fist Dap What Would Jack Do

Republicans have been fighting public school integration since before former Governor George C. Wallaces' infamous stand in the school house door.  They are still fighting to keep them there Negroes  and Hispanics out of their schools, today, tomorrow, and probably forever,  if  people of good will continue let them.

 In modern America we believe racism to be the property of the uniquely villainous and morally deformed, the ideology of trolls, gorgons and orcs. We believe this even when we are actually being racist.

My post, The Truth about the ALGOP School Flex Bill, and nothing but the truth , generated the following response  from a member of  Pam's List serve  which I believe illustrates this point.  Emphasis mine with names redacted.

I have a problem with calling a school a failing school. When we say a school is failing, we are saying the teachers are failing, the Principal is failing, the parents are failing,  and the community is failing. If this is the case, any student transferring to a Successful school from a failing school will eventually result into a failing school. Let me say this, I transferred my son and daughter from Xxxxxx High school to  Xxxxxxxxxx High, not to avoid a failing school. The Principal and the teachers at Butler were great teachers. I met them at every PTA meeting.

I transferred my kids from Xxxxx High to remove my kids from the students attending Xxxxx High, not the staff. What was failing at Butler High was the parenting of a majority of the students. I attended school in the 1960's, through some of the worst times for blacks to get an education, but a majority of blacks back then were committed to get an education regardless of racism. 

It is my opinion that today, parenting is failing not only education in the United States, parents are failing their children. It is my opinion, and please don't get angry, that if all the students at a failing school were bussed to a non-failing school, and the students from the non-failing school were bussed to the failing school, leaving all staff at both schools in place, the failing schools would be reversed!

No teacher can educate a student! Teachers provide an educational environment for learning, and they provide the proper instruction. If the parents and students are not committed to an education, it will not happen! Regardless of the racist Republicans and their racist attitudes, if blacks, whites, poor blacks, and poor whites commit themselves to an education, it will happen!

Alabama will always have racist, Alabama will always have Republicans that wish the negro was still cooking in their kitchens and plowing their fields with no hope of wealth or education. What parents today have to do is, regardless of which school their children attend, commit themselves to their children's education, involve themselves in their children's educational endeavors, and commit their children to learn how to read, and write, and to learn arithmetic in grade school. They must commit their children to the joys of learning! 

If a child today can't read in the 8th grade it is not the teachers fault. Parents must stop looking for someone to blame. The blame starts at home. The blame starts at home. When the next PTA meeting occurs, go to one of those failing schools and count the parents attending. I have, and it is a sad sight! I feel sorry for the kids whose parents are failing them. Successful public schools are the result of involved parents. They use the same books, they have the same quality teachers and they are supervised under the same superintendent. In the 18 years my children attended school, never, ever, have I had to say a teacher was poorly educated! Not once!

The difference between my children and others was that there was study time in our home during the week, and With limited TV and play time. I removed my son from the basketball team at Huntsville High because he was too tired from practice to study. Today he is Xx. Xxxxxx (name redacted) with a PhD from Xxxxxx. 

Yes, racism exist, but lets not pull the race card as a trump card so quickly.

My solution: take any failing school and institute a program to get more parental involvement in the children's classwork and homework. Make it a law that some guardian is required at PTA meetings from 1st through 8th grade. Make it a law that if a child is not bringing in homework, a Child Development Agency is notified to visit the child's home.  Do this and watch this failing school turn into a oasis of education and learning!

Racism can only exist where there is fertile soil for it to grow and to flourish!  But even racism can't overcome the personal commitment to get an education!

No!  No!  No! Racism not only exists but is perpetuated because we would rather pretend it doesn't.

 Its long past time for us to redefine racism based not on the intent of the sender but on the experience of the receiver. As someone said during a blog conversation I participated in on this topic long ago...if I accidentally dropped an anvil on your toe, the fact that I didn't mean to doesn't make it hurt any less.

So where is the hidden racism in the response above?  Let's start with this;

I transferred my kids from Xxxxxx High to remove my kids from the students attending Xxxxxx High, not the staff. What was failing at Xxxxxx High was the parenting of a majority of the students.

What proof does the writer have to support this assertion other than  media enabled stereotypes that black parents are not actively involved in their child education?  Are they are dysfunctional  just because they are black?

 Hidden racism #2

It is my opinion that today, parenting is failing not only education in the United States, parents are failing their children. It is my opinion, and please don't get angry, that if all the students at a failing school were bussed to a non-failing school, and the students from the non-failing school were bussed to the failing school, leaving all staff at both schools in place, the failing schools would be reversed!

 It's easy to accuse and blame some anonymous parents than address the real reason Alabama schools are failing. I have a problem with blaming tax payers, because that's what parents are, for the failure of the school system just because they are  convenient scapegoats.   If the ALGOP really cared about students attending failing schools they would try and fix them instead of bankrupting them.

Hidden racism #3

If a child today can't read in the 8th grade it is not the teachers fault. Parents must stop looking for someone to blame. The blame starts at home. When the next PTA meeting occurs, go to one of those failing schools and count the parents attending. I have, and it is a sad sight! I feel sorry for the kids whose parents are failing them. Successful public schools are the result of involved parents. They use the same books, they have the same quality teachers and they are supervised under the same superintendent. In the 18 years my children attended school, never, ever, have I had to say a teacher was poorly educated! Not once!

 Oh, really?  So if a parent sends their child to school every day to learn how to read and their child can't read it's their fault because they don't go to PTA meeting?  I didn't now they trained parents how to teach  at PTA meetings.  I didn't know parents decided to replace text books with IPads and laptops at PTA meetings.  I didn't know parents hired and fired Superintendents/principals/ teachers/ support personnel or granted tenure.   Snark  If parents are going to teach their children everything at home what do we need schools for?  The teachers may not be poorly educated, but what if the parents are?  Should their child also be doomed to a life of ignorance and poverty?

Hidden racism #4

My solution: take any failing school and institute a program to get more parental involvement in the children's classwork and homework. Make it a law that some guardian is required at PTA meetings from 1st through 8th grade. Make it a law that if a child is not bringing in homework, a Child Development Agency is notified to visit the child's home.  Do this and watch this failing school turn into a oasis of education and learning!


The government can't require parents to attend PTA meetings, or home visits by Child Development Agencies because a child is not bringing in homework.  What if parents have to work or have other obligations?  If children aren't turning in their home work teachers should stop assigning it, or make them do it at school.  In my day we had study hall with trained teachers to assist us if necessary.  Students aren't failing classwork, they are failing homework.  Again, if they are going to do all the work at home why do we need schools.  How about the government requiring principals and teachers to make home visits?

Hidden racism #5

Alabama will always have racist, Alabama will always have Republicans that wish the negro was still cooking in their kitchens and plowing their fields with no hope of wealth or education.

 True, but when this point is made by non whites  we are accused of playing the "race card".

In the less critical sense, the phrase is commonly used in two contexts. In the first, and more common context, it alleges that someone has deliberately and falsely accused another person of being a racist in order to gain some sort of advantage.^[1] An example of this use of the term occurred during the O. J. Simpson murder trial, when critics accused the defense of "playing the race card"^[2] in presenting Mark Fuhrman's past (e.g., his recorded use of the word "nigger" in addition to his being accused of tampering with murder evidence in prior cases, as well as his use of the Fifth Amendment to avoid potential self-incrimination upon questioning) as a reason to draw his credibility as a witness into question.
In the second context, it refers to someone exploiting prejudice against another race for political or some other advantage. The use of the southern strategy by a political candidate is said by some to be a version of playing the race card, such as when former Senator Jesse Helms, during his 1990 North Carolina Senate campaign, ran an ad showing a black man taking a white man's job, intended as a criticism of the idea of racial quotas. The ad was interpreted by many people as trying to play to racist fears among white voters.

Contrary to popular belief, black parents realize the value of an education, and black children want to learn.   Silence helps the oppressor oppress the oppressed.

 The idea that racism lives in the heart of particularly evil individuals, as opposed to the heart of a democratic society, is reinforcing to anyone who might, from time to time, find their tongue sprinting ahead of their discretion.

"It's pretty obvious the Ala-repubs are trying to re-segregate the schools without calling it that."  The question is, are good people going continue to let then get away with it?

There are plenty of valid criticisms to make about last week's hijacking of the legislative process by Republicans to pass the Alabama Accountability Act. Wouldn't take much work, either. But leave it to Moore to get that simple task wrong, too.
Moore, after the Republicans passed the Accountability Act over Democratic and other objections, said this, as reported by AL.com's Kim Chandler: "Welcome to the new confederacy where a bunch of white men are now going to take over black schools."
Criticize Republican sleaziness or secrecy or deception or betrayal. But Moore's statement crosses the line, and it was intercepted by Alabama Republican Party senior vice-chairman George Williams, the highest ranking African-American in the state GOP.
"I am astonished at Rep. Moore for making such a racist statement about our leaders in Montgomery," Williams, from Bay Minette, said in a GOP press release. "I am an African-American, Vietnam War Vet, a leader in the Alabama Republican Party, and I support this legislation. Does that mean I am part of the 'new confederacy'?"

No Mister "highest ranking African-American in the state GOP" (who knew?), it means you are part of the problem.

 America lives under the interesting premise that a racist can't be black. That's like believing that a man can't hate his sibling, or that a woman can't advocate for a man to beat his wife (as Whoopi did to Oprah in "The Color Purple"). The truth is that racism is typically most effective when you put a black face on it, and Herman Cain has volunteered to become the cute little political puppet which allows white America to say the things that they are afraid to say.

 The journey is not about labeling the racism "out there." Its about being open to how it has been hard-wired into our own brains. We need not fear exposing it. The only way it is perpetuated is if we pretend its not there.

The hidden racism is eating away at the future of our country.  It's time to call it out and end it once and for all.
RedEye

RedEye's year in review top 10 countdown part 2

It's a New Year and it's time to put the TeaPublicans out of work so they will know how it feels as GrannyStandingforTruth says to be evicted from their homes due to foreclosure, or watch a love one die because they were denied health insurance.

I can't wait for the Iowa republican primary to be history  .

I'm glad President Obama to get  more aggressive with Congress and will stop playing the moving to the center game. All he has to do is ask Artur Davis how that Centrist meme  worked out for him.   There are no Centrist, you are either with us or against us.  The only thing down the center of the road is a yellow line.  If politicians and candidates pander to the right at the expense of their base they will get what they deserve.   If we elect candidates who will say anything to get elected we will get what we deserve.

Top 10 Countdown Part 2

5.  Update; The sad, sorry, state of public education in Huntsville, Alabama

4.  New Huntsville City Schools Chief is Judge, Jury and Executioner

3.  The "Ethical" Lynching of an Uppity Black Man

2.  Welcome to my world~A very personal diary

1.  New Alabama Education policy director to push for segregated public schools

RedEye's Must Reads for 2012

1.  What is a Charter School?

2.  Hopes for the New Year

3.  African American Students Suspended and Expelled More than Whites

Peace!

RedEye's Year in Review Top 10 Countdown Part 1

I would like to wish readers, fans and foes, best wishes for a  healthy, peaceful,  and   Happy New Year.  May the upcoming year bring the change we all hope  for.  RedEye

Top 10 Countdown Part 1

10.  Dr. John L. Cashin, An American Hero

9.  Update~Let's talk about the history of New Century Technology High School

8.  New Education Policy Director to push for segregated schools

7.  The DoJ to Huntsville Schools-"Don't even think about it".

6.  The Huntsville City Schools Broad Civil Rights War

Charter Schools are not the solution for poor, black students

According to this story in the Chicago Tribune,  Charter schools aren't performing better than public schools, they are perfoming worse because they don't address the underlying issue of poverty.

Despite the right wing spin that low income schools receive more money, the opposite is true.  A study released by the Department of Education proves high poverty school receive fewer state funds than affluent school districts.  Chapter 1 schools receive additional Federal Dollars to make up for the state and local dollars, but it does not address the inequities.

State Rep. Phil Williams (r.) and his gop cronies are pushing for Charter Schools under the guise poor, black children can escape under performing public schools.  Bull Poo.  If Phil Williams and the gop really cared about the education of poor, black/brown  children they would address the funding inequities instead of whining about  the myth of throwing money at the problem, and trying to destroy the Alabama Education Association.

If Charter Schools were the solution for poor, black/brown, students the gop wouldn't be pushing for them.

Charter Schools are a way around Brown v. Board.

Charter Schools benefit the rich while the rest get the shaft.

It's the Poverty, stupid.

Where are the J-O-B-S?

What I learned from the BlogOsphere Today

If  our so called mainstream media informed the public, instead of shaping public opinion we wouldn't have The Sad, Spectacle of the Undecided Voter.  What are they undecided about?  I feel the same disgust with those refer to themselves as undecided as I do with so called moderates and independents.  What are they moderate and independent about?  I suspect most are really republicans who are ashamed to identify with the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party.  You are either for something or against something, there is no in between.  As much as I hate to paraquote pResident Dubya, yer either wit us or aginst us. I'm sick of the both parties are the same meme too.  Democrats represent 99% of we the people.  Republicans represent 1% of the people, by the people for the people.  People are undecided because they're being misinformed.  Period.

Thanks to ObamaCare, More young people have insurance.  Who knew?  To let republicans tell it, they were sent to Washington to keep more young people from having insurance.  Snark

Uh Oh!  The Alabama Democrat Party is handing out Holiday Gifts.  The *ahem* Democratic  party leadership, not to be confused with the brass knuckle wing  of the democratic party,  plan to field a candidate in every gop held Congressional district.  Well, isn't that special?   I can't wait to see the candidates party leadership fields.  RedEye Roll

Repeat after me,  Charter Schools are back door privatization.  They do NOT benefit poor, black children.  They benefit the wealthy.  If Charter Schools were for the benefit of poor, black, children, the gop would not be for them.

What I'm Reading on the Eve of Christmas

H/T The Obama Diary

Even though I am one of three people banned from participating in the discussion at Left in Alabama,  and it doesn't look like a Christmas miracle is in the cards for RedEye, I (pun intended) will continue to read and link to them because I learn something new every day from the informed, involved, progressive commentary.  Anyhoo, there is a ongoing and fascinating discussion taking  place over the question  Are White, Southern, Men The Problem With Today's GOP?  What I'm learning is white, Southern, men, and I might add women, might be the problem with today's democratic party, because angry, white men and women have infiltrated the democratic party, much like the Tea Party infiltrated the gop.  What say you?

Speaking of the gop infused, media enabled, tea party, welcome to the 2012 republican watershed.   I HOPE and BELIEVE the Suckers are waking up and smelling the Coffee.  Thank you republicans for sending Obama some Christmas balls. And not a minute too soon.

What's that you say?  Segregated Charter Schools Evoke Separate But Equal Era in U.S.?  I'm  shocked!  Shocked I tell you!  NOT.     We can't have ALL children having equal access to a quality, public education.  How else are we going to bring back slavery?

What's on your Eve of Christmas reading list?