Misplaced Priorities

The Seattle School District is broke. They mismanaged their money to the extent where they are having to close some schools. They spent even more money over a period of several months to try and figure out a list of proposed schools to be closed. That list came out last week.

There was the expected hue and cry of “You can’t close my kid’s school” from the various parents of children and the district and the parents will now spend even more months and even more money arguing as to why this school or that school will be closed. But one of the strange offspring of this already heated topic is about the names of the schools to be closed.

One of the schools proposed for closure was named after Martin Luther King Junior and another was named after Thurgood Marshall. And, you guessed it, the ‘minority rights groups’ have fired up their individual bases and declared this a racial issue.

Maybe if the ‘minority rights groups’ had stuck their heads into the problem of pooly performing schools named after King and Marshall before the decision to commit to school closures they wouldn’t have a damn thing to whine about?

But then again, this is Seattle; where the school district’s definition of racism is as follows:

Racism: The systematic subordination of members of targeted racial groups who have relatively little social power in the United States (Blacks, Latino/as, Native Americans, and Asians), by the members of the agent racial group who have relatively more social power (Whites). The subordination is supported by the actions of individuals, cultural norms and values, and the institutional structures and practices of society.

You can read that as many times as you want, but you will still come to the same conclusion: Only White People Can Be Racist

Quote found at Andrew’s Dad blog

But that definition shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone living in Seattle, because in September of 2000 the district cut the ribbon on a state of the art school called “The African American Academy” .

If you follow that link, you’ll read that, as of 2002, less than 45 of the 528 (8% to be exact) Pre-School through 8th grade students attending The Academy weren’t of ‘African American’ heritage. That is a statistic that has stayed true all the way up to the 2005-2006 school year, btw.

All paid for by Seattle taxpayers.

I’m glad there aren’t any more racial preferences in Seattle. At least not accoring to the district’s definition.

A definition, I might add, that they are presenting to tens of thousands of children as fact. Gives you a reason to look up and see what your chilluns are being taught about racism, don’t it?