I was watching NBC Nightly News last night and saw a story on education that left me speechless and more pissed off than I\u2019ve been in at least ten years.\u00a0 It seems that in 35 states including the one in which I live, the education system has different standards of achievement for students based solely on the color of a kid\u2019s skin.\u00a0 People, I find this absolutely unconscionable!<\/b>\u00a0 Essentially what states are saying is that if you\u2019re Black or Hispanic it\u2019s ok not to achieve in life because we don\u2019t expect you to be successful anyway.\u00a0 I remember when I was a kid, my dad always saying \u201cson you can\u2019t settle for being just as good, you have to be better\u201d.\u00a0 Over and over day after day, year after year until the day he died, my dad drilled that message into me and almost 60 years later I\u2019ve never forgotten those words; they helped me to achieve success in life.\u00a0 My dad wasn\u2019t trying to teach me that I was better than anyone else, he was teaching me that based on his experience, Blacks were thought to not be smart or hard working; \u00a0that others saw us as people who would quit when things got tough, and he didn\u2019t want me to fall into that trap.\u00a0 My dad prepared me for the world by instilling a strong work ethic, he made sure that I studied hard and even when I didn\u2019t get the best grades or win , if I did my absolute best, he knew that working hard and doing my best would get me through.\u00a0 My dad wasn\u2019t an educated man, but he made sure that his children knew the value of a good education, because according to him that was the great equalizer<\/b>.<\/p>\n
State governments in places like Virginia, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Arizona and 30 others have decided that it\u2019s ok to dumb down the education system to pass minority students.\u00a0 They do this for students who can\u2019t make the grade in the classroom.\u00a0 Why you ask?<\/b>\u00a0 Seems there\u2019s a federal law requiring all states to meet federal education standards that has been in place for more than five years now.\u00a0 This law requires students to meet the federal standards or states have to start closing the failing schools and lose some federal funding.\u00a0 Well I say close the damn schools!<\/b>\u00a0 If you can\u2019t teach the kids in your school close it! <\/b>\u00a0Allow those kids to go someplace else and get a decent education elsewhere.\u00a0 I watched the superintendent of the DC public schools trying to explain why her system needs the waiver to keep her failing schools open and it was so pathetic that I wanted to puke.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to pick on DC, but their education superintendent was the person on the news. \u00a0Fact is, this decision wasn\u2019t made by the school superintendents, it was made by the governors of these states who clearly care more about federal Funding (that they all claim to hate) than the futures of kids in their school systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This policy is also blatantly discriminatory towards not just the Black and Hispanic children, it discriminates against the White and Asian children in these school systems.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, why should a Caucasian or Asian child have to achieve 94% on a test that a Black or Hispanic child only needs to score 71 on to pass?\u00a0 Black people in my age group have fought for years to be treated as equals in American society, yet our children now sit by and allow the state to treat our children as unequal.\u00a0 What the hell happened to being better?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it better for your children to fail while trying their hardest and giving their best, getting up and trying again and again until they succeed than not giving their best because the state says they don\u2019t have to? \u00a0Trust me, no one succeeds without failure, but failure without trying means failure for life!<\/b><\/p>\n
In America education has always been the great equalizer!\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to get the best grades, you just have to work hard and do your best.\u00a0 The ability to learn opens doors that might otherwise be closed no matter what your skin color, but for minorities education at least gets you a peek inside that door.\u00a0 This policy sends two messages to two groups who will be responsible for our country in the future.\u00a0 To minority kids<\/b> it says that you should recognize that you will always be substandard, so don\u2019t even attempt to move up in society because you\u2019re simply not smart enough.\u00a0 It also says that you don\u2019t need to work hard because the system will take care of you, we\u2019ll give you an unfair advantage because of your handicap.<\/b>\u00a0 This is a welfare state mentality that will keep these kids dependent on the system for life if it\u2019s allowed to continue.\u00a0 To White kids<\/b> the policy says don\u2019t worry, despite the fact that you were discriminated against, you\u2019re superior, \u00a0you\u2019re smarter<\/b> and you\u2019re destined to run the world if for no other reason than because you had to spot those minority chumps 30 points on the test and they still weren\u2019t smart enough to keep up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If this country is ever going to truly be \u201cPost Racial\u201d, we have to stop having different rules for people based on race!<\/b>\u00a0 If you start kids out in life with the thought that their different simply because of their skin color, how can you ever expect them to respect one another and live in peace as adults?\u00a0 No one wants to be discriminated against, no matter what your race, but I guess you could say that this policy discriminates against everyone involved<\/b>.\u00a0 Problem is that it\u2019s a policy that fosters hard feelings between all parties.\u00a0 If you\u2019re Black, how can you expect your White co-worker to teach his kids that they should treat your children as equals in a world where your kids get a 30 point advantage on the test?\u00a0 If you\u2019re White, how do you explain to your kids that race doesn\u2019t matter when they see the Black kids in the class getting an advantage in life just because of their skin color?\u00a0 You may not agree with my analysis of this situation, but I assure you that I am right!!!<\/b><\/p>\n
If you have children or grandchildren in one of the 35 states who have implemented or plan to implement this policy, you need to follow my lead.\u00a0 Contact your state representatives and the governor of your state and put a stop to this nonsense.\u00a0 We have enough problems in this country we don\u2019t need to create more with idiotic policies like this!<\/b><\/p>\n
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I\u2019m just sayin<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was watching NBC Nightly News last night and saw a story on education that left me speechless and more pissed off than I\u2019ve been in at least ten years.\u00a0 It seems that in 35 states including the one in … Continue reading