The 21st Century Segregationists
As the nation commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I personally can’t help but think and ponder what would have happened if Dr. King had not been assassinated in 1968 but instead lived to see today. The sarcastic side of my nature immediately takes me to an episode of the Boondocks, however the more serious side of my nature forces me to believe that Dr. King’s fight today would include doing battle with the opponents of Indiana’s school reform.
It would not take a lot of effort to point to stories and statistics about the plight of black males and education, particularly those in predominantly urban environments. Just take a step into a typical Indianapolis Public School classroom and look at the educational malpractice that takes place everyday. The graduation rate amongst Black males is almost criminal. Black students are being turned into a permanent underclass. And the education establishment and their allies in the Indiana General Assembly are more concerned about their jobs and political contributions than they are in educating children.
If Dr. King were alive and walked into a typical urban classroom he would be furious. He would agree that who needs Jim Crow laws, dogs and water hoses, and whips and chains to keep a segment of society in bondage when all you really need to do is give them a poor education and no means to escape and you can keep them intellectually enslaved all you want. The opponents of choice, accountability and reform are the real educational bigots here. If they were serious about the education of Black youth they would embrace change and open the flood gates so reform could sweep through this state and cleanse the educational landscape of the weeds and thickets of mediocrity, complacency and low standards.
I was listening to radio broadcast this past week of an Indiana lawmaker who alluded that the real reason behind school reform was to attack and harm black children. I’m not sure what planet she was on, however looking at the educational landscape and who has been running the schools, I don’t think the reformers are Black children’s problems, the lawmakers and policy makers who look like them tend to be their worst enemies.
What is it about school choice that frightens these individuals? What is about accountability that makes the collective hairs on their backs stand up? What is so wrong about giving parents the ability to choose an accredited institution of learning that works best for them? We ask these questions and we are accused of hating public education and not caring about children. Well no offense, but who is the bigger threat to the future? The people who want to reform education or those who want to protect the status quo, while giving only lip service to reform?
Luckily, Indiana has a reform-minded Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction and a Legislature willing to unshackle the educationally oppressed. I even had a conversation with a Black lawmaker on Thursday who told he was sick and tired of seeing children in his district being condemned to lives of poverty simply because a union wanted to protect a bad teacher so it could continue to collect dues.
I realize the words I’ve written today may seem harsh, but the truth hurts. Deal with it. But you cannot tell me that if Dr. King was alive today, that he would be satisfied with the status quo in the education of Black youth. I doubt seriously that he would pleased with educational homicide that Black students are being subjected to while being forced to stay in failing urban schools.
If Dr. King were alive today, he would still lead a chorus of “We Shall Overcome” however, he’d be singing about education.
