Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Eric Holder’s Three Examples Of ‘Pernicious’ Racism Don’t Hold Up, Part I By Larry Elder

Attorney General Eric Holder
By Larry Elder, May 21, 2014

America, says Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, no longer tolerates blatant racism. “Over the last few weeks and months,” he recently said, “we’ve seen occasional, jarring reminders of the discrimination -- and the isolated, repugnant, racist views -- that in some places have yet to be overcome. These incidents have received substantial media coverage. And they have rightly been condemned by leaders, commentators, and citizens from all backgrounds and walks of life.”

Without mentioning his name, Holder referred to the owner of the L.A. Clippers, Donald Sterling, who faces banishment from the NBA over the racially offensive comments. “These outbursts of bigotry, while deplorable,” said Holder, “are not the true markers of the struggle that still must be waged, or the work that still needs to be done -- because the greatest threats do not announce themselves in screaming headlines. They are more subtle. They cut deeper. … This is the concern we must contend with today: policies that impede equal opportunity in fact, if not in form. … This is the work that truly matters -- because policies that disenfranchise specific groups are more pernicious [emphasis added] than hateful rants. ”

Specifically, what are the “pernicious” racist policies to which Holder refers?

In his speech, he cited three examples: Suspension/expulsion rates for black students; the push for voter ID; and the assertion that black defendants receive longer sentences than white defendants who commit the same crime.

Let’s examine them.

First, Holder talks about the disparate disciplinary rates for black students.

Holder correctly noted that black students, when compared to their percentage in the school's population, are suspended disproportionally higher. To Holder, this spells racism: “Codified segregation of public schools has been barred since Brown. But in too many of our school districts, significant divisions persist and segregation has reoccurred -- including zero-tolerance school discipline practices that, while well-intentioned and aimed at promoting school safety, affect black males at a rate three times higher than their white peers.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, too, complains about allegedly racist educators who suspend black kids more frequently than they do white ones. Teachers, especially those who work in the inner city, are overwhelmingly left wing, voted for Obama twice and believe in "progressive" liberal values and social justice. Yet they stand accused of racism or, in the case of black teachers, self-hatred.

In 1999, Jackson filed suit against the Decatur, Illinois school board over allegations of racism. Seven black high school students were expelled for inciting a brawl at a high school football game. Enter Jackson. “This isn’t about black and white,” he insisted, “but wrong and right.”

Jackson demanded the immediate re-enrollment of the students, arguing that the punishment did not fit the crime. Then, oops, a video of the fight surfaced, and Jackson’s initial description of a “simple fistfight” did not bear up.

It looked ugly.

Many more people could have been hurt. It turned out the seven students, collectively, had previously missed over 300 days in their high school careers. Further, the school board pointed to previous behavioral problems on the part of some of the students. The students had gang ties, and one was arrested two more times following his suspension. Still, the under-pressure school board agreed to cut the suspensions to one year. The governor of Illinois agreed to change policy and allow the students to enroll in an alternative school and receive credit -- all so that the seniors involved could still graduate “on time.”

Unappeased, Jackson forced authorities to arrest him when he showed up, students in hand, and to demand their immediate re-enrollment. “The schools are 48 percent black and brown,” said Jackson, “the teachers and the school board are 90 percent white. This is what happens when you have these culture gaps and stereotypes, and unfounded fears.”

Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition sued the predominantly white Decatur school district, claiming they disproportionately expelled black students, who were 48 percent of the student body but accounted for 82 percent of expulsions.

But Jackson had a big problem in proving his case. Data showed that black kids were disproportionately expelled in even in liberal cities like Oakland and San Francisco. The seven-member board of education in San Francisco -- ground zero for “compassionate liberalism” -- contained one Latino, two Asians and one black. Blacks were then 16 percent of the student population, but 52 percent of the suspensions and expulsions. Similarly, the ten-member Oakland school board -- which once announced an ill-conceived, much-criticized Ebonics program to enable teachers to “relate” to its disadvantaged students -- included four blacks, two Latinos and two Asians. Yet blacks comprised 52 percent of the students and 73 percent of the suspensions and expulsions.

“Pernicious” racism”?



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2 comments:

  1. Thank you for being a voice of reason and having the resolve and patience to persevere in the attempt to enlighten. God Bless and keep it coming!

    ReplyDelete
  2. 3 words describing utter failure and what Holder/Obama wanted-Broward County Initiative. Devastating to the school and students in FL bc teachers looked the other way when a student was violent and troubled.

    ReplyDelete

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