Reply to Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science (MS)²

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes, all our lives would have been different - better or worse-- with different skin or different grandparents, different health and different talents.

I don't see the value of blaming others, who through no fault of their own, got a better deal in life.

I guess I could hold a grudge against all the people who could afford braces and nose jobs and sailing camps and tutors and stays in europe where I could have picked up a second or third language.

I don't see the point of it.[/quote]

Of course you don't see the point if no one questions the opportunities you receive, or your opportunities are not under attack, and you don't have to constantly defend and educate others as to the circumstances of your people. [/quote]

Many AAs aren't taking advantage of all of the opportunities that are open to them.  Again, many AAs in DC won't avail themselves of the library - friends who are teachers say moms won't even read kids books to their toddlers, I'm amazed to hear from AA parents that they have never been to the world-class Smithsonian museums, the job opportunities here in DC draw people from all around the country.   At this point, it's not so much about opportunities under attack or opportunities not open, it's about being stuck in the perceptions of the past and not pursuing anything, based on those perceptions.   Obama was able to rise to  become an attorney, professor, senator and President because the external barriers did not prevent him from doing so.  It's not the external barriers out in society holding AAs back, it's the internal barriers.[/quote]

Are you amazed when you hear these same things from/about white parents? I don't have any AA friends who don't go to the library, frequent museums,e tc. In fact, many grew up with libraries in their homes. [/quote]

You are not representative of everyone in DC.  [b]This isn't about white parents or what they think[/b] - talk to any of the teachers working with the kids in DC schools.  Many in the worst wards will tell you about kids who can't read.  And that's because nobody so much as bothers to even read them a kids book every so often when they are toddlers.  Nobody can be bothered to look after the kids, and it all starts there.   Kids have natural curiosity, they will read and learn if they get the right start at it.  The teachers can only do so much in the short time that they have to work with the kids, and if the parents or others at home can't be bothered to help the kids then it goes nowhere.

I think you are incredibly naive and clueless if you seriously think there are parents in DC who don't read to their kids, don't take them to libraries, don't take them to museums and so on - and those who don't are the epicenter of DC's education problem.  Again, talk to the TEACHERS about this, they will set you straight on the facts where it comes to underperforming kids and the problem that starts at home.[/quote]

Really? Why not? You write as if no white person, in DC or anywhere ever, has these issues. These are not AA/DC issues, there are neglectful parents everywhere, but a good supportive school/environment can help the entire community. This goes back to my comment about fellow-feeling for fellow man, have you ever done anything to help, or are you just pointing fingers and making judgments based on second-hand information? Have you taken a look at schools like Andre Agassi's, and tried to start one yourself? Or do you just put your child's name in the school lotteries to take the place of one of those kids you decry who don't get help from home?

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. I see a lot of people on this thread who are unconcerned, ill-informed and happy to make judgements based on erroneous information. It is obvious to me that so many only get their information from soundbites on TV.

You may know how to read, but you haven't used the knowledge well and it doesn't appear to have made you, or many on this thread, any smarter.

Critical thinking is really lacking in a lot of these responses. I think I'll talk to the folks at Inspired teaching to see if they can offer some adult classes for the community.[/quote]

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