Reply to Help me Edit: Response to Brookings Report

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]This. I would not respond in the way you are planning to. It makes you look tone deaf at best, and an apologist for nasty behavior at worst. I don't think that is what or who you want to be, or be seen as.  The racism and classism is present in all of this. Any denial of that won't work. [/quote]

I will ask you the same question I asked above. If DCUM is a bunch of segregationists perpetuating a racist system, what is the solution? Do you want people to stop moving into neighborhoods that they perceive as having good schools? Are posters supposed to stop talking about their local schools? One poster wants us to stop supporting charters despite many of them being among the most diverse schools in the city -- all in the name of ending segregation. Just calling people racists is easy. What's the solution that you propose?
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There doesn’t have to be an accurate prescription for the diagnosis to be true.

You will live to regret having reacted to this paper’s accurate description of what is happening here as though it is inaccurate because there isn’t an obvious prescription for fixing it, is my guess. The list of what kind of posters are here reads a lot like “some of my best friends are Black.”[/quote]

But don't you see the problem with your response? You are essentially saying that there is a problem, you have no idea how to solve it, but you expect others to solve it. Those that you expect to solve it don't know how to solve it either. But, they have to make choices and they are making the best choices they can under the circumstances. 
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I think we’re talking past each other here.

Generally, I don’t think Brookings has to offer solutions to problems it identifies in order for its research to make accurate truth claims.

I also think they are right about what they identify here. Not universally, but more right than wrong.

I don’t expect “someone else” to solve this problem. When I recognize the dynamics they’re describing in my own life, I try to take steps to lessen them. With the climate here being what it is lately, I’m not down for describing those steps. That climate issue is worth some of your energy. It’s worse than it has been. That, more than Brookings, is going to cut into your traffic after the initial bump.

Regardless: Brookings doesn’t have to identify solutions to be identifying problems.[/quote]

DP. I agree with you that Brookings does not have to present a solution. It is sufficient to present an analysis. Brookings does have an obligation to present solid research, however, without relying on flawed or shoddy methodology. You say you like this because it conforms with other things you agree with, but that shouldn't be a standard for thoughtful research. In other words, liking their conclusion should not excuse shoddy methodologies.

Shoddy research and methodology is the real problem here. I don't think anyone I have read is really defending the methodology, just some are defending the conclusion. If we are all largely agreed that there are significant methodological errors here, that seems to be a serious issue on its own. Social science researchers get criticized a lot for having lower academic standards than (say) medicine or engineering. I've defended social science studies before, but this work is hard to defend, even if I think there should be a conversation about the topic. It's just not rigorous, and that leads to a lot of problems.[/quote]

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