Comment by GUEST on 2015-12-21 00:59:41
Sue, I was responding to a story that fouescd on New Orleans and it's allusion to the new educational landscape which primarily serves African American students, and so I addressed the issue of racial myopia. The notion that the only disaster that matters was the event of August 29, 2005 is something that defines much of the white media view. But I agree that many people were victimized twice first by the storm and second by people who claimed to be helping us recover from the storm including victimized groups like those with special needs, the elderly, the sick and the poor. I did not use the term privileged and I would agree that charter schools discriminate against special needs students without regard to race, creed, or color. But there is a white blind spot in media coverage and I agree with you that it is not the only blind spot. The treatment of special needs students has been disgraceful and was as much a part of the Katrina disaster as the breaching of the levees.Lance |
Comment by GUEST on 2015-12-21 06:54:16
Dr Hill, My son has been terribly viztmiiced by the so-called reforms of the post Katrina era. And he's white, and believe me he has received NO special privilege at all because of the color of his skin! He has an autism-spectrum disorder and is medically fragile and the door has been slammed on his precious face by many charter schools because of his disability .I hate to read these stories about how wonderful things are postK, like a great new era was ushered in in the aftermath of the storm.Not the case for my son and many others like him, black and white kids. The schools now have a license to pick what students they want, and my wonderful and kind son rarely makes the cut he's been turned away or pushed out by 20 schools. That blind spot is bigger than you could imagine. |
Comment by GUEST on 2015-12-23 01:05:25
Lance, yes indeed I agree with you. While my son has been mis-treated and rteecejd at these new schools, I've been there, inside, watching. What I've seen is a group of people who've come from other places and decided that our children,black and white, our NOLA public school children, are not deserving of anything better than this experiment. ..I've seen TFA teachers treat children like cattle to be herded, talking to them with no respect. While my son is twice a minority in this system (white and disabled), the only people who have been consistently treating him as a person of value are the other students,who have universally accepted him, they are his role models and friends in a world where the adults are obviously guided by greed and uncaring practices in their desire to race to the top. |
Home 
