Pervasive racist symbols in context of Education as a Civil Right Movement
Reading into a racist act provides a window into the dynamics of America. We celebrate the diversity of the U.S. and, in so doing, we speak of American values and vision, and yet, until we understand that African-Americans and people of color remain the proxy for America's promise we, as a nation, will not come to embrace the vision that our nation is founded. Americans must begin to understand that the hope of the nation will not be symbolized by the "talented tenth," or by the students in the upper academic tracks, but instead by those schoolchildren and youth who consistently are challenged by poverty and racism. When their life trajectories improve, the promise of America becomes a reality to be celebrated and a country to be embraced. As Thomas Friedman writes today for the New York Times, "America needs a jolt of idealism, activism and outrage...Maybe that is why what impressed me most on my brief college swing was actually a statute -- life-size statue of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi. Meredith was the first African-American to be admitted to Ole Miss in 1962. The Meredith bronze is posed as if he is striding toward a tall limestone archway, re-enacting his fateful step onto the then-segregated campus -- defying a violent, angry mob and protected by the National Guard. Above the archway, carved into the stone, is the word 'Courage.' That is what real activism looks like. There is no substitute."
And we ask at the NUA and with our partners, who better than educators to lead a new education as a civil right movement? Who better than 3.5 million educators who, for the most part are trusted by students and parents alike, to lead through advocacy and activism?
As for the noose over the door of a Columbia University professor at the College where the NUA was founded, we recognize the dynamic of American society, and move relentlessly forward in our quest for
tolerance, economic diversity and love.
Eric Cooper
posted by Eric J. Cooper at 10:37 AM
1 Comments:
Dear Eric:
As this tragic debate about poverty as a personal failure rages in conservative circles, I would like to add my own statement which I'm planning to expand upon should I get to present in the University of Texas in Austin.
Poverty means being POOR, or even more simply, it means not having the money to do what those who are not poor do. Poverty is not a choice, not a culture, not a desired way of life. When poor people stop being poor, they do much the same what the non-poor do. They give their children more. They buy homes or rent better homes. They get better medical care. They get a car that doesn't break down. They move to a better neighborhood where there are better schools, safer streets, cleaner, better stocked supermarkets. They give up some of their TV to read, go to a museum, see a live show. They just blend in with all their other non-poor people and as Rodney Dangerfield says, "They get more respect."
This statement doesn't require research. The proof is in. When poor Italians, poor Jews, poor Germans, poor Swedes, and poor African-Americans have managed to no longer be poor, they do just what people who are not poor do. Trashing the poor is no different from trashing people who need eyeglasses or are hearing-impaired or can't have their teeth straightened or are too short or too disabled. Being poor is not a hostile act against the rich. Rather it is the other way around.
Evelyn Rothstein
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