Posted on 03/11/2010 1:09:40 PM PST by Daffynition
Pinellas School Board chairwoman Janet Clark is coming under fire for using the term "hoodlums" to describe a small group of chronically disruptive students in county schools.
Board members Mary Brown and Linda Lerner criticized Clark at Tuesday night's board meeting. And now Ray Tampa, president of the St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP, said Clark's refusal to apologize has made things worse.
"I was disgusted with her response," Tampa said Wednesday.
The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement — better known as the Uhurus — called for Clark to resign for the statement, which it viewed as racist. Clark is white. Tampa said he thought the comment was inappropriate, but not racist.
Tampa said he was considering filing a complaint against Clark, who has a teaching certificate, with the Florida Department of Education's Office of Professional Practices, which handles complaints against teachers.
"The (teacher) code of ethics says you can't embarrass kids or make disparaging remarks about kids," he said.
Clark made the comment at a board workshop last week in a wide-ranging discussion about chronically disruptive students at John Hopkins Middle School and other Pinellas schools.
"So much time is taken up with addressing hoodlums, with kids who don't want to be in school," she said. She also said, "We are talking about a small number of children."
Brown and Lerner weighed in Tuesday night.
"They might be disruptive. They might be in gangs. They might be many things, but they are not hoodlums," Brown said. "I feel that that statement showed insensitivity to our children, and it certainly did not offer good guidance to our staff."
"There are people upset out there about the comment, different kinds of people, including employees," Lerner said. "We have to be careful as board members when we speak."
Before the meeting, Clark said the statement had nothing to do with race. "I made no mention of race," she said. "There are hoodlums of all races and colors and ethnic backgrounds."
• • •
But Clark may have stepped into a situation where the same word conjures up different images, depending on who hears it.
It does not appear the origins of the word "hoodlum" have any ties to race or ethnicity. It is an adaptation of a German word that meant "ragamuffin" or "good for nothing," said Michael Adams, an associate professor of English at Indiana University and author of the 2009 book, Slang: The People's Poetry.
But the meanings of words can change, Adams said. Over time, "hoodlum" may have become a more racially identifiable word, in part because of the slang term "hood," short for neighborhood, and also because hood and hoodlum began to be applied to African-American youths by white people, he said.
"Hoodlum, when you look it up in the dictionary, doesn't look so bad," Adams said. But when people in the black community hear it, "they associate it with words and meanings other than (those from) 1871 or whenever it was the word first appeared in print."
The professor said the case reminds him of the uproar from a 1999 incident when a Washington D.C., city official used the term "niggardly" to describe how he was managing budget cuts. It means "miserly," but another employee took it as a racial slur.
Said Adams: "What people hear always means something more than what a word may mean historically."
• • •
At Tuesday's meeting, Clark told board members that she knew people were upset, but would not apologize.
"We can't continue making excuses when children don't behave and disrupt the educational environment for teachers and students," she said. "That's all I can say on that matter."
The next day, the Uhurus staged a small demonstration in St. Petersburg. Eight protesters stood in front of John Hopkins and chanted as classes let out Wednesday.
They took aim at Clark, the school district and St. Petersburg police, who have arrested 84 John Hopkins students this school year — the most arrests by far in any city middle school.
"Janet Clark! Must Go!" they chanted. "School board! Must go!
"First they fail black children! Then they jail black children!"
The group's president, Chimurenga Waller, said he blames the school's troubles on the adults who run the school system, not the children who go there. "We don't have a John Hopkins crisis," he said. "We have a systematic crisis."
Asked how he would describe the unruly students blamed for the daily fights and misconduct that has plagued John Hopkins this year, Waller declined to answer.
Billie Blackshear, 64, whose nephew attends John Hopkins, said Clark's word choice was impolite — but not inaccurate.
"At the time I thought it was wrong," he said. "But it describes the kids who are doing this kind of stuff."
Should have come with a ‘Barf Alert’ .
This is complete with a ‘Peoples Democratic xxxx’ (Communists/Socialist) and PC run amok.
“Asked how he would describe the unruly students blamed for the daily fights and misconduct that has plagued John Hopkins this year, Waller declined to answer.”
I don’t know who asked Waller the question but whoever it was.....handed Waller’s bloody butt to him.
Get used to it. I’ve given up ....We’re not going to be able to stem the tide of PCism unless there is a way to get rid of the ACLU and their ilk.
“The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement — better known as the Uhurus “
They held a parade in Oakland to celebrate the killing of four Oakland police officers by a child-raping thug:
The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) sponsored a march, rally, and vigil for Lovelle Mixon on Wednesday, March 25th. Lovelle Mixon’s mother, his wife, several of his brothers, and at least one cousin were present. Many people were upset with the all of the official sympathies expressed for the four police officers who died Saturday, while none was offered to the family of Lovelle Mixon
Screw ‘em.
“The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement — better known as the Uhurus”
What the hell is that? Never heard of them. Might be fun to check out, though.
Suggestions: Thug, POS, punk come to mind, FWIW.
Geez...you’d she said “nappy headed” hoodlums...
I could do better than ‘hoodlum’, but I’d get banned.
Heretoforth, young “hoodlums” shall be referred to by their proper name, “community organizers”.
Hoodlums come in all colors. The group labeling it “racist” is a communist agitator one. They know it has nothing to do with race, aside from the fact that a vast majority of thug activity seems related to a certain ‘hip hop’ culture.
Oh brother. Race pimps. People who cannot speak or understand their own native language. And it sounds like ‘hooklums’ is exactly the right word for the students, and their defenders.
I scanned the comments...most, if not all, agree...they’re hoodlums.
Because of the reason they took exception, the people who took exception to the use of the word show their need to get educated and assimilate.
HOODLUM: A TOUGH, OFTEN AGGRESSIVE OR VIOLENT YOUTH
I would have to say that I side with Clark on this one....
If this teacher had any sense, she’s be crucifying her criticizers by stating that they support cop killers publicly. Put them on defense.
ping
From the article:
“The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement — better known as the Uhurus — called for Clark to resign for the statement, which it viewed as racist.”
_________________________
You can apparently vote on whether her comments were “racist” or not at this link I found on the article’s website:
http://blogs.tampabay.com/schools/2010/03/was-hoodlums-too-harsh.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.