Posted on 04/15/2006 4:24:12 AM PDT by mcvey
Sam Dillon, The New York Times Ernie Chambers is Nebraska's only African-American state senator, a man who has fought for causes ranging from the abolition of capital punishment to the end of apartheid in South Africa. A magazine writer once described him as the "angriest black man in Nebraska." He was also a driving force behind a law passed by the Nebraska Legislature on Thursday and signed by the governor that calls for dividing the Omaha public schools into three racially identifiable districts, one largely black, one white and one mostly Hispanic. The law, which opponents are calling state-sponsored segregation, has thrown Nebraska into an uproar.
Civil rights scholars call the legislation the most blatant recent attempt in the nation to create segregated school systems.
Nebraska's attorney general, Jon Bruning, said in a letter to a state senator that preliminary scrutiny had led him to believe that the law could violate the federal Constitution's equal protection clause.
The debate began when the Omaha district, which educates most of the state's minority students, moved last June to absorb a string of largely white schools within the Omaha city limits but controlled by suburban or independent districts.
"Multiple school districts in Omaha stratify our community," John J. Mackiel, the Omaha schools superintendent, said last year.
Some suburban parents feared that the district might renew busing. The unicameral legislature drew up a measure to blunt the district's expansion.
The 170-page bill contained provisions creating a "learning community" to include 11 Omaha-area school districts operating with a common tax levy while maintaining current borders. It required districts to work together to promote voluntary integration.
But the legislation changed radically with a two-page amendment by Chambers that carved the Omaha schools into racially identifiable districts, a move he told his colleagues would allow black educators to control schools in black neighborhoods.
Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican facing a tough primary fight, immediately signed it.
Some of Nebraska's richest and most powerful residents have questioned the legislation, including the billionaire investor Warren Buffett as well as David Sokol, the chief executive of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., which employs thousands in Nebraska and Iowa."This is going to make our state a laughingstock, and it's going to increase racial tensions and segregation," Sokol said in an interview.
Parent reaction is divided. Darold Bauer, a professional fundraiser who has three children in Millard schools, said he was pleased that the law had eliminated the threat of busing.
"What this law does is protect the boundaries of my district," said Bauer, who is white.
Brenda J. Council, a prominent black lawyer whose niece and nephew attend Omaha's North High School, criticized the law. "I'm adamantly opposed because it'll only institutionalize racial isolation," she said.
But Chambers was unmoved.
"My intent is not to have an exclusionary system, but we -- meaning black people -- whose children make up the vast majority of the student population, would control," Chambers said during the debate on the floor of the legislature.
He acknowledged he has nursed a latent fury with the Omaha district since enduring the taunting of schoolmates during classroom readings of "Little Black Sambo" when he attended during the 1940s.
Angriest? Certainly among the laziest. Check his bio.
I'm from the Omaha area originally. Ernie Chambers is a race baiter. If this bill wouldn't have passed, you would see Ernie revert to spewing racial injustice.
If this plan is put into effect and shown to prove a failure, Ernie Chambers will scream racism. Either way his ugly mug gets onm TV and that's all that matters to him.
BAck on subject.....are our schools better since and because of intergration?
If the answer is no, after 60 years, maybe its time to try something else.
If the answer is yes, stay the course.
I'm surprised the Governor signed this.
Well, my observation is that for black children schools and education in general is much much better than they were in the 1950's and 1960's [which, unfortunately, I am old enough to remember.] I cannot tell you exactly why that is so, but I do know that this would not have happened without integration.
The bigger question is why our schools are not working for any race, color or creed now. The students I get from parochial schools are just about as bad as the ones I get from public schools.
I don't think our present grim educational state has to do with integration--I suspect it has to do with the type of teachers we are turning out.
McVey
Fools. Probably tatoo the number 8 (alpha/omega) on their adherent's arms like in The Patriot
Brothers under the skin those two.
Yes, they are. And the financial linkages between the "white and black supremacist" groups goes back a long ways. Their connections and ideologic similarities don't get much press at all. And why? Because if the public was aware that they were being "played" on by both ends of the racialist perspective, as they are, they'd grow hopping mad and put an end to the liberal political ballpark.
My son went to Omaha jr and sr high. They were superb. He asked me once why the bussed blacks were so angry. Actually, blacks are a tiny minority in Omaha. Black-run school districts elsewhere have been expensive boondoggles. It is just another place to put ambitious demagogues. There used to be a committed cadre of black educators, before white politicians found ways to seize control of their dollars.
I wonder how much those linkages between the supremacist groups have been documented. I have always had a suspicion that there were links, but I have never had time to look into the subject.
And if they are well documented, why is there no attention paid to them by the MSM. [I realize that is a stupid question.]
Just take this scenario, for example:
Former Pres Clinton gives $40 bill to Russian, most of which falls into the hands of the Skinhead brokers, which funds then trek back into the US.
Suddenly there are black church burnings. The NAACP sues the KKK. KKK just forks out tons of dough.
Southern Poverty Group sues Nathan Hale's "kkk" group. Demands the property owned by KKK. KKK puts up not one fight.
Where are the hard questions being asked? No where.
I'll see if I still have some of the investigative stories -- which few and far between came out and not from the MSM, covering these things. MSM picked up on these nibbles NOT at all.
And then there's elections and campaigns in the past... so-called Christian groups (KKK) funding conservative candidates. Somehow only the NAACP knows these groups are "cultish" based on white supremacism.. and threatens to expose the candidate for accepting "white supremacist" money.
He has to joking. Do the Black educators have a smart pill? Perhaps a discipline pill would be better or a pill that instilled in Black kids that getting an education is not being an Uncle Tom
Black control, Oakland Ca. school dist., Washington DC. Compton Jr. college. Drew-King, on and on, where are the successful black run anythings in Government?
Ernie Chambers was livid when they ended forced bussing in Omaha a few years ago. This is the first step in getting forced bussing back. Ernie is everything everyone has said about him above, but one thing he is NOT is stupid. He is probably going to get his way. It will take a few years, but it will probably happen.
Recently they came to the conclusion that they were not doing well overall in educating their students and wanted more money for their teachers and admin. They decided to take over these other districts that are very highly rated and provide better educational services for less money than Omaha is spending. They wanted the money, even though they denied it. They flew under the banner of "One city one school district". They could never explain how bringing in these other districts would actually improve OPS without degrading the level of education in the districts they were trying to grab.
Racist Ernie and some other legislators who didn't think that making one large district would be of any benefit worked to break the monolithic system up into more manageable sized districts. Did they get it right? Probably not, but OPS is getting their just reward for trying to bring up their scores and income by grabbing up successful districts and screwing their students into mediocrity.
fyi
And why, one might ask, are we turning out such lousy teachers?
Could it be because forced integration caused the focus of public education to be re-directed from education to social engineering?
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