Melissa Harris-Perry: ‘You’re Not Getting a Full Education’ in a Single-Race Classroom

Mediaite ^ | May 16, 2014 | Noah Rothman

[2ndDivisionVet]

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry joined her fellow MSNBC host Joy Reid on Friday to talk about the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Brown v. The Board of Education and modern racial dynamics in education. Harris-Perry, an educator herself, said that the metrics used to assess the quality of an education need to include diversity as well as factors like test scores and college attendance.

Harris-Perry and Reid wrestled with the history of segregation in education and eventually moved on to discuss the rise of charter schooling which both noted are now attracting minority students as well as white students. Reid noted that this phenomenon leaves public schools with fewer students who may not be of the highest academic caliber.

“You and I are both parents,” Harris-Perry conceded. “So, we know that when are you making a choice for your individual child, you can have political commitments and theological commitments, but your primary commitment as a parent is to make sure that the best educational opportunities are open for that kid.”

“That said,” she continued, “I think we do need to start thinking of an integrated classroom as a quality classroom.”

“Part of what happens is we use these measurements for the quality of the classroom and the quality of the school that don’t account in any way for racial diversity, right?” the MSNBC host added. “It’s only test scores or number of kids who go to college, which are meaningful, but I think the other piece of it is to say you are not getting a full education, you are not being indicated as a human being or as an American citizen if you are learning in a single-race classroom.”

Watch the clip below, via MSNBC:

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

[Georgia Girl 2]

Yeh its going to be tough for a white kid to get through life without a thorough understanding of ebonics.

[Secret Agent Man]

i’m colorblind, i don’t care about external appearances.

my education doesn’t hinge on the color of the people around me. my personal safety does,but not what i learn.

[GeronL]

It’s going to hell for white kids in the New America, period

[drypowder]

educating in the 3 Rs is not bound by exposure to racially diverse class rooms, only indoctrination is.

[2ndDivisionVet]

She is an author, professor, TV show host, thought leader and lecturer. We underestimate such a person at our peril.

[PapaBear3625]

As soon as the limousine liberals got the public schools down here integrated, they pulled their own kids out and put them in private schools.

It was never about integration. It was about crippling the education of middle and working class kids who might grow up to be competition for the little darlings of the elites.

[Organic Panic]

I guess we gave up bussing and I didn’t notice.

[Prince of Space]

So how does she feel about black colleges like Howard University? According to her logic, they should be the first ones to go. They don’t encourage diversity in any way, shape, or form, yet somehow they’re sacrosanct to liberals.

[ealgeone]

So how does she feel about black colleges like Howard University? According to her logic, they should be the first ones to go. They don’t encourage diversity in any way, shape, or form, yet somehow they’re sacrosanct to liberals.

guess she's in favor of disbanding the following:

1) traditionally black colleges

2)naalcp

3)congressional black caucus

4)united negro college fund

[MUDDOG]

Interesting theory. That is what we got, in any event.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

There are two kinds of people in this world; those who just want to be left the Hell alone, and those who want to force other people to obey them.

Which one do you think Melissa-Harris commiePig is?

[Vinylly]

Then why do suburban schools that are mostly white do much better then urban area schools that are nearly all black?

[DennisR]

“racial diversity”

What does “2+2=4” or “light travels at 186,000 miles per second in a vacuum” have to do with race?

With liberals in charge of “education,” it is no wonder we are in such scholastic trouble in this country.

[theBuckwheat]

Melissa Harris-Perry obviously has only lived every second of her waking time in the liberal hive-mind and echo chamber. Here idea of “diversity” means every difference under the sun except conservative.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

No prob! I understood you completely.

Everything is nuts these days.

[rdcbn]

As opposed to students in the Washington DC who are graduating form the most expensive public schools with an 84% illiteracy rate and 81% inability to complete even simple, basic arithmetic.

[Milton Miteybad]

“That said,” she (Melissa Harris-Perry) continued, “I think we do need to start thinking of an integrated classroom as a quality classroom.”

So, under this logic one might conclude that if we "started thinking" of goat feces as fruit salad, the feces would then be delicious.

Now I suppose that if Ms. Harris-Perry could deceive herself into thinking that goat feces were fruit salad, she could also conceivably convince herself that it was in fact tasty. She might munch the goat feces with great gustatory delight, proclaiming to all who might pass by that she was enjoying the most wonderful fruit salad she or anyone else had ever eaten.

Most observers witnessing such a sorry sight, however, would simply say, "Uh, Melissa...you know you're eating goat feces, right?"

[kabar]

Tell that to the Japanese.

[tanknetter]

It was never about integration. It was about crippling the education of middle and working class kids who might grow up to be competition for the little darlings of the elites.

Yes, but it's also evolved somewhat. I'm sure that one of this twit's goals for her ideal classroom is to have white students openly and repeatedly confronted, belittled, thrown on guilt trips for the inherent "privilege" conveyed by their skin color.

In an all-white classroom such discussions, even if "facilitated" by the teacher, will be theoretical in nature. Creating artificial racial diversity in the classrooms is a tactic designed to shun those white students who may object into silence. They'll quickly learn to cease any/all objections when their (insert historically oppressed racial/ethnic here) classmates start accusing them of things using terms ending in "ist" for daring to challenge the conventional wisdom.

[MNnice]

So, what are they going to say when white people are in the minority and every classroom is 90% black and brown kids? Then what? Will their heads explode or will they find some way to make the reverse argument?