Mom says diversity quest clashes with uniforms<p> Wants daughter exempt in board's first case

The Memphis Commercial Appeal ^ | 9/14/2002 | Aimee Edmondson

[billorites]

Huh, no mention of how Mr. Milliken feels about all this.

Guess he couldn't be reached for comment.

[07055]

There's lots of diversity in some Memphis neighborhoods.

Her child can be exposed to gang bangers, driveby shooters, murderers, drug dealers, burglers, rapists, armed robbers....

But, hey, isn't diversity our greatest strength?

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Before Tammy Millikin moved to Memphis she had one big question about her new city: "Where are the bad neighborhoods?" Then she promptly moved to an area she was warned against.

Was this woman simply too ignorant to use the telephone to inquire of such a (uniform) policy in her quest for the most crime-ridden diverse neighborhoods in which to raise her children? Or was she simply looking to find a new hobby with which to fill her days?

[TomGuy]

Milliken needs to team up with Newdow. That way they both can make a career of making idiots of themselves. They both seem to have too much time on their hands.

[cubreporter]

Real responsible parenting looking for the REALLY BAD neighborhoods so your kids can experience diversity up close and personal. Wow.

As for me growing up, thanks Mom and Dad for always striving to give and do the best for us. Not the most expensive mind you but...the best they could provide. That's what parents are supposed to do...see to it that their children have the best there is and teach them right from wrong with respect and kindness towards others. THAT'S how you do what is best for them...NOT purposly taking them into the very bad neighborhoods especially after you have been warned not to do so.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"said her quest for diversity clashes with the conformity requirement put forth by the uniform policy."

A trip to any high school will prove that there is no diversity in dress all kids dress in the same poor taste with the girls in halter tops and the boys with their pants down around their knees and their boxers showing.

I have often heard that the left looks upon diversity as a religious issue and this is an excellent example. If you believe in diversity then that belief alone means that you expect an outcome like harmony -- guaranteed outcome of diversity.

So E Pluribus Unum means what. Karl Marx now holds more moral authority than the founding fathers!!

[Happygal]

She purposely moves her six year old child to the WORST neighbourhood so she can experience diversity? Or so she can turn her child into a junkie from an early age?

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"thanks Mom and Dad for always striving to give and do the best for us."

This is the job of parents!

In the best of circumstances kids can sink to the lowest level possible it is the parents job to keep kids straight and help them to "Be All That They Can Be" not bums.

[Lancey Howard]

It is a good thing that simpletons like Milliken move to "diverse" neighborhoods. This way, they cannot pollute the voting rolls of productive, working, taxpaying neighborhoods. You know that Milliken and her ilk will vote Democrat along with the parasites and the minority "victim" class.

[cubreporter]

Absolutely. That's why we always do the best we can...after that it's up to the kids but you know in your heart as their parents you loved them enough to set rules, give them chores and teach them to be responsible adults. We used to tell our kids they had the basics of what was right and wrong and if they decided to go the wrong route there would be a voice inside their head telling them what they wree about to do was wrong. It was up to them at that point to "choose" which path to take.

[Lancey Howard]

She purposely moves her six year old child to the WORST neighbourhood so she can experience diversity? Or so she can turn her child into a junkie from an early age?

Maybe she thinks it will be easier to turn tricks for coke in the slums. I think there may be more to this than meets the eye. Sure, Tammy Millikin may simply be stupid, but it is certainly possible that she herself is a junkie who wants to get closer to a source.

[GailA]

NO neighborhood in Memphis is entirely safe. I detest having to go into Memphis except for the fringe areas unless I'm forced to.

The crime is creeping out to Millington more each day.

Dennis is job hunting and we are NOT really looking in Memhis. It's high crime, high taxes, bad schools, bad universities..not much to recommend it except the RIBS at Corky's.

[Tacis]

Oh great, next she'll shave the kid's head so as not to look like all the other little girls.

Something about this just doesn't smell right. Is this woman and her daughter black and is she moving into a modest black neighborhood and sending the kid to a black neighborhood school? Her claim for "diversity" sounds so shallow and the words used in the story, so contrived. Are we talking about a black candidate for the school board/city counsel building a record for her black constituents to demonstrate how she can fight the system?

[07055]

Millikin, whose daughter, Beth, 6, attends Raleigh Bartlett Meadows Elementary, said her quest for diversity clashes with the conformity requirement put forth by the uniform policy.

Real diversity has nothing to do with the clothes you wear or the color of your skin.

The only diversity that matters is diversity of IDEAS.

Of course, the Democratic party prohibits the discussion in schools of any ideas other than those endorsed by the NEA.

[willieroe]

From a September 4 Commercial Appeal article on Tammy Milliken:

The school uniform grace period is history for Memphis students caught out of compliance.

Starting this week, students face a series of sanctions, including suspension after several offenses, if they don't wear a white shirt with collar and sleeves, or a white golf-style shirt, and either khaki, navy or black bottoms.

The mandatory policy kicked in officially Tuesday, the same day Tammy Milliken allowed her 6-year-old to wear a Disney-inspired Pocahontas T-shirt to Raleigh-Bartlett Meadows Elementary.

School officials estimate 98 or 99 percent compliance across the 118,000-student district.

But a handful of parents like Milliken are asking to opt out of the policy based on religious or other "strongly held beliefs."

Milliken says she has lost sleep over the uniform policy and her strongly held belief that conformity is a bad thing and diversity is everything.

"The idea of requiring my children to wear a uniform, which is mandatory conformity, is exactly the opposite of the way I live my life," said Milliken, whose written request was denied by the principal.

She's appealing to Vivian Dillihunt, one of three zone directors who oversees a third of the city's 175 schools. She expects a decision later this week. [snip]

[Jakarta ex-pat]

One thing about the left.

They will go well before you and I.

[willieroe]

Tammy could do a lot worse than to send her kid to Raleigh Bartlett Meadows Elementary - the school is NOT on any Tennessee state probation lists, and from what information I can find, elementary test scores seem to actually be above average.

[07055]

"The idea of requiring my children to wear a uniform, which is mandatory conformity, is exactly the opposite of the way I live my life," said Milliken, whose written request was denied by the principal.

With a mother as stupid as this one, the girl better get used to uniforms.

If she's lucky, she'll get to wear one at McDonalds.

[willieroe]

I just double-checked a map of the surrounding area of this school. There are quite a few undesirable places to live in Memphis, but the area surrounding Raleigh Bartlett Meadows Elementary is not one of them.