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I can't stand Bill Maxwell, in general, but occasionally he comes out with a good column.

It's not just black males who aren't allowed the privilege of an imagination, btw. A few days ago, I heard a teacher lamenting on a radio call-in show that the FCATs apparently have the kids read and analyze two short poems. The teacher was very indignant, because she said that all of the kids in her classroom were going to grow up to work in the cement plant, and they didn't really need poetry for that.

I guess she was just planning on teaching them to read the back of the cement bags. After all, that's enough for them, isn't it? They're mostly just lower-income rural whites, and the cement plant is probably all they're good for.

I think encouraging and concerned teachers of any color, working with kids of any color (especially if the kids are lower income), are pretty rare. Sadly.

I've seen this attitude you've described. It's the, "well they're going to drop out to pluck chickens so why bother," mentality. I'm talking about poor whites. It crosses all color lines and it is advanced by both black and white teachers.