Posted on 10/12/2005 6:47:22 PM PDT by Gator61
City education officials are investigating the claims of a pair of boys from Oklahoma who moved to Brooklyn to experience diversity, and instead say they got schooled in racism and violence. Mom Lisa Brown, 33, told the Daily News she relocated her family from their small Oklahoma town so her husband, a Brooklyn native and social worker, could more easily find work and her sons could experience different people and ways of life.
Brown enrolled her sons, Sloan, 12, and J.T., 13, at Ebbets Field Middle School in Crown Heights. But when the boys, who are white, showed up, their mom said, they got a chilling indication of what was to come.
"Oh my gosh, we are going to have fun this year," a security guard muttered, according to Brown.
Things quickly got worse.
Sloan was beaten mercilessly, called "cracker" and "white boy," and chased into traffic by his new classmates, his family said.
The abuse got so bad that Sloan routinely bolted out of the building to find his brother and run to a nearby subway, dodging verbal and physical attacks, he said.
"It almost makes me cry," Sloan said. "I'm scared to go back."
The brothers skipped school all last week while their parents tried to sort out the mess.
"Do I have to send the National Guard in to get my children an education?" asked the distraught mom.
When Brown tried to alert Principal Marge Baker to the abuse, "the principal refused to take the calls," she charged.
Brown filed several police reports at the 71st Precinct stationhouse about the alleged abuse, but said she was ignored.
Police sources said precinct cops did take the incident seriously but believe school staff are in a better position to deal with what appeared to be a series of schoolyard fights and bullying.
The boys' stepfather, Ken Brown, requested a transfer for the boys on Sept. 28, but Education Department officials noted he can't seek the change because he is not a custodial parent.
Eventually, the fedup mom went to nearby Elijah Stroud Middle School to transfer her sons there, but said the principal told her: "They'll have the same problem here."
Education officials promised to help the Browns - after being contacted by The News.
"The principal was not sufficiently attentive to this situation," the Education Department said in a statement. "Upon learning of the situation, the region is taking immediate action to arrange a transfer for these children.
"We will fully investigate what happened, including whether racist statements, which are not tolerated, were made and take appropriate action."
Brown said the Education Department called her several times over the weekend, after The News made queries, pledging to get the kids into Elijah Stroud and chastising her for calling in the press.
Despite the principal's warning, Lisa agreed to send her boys to Elijah Stroud tomorrow.
"I'll make sure my kids are safe because it is the school system's job to make sure they are," she said.
For Sloan and J.T., escaping Ebbets Field Middle School will be a relief. The school opened in September as one of the city's many new small schools, with plans to "become the crown jewel" of Crown Heights, according to the Education Department Web site.
The Browns said their ethnically and racially diverse neighbors in Prospect Heights have embraced them, and they thought New York was "the greatest place on Earth" - until they started battling the school system.
"I was excited to expose my children to a complete variety of people," Lisa Brown said. "I thought it would be an advantage. I always told my children that children could be cruel - but not to this extent."
BS! They moved so dad could get a job. It had nothing to do with "experiencing different people and ways of life".
Just think of what a bang-up job dad will do as a social worker. His clients will come in singing the West Side Story song,Officer Krupke.
Looks like their lawyer will be bringing home the bacon.
Thanks to the suffering of the children, and the poor parenting skills of both mom and dad.
Any judge in NYC is going to throw this case so far out that it'll land in Oklahoma. The Board of Ed's one attempt to protect students -- the gay high school -- isn't a success, because they didn't understand the dynamic in most schools when it comes to gay students.
This gal may never acknowledge that she is just plain wrong about 'diversity'. She may go to her grave blaming the principal!
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
"We will fully investigate what happened, including whether racist statements, which are not tolerated, were made and take appropriate action."
mmhmm yeah right.
I'm sure they will
Not
You are speaking of the schools where I live and you are wrong. Kids aren't chased into traffic or taunted with racial slurs. That behavior is not tolerated. Sorry to burst your bubble.
They're depraved because they are deprived?
...and now for this musical interlude, courtesy Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein, and West Side Story.
ACTION
Dear kindly Sergeant Krupke,
You gotta understand,
It's just our bringin' up-ke
That gets us out of hand.
Our mothers all are junkies,
Our fathers all are drunks.
Golly Moses, natcherly we're punks!
ACTION AND JETS
Gee, Officer Krupke, we're very upset;
We never had the love that ev'ry child oughta get.
We ain't no delinquents,
We're misunderstood.
Deep down inside us there is good!
ACTION
There is good!
ALL
There is good, there is good,
There is untapped good!
Like inside, the worst of us is good!
SNOWBOY: (Spoken) That's a touchin' good story.
ACTION: (Spoken) Lemme tell it to the world!
SNOWBOY: Just tell it to the judge.
ACTION
Dear kindly Judge, your Honor,
My parents treat me rough.
With all their marijuana,
They won't give me a puff.
They didn't wanna have me,
But somehow I was had.
Leapin' lizards! That's why I'm so bad!
DIESEL: (As Judge) Right!
Officer Krupke, you're really a square;
This boy don't need a judge, he needs an analyst's care!
It's just his neurosis that oughta be curbed.
He's psychologic'ly disturbed!
ACTION
I'm disturbed!
JETS
We're disturbed, we're disturbed,
We're the most disturbed,
Like we're psychologic'ly disturbed.
DIESEL: (Spoken, as Judge) In the opinion on this court, this child is depraved on account he ain't had a normal home.
ACTION: (Spoken) Hey, I'm depraved on account I'm deprived.
DIESEL: So take him to a headshrinker.
ACTION (Sings)
My father is a bastard,
My ma's an S.O.B.
My grandpa's always plastered,
My grandma pushes tea.
My sister wears a mustache,
My brother wears a dress.
Goodness gracious, that's why I'm a mess!
A-RAB: (As Psychiatrist) Yes!
Officer Krupke, you're really a slob.
This boy don't need a doctor, just a good honest job.
Society's played him a terrible trick,
And sociologic'ly he's sick!
ACTION
I am sick!
ALL
We are sick, we are sick,
We are sick, sick, sick,
Like we're sociologically sick!
A-RAB: In my opinion, this child don't need to have his head shrunk at all. Juvenile delinquency is purely a social disease!
ACTION: Hey, I got a social disease!
A-RAB: So take him to a social worker!
ACTION
Dear kindly social worker,
They say go earn a buck.
Like be a soda jerker,
Which means like be a schumck.
It's not I'm anti-social,
I'm only anti-work.
Gloryosky! That's why I'm a jerk!
BABY JOHN: (As Female Social Worker)
Eek!
Officer Krupke, you've done it again.
This boy don't need a job, he needs a year in the pen.
It ain't just a question of misunderstood;
Deep down inside him, he's no good!
ACTION
I'm no good!
ALL
We're no good, we're no good!
We're no earthly good,
Like the best of us is no damn good!
DIESEL (As Judge)
The trouble is he's crazy.
A-RAB (As Psychiatrist)
The trouble is he drinks.
BABY JOHN (As Female Social Worker)
The trouble is he's lazy.
DIESEL
The trouble is he stinks.
A-RAB
The trouble is he's growing.
BABY JOHN
The trouble is he's grown.
ALL
Krupke, we got troubles of our own!
Gee, Officer Krupke,
We're down on our knees,
'Cause no one wants a fellow with a social disease.
Gee, Officer Krupke,
What are we to do?
Gee, Officer Krupke,
Krup you!
Being a "Cracker-American" and one not to take any crap even at that age I probably would have reacted to this treatment by burning the school down. If the parents think child sacrifice is the path to liberal divinity then it will be up to the kids to save themselves.
And those two were probably gay was convienently left out of the mix and that their internet rants could have come straight out of some "anti-racism" hate fest workshop never made the reports either. The MSM has the same credibility as Pravda when it gave the harvest reports.
If the experiences in that group are negative, attitudes are likely to be negative. If the experiences are positive, the attitudes are likely to be positive. Mere proximity does not engender love or understanding, as bloody human history attests.
As a homeschooler, I am sometimes accused of depriving our children of the rich and varied tapestry of experience that is the American public school, and that by doing so, serving to engender racist attitudes. Hogwash! I have never met an Inuit or an Australian Aborigine, but that doesnt mean I dont know how to treat one with kindness, dignity or respect.
Martin Luther King said:
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I get chills every time I read that speech. I have the same goal for my own four children, and that is what I teach them every day. I teach them 'Matthew 22:37-39, which reads
Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.
Respect, kindness, consideration and love are not simply feelings that are caught but behaviors that are taught and learned. Parents need to teach it, teachers need to teach it, and all adults need to expect it and protect children of every race from assault and abuse at school, on the playground, and in the neighborhood.
There. Corrected your statement for you.
I was going to let this drop, but then I saw this posted in breaking and couldn't resist pinging you:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1501611/posts
"A CHINESE man shot and injured 16 young schoolchildren as they were doing their morning exercises" (All caps for Chinese per the original!)
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