Posted on 12/26/2014 2:14:40 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
In the wake of a grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, many people are asking a heart-wrenching question: "Why don't black lives matter?"
The answer can be found in our nation's long history of criminalizing youth of color - particularly African-American boys. They have long been demonized as predators to be feared. And this fear of black boys remains woven within the American fabric. We are reminded of it every time there is a headline reporting the death of yet another unarmed black youth.
But the path that ends with a young black man dead in the street begins long before an officer stops a youth. It's the tragic end of a long process that funnels children of color out of school and into the justice system.
It's a process found in schools across the country.
It can be seen in statistics that show black children are expelled at three times the rate of white children for similar instances of misconduct. Even in preschool, black children make up 18 percent of preschool enrollment, but are 42 percent of preschool students suspended once. They are almost half (48 percent) of preschoolers suspended more than once.
Suspensions do not help these children.
Studies show that these children are more likely to drop out of school and enter the justice system. The practice of stationing police officers in schools only brings the justice system into the school with tragic results. Black children are arrested at school and subjected to excessive force at alarming rates.
The lesson black children learn from this experience is clear: They are feared by others. They are predisposed to be criminals. They are worthy of suspicion and excessive force, but little else. It's a lesson that's been taught in Birmingham, Alabama, where police officers stationed in the schools frequently use pepper spray on students.
The students in this predominately African-American school district aren't engaging in criminal behavior, but typical teenage misbehavior: yelling, throwing temper tantrums and getting into school yard fights. These are all things that at one time simply resulted in a trip to the principal's office.
Today, Birmingham school officials say such behavior is criminal. They say the pepper spray is the only recourse these officers, also known as school resource officers, have at their disposal. So they discipline these students with a chemical weapon used on violent criminals. Even students who have done nothing wrong get a taste of it as officers spray the chemical in hallways and lunchrooms, stinging the eyes of bystanders.
This is no way to treat children. It is why the Southern Poverty Law Center will take the Birmingham Police Department to federal court early next year for a trial over these practices.
But this is about much more than the practices in one school district. If we care about the death of Michael Brown and others, we must stop this school-to-prison pipeline that needlessly pushes these children into the justice system. We must stop this system that reinforces for teachers and police officers the myth that black children are inherently dangerous.
Teachers, school resource officers and even the cop on the beat should make every effort to keep young lives on track. This isn't to say children shouldn't be disciplined, only that we shouldn't derail young lives at every opportunity.
Until we end this system that grooms our children for the criminal justice system, we should not be shocked by the increasingly long roll call of black youths killed in encounters with police. We should not be shocked by our bloated prison system filled with young black men. And we should not be shocked by the growing chorus of voices asking why black lives don't seem to matter.
” —— And this fear of black boys remains woven within the American fabric.”
Bull !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m an 82 year old woman and this was NOT true when I was young.
I frequently took public transportation alone through black areas in Boston. No fears,even after dark.
The Black Power movement changed everything.
.
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The best that can be done is to weed out the disruptors and try to teach who's left.
My favorite photo of the year. Decade?
That’s good that she is aware of the liberal views of many teachers. Those teachers may say they want to hear all points of view but that is usually not the case. Some teachers can be quite vindictive. With the real dangerous ones mirroring is sometimes a useful tool.
Is that sign in your post #19 photo-shopped? Can it be real?!
‘What is a teacher to do?’ The last DAY I taught in the inner city, I sent about 14 of the students to the Principal’s office. He called my room and asked how many more were coming. I said, “I’m just sending the ones who are disrupting my class. The remaining FEW want to learn.’ That afternoon I went to his office and quit.
He said -”What do you think I should do? Tommy’s (6th grade) parents let little girls spend the weekend with him. What can I do in 5 hours?” I said I didn’t know, but that I figured I could make more money and have less stress street-walking.
Until the public schools can kick kids out for misbehavior, there will be no solution. The privates - they can kick any kid out any time they want to. The publics have to take them all. AND the black community makes a huge hoo-haa if anyone DARES to speak the Truth about the problem. One very popular science teacher dared to say that black kids’ behavior was the gorilla in the room that nobody was mentioning. He lost his job.
He now is on the School Board, however.
A question I would direct to all the baby daddies missing in their children's lives.
Alcohol, drugs, family breakdown, rap/thug culture, welfare and racism against whites.
Ask the LIB abortionists, also.
This is reminiscent of medieval times, when one couldn't be King if one didn't own peasants.
Yeah, stop the criminalization that they choose. No one forces them to commit violent crimes.
Their parents, friends and “leaders” teach them to hate the cops - how about stopping that!
At the end of my daughter's freshman year, her science teacher went out on maternity leave. She was replaced by a substitute who showed "An Inconvenient Truth" to make the case for global warming. Then she gave her students an assignment to argue whether or not they thought global warming was true.
I gave my daughter the article about the UK judge who ruled that "An Inconvenient Truth" couldn't be shown in school without equal time in opposition, because the movie had nine glaring mis-statements of fact.
My daughter used that article as the basis for a rebuttal of the movie. The teacher returned the essay, with the written comment: "That's not proof." Like "An Inconvenient Truth" is.
When the report cards came out on the day of school, the substitute gave my daughter a full letter grade lower than her past grades, and than was justified by her test scores for the quarter.
That is so wrong but I am not surprised. I have heard similar stories.
No wonder our country is in the shape it is in. Our children are exposed to propaganda, even in the first grade.
Arguing with these teachers is a waste of energy. Many of them are not very bright and are easily threatened by opposing views. What a mess.
No doubt this is just a little harmless school yard tussle that should be handled by a trip to the Principle's Office and maybe some detention.
Can't whites just stop whining about all this harmless kid stuff and stop picking on negroes? /s/
No, it’s a spoof.
Understood on the triage and the ghetto bastard rate. Those who choose not to attempt to improve their circumstances through education should be shown the door. Unfortunately, our elected political masters continue to shear the tax-paying sheep while trying to solve an insurmountable cultural problem.
My comment: Morris Dees divorce papers. Just sayin’.....
And make a living in the NBA.
Mr. Howard, look in the mirror.
There’s your problem.
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