To all re Nextset’s intuitive point in his PS of post #34: Please take time to watch the Bill Moyers interview with Michelle Alexander and Bryan Stevenson. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04022010/watch.html

Alexander is the author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” Her message is absolutely chilling, and totally correct. Then know that the number of prisoners (per 100,000 people) in the United States is # 1 in the world at 715. Russia is #2 at 584. Canada is #73 at 116. Japan is #126 at 54.

And also know (from the Kirwan Institute report “Social/Economic Indicators by Race: Disparity 1954 and Today”) that since 1957, the proportion of the African American population with a high school degree has increased by 300% (18.4% to 79.2%) and the proportion of the African American population with a 4-year college degree increased by almost 500% (2.9% to 17.2%).

Even with such an increase in educational attainment, African American unemployment has been approximately twice as high as white unemployment, at least since the 1950s. Even worse, the number of incarcerated African Americans has increased 800% since the 1950s. Despite only small fluctuations in the violent crime rate in the past 35 years, we’ve gone from 300,000 people in jails and prisons in 1972 to 2.3 million today. An additional 5 million are on probation and parole. This has devastated families and communities and is the true crisis.

Having studied this current ed reform trend seriously for some time now, and understanding its source (it was instigated by the Business Roundtable and Milton Friedman, eventually pushed, funded, and refined by the billionaire venture philanthropists, and is now being backed up by Wall St. hedge fund managers who are making huge campaign contributions to their cause, see: http://www.dfer.org/2010/05/charter_schools.php ), I have come to understand that that the fixation on promoting college-for-all as the cure for what’s ailing low-income kids is a ruse and a distraction from much larger issues.

The true goal is to permit the incarceration trend to continue, and to eliminate both the teachers unions and local control in order to privatize education. The point is to control the masses and direct more and more public dollars to the now-booming education industry.

This country chose to disinvest in urban public education long ago, chose to maintain high unemployment in urban communities, and chose to follow policies that would incarcerate up huge numbers of African American men. Any failures of the schools are because of the consequences of these other things. Our problems were not caused by the schools; and the schools will never be able to fix them.

As far as C Boyd goes.. it really is sad the way the red-libs run to facism when they can’t sweet talk their lies into public policy.

I googled “Clarence Boyd” out of curiosity – wondering if he had any connection to Wandra Boyd, a previous candidate for the school board.

There’s somebody by our poster’s name in Tulsa OK, and a *Doctor* – orthopedic surgeon with 30 years experience – here in Oakland. I didn’t find a connection to Wandra, but that doesn’t mean anything except that my search efforts weren’t serious enough to find it if it exists.

Anyway, you could always try googling when someone is using their full name.

(And the reason I don’t use my last name is that I have several “name twins” – one is a shrink – who I don’t want to be confused with, and who’d likely also be less than happy to be confused with me. I used to have comments printed under my full name and picture pretty regularly in the SF Chronicle’s Two Cents columns, until someone found my email on another (minority religion) web-site and sent me a pretty scary message in response to a comment I’d made about my children. Last thing I wanted was scary weirdos hunting down my *sons* because the weirdo disagreed with my opinions. And I’d *love* to know your reason(s) for hiding behind your handle?)

I can see how the discussion that followed my mention of the event could be offensive, especially to those who work closely with the students who were honored last week. I blogged about the ceremony because I wasn’t able to make it in person this year, not to prompt such a debate. But you’re right, I didn’t stop it from going in that direction. (I rarely censor comments.)

On another note, we have covered the ceremony in recent years, and the blog post about it — without the reader commentary — ran in today’s paper, if you haven’t seen it.

Thanks for sharing your sentiments here, and for using your full name to do so.

The reason we are here is public debate – which includes putting political views out for all to comment on, exchanging/testing points of view, experiences and values. Some of think something good may come of it.

If you are here looking only for validation of your own political views you are in the wrong place. You need to go to a private club or a closed political meeting where only the like minded sit. Kind of like an Ayn Rand meeting, or a UC Berkeley Student forum.

Your plea to only be given what you want to hear on the Tribune’s website and blog is just sad to me. In such a time as we live in here in the USA why would you only want to hear yourself (and similar?) speak? What exactly does that do for you?

In case you haven’t noticed, the election of this president and his Chicago Cabal has triggered a conservative response that is likely to push the country to the right as did the Reagan revolution. And California’s Leftist experiment is pushing this state to an economic collapse. Times are changing. There will (likely) be sudden and painful wrenching change for all of us in the next 12 to 60 months.

And you want only not to not hear a discouraging word.

Please tell us something of yourself so we can better understand where your point of view comes from, age, education, occupation?

PS In case I didn’t make it clear, I think the black students (specifically) of OUSD are being set up for a slaughter when the bad times come, not taught or trained to make the most of their abilities and assets and generally kept undisciplined, childlike and stupid – above all ignorant of the world. I believe this is being done across the USA in the Urban School Districts because nobody wants to take any trouble to fight with them or have to hear them complain. Plus it’s real easy to get away with this, it’s not like the parent(s) will fight to have the kids trained well.

You can call my political views anything you want. This is a free country so far.

Since your paper did not see fit to have an article or even a photograph of this rare positive event covered in your newspaper, is it any wonder that certain elements feel free to vent their rantings. With so many newspapers lamenting the drop off in readership as the Internet presents an alternative, your newspaper is simple hastening the trend.

Moderation of a blog does not substitute for true journalism.

Congratulations to the children who played by the rules,worked hard, overcame negativity and low expecatations and earned the 3.0 grade point that is given in the O.U.S.D without relation to color, race, ethnicity, gender or whatever artificial barrier is used to separate us all.

Shame on the Oakland Tribune.

Clarence Boyd

The problem is not the non-student who had no business being in a “college”. It is with the adults black and white who permitted her to exist there. Obviously such a “college” is one in name only and one should/will shun all their black “students” if not the white ones also.

You can imagine what I would have said to this woman. I would have flunked her out fast and hard as an instructor. She probably would not be acceptable as a motel maid in my book. At least until circumstances bring her to great change.

The worst thing we can do for such “students” is to not confront them directly on their bad ways. Then deal with them directly and publicly.

Much respect to Acts Full Gospel for being involved with our schools in such a positive way.

There are legitimate concerns about schools, and no award is without context. However, this is neither the time nor place to debate those concerns. Surely students emailed this article to family and friends across the country. As they try to attach a congratulatory note to this article, I cringe at the commentary they will read.

These honored students’ academic achievement is commendable.

Students – there will always be people who try to make sense of your actions, accomplishments and failures, and ideas. Hear them, but don’t internalize their views. You have handled the challenges put before you with aplomb. Continue to work hard, seek new challenges, ask for help, learn from mistakes, and never waste your talents and gifts.

My challenge to you is this: Study the adults around you. Learn from us. See how we have crumbled and become tribal under the weight of failures, fear, and disappointments…. See things for what they are, and take the leadership in this community with your zeal and clear-mindedness. Be doers and leaders, not just critics or cheerleaders.

Never let anyone define your successes OR failures. Struggle and emerge (Luctor et Emergo), knowing that failure and disappointment are just feedback for the thinking person. And it’s ok to strut a little…

Congratulations

What’s going to happen to these public school kids – and how we prepare them for the next 5 to 10 years, concerns me. Mainly my concern is lost opportunity. It’s a lot later than we all think.

Thus my issues with people (students) wallowing in their comfort zones. I think the more nervous people were likely the survivors of the Titanic. Hope I’m wrong.

Cranky’s post #27 is very much on point for this Education Blog. And I believe the center of OUSD’s mission is not the right side of the national bell curve, it’s the left side. I wish OUSD would accomplish more with the left side of the curve. And that doesn’t mean getting them into the UC Berkeley School of Engineering either.

One of my student jobs was tutoring “disadvantaged” students at an agricultural college in a nearby western state. I had a student, a young Black woman, who was functionally illiterate and failing a freshman history course; when I suggested that she needed some fundamental tutoring in reading she proceeded to inform me that she wasn’t interested in studying what Mr. Charlie was attempting to teach her and that somehow the entire college experience was some sort of White conspiracy to subjugate Black people. I finally went to the tutoring center where after much roaring and blathering of confidentially I was able to learn that she was functionally illiterate – not only was she incapable of reading a history book, it was unlikely that she could fill out a job application in the fast food industry.

What to do? I went to the professor and talked with him at length. He was and is a man of the highest integrity and noted that in his section she would fail – but that he had a solution. The solution? She was quickly transferred into a section taught by a leftist who always passed Black students. This is the very worst form of racism that exists – because it contains the implicit assumption that Blacks are stupid and cannot attain the minimums expected of others.