RESTORING WHAT? DEFINING RACISM
RYAN “BUGS” WILLIAMS-VIRDEN
AUGUST 31ST 2010
There has been plenty of uproar and discussion regarding race this weekend, mainly as a result of Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally where he intended to “reclaim the Civil Rights Movement” from the liberals that have distorted it. Typically I would have attacked Beck with all sorts of claims of racism and attempted to back them up as best I could. Undoubtedly there would have been those that agreed with me, and there also would have been those that just as passionately distanced themselves from the claims of racism. Even if they disagreed with the rally and thought Beck was an idiot they would have been reluctant if not all together unwilling to see race playing a factor. As I was coming to this realization something else also hit me, the essay that needed to be wrote was not about race and racism as it pertained to Glenn Beck and his rally, but rather what exactly racism is and how we can develop a sort of working definition. Then move on to Beck. However, before we get to that lets address some things that will hopefully keep the lines of communication and consideration open. I am not pretending to be the authority on race, I do not have the answers all I have are some ideas to consider, and finally I am not attempting to label anyone a racist but will point out where I see collusion with racism and consequences of beliefs and policies I believe serve to further racism. So with that being said lets continue.
POWER AND PRIVILEGE
For many, racism is something of a relic. Yes, it may still exist today but for all intense purposes it is all bark and no bite; especially after the election of Barak Obama; only manifesting itself in the bigoted views of individuals that hold no true power. Our institutions are largely free from racism and overall we have a minimal if not negligible race issue. Sadly nothing could be further from the truth. So how is it such a significant number of people can have such polar views of something that would seem to be easy to spot? The answer seems to simple- we don’t know what racism is.
Yes, racism is lynchings, segregated restaurants and schools, it is shackles and chains, it is “The Bell Curve”, and it is the Ku Klux Klan. It is also the belief that people of color are inherently lazy, stupid, and violent, prone to having multiple babies out of wedlock and sapping the state dry of its resources. It is the achievement gap, which in my city, Minneapolis a city touted as a beckon of liberalism, is among the worst in the country. It is the manifestation of internalized beliefs surrounding people of color in ways that are both overt and covert. There is a truth here that we must collectively come to realize. We have to accept the fact that racism requires power and privilege and this is exclusively the property of whites in this country. If not the President of the United States, the pinnacle of power and respect in this country would not be subject to depictions of him as an African witch doctor, or the White House lawn being a field of Watermelons-- both of which were displayed proudly during protests by those that would later make up the Tea Party. This country is not a meritocracy people do not possess what they deserve, there are plenty of poor who deserve much much more, and there are plenty of rich folks that deserve none of the comforts they now enjoy. These disparities are a direct result of the oppression that is racism and the subsequent privilege awarded to all whites via white supremacy. If we can not acknowledge this fact and be conscience of how this dynamic effects our interactions on a daily basis with those that happen to have more or less melanin than we will never be able to be truly post racial.
COLLUSION
A significant part of understanding racism and a logical consequence of understanding racism as being largely a systematic rather than individual demon is white people being conscience of their collusion with systems of oppression. This is where talking heads such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh come into play. It is impossible to support either of these two or others that espouse similar worldviews and analysis without supporting racism; simply because the consequences of the beliefs, worldviews, and eventual policies supported by these people have a very real effect for people of color. For example when Glenn Beck says that he is “reclaiming the Civil Rights Movement” and invokes the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. while at the same time claiming that social justice and economic justice are euphemisms for Nazism he is directly disrespecting, distorting, challenging, and bastardizing the message and memory of the great Civil Rights leader, or how bout invoking MLK while calling the first black president a racist? This is motivated by racism and a shallow pathetic attempt to galvanize whites. When Rush Limbaugh says that universal health care is simply reparations this is racism. Both men are demonstrating a deep seeded anxiety toward people of color realizing equality. Where might this anxiety come from—maybe it stems from not wanting to lose the privilege they both enjoy so much. Maybe that is why they wax nostalgic about the times of the four fathers-- you know that time when women were invisible and the stolen Africans they were employing oh wait I mean forcing to work their fields were only 3/5ths of human beings. It is impossible to look at such things through a race conscious lens, and with any sort of decency make the above- mentioned claims- -simply impossible. This however does not stop some from trying, and what these arguments will rest on boils down to essentially two things 1st) neither one of these two openly uses epithets (sorry Dr. Laura) nor endorses a return to slavery or Jim Crow. This claim is surely debatable. And 2nd) they say they are not motivated by racism so we should believe them. Here again we see the mis-education around race manifesting itself. Internalized beliefs about the worth of people of color and how they should be treated counts as racism. As a matter of fact if these two and the others like them were not harboring racial resentment and fear then why wouldn’t they come out in support of reparations? Both say they are pro worker, business and free market; there is no better way than to show commitment to these ideals then by advocating for the paying of lost wages? Unless of course that requires coming off your own comfort, right? Well then surely these two patriots and lovers of our great freedom fighters will gladly advocate for France to return to Haiti the bogus penalty imposed on them for winning their freedom. No one could imagine tolerating England requiring such a penalty be paid from us. Oh wrong again, I guess freedom fighters only come in a pinkish hue.
Simply put if white people want equality as so many claim they do then they must be ready to give up some of their comfort and privilege. This includes reevaluating your loyalties and sensibilities, be conscience of what you’re feeling, where it might be coming from, and why you might be feeling it. Do so fully and honestly. Learn the history of our country from the perspective other than WASP and see how patriotic you feel, or what you think it means to “restore honor”.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
FREEDOM...KIND OF
FREEDOM… KIND OF
Ryan “BUGS” Williams-Virden
August 16th 2010
The idiocy of the right has gone beyond frustration, it is now insulting. If one need any evidence to back this claim turn on any news station and watch the stupidity that is the story of the “Ground Zero” mosque. How is it possible that such ignorance is allowed such leverage? How is it being tolerated? This has gone beyond even the veil of balanced coverage. It is plain and simple—in this country the freedom of religion is protected under the first amendment. The discussion/debate should end there however it does not; these windbags thanks to a history of privilege have enough resources to make their pathetic voices heard. Lets be clear about 9-11 it was planned and carried out by Al Qaeda not the Muslim world as a whole, and Muslims also died in the attacks. The right, as it always does has done its best to fan the fires of fear and spread ignorance, and while this might help explain how these disturbing reactions to not only the mosque but Islam as a whole it does not by any means explain why this blatant campaign of misinformation, lies, and fear mongering has been allowed to gain such traction. Harry Reid said today that he thought the mosque should be built in a different location and Obama implied the same. How is it that the President of the United States has to succumb to idiocy and hate? The answer is white supremacy or to be more specific WASP supremacy.
There is no escaping it-- this country was built on a foundation of racism and white supremacy. The Declaration of Independence, the constitution, the Bill of Rights and in truth every other document, system, institution, or decision was made by white men with only their interests in mind. While we have made strides to correct some of the more blatant contradictions (some is generous) we cannot escape the reality that the voices of women, poor, and people of color were left out of those discussions. It only follows then that until those voices are allowed all the freedoms and privileges afforded others there can be no real equality. Rather than accept this fact the right has done everything it can to push back from this effort. They vilified people of color, the LGBT community, immigrants, and any other group that is not the dominant in society, which is still WASP’s. More recently the object of the rights venom has been Muslims and the Muslim world. Apparently the obvious hypocrisy of such a stance is lost on the right. The historical fact of manifest destiny and the atrocities committed in the name of Christianity seem not to register. It is hard to imagine that a similar campaign would be half as successful if say Native Americans wanted to put an end to the building of churches. As a matter of fact when I asked random people this afternoon many had no idea why that would even possibly be considered while others actually laughed at the thought. What it comes down to is the feelings and dignity of people of color whether they be African slaves, or Arab Muslims do not matter as much as the sensibilities of white folks. This has to be unacceptable in order for us to ever take equality efforts seriously.
* Ryan "BUGS" Williams-Virden is a spoken word artist, playwright, author, organizer, and teacher from NE Minneapolis. He is the co-founder of Sai Werd Ink a literary organization dedicated to empowering marginalized peoples. He is also one half of Poetic Assassins a local spoken word duo. He can be reached atpoeticassassins@saiwerdink.com
Ryan “BUGS” Williams-Virden
August 16th 2010
The idiocy of the right has gone beyond frustration, it is now insulting. If one need any evidence to back this claim turn on any news station and watch the stupidity that is the story of the “Ground Zero” mosque. How is it possible that such ignorance is allowed such leverage? How is it being tolerated? This has gone beyond even the veil of balanced coverage. It is plain and simple—in this country the freedom of religion is protected under the first amendment. The discussion/debate should end there however it does not; these windbags thanks to a history of privilege have enough resources to make their pathetic voices heard. Lets be clear about 9-11 it was planned and carried out by Al Qaeda not the Muslim world as a whole, and Muslims also died in the attacks. The right, as it always does has done its best to fan the fires of fear and spread ignorance, and while this might help explain how these disturbing reactions to not only the mosque but Islam as a whole it does not by any means explain why this blatant campaign of misinformation, lies, and fear mongering has been allowed to gain such traction. Harry Reid said today that he thought the mosque should be built in a different location and Obama implied the same. How is it that the President of the United States has to succumb to idiocy and hate? The answer is white supremacy or to be more specific WASP supremacy.
There is no escaping it-- this country was built on a foundation of racism and white supremacy. The Declaration of Independence, the constitution, the Bill of Rights and in truth every other document, system, institution, or decision was made by white men with only their interests in mind. While we have made strides to correct some of the more blatant contradictions (some is generous) we cannot escape the reality that the voices of women, poor, and people of color were left out of those discussions. It only follows then that until those voices are allowed all the freedoms and privileges afforded others there can be no real equality. Rather than accept this fact the right has done everything it can to push back from this effort. They vilified people of color, the LGBT community, immigrants, and any other group that is not the dominant in society, which is still WASP’s. More recently the object of the rights venom has been Muslims and the Muslim world. Apparently the obvious hypocrisy of such a stance is lost on the right. The historical fact of manifest destiny and the atrocities committed in the name of Christianity seem not to register. It is hard to imagine that a similar campaign would be half as successful if say Native Americans wanted to put an end to the building of churches. As a matter of fact when I asked random people this afternoon many had no idea why that would even possibly be considered while others actually laughed at the thought. What it comes down to is the feelings and dignity of people of color whether they be African slaves, or Arab Muslims do not matter as much as the sensibilities of white folks. This has to be unacceptable in order for us to ever take equality efforts seriously.
* Ryan "BUGS" Williams-Virden is a spoken word artist, playwright, author, organizer, and teacher from NE Minneapolis. He is the co-founder of Sai Werd Ink a literary organization dedicated to empowering marginalized peoples. He is also one half of Poetic Assassins a local spoken word duo. He can be reached atpoeticassassins@saiwerdink.com
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
SCHOOLED? CHARTER SCHOOLS ATTACK ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
Ryan “BUGS” Williams-Virden
August 10th 2010
Ask almost anybody and they will acknowledge education is crucial to the development of the youth, of a healthy community, and indeed of a healthy democracy. In Minneapolis and across the country they will also be quick to agree that something needs to be done to improve our public education, specifically in urban areas. The debate comes in when we start to talk about how, and flesh out what that might look like. Increasingly charter schools are being touted as the solution; both the left and the right seem to be able to agree that charter schools will and should play a major role in the future of public education. As a matter of fact the Minneapolis school board just approved the sponsorship of a charter school with two campuses (one on the north side and another on the south) set to open in the fall of 2011, taking over the space now known as North High School. This charter, Minneapolis College Preparatory (MCP) is being billed as the premier option for students with college ambition, and as presumably the answer to the achievement gap and myriad of other problems facing Minneapolis public schools. However, a slightly deeper look reveals a totally different, and completely opposite scenario playing out.
CHARTER SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC EDUCATION
Everybody has a right to a quality free and public education--this is a backbone of democracy. Regardless of race, class, gender, religion, or any other aspect of our humanity that servers to divide us, our education is suppose to be of the same quality, easily accessible, and free. This idea has come under a very severe and effective attack by proponents of the charter school movement. It is important to note not all supporters of charter schools are on a mission to dismantle public schools, but that does not change the reality of the consequences charter schools have on public education. The worldview behind charter schools is this-- competition is necessary in order to have quality. It adheres to a business mentality and model while dealing with education. The problem lies here, when creating competition you are also creating winners and losers, by definition if you are competing somebody will lose. This should be totally unacceptable when talking about the education of our youth and future leaders. Put simply charter schools are a thinly veiled attempt to privatize education. It is a part of the larger neo-liberal agenda to privatize the public sector under the guise of providing “choice”while the entire time asking the public to trust in the “free” market to provide equity. By exploiting the legitimate concerns and frustrations of many with public education those heading this movement have seized an opportunity to create enormous profit. This profit does not however come without a cost; it comes at the expense of students, teachers, and in the end all of us as members of the larger communities. The UCLA Civil Rights Project came to this conclusion after researching charter schools:
“The ability to choose assumes ready exposure to available school options. Research suggests that families’ access to the educational marketplace is unequally constrained by a number of factors, including contact with advantaged social networks, … language barriers, socioeconomic status and the ability of parents to arrange transportation for their schoolchildren. Education studies both in the U.S. context and abroad… all highlight a basic point. Unrestricted choice results in stratification….. On the other side of the process… significant private investment augments public support for charter schools. Targeted recruitment of students could help charter schools accomplish achievement promises made to these private funders. It follows that school choice… will almost always exacerbate inequality.”
When considering for-profit involvement it becomes even bleaker:
“For the quarter of charters that are run for profit, a focus on the bottom line compromises educational quality. When states hand money to private companies, their profit margin is the difference between the state funds and what they spend to provide the education. It stands to reason that if they can cut costs, a policy that tends to lower the quality of education, they can make more money. In Ohio, where more than half of the state’s charter money goes to for-profit companies, charters drastically lag behind traditional public schools. Only 8 percent of charters received a rating of excellent or effective, compared to 63 percent of public schools.”
The situation becomes no better when taking race into account:
“Another serious concern is the increase in racial segregation associated with charter schools. UCLA’s Civil Rights Project study found higher levels of segregation for Black students in charter schools than in public schools, even though public school segregation has been growing steadily for two decades. Other studies have documented increased racial segregation due to “school choice” programs in North Carolina and New Jersey.
Unlike magnet schools that were established to further school integration by bringing students from different parts of a city together, charter schools tend to further segregation because they make enrollment decisions without regard to the impact on the school system as a whole. Thus the “market-oriented model of choice” tends to further segregate students (in what is already a segregated school system) based on resources, abilities, language, and race.”
The reality of the situation is made quite clear charter schools are not the answer to the very real challenges facing our public education system. Charter schools result in: a large number of severely underserved students, overworked and unqualified teachers and staff juxtaposed to the few that benefited from those handful of charters that provide quality. Again if we look at the data we see that charters are in no way outperforming their public schools counterparts:
“A 2003 national study by the Department of Education under George W. Bush found that charter schools performed, on average, no better than traditional public schools. The study was initially suppressed because it hadn’t reached the desired conclusions. Another study by two Stanford economists involved an enormous sample, 70 percent of all charter students. It found that an astonishing 83 percent of charter schools were either no better or actually worse than traditional public schools serving similar populations. Indeed, the authors found that bad charter schools outnumber good ones by a ratio of roughly 2 to 1”
Again the picture is very, very, clear.
MCP AND MINNEAPOLIS
Lets talk about MCP and how it will affect public ed. in Minneapolis; here is an excerpt from the proposal presented to the school board:
“The MCP mission and vision is focused on college success:
Mission - The Minneapolis College Preparatory South and North Campus
mission is to instill in students the scholarship, discipline and
honor necessary to succeed in college and beyond.
Vision - The Minneapolis College Preparatory vision is to establish
the highest performing open-enrollment high school in Minneapolis with
an emphasis on serving low-income students and preparing them to
graduate from college. MCP seeks to create constructive change in
Minneapolis by serving up to 10% of MPS high school students and
sharing best practices in closing the achievement gap nationwide.”
At first glance this seems to be a great thing, who would argue against it? They are addressing many of the very valid concerns regarding public schools. This is all true, but nobody is asking the question why can’t public schools do this? And what about the 90% of students who don’t get the chance to attend MCP? What happens to them? What about the trained quality teachers? It is not a leap to say this is an attack on Minneapolis Public Schools and the public schools system as a whole. It is also not far fetched to envision a situation where the public schools left become a sort of second tier holding site and the students relegated to attending have one of three options 1) military 2) low wage, low skilled labor or 3) prison. Is this the future we want for education? Yes, we have very real problems, but the answer is not to turn our backs on 90% of the students the answer is to come together to create an innovative, more democratic system that meets the needs of our communities. As one of my comrades said, “the answer is reform not replacement”, and make no mistake about it charter schools are aiming to replace public education in this city, state, and country. New Orleans post Katrina is vacant of public schools, Milton Friedman’s final victory, and Detroit’s public schools have been gutted in favor of charters. We have an opportunity here and now to say no, we value public education and we will not allow it to be eliminated. The “choice” is ours.
* Ryan "BUGS" Williams-Virden is a spoken word artist, playwright, author, organizer, and teacher from NE Minneapolis. He is the co-founder of Sai Werd Ink a literary organization dedicated to empowering marginalized peoples. He is also one half of Poetic Assassins a local spoken word duo. He can be reached atpoeticassassins@saiwerdink.com
NOTES
This article provided the data in this essay, or at least the links to find the data originally by following its notes.
http://www.isreview.org/issues/71/feat-charterschools.shtml
Ryan “BUGS” Williams-Virden
August 10th 2010
Ask almost anybody and they will acknowledge education is crucial to the development of the youth, of a healthy community, and indeed of a healthy democracy. In Minneapolis and across the country they will also be quick to agree that something needs to be done to improve our public education, specifically in urban areas. The debate comes in when we start to talk about how, and flesh out what that might look like. Increasingly charter schools are being touted as the solution; both the left and the right seem to be able to agree that charter schools will and should play a major role in the future of public education. As a matter of fact the Minneapolis school board just approved the sponsorship of a charter school with two campuses (one on the north side and another on the south) set to open in the fall of 2011, taking over the space now known as North High School. This charter, Minneapolis College Preparatory (MCP) is being billed as the premier option for students with college ambition, and as presumably the answer to the achievement gap and myriad of other problems facing Minneapolis public schools. However, a slightly deeper look reveals a totally different, and completely opposite scenario playing out.
CHARTER SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC EDUCATION
Everybody has a right to a quality free and public education--this is a backbone of democracy. Regardless of race, class, gender, religion, or any other aspect of our humanity that servers to divide us, our education is suppose to be of the same quality, easily accessible, and free. This idea has come under a very severe and effective attack by proponents of the charter school movement. It is important to note not all supporters of charter schools are on a mission to dismantle public schools, but that does not change the reality of the consequences charter schools have on public education. The worldview behind charter schools is this-- competition is necessary in order to have quality. It adheres to a business mentality and model while dealing with education. The problem lies here, when creating competition you are also creating winners and losers, by definition if you are competing somebody will lose. This should be totally unacceptable when talking about the education of our youth and future leaders. Put simply charter schools are a thinly veiled attempt to privatize education. It is a part of the larger neo-liberal agenda to privatize the public sector under the guise of providing “choice”while the entire time asking the public to trust in the “free” market to provide equity. By exploiting the legitimate concerns and frustrations of many with public education those heading this movement have seized an opportunity to create enormous profit. This profit does not however come without a cost; it comes at the expense of students, teachers, and in the end all of us as members of the larger communities. The UCLA Civil Rights Project came to this conclusion after researching charter schools:
“The ability to choose assumes ready exposure to available school options. Research suggests that families’ access to the educational marketplace is unequally constrained by a number of factors, including contact with advantaged social networks, … language barriers, socioeconomic status and the ability of parents to arrange transportation for their schoolchildren. Education studies both in the U.S. context and abroad… all highlight a basic point. Unrestricted choice results in stratification….. On the other side of the process… significant private investment augments public support for charter schools. Targeted recruitment of students could help charter schools accomplish achievement promises made to these private funders. It follows that school choice… will almost always exacerbate inequality.”
When considering for-profit involvement it becomes even bleaker:
“For the quarter of charters that are run for profit, a focus on the bottom line compromises educational quality. When states hand money to private companies, their profit margin is the difference between the state funds and what they spend to provide the education. It stands to reason that if they can cut costs, a policy that tends to lower the quality of education, they can make more money. In Ohio, where more than half of the state’s charter money goes to for-profit companies, charters drastically lag behind traditional public schools. Only 8 percent of charters received a rating of excellent or effective, compared to 63 percent of public schools.”
The situation becomes no better when taking race into account:
“Another serious concern is the increase in racial segregation associated with charter schools. UCLA’s Civil Rights Project study found higher levels of segregation for Black students in charter schools than in public schools, even though public school segregation has been growing steadily for two decades. Other studies have documented increased racial segregation due to “school choice” programs in North Carolina and New Jersey.
Unlike magnet schools that were established to further school integration by bringing students from different parts of a city together, charter schools tend to further segregation because they make enrollment decisions without regard to the impact on the school system as a whole. Thus the “market-oriented model of choice” tends to further segregate students (in what is already a segregated school system) based on resources, abilities, language, and race.”
The reality of the situation is made quite clear charter schools are not the answer to the very real challenges facing our public education system. Charter schools result in: a large number of severely underserved students, overworked and unqualified teachers and staff juxtaposed to the few that benefited from those handful of charters that provide quality. Again if we look at the data we see that charters are in no way outperforming their public schools counterparts:
“A 2003 national study by the Department of Education under George W. Bush found that charter schools performed, on average, no better than traditional public schools. The study was initially suppressed because it hadn’t reached the desired conclusions. Another study by two Stanford economists involved an enormous sample, 70 percent of all charter students. It found that an astonishing 83 percent of charter schools were either no better or actually worse than traditional public schools serving similar populations. Indeed, the authors found that bad charter schools outnumber good ones by a ratio of roughly 2 to 1”
Again the picture is very, very, clear.
MCP AND MINNEAPOLIS
Lets talk about MCP and how it will affect public ed. in Minneapolis; here is an excerpt from the proposal presented to the school board:
“The MCP mission and vision is focused on college success:
Mission - The Minneapolis College Preparatory South and North Campus
mission is to instill in students the scholarship, discipline and
honor necessary to succeed in college and beyond.
Vision - The Minneapolis College Preparatory vision is to establish
the highest performing open-enrollment high school in Minneapolis with
an emphasis on serving low-income students and preparing them to
graduate from college. MCP seeks to create constructive change in
Minneapolis by serving up to 10% of MPS high school students and
sharing best practices in closing the achievement gap nationwide.”
At first glance this seems to be a great thing, who would argue against it? They are addressing many of the very valid concerns regarding public schools. This is all true, but nobody is asking the question why can’t public schools do this? And what about the 90% of students who don’t get the chance to attend MCP? What happens to them? What about the trained quality teachers? It is not a leap to say this is an attack on Minneapolis Public Schools and the public schools system as a whole. It is also not far fetched to envision a situation where the public schools left become a sort of second tier holding site and the students relegated to attending have one of three options 1) military 2) low wage, low skilled labor or 3) prison. Is this the future we want for education? Yes, we have very real problems, but the answer is not to turn our backs on 90% of the students the answer is to come together to create an innovative, more democratic system that meets the needs of our communities. As one of my comrades said, “the answer is reform not replacement”, and make no mistake about it charter schools are aiming to replace public education in this city, state, and country. New Orleans post Katrina is vacant of public schools, Milton Friedman’s final victory, and Detroit’s public schools have been gutted in favor of charters. We have an opportunity here and now to say no, we value public education and we will not allow it to be eliminated. The “choice” is ours.
* Ryan "BUGS" Williams-Virden is a spoken word artist, playwright, author, organizer, and teacher from NE Minneapolis. He is the co-founder of Sai Werd Ink a literary organization dedicated to empowering marginalized peoples. He is also one half of Poetic Assassins a local spoken word duo. He can be reached atpoeticassassins@saiwerdink.com
NOTES
This article provided the data in this essay, or at least the links to find the data originally by following its notes.
http://www.isreview.org/issues/71/feat-charterschools.shtml
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