WORLD PEACE OR PATRIOTISM?
Ryan “BUGS” Williams- Virden
11-7-10
It’s a fairly normal Sunday for me, straighten up the house a bit, grocery shopping, and settle in to watch some football. As I sat down on my couch and flipped the channel to ESPN’s NFL Countdown Chris Berman greeted me with a task, to reflect on our veterans serving over seas in honor of Veterans Day. I took Boomer up on his challenge and reflected. I want to share those reflections with you.
Let me begin by stating plainly, as a sort of disclaimer, I wish no harm upon anybody, I am also not attacking any one individuals character or motivation. With that being said I find the hyper-patriotism of this week, and truthfully of our society generally extremely disturbing. Let’s take Berman’s challenge seriously, the fact of the matter is we have our military engaged in an illegal occupation of two countries, we have military bases in over 150 countries around the globe (imagine the idea of another country having a military base inside our borders), we are bombing Pakistan, and have aggressively attempted to make war as inconsequential as playing a video game. There is something wrong with this. War is death. In no way, shape, or form should that be celebrated, and I don’t feel that is a very radical stance. Regardless of your political leanings I believe most people would agree violence and death are not things worth elevating. However, what some will say is those things are necessary evils in order to preserve our freedoms, and those that participate in such endeavors should be honored as heroes. Unfortunately this could not be further from the truth. Beyond the legit moral antiwar stance (that should be honored and valued) if we honestly reflect on our military and its role we can see that the United States military has been used solely as a tool for expansion and the securing of American economic interest.
From the Revolution to Afghanistan and everything in-between the ability of the rich to get richer has been a major motivator for US involvement in conflict. I am not writing a book here so I will not go in to great detail but will offer some evidence to support my perspective. During the Revolutionary War only those White males who owned property had a voice, those few WASP’s that we so affectionately refer to as “founding fathers” were not concerned with freedoms in general as much as they were concerned with the freedom to not have to answer to England, and not insignificantly, not pay taxes to the crown. When they won independence they were quick to serve their own interests, and cared little about those left out. The Civil War was fought not because Lincoln was a great humanitarian that wanted to abolish slavery, but rather over the economic future of the United States-- would it be agriculture and slavery or industry and wage slavery? The Emancipation Proclamation did little to end slavery since it only applied to states that remained loyal to the Confederacy, it was people such as Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists that seized the moment and put pressure on politicians to pass the 13th amendment. Iraq just happens to be a strategic key to the Middle East and is sitting on huge amounts of oil; we got involved in Panama for control of the canal, in Indonesia and the south Pacific, in Latin America, the list goes on. Perhaps there is no greater evidence of this truth then our domestic wars, you know the “War on fill in the blank” poverty, drugs, terrorism- it doesn’t matter all of these efforts have resulted in a very few already rich people increasing their wealth at the expense of the very people the efforts were supposedly aimed at helping. The wealth gap has only grown, jails are full of non-violent black and brown folks whose only crime was pursuing one of the very few real economic opportunities available to them, and as we can clearly see Islamophobia is at a fever pitch (for more in depth analysis look into writings by Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and Ronald Takaki).
This is all of course a cycle that depends on each aspect in order to function. The rich would never and indeed never have fought in their own wars, the majority of infantry and frontline soldiers have always been the poor. Therefore, it is necessary to keep a consistent supply of poor on hand. When you couple that with a pro-military media that can be counted on to send the right message you are left with a decent size pool of socialized young men and women to draw from- even when faced with a hugely unpopular, and drawn out war like Iraq. Shit you can even use videogames as a tool to desensitize future cadets to the realities of war, which as technology increases becomes easier to mask-- as the popular drone bombings, and disturbing videos released by Wikileaks of soldiers massacring civilians in Iraq illustrate.
We have a duty then, as people who care about not just our fellow citizens, but humanity as a whole to tell the truth about war, and more specifically the United States military. The media has no business promoting a pro-military message given the inevitable consequences of having to utilize an armed force. We pay lip service to ideas such as peace and equality, but actively promote the exact opposite when we turn a blind eye to reality. So after taking Chris Berman seriously and reflecting I challenge you to do the same, and ask that you challenge others, and so forth because it is only through those reflections and possible uncomfortable, tough conversations will we make progress towards a more peaceful world.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
BE SUPERMAN...SUPPORT NORTH HIGH
BE SUPERMAN SUPPORT NORTH HIGH
RYAN “BUGS”WILLIAMS-VIRDEN
OCTOBER 14TH 2010
Yesterday there was a lot of talk regarding North High School and Bernadia Johnson’s plan to recommend its closure to the School Board. It makes me happy that folks are talking about such an important issue. However, the discourse itself has left me very disturbed (see the comment section of the original Star Tribune Story from Wednesday) hence this writing. Let me be clear who I am writing this for, it is not those that are passionate about this issue in either direction, but rather those that are somewhere in the middle. The ones that pride themselves on seeing “both sides” of the issue, the ones that want to see education be the force for good that it should and think maybe shutting down North is a necessary reform measure. You are the people I hope read this and consider what I have to say; mainly- the closing of North is a Civil and Human Rights issue rooted in a history of systemic racism. Rather than shut the doors and wipe our hands we should see this as an opportunity to move towards equality.
I know right about now many of you are skeptical and think I am drawing some drastic conclusions. Allow me to expand on my assertion. The foundation for the rationale behind Johnson’s recommendation is that it is economic insanity to keep North open, there is simply not enough students. At face value the decision seems like a no brainer and it is true strictly speaking in terms of money, keeping North open is not viable. However, face value is hardly ever the most honest, and that is indeed the case here. There is context that cannot be ignored, mainly the racism that is underlying this entire conversation. We cannot view North, or make decisions regarding its future without considering the history of racism that has shaped both the school and surrounding community. It is nievete to think that North has existed in a vacuum free from the racism that has marked education- from lack of culturally responsible curriculum, to diversity of the faculty and staff, to bias standardized tests, to funding, there is no shortage of racism in public education, and North has been a victim of it. On top of the fore-mentioned race specific obstacles faced by North the school board has not been the ally it should have been. For proof of this we need to look no further than the elimination of a home zone for North, the closure of five elementary and middle schools on the north side since 2007, and the complete lack of promotion for the school coupled with the utter failure to push back from the perceptions of North High and the entire north side perpetuated by the media. Not to mention the Choice is Your’s program which essentially siphoned off North’s top students capitalizing off the racist perceptions and stereotypes of the community. The reality of North High is that it is far from the worst school in the district. It produces well- educated, well prepared for college, critical thinking youth that are passionate about their community, and the teachers and staff are among the best in the district.
Besides the context it is necessary to think about the impact of closing North High. If accepted the closure of North will leave the north side with one public high school and solidify the status of north side students as MTS bound, which I think is generally understood not to be the ideal path. When MCP moves into North’s building (which will be fall of 2011) we will see an even greater stratification. This cannot be acceptable to anybody who is concerned with equality and believes in quality public education FOR ALL.
The good news is while concerned people acted late, they acted and delayed the seemingly inevitable. I ask that you- the middle ground- join those concerned people in saying, No! We will not allow for this to happen there is simply too much history and hurt for us to add onto. This stance does not require that North continue to operate with 40 freshman and be an economic liability. The Board and Johnson need to reinstate North’s home zone, highlight the many North High successes, and tell the truth about what why the situation became so dire. There is little doubt that these things will result in a significant increase in North’s enrollment. For some this is not a convincing enough argument, in that case lets examine one other aspect. This decision, like so many before it has been made with little to no input from the community, there has been no impact statement done, nothing. This is the latest of a long line of things to happen TO the north side as opposed to WITH the north side. This is racist. Period.
We have a chance to take real anti-racist action. Rather than consider life- altering decisions through only an economic lens we can send the statement that more things matter than simply the bottom line, and we will not continue to exploit and capitalize off a legacy of oppression and inequality. Yes, it will take work and dedication but I’m sure you, and me, us, and we are up to the task.
RYAN “BUGS”WILLIAMS-VIRDEN
OCTOBER 14TH 2010
Yesterday there was a lot of talk regarding North High School and Bernadia Johnson’s plan to recommend its closure to the School Board. It makes me happy that folks are talking about such an important issue. However, the discourse itself has left me very disturbed (see the comment section of the original Star Tribune Story from Wednesday) hence this writing. Let me be clear who I am writing this for, it is not those that are passionate about this issue in either direction, but rather those that are somewhere in the middle. The ones that pride themselves on seeing “both sides” of the issue, the ones that want to see education be the force for good that it should and think maybe shutting down North is a necessary reform measure. You are the people I hope read this and consider what I have to say; mainly- the closing of North is a Civil and Human Rights issue rooted in a history of systemic racism. Rather than shut the doors and wipe our hands we should see this as an opportunity to move towards equality.
I know right about now many of you are skeptical and think I am drawing some drastic conclusions. Allow me to expand on my assertion. The foundation for the rationale behind Johnson’s recommendation is that it is economic insanity to keep North open, there is simply not enough students. At face value the decision seems like a no brainer and it is true strictly speaking in terms of money, keeping North open is not viable. However, face value is hardly ever the most honest, and that is indeed the case here. There is context that cannot be ignored, mainly the racism that is underlying this entire conversation. We cannot view North, or make decisions regarding its future without considering the history of racism that has shaped both the school and surrounding community. It is nievete to think that North has existed in a vacuum free from the racism that has marked education- from lack of culturally responsible curriculum, to diversity of the faculty and staff, to bias standardized tests, to funding, there is no shortage of racism in public education, and North has been a victim of it. On top of the fore-mentioned race specific obstacles faced by North the school board has not been the ally it should have been. For proof of this we need to look no further than the elimination of a home zone for North, the closure of five elementary and middle schools on the north side since 2007, and the complete lack of promotion for the school coupled with the utter failure to push back from the perceptions of North High and the entire north side perpetuated by the media. Not to mention the Choice is Your’s program which essentially siphoned off North’s top students capitalizing off the racist perceptions and stereotypes of the community. The reality of North High is that it is far from the worst school in the district. It produces well- educated, well prepared for college, critical thinking youth that are passionate about their community, and the teachers and staff are among the best in the district.
Besides the context it is necessary to think about the impact of closing North High. If accepted the closure of North will leave the north side with one public high school and solidify the status of north side students as MTS bound, which I think is generally understood not to be the ideal path. When MCP moves into North’s building (which will be fall of 2011) we will see an even greater stratification. This cannot be acceptable to anybody who is concerned with equality and believes in quality public education FOR ALL.
The good news is while concerned people acted late, they acted and delayed the seemingly inevitable. I ask that you- the middle ground- join those concerned people in saying, No! We will not allow for this to happen there is simply too much history and hurt for us to add onto. This stance does not require that North continue to operate with 40 freshman and be an economic liability. The Board and Johnson need to reinstate North’s home zone, highlight the many North High successes, and tell the truth about what why the situation became so dire. There is little doubt that these things will result in a significant increase in North’s enrollment. For some this is not a convincing enough argument, in that case lets examine one other aspect. This decision, like so many before it has been made with little to no input from the community, there has been no impact statement done, nothing. This is the latest of a long line of things to happen TO the north side as opposed to WITH the north side. This is racist. Period.
We have a chance to take real anti-racist action. Rather than consider life- altering decisions through only an economic lens we can send the statement that more things matter than simply the bottom line, and we will not continue to exploit and capitalize off a legacy of oppression and inequality. Yes, it will take work and dedication but I’m sure you, and me, us, and we are up to the task.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
BETRAYING HUMANITY
BETRAYING HUMANITY
RYAN “BUGS” WILLIAMS- VIRDEN
SEPTEMBER 12TH 2010
One of my students, with a look of disgust on her face asked the question I absolutely hate fielding. She struggles to find the words and finally puts it, as plainly and painfully as she can “Why don’t people stop this?” I literally have no answer. I have theories, guesses, and assumptions, but no answer. This is of little comfort to my class of twelve, which by this point are all starring at me waiting for my response. I tell them the truth—I don’t know. They proceeded to shout out their own theories and we had a productive class, but I couldn’t shake the feeling from that question. It is so innocent and comes with an unmistakable sense of betrayal. As I sat on the crowded bus home attempting to understand why this feeling was nagging me I realized it wasn’t the question that prompted this reaction, but rather a truth that in many ways is much more painful—so many don’t share the feeling of betrayal that fueled the productivity of my class that day.
TRUTH TELLING
A truism in life-the truth hurts. Sometimes there is nothing harder to do than tell the truth. None of us like to hear about where we have messed up, or where we have inflicted harm towards others. We surely don’t enjoy hearing about a history of oppression and exploitation with us doing the oppressing and exploiting. So we don’t tell it. We tell at best partial truths that might acknowledge some poor decisions, but never by any means do we allow space for complete realities. We teach our youth Christopher Columbus discovered “the New World” and is worthy of our admiration. We leave out the ugliness of this “discovery” or that it is impossible to discover something already inhabited. We ignore evidence that Columbus did not consider the indigenous of Hispaniola his equal or worthy of his respect as illustrated in his early correspondence with Spain after encountering the Arawaks, "They should be good servants .... I, our Lord being pleased, will take hence, at the time of my departure, six natives for your Highnesses.” By 1560 less than 100 years after first contact the Arawak’s were extinct. We acknowledge slavery happened and that it was a terrible practice, but this is typically the extent. We continuously hold our founding fathers up as models of citizenship and solid character. Nowhere do we discuss to any significant degree the fact that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and many others actually owned slaves, or that the White House was built by slaves. Nowhere do we see any respect or validity given to the slaves that rebelled such as Nat Turner, or other Europeans who fought for complete freedom like John Brown; both of whom were truly freedom fighters, and worthy of acknowledgment. We absolutely don’t consider the implications of structuring a nation without the voices of females, the poor, the LGBT Community, or people of color being present. We don’t critically engage the United States foreign policy, and never wrestle with the idea that perhaps our motivations were not as pure as we were told they were. Rather than try and tell these stories and right these wrongs the realities and voices of marginalized communities are coming under attack—Texas radically manipulated their curriculum to remove slavery, and Arizona made ethnic studies illegal. It is now conceivable that in Arizona it would be deemed illegal to teach a lesson on the internment camps set up in this country for Japanese Americans during World War II.
These omissions and glossing over is not accidental. If our historical narrative included the realities of all that make up this country it would be hard to imagine the inequalities we see today being allowed to persist, if form at all. For example, if we told the truth regarding slavery and the number of whites and blacks that worked together to end the horrendous practice, if we told the truth about the label white being used to cause political division and the subsequent practices such as: red lining, the GI bill, and other housing restrictions it is hard to imagine racial tensions, and race based discrimination being as pervasive as they are today.
CONSEQUENCES
Sadly the vast majority of Americans are left in the dark when it comes to these realities. This ignorance has very real effects and consequences. By severely limiting if not all together eliminating these voices, and refusing to consider these realities we strip those groups of their humanity. When the perspective of Native Americans is not present in our history books it becomes possible for Andrew Jackson to be considered a good man. When we don’t tell the truth about Abraham Lincoln it becomes possible to believe the Civil War was a moral rather than economic conflict. However, even more worrisome is the effect it has on the individuals receiving this information, and the messages internalized by those individuals. When we fail to be completely honest about our story and leave parts out we are sending a message, mainly that we are covering what is important therefore by default what is not covered must not be. This is why it is impossible to be neutral; we have already acted on our bias by choosing what to cover and what to leave out. When everything that is covered reflects the viewpoint and reality of Europeans it tells all non- Europeans they are not as worthy, their reality does not matter. When you grow up internalizing these messages it has tangible effects on your self-esteem, relationships, performance in school, etc. In the long run it has real effects on an individuals life and the quality of that life.
Another disturbing effect is the dumbing down of our citizenry, making us all more susceptible to manipulation and significantly easier to control. Perhaps the best example of this is in our economic curriculum. Economics is defined as the distribution of goods and resources. There are several economic systems yet with out exception our schools from high schools to universities fail to teach systems other than capitalism. If others are covered they are covered as failures and non-options. As a result we are left with a population that is largely economically illiterate and utterly incapable of critically thinking about economics. So when the wealthy that have benefited greatly from capitalism start screaming about communism or more recently socialism, they have a ready audience hanging to every word e.g. Tea Partiers. If we told the truth regarding systems of economics, and our commitment to ending poverty it is hard to imagine free market capitalism being accepted in any form given its history of utter failure in this country and around the world.
HEALTHY FEELING OF BETRAYAL
As I sat on the bus I longed to see the feeling of betrayal that was so unmistakable on my students face earlier that day. I wanted to see it on every last person riding that bus, on every face that blurred as the bus drove by. We have all been betrayed. We were told this country was founded on ideals of equality and freedom yet we live in a system that has minimalized or totally eliminated the realities of women, the poor, the LGBT community, and people of color. Leaving so many anything but equal or free. I came to one final realization on that bus-- I realized I don’t need to be able to answer my students’ original question; I need to be able to tell her people are stopping it.
RYAN “BUGS” WILLIAMS- VIRDEN
SEPTEMBER 12TH 2010
One of my students, with a look of disgust on her face asked the question I absolutely hate fielding. She struggles to find the words and finally puts it, as plainly and painfully as she can “Why don’t people stop this?” I literally have no answer. I have theories, guesses, and assumptions, but no answer. This is of little comfort to my class of twelve, which by this point are all starring at me waiting for my response. I tell them the truth—I don’t know. They proceeded to shout out their own theories and we had a productive class, but I couldn’t shake the feeling from that question. It is so innocent and comes with an unmistakable sense of betrayal. As I sat on the crowded bus home attempting to understand why this feeling was nagging me I realized it wasn’t the question that prompted this reaction, but rather a truth that in many ways is much more painful—so many don’t share the feeling of betrayal that fueled the productivity of my class that day.
TRUTH TELLING
A truism in life-the truth hurts. Sometimes there is nothing harder to do than tell the truth. None of us like to hear about where we have messed up, or where we have inflicted harm towards others. We surely don’t enjoy hearing about a history of oppression and exploitation with us doing the oppressing and exploiting. So we don’t tell it. We tell at best partial truths that might acknowledge some poor decisions, but never by any means do we allow space for complete realities. We teach our youth Christopher Columbus discovered “the New World” and is worthy of our admiration. We leave out the ugliness of this “discovery” or that it is impossible to discover something already inhabited. We ignore evidence that Columbus did not consider the indigenous of Hispaniola his equal or worthy of his respect as illustrated in his early correspondence with Spain after encountering the Arawaks, "They should be good servants .... I, our Lord being pleased, will take hence, at the time of my departure, six natives for your Highnesses.” By 1560 less than 100 years after first contact the Arawak’s were extinct. We acknowledge slavery happened and that it was a terrible practice, but this is typically the extent. We continuously hold our founding fathers up as models of citizenship and solid character. Nowhere do we discuss to any significant degree the fact that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and many others actually owned slaves, or that the White House was built by slaves. Nowhere do we see any respect or validity given to the slaves that rebelled such as Nat Turner, or other Europeans who fought for complete freedom like John Brown; both of whom were truly freedom fighters, and worthy of acknowledgment. We absolutely don’t consider the implications of structuring a nation without the voices of females, the poor, the LGBT Community, or people of color being present. We don’t critically engage the United States foreign policy, and never wrestle with the idea that perhaps our motivations were not as pure as we were told they were. Rather than try and tell these stories and right these wrongs the realities and voices of marginalized communities are coming under attack—Texas radically manipulated their curriculum to remove slavery, and Arizona made ethnic studies illegal. It is now conceivable that in Arizona it would be deemed illegal to teach a lesson on the internment camps set up in this country for Japanese Americans during World War II.
These omissions and glossing over is not accidental. If our historical narrative included the realities of all that make up this country it would be hard to imagine the inequalities we see today being allowed to persist, if form at all. For example, if we told the truth regarding slavery and the number of whites and blacks that worked together to end the horrendous practice, if we told the truth about the label white being used to cause political division and the subsequent practices such as: red lining, the GI bill, and other housing restrictions it is hard to imagine racial tensions, and race based discrimination being as pervasive as they are today.
CONSEQUENCES
Sadly the vast majority of Americans are left in the dark when it comes to these realities. This ignorance has very real effects and consequences. By severely limiting if not all together eliminating these voices, and refusing to consider these realities we strip those groups of their humanity. When the perspective of Native Americans is not present in our history books it becomes possible for Andrew Jackson to be considered a good man. When we don’t tell the truth about Abraham Lincoln it becomes possible to believe the Civil War was a moral rather than economic conflict. However, even more worrisome is the effect it has on the individuals receiving this information, and the messages internalized by those individuals. When we fail to be completely honest about our story and leave parts out we are sending a message, mainly that we are covering what is important therefore by default what is not covered must not be. This is why it is impossible to be neutral; we have already acted on our bias by choosing what to cover and what to leave out. When everything that is covered reflects the viewpoint and reality of Europeans it tells all non- Europeans they are not as worthy, their reality does not matter. When you grow up internalizing these messages it has tangible effects on your self-esteem, relationships, performance in school, etc. In the long run it has real effects on an individuals life and the quality of that life.
Another disturbing effect is the dumbing down of our citizenry, making us all more susceptible to manipulation and significantly easier to control. Perhaps the best example of this is in our economic curriculum. Economics is defined as the distribution of goods and resources. There are several economic systems yet with out exception our schools from high schools to universities fail to teach systems other than capitalism. If others are covered they are covered as failures and non-options. As a result we are left with a population that is largely economically illiterate and utterly incapable of critically thinking about economics. So when the wealthy that have benefited greatly from capitalism start screaming about communism or more recently socialism, they have a ready audience hanging to every word e.g. Tea Partiers. If we told the truth regarding systems of economics, and our commitment to ending poverty it is hard to imagine free market capitalism being accepted in any form given its history of utter failure in this country and around the world.
HEALTHY FEELING OF BETRAYAL
As I sat on the bus I longed to see the feeling of betrayal that was so unmistakable on my students face earlier that day. I wanted to see it on every last person riding that bus, on every face that blurred as the bus drove by. We have all been betrayed. We were told this country was founded on ideals of equality and freedom yet we live in a system that has minimalized or totally eliminated the realities of women, the poor, the LGBT community, and people of color. Leaving so many anything but equal or free. I came to one final realization on that bus-- I realized I don’t need to be able to answer my students’ original question; I need to be able to tell her people are stopping it.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
RESTORING WHAT? DEFINING RACISM
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”.
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 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
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
TEA ANYONE?
TEA ANYONE?
By: Ryan “BUGS” Williams-Virden
July 21st 2010
At this point it doesn’t matter what your opinions are regarding the Tea Party, the letter written by Tea Party chairman Mark Williams has exposed their collective racism (http://politicalcorrection.org/blog/201007150012). Let me be clear, I am not saying that every person that identifies as a tea party member is a racist; what I am saying is the ideologies, worldview, and eventual policies put forward by the Tea Party have racist consequences. While for many this is easy to understand and borderlines on the obvious; there are many for whom this is beyond hard to comprehend, it is absurd and is actually the product of reverse racism. It is this group I wish to speak with today.
Let me start by saying I see you, I know how you feel, I have family members who I love and respect that hold similar views and beliefs, I understand your frustration and your fears. With that being said I hope to be able to articulate my perspective in hopes that you will consider it fully and make any adjustments to your own that you deem necessary. Before I jump into it I want to address two of the most common rebuttals I am faced with, that I am just being emotional, and that I am biased. I assure you I am not simply reacting from a knee jerk, emotional place, but rather from a logical, fully evaluated position. Admittedly, I have faith in people and our capacity for compassion, love, and genuine desire to be good people. Many of my friends tell me this faith is misplaced-- which may or may not be true only time will tell. Dealing with the second charge, yes I am bias; we all are. It is impossible to be neutral. My bias is toward equality, which means when I evaluate positions and beliefs I am looking for how it helps or hurts efforts to create a more equitable world. Now that we have dealt with those lets move to the Tea Party.
RACE, EQUALITY, AND THE TEA PARTY
A common rebuttal to charges of racism is to cite examples of people you interact with that happen to be black or brown. Ask any person of color and they will tell you the number one response a racist gives is they “have a black friend”. Here is the dilemma, this person or organization more than likely truly believes they are not racist nor are they perpetuating racism. Many of them even believe racism is a terrible thing and deserves to be wiped-out. So understandably they are defensive to charges of racism. There is a truth at play here—people of color understand racism as more than your choice of adjectives, and relationships. People of color understand racism as existing in mentality, and thoughts. In short racism is more than if you don’t call black people niggers. In fact it is much more. Racism, while consisting of the very blatant dehumanizing attacks both verbal and physical also consists of the very covert non-obvious beliefs of whites. This is something people of color have known from the jump, but whites, by and large, have a very tough time coming to grips with. Naturally then they gravitate to organizations that reinforce their own understanding, and affirm their belief that they are not colluding with racism, on the contrary the real racists are the ones that made the original claim of racism. The problem is there is considerable evidence that racism is indeed more pervasive than individual beliefs and actions. Lets break some of this down.
Throughout the Jim Crow decades overt racism was still the norm; lynchings are common practice, racial epithets are accepted adjectives for people of color, and systematically barriers exist limiting opportunities and resources. Some of this changes during the Civil Rights Movement, public spaces are desegregated, voting and other rights are expanded to include people of color (although still not to women which is another essay). It is at this time many whites believe racism became a thing of the past, at least in its systematic form. If racism still exists it is on an individual level and is something they have little or no stake in. If we understand racism as being an individual character flaw then this stance could be accepted, however it is not. I am not going to go in to all the statistics but we see racism in areas of: education, housing, employment, criminal justice, and health. The achievement gap is disgraceful, foreclosures affected the black community disproportionately, the employment rate is double for blacks then it is for whites and wages are not equal, blacks and Latinos overpopulate our prisons, and people of color continually suffer from health issues at a much higher rate than whites. Put simply racism is power and privilege and it strictly belongs to whites. Many will say race has nothing to do with it, these discrepancies are due to personal choices, and while in some cases this might be the true there is no reason to believe whites are not making the same choices; so then why are they not seeing the same type of consequences? There is only one explanation that takes into account all the variables, race is at play and affecting the realities of both whites and blacks. There are very real consequences accompanied with accepting this conclusion, mainly that there is still major work to be done when it comes to ending racism, and that white people have a part to play. This is not something that is very comforting to a working class, struggling to make it white family. They are not trying to hear that they are benefiting from the color of their skin and that they should be working to end something they have been taught has nothing to do with them if they just don’t see color, and treat everybody the same. I know, my family was that family, and I could have very easily ended up a Tea Partier. A struggling family doesn’t want to hear about affirmative action, or social services that they have been told are going to families and people that don’t contribute and are just looking for handouts, significantly all of whom are black and brown. They believe they work hard for their money and others should do the same. They are right, they do work hard and others should too. What they are missing is that others are working hard and it is still not enough. What they are missing is there are people who are not working hard and are getting very wealthy doing so. They are missing something that has been purposefully kept from them, an accurate historical narrative. They are missing the truth about how our system works and always has worked. They don’t know about the legacy of slavery and how people of color (and ironically many of their own ancestors) were systematically kept from owning land and were therefore excluded from even the opportunity to accumulate wealth. They don’t know about Redlining. They have been told the playing field in equal and everybody has the same opportunity. They have been fed stereotypes and at some level are victim to them. They don’t see that they have more in common with the NAACP than the Tea Party.
This is what the Tea Party capitalizes on. They thrive off the fact many within their ranks know that they don’t have it as good as the should or could, and are pissed about it. So instead of an honest assessment of the situation, that would likely lead to solidarity with people of color the Tea Party promotes an atmosphere that labels people of color the enemy, whether it’s immigrants, or blacks they are to blame. They oppose policies that serve to level the playing field for people of color, and in actuality working class whites like affirmative action, a livable wage, fully funded public education, universal health care and other social services; or in one concise statement the Tea Party’s adherence to the free market and the dismantling of government. Here is where many of you might be tempted to turn away and write me off, others might have all sorts of rebuttals in mind. I ask for you to put those thoughts and feelings on hold briefly and hear me out.
FREE MARKET AND RACISM
This is perhaps the hardest argument for people to accept. That the free market is actually something we should be weary of, or worse that it promotes racism. All you have to do is turn on the TV to receive a constant dose of pro- free market testimonials. There is even no shortage of people of color who support the market; even Obama has sworn his allegiance. This however does not mean that the consequences of free market practices are not harmful or racist. What it does mean is that it is complicated and in order to understand it we must be diligent. First lets define what the free market is. The free market is essentially the unregulated relationship between producer and consumer. It means that what is produced, how much of it is produced, and what the prices are is determined by what the consumer wants, how much of it the consumer will buy, and how much the consumer will pay for it. At first glance there appears to be nothing wrong with this system, but lets dig deeper. Fundamentally consumers do not dictate what is produced. Yes, we can have an effect but that effect is minimal. Cash crops have always dictated what got produced and how much of it. This is the nature of capitalism-- produce what is going to make money. Increasingly marketing has accelerated the decline in power the consumer has over what is being produced. Today the reality is we buy what is produced, not vice versa. Another fundamental flaw lies with who has the ability to consume. Slaves had no purchasing power, poor whites had very little, so it follows what was being produced was what those relatively few white men with money desired. This is still the case today in so much as poor people, mostly people of color, are given to consume a product that puts money in the pockets of wealthy white men, an example is Wal-Mart or McDonalds. Often times poor people have no choice but to eat at McDonalds or shop at Wal-Mart due to their economic situations, it matters little that McDonalds is nearly void of nutrition and is extremely unhealthy or that Wal-Mart consistently exploits workers, you buy what you can afford. People of color and poor whites were also excluded from making the market work for them through entrepreneurship by means of discrimination or simply not having enough capital or credit to qualify for loans. Something others had accumulated through no means of their own. So we can see clearly the free market is not so free when you are dealing with those at the bottom of it. The reason it has sustained this long is because it serves the top extremely well. If you are lucky or more likely privileged enough to be in a position to do so the free market can make you very wealthy, very quickly. The problem is it always comes at the expense of others. This is why Milton Friedman the guru of free markets always needed a crisis to implement free market economies “Only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.” In Chile this crisis was a CIA backed coup of the democratically elected president Salvador Allende, in Britain it was a ridiculous conflict off the coast of South America, and here in the US it was 9-11, in Iraq it was the shock and awe campaign, it was Katrina, it was the panic created before the bailout. Without exception free market policies have needed a dramatic event that leaves people distracted in order to be implemented. I believe this is because people by and large want equality and they can see that the free market will not provide that. Those that support the free market here in the US do so because they believe it will allow for them to get wealthy while not harming others. It is because of racism and its dehumanizing tactics combined with greed that the reality of those that are indeed being harmed by the free market has become irrelevant.
HOW DID WE GET HERE AND WHAT CAN WE DO
When we view racism as being systematic and more than individual biases we begin to make sense of the situation. Race became a major factor in the United States because of the need for cheap labor, of course cheap means free when dealing with slavery. Many whites didn’t own slaves and were not benefiting from the despicable practice. Never the less those very same whites would be instrumental in shaping race in the country. What ever way this group went the country would go; this was not lost on those in power and they offered this group incentives coming in the form of rights and opportunities in return for their allegiance; it is textbook divide and conquer. This is by no means the birth of racial tension, but it is a major contributing factor and one that is still affecting our realities today; we see this legacy manifesting in the rhetoric of the Tea Party. In a very real way being white can be considered credentials for membership into a club. Like all clubs not everybody is treated equal or afforded the same perks, but they are members regardless. There is a sense of loyalty to the fellow members, and one would not openly side against the club, hence the term race traitor. If we were collectively historically literate we would see through this nonsense immediately. We would know that Irish, Greek, Italian, Slavic, Turk, Polish, (the list goes on) were once not considered white and therefore were not included in the club. It is only when for political survival it became necessary to expand the definition of white that we see immigrants from these communities being allowed access. Make no mistake those in power are not ignorant of these facts; that is why education remains a major battlefield. In order to maintain the status quo the education must stay diluted. The recent banning of ethnic studies by Arizona, and massacring of the curriculum in Texas are current examples of attempts to control the narrative. The Tea Party counts on a collective ignorance, an undying commitment to free markets by the media and those in power, and our basic need for self -preservation. They count on racism, and please understand that is exactly what it is when the realities of millions of people is not worthy of consideration, when the very people who were never allowed to own property or accumulate wealth get blamed for their poverty and circumstances-- that is racism. The good news is we can deconstruct this monster; we can reject the free market. We can start to change the framework of the conversation simply by asking one question “how will this effect the realities of others?” If we can make this simple change there is hope. Ironically once again the struggle will be largely shaped by the decision many low- income working class whites make (however, it is my belief the struggle will not be decided by this group). Will it be the Tea Party, and free market uninhibited selfishness, or will it be a more evolved brave decision to examine the reality of all peoples at long last and demand equality for all humans.
By: Ryan “BUGS” Williams-Virden
July 21st 2010
At this point it doesn’t matter what your opinions are regarding the Tea Party, the letter written by Tea Party chairman Mark Williams has exposed their collective racism (http://politicalcorrection.org/blog/201007150012). Let me be clear, I am not saying that every person that identifies as a tea party member is a racist; what I am saying is the ideologies, worldview, and eventual policies put forward by the Tea Party have racist consequences. While for many this is easy to understand and borderlines on the obvious; there are many for whom this is beyond hard to comprehend, it is absurd and is actually the product of reverse racism. It is this group I wish to speak with today.
Let me start by saying I see you, I know how you feel, I have family members who I love and respect that hold similar views and beliefs, I understand your frustration and your fears. With that being said I hope to be able to articulate my perspective in hopes that you will consider it fully and make any adjustments to your own that you deem necessary. Before I jump into it I want to address two of the most common rebuttals I am faced with, that I am just being emotional, and that I am biased. I assure you I am not simply reacting from a knee jerk, emotional place, but rather from a logical, fully evaluated position. Admittedly, I have faith in people and our capacity for compassion, love, and genuine desire to be good people. Many of my friends tell me this faith is misplaced-- which may or may not be true only time will tell. Dealing with the second charge, yes I am bias; we all are. It is impossible to be neutral. My bias is toward equality, which means when I evaluate positions and beliefs I am looking for how it helps or hurts efforts to create a more equitable world. Now that we have dealt with those lets move to the Tea Party.
RACE, EQUALITY, AND THE TEA PARTY
A common rebuttal to charges of racism is to cite examples of people you interact with that happen to be black or brown. Ask any person of color and they will tell you the number one response a racist gives is they “have a black friend”. Here is the dilemma, this person or organization more than likely truly believes they are not racist nor are they perpetuating racism. Many of them even believe racism is a terrible thing and deserves to be wiped-out. So understandably they are defensive to charges of racism. There is a truth at play here—people of color understand racism as more than your choice of adjectives, and relationships. People of color understand racism as existing in mentality, and thoughts. In short racism is more than if you don’t call black people niggers. In fact it is much more. Racism, while consisting of the very blatant dehumanizing attacks both verbal and physical also consists of the very covert non-obvious beliefs of whites. This is something people of color have known from the jump, but whites, by and large, have a very tough time coming to grips with. Naturally then they gravitate to organizations that reinforce their own understanding, and affirm their belief that they are not colluding with racism, on the contrary the real racists are the ones that made the original claim of racism. The problem is there is considerable evidence that racism is indeed more pervasive than individual beliefs and actions. Lets break some of this down.
Throughout the Jim Crow decades overt racism was still the norm; lynchings are common practice, racial epithets are accepted adjectives for people of color, and systematically barriers exist limiting opportunities and resources. Some of this changes during the Civil Rights Movement, public spaces are desegregated, voting and other rights are expanded to include people of color (although still not to women which is another essay). It is at this time many whites believe racism became a thing of the past, at least in its systematic form. If racism still exists it is on an individual level and is something they have little or no stake in. If we understand racism as being an individual character flaw then this stance could be accepted, however it is not. I am not going to go in to all the statistics but we see racism in areas of: education, housing, employment, criminal justice, and health. The achievement gap is disgraceful, foreclosures affected the black community disproportionately, the employment rate is double for blacks then it is for whites and wages are not equal, blacks and Latinos overpopulate our prisons, and people of color continually suffer from health issues at a much higher rate than whites. Put simply racism is power and privilege and it strictly belongs to whites. Many will say race has nothing to do with it, these discrepancies are due to personal choices, and while in some cases this might be the true there is no reason to believe whites are not making the same choices; so then why are they not seeing the same type of consequences? There is only one explanation that takes into account all the variables, race is at play and affecting the realities of both whites and blacks. There are very real consequences accompanied with accepting this conclusion, mainly that there is still major work to be done when it comes to ending racism, and that white people have a part to play. This is not something that is very comforting to a working class, struggling to make it white family. They are not trying to hear that they are benefiting from the color of their skin and that they should be working to end something they have been taught has nothing to do with them if they just don’t see color, and treat everybody the same. I know, my family was that family, and I could have very easily ended up a Tea Partier. A struggling family doesn’t want to hear about affirmative action, or social services that they have been told are going to families and people that don’t contribute and are just looking for handouts, significantly all of whom are black and brown. They believe they work hard for their money and others should do the same. They are right, they do work hard and others should too. What they are missing is that others are working hard and it is still not enough. What they are missing is there are people who are not working hard and are getting very wealthy doing so. They are missing something that has been purposefully kept from them, an accurate historical narrative. They are missing the truth about how our system works and always has worked. They don’t know about the legacy of slavery and how people of color (and ironically many of their own ancestors) were systematically kept from owning land and were therefore excluded from even the opportunity to accumulate wealth. They don’t know about Redlining. They have been told the playing field in equal and everybody has the same opportunity. They have been fed stereotypes and at some level are victim to them. They don’t see that they have more in common with the NAACP than the Tea Party.
This is what the Tea Party capitalizes on. They thrive off the fact many within their ranks know that they don’t have it as good as the should or could, and are pissed about it. So instead of an honest assessment of the situation, that would likely lead to solidarity with people of color the Tea Party promotes an atmosphere that labels people of color the enemy, whether it’s immigrants, or blacks they are to blame. They oppose policies that serve to level the playing field for people of color, and in actuality working class whites like affirmative action, a livable wage, fully funded public education, universal health care and other social services; or in one concise statement the Tea Party’s adherence to the free market and the dismantling of government. Here is where many of you might be tempted to turn away and write me off, others might have all sorts of rebuttals in mind. I ask for you to put those thoughts and feelings on hold briefly and hear me out.
FREE MARKET AND RACISM
This is perhaps the hardest argument for people to accept. That the free market is actually something we should be weary of, or worse that it promotes racism. All you have to do is turn on the TV to receive a constant dose of pro- free market testimonials. There is even no shortage of people of color who support the market; even Obama has sworn his allegiance. This however does not mean that the consequences of free market practices are not harmful or racist. What it does mean is that it is complicated and in order to understand it we must be diligent. First lets define what the free market is. The free market is essentially the unregulated relationship between producer and consumer. It means that what is produced, how much of it is produced, and what the prices are is determined by what the consumer wants, how much of it the consumer will buy, and how much the consumer will pay for it. At first glance there appears to be nothing wrong with this system, but lets dig deeper. Fundamentally consumers do not dictate what is produced. Yes, we can have an effect but that effect is minimal. Cash crops have always dictated what got produced and how much of it. This is the nature of capitalism-- produce what is going to make money. Increasingly marketing has accelerated the decline in power the consumer has over what is being produced. Today the reality is we buy what is produced, not vice versa. Another fundamental flaw lies with who has the ability to consume. Slaves had no purchasing power, poor whites had very little, so it follows what was being produced was what those relatively few white men with money desired. This is still the case today in so much as poor people, mostly people of color, are given to consume a product that puts money in the pockets of wealthy white men, an example is Wal-Mart or McDonalds. Often times poor people have no choice but to eat at McDonalds or shop at Wal-Mart due to their economic situations, it matters little that McDonalds is nearly void of nutrition and is extremely unhealthy or that Wal-Mart consistently exploits workers, you buy what you can afford. People of color and poor whites were also excluded from making the market work for them through entrepreneurship by means of discrimination or simply not having enough capital or credit to qualify for loans. Something others had accumulated through no means of their own. So we can see clearly the free market is not so free when you are dealing with those at the bottom of it. The reason it has sustained this long is because it serves the top extremely well. If you are lucky or more likely privileged enough to be in a position to do so the free market can make you very wealthy, very quickly. The problem is it always comes at the expense of others. This is why Milton Friedman the guru of free markets always needed a crisis to implement free market economies “Only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.” In Chile this crisis was a CIA backed coup of the democratically elected president Salvador Allende, in Britain it was a ridiculous conflict off the coast of South America, and here in the US it was 9-11, in Iraq it was the shock and awe campaign, it was Katrina, it was the panic created before the bailout. Without exception free market policies have needed a dramatic event that leaves people distracted in order to be implemented. I believe this is because people by and large want equality and they can see that the free market will not provide that. Those that support the free market here in the US do so because they believe it will allow for them to get wealthy while not harming others. It is because of racism and its dehumanizing tactics combined with greed that the reality of those that are indeed being harmed by the free market has become irrelevant.
HOW DID WE GET HERE AND WHAT CAN WE DO
When we view racism as being systematic and more than individual biases we begin to make sense of the situation. Race became a major factor in the United States because of the need for cheap labor, of course cheap means free when dealing with slavery. Many whites didn’t own slaves and were not benefiting from the despicable practice. Never the less those very same whites would be instrumental in shaping race in the country. What ever way this group went the country would go; this was not lost on those in power and they offered this group incentives coming in the form of rights and opportunities in return for their allegiance; it is textbook divide and conquer. This is by no means the birth of racial tension, but it is a major contributing factor and one that is still affecting our realities today; we see this legacy manifesting in the rhetoric of the Tea Party. In a very real way being white can be considered credentials for membership into a club. Like all clubs not everybody is treated equal or afforded the same perks, but they are members regardless. There is a sense of loyalty to the fellow members, and one would not openly side against the club, hence the term race traitor. If we were collectively historically literate we would see through this nonsense immediately. We would know that Irish, Greek, Italian, Slavic, Turk, Polish, (the list goes on) were once not considered white and therefore were not included in the club. It is only when for political survival it became necessary to expand the definition of white that we see immigrants from these communities being allowed access. Make no mistake those in power are not ignorant of these facts; that is why education remains a major battlefield. In order to maintain the status quo the education must stay diluted. The recent banning of ethnic studies by Arizona, and massacring of the curriculum in Texas are current examples of attempts to control the narrative. The Tea Party counts on a collective ignorance, an undying commitment to free markets by the media and those in power, and our basic need for self -preservation. They count on racism, and please understand that is exactly what it is when the realities of millions of people is not worthy of consideration, when the very people who were never allowed to own property or accumulate wealth get blamed for their poverty and circumstances-- that is racism. The good news is we can deconstruct this monster; we can reject the free market. We can start to change the framework of the conversation simply by asking one question “how will this effect the realities of others?” If we can make this simple change there is hope. Ironically once again the struggle will be largely shaped by the decision many low- income working class whites make (however, it is my belief the struggle will not be decided by this group). Will it be the Tea Party, and free market uninhibited selfishness, or will it be a more evolved brave decision to examine the reality of all peoples at long last and demand equality for all humans.
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