In.The.Black

A recent Wall Street Journal article, The End of the White Flight (Conor Dougherty), cites that Black people have been moving out of cities and urban areas in droves. According to the article, the combination of Black people moving out of the city (into the suburbs) and White people staying in the cities has created a shift in the racial balance that previously existed.

The consequences of this shift are far-reaching and have brought race relations again to the forefront. As more White families move into previously minority areas, their children are being confronted with some of the same racial issues that plagued the US in the 1960’s. According to the article, some White families even had the audacity to try to incorporate another school within the existing school. Separate schools sound familiar? Separate but unequal? Brown vs. (Topeka) Board of Education? Any of this ringing a bell? Sorry, but I’ve gotta use vernacular for this one. How you gonna try and set up a school inside of another one, so your “special perfect” lil white chil’ren ain’t gotta go to school wit mine? I find those parents that suggested this school reform to be the lowest of the low. I find them to be reprehensible, barbaric, and ignorant at best. I find them to be bigots and people who do not appreciate America’s diverse heritage. Now, this is not a hate speech. I have nothing against White people who are tolerant and respectful of other races. I do have something against anyone-Black or White- who is intolerant of people who are different from them. The bigot parents obviously got denied their request to segregate the schools.

Now, having said that, there are some inner-city/urban schools, and school in certains with certain students that I wouldn’t want my children mingling with. In Central Florida where I live, there are several Orlando/Orange County schools that have consistently scored and “F” for standardized testing, have had more crime and vandalism that a small town within the last year, and have more metal detectors and crime prevention measures than Fort Knox. Black folks, we got to do better. I can’t blame some of these parents that don’t want their kids to end up shot or knifed to death in the cafeteria. If you are reading this, chances are you’re not in one of those dysfunctional households that rear damaged and criminal children. However, everybody knows somebody who has the worst, nastiest, most foul, rude, disrespectful, ignorant child in the neighborhood. Just imagine if you took that despondent child, multiplied him or her 3000 times, and sent all of them to school. Lawd, Have Mercy! While I understand that some schools are like this, those White folks have do what everybody else had to do: scrimp, save, pinch, and scrounge until you can afford to move you and your children to a different area. Why you think we “migrating” out of the cities? We want a better life for our kids! Don’t come up to me talking about re-segregating the schools. You will receive nothing but scorn from me.

Let me know your feelings about these parents’ request to segregate the schools, and how you feel about those underperforming schools in your area. Part II of this discussion to follow…

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