Seattle Come On "Diversity is Important"
Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/06/2006 | A major issue ahead: Race in schools
The above link references a case before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in a nutshell will be deciding if quotas improperly penalize white students. One of the cases involves a Seattle mother who's child was not chosen for the Seattle School District's free for all lottery for spots in any of the districts High Schools. The District used race to determine tie breakers. Considering the whole racial makeup of the state of Washington, a 4% population of blacks when I lived there 9 yeas ago. This is an issue brought before the court of a rather nasty and narrow minded parent.
To put this in context when I first made the decision to move to the northwest 9 years ago, it must have been in response to some strange electromagnetic pull calling to many but evidently the call was not for me because when I arrived there I was so shocked to see that when visiting the downtown district I was the only black spot on the street, and when visiting the state capital of Washington I knew I must have been the only black spot in the whole city. This was so shocking to me that while visiting the capital, My one year old child at the time and I immediately made a bee line for the library so we could look at the last census to figure out just how "white: Washington was. The state of Washington has less than a 4% percentage of blacks. I think it was slightly higher for Seattle but not too many points higher. I have to admit the people were "cordial". However they were not "really" too familiar with blacks and what to think of them as far as I was concerned. I felt like some Fox that the neighbors realize is out in the woods and can't get rid of him so they walk around uncomfortably aware that there is a black person around.
From this I examine the context of the Seattle case before the Supreme Court, Personally I think that this is not even an affirmative action case, I think it is a diversity case. This student evidently met the criteria for being admitted in one of the local Seattle Schools so there was no action being taken to equalize a human being or their status because of past wrongs which would be affirmative action. The case to me amounts to an attempt by the Seattle School district to diversify a student body that needed to be diversified. As an adult who basically attended segregated education for the majority of my life. It is a pleasure to say in my early years k-4 I attended schools with Asians and Whites and know somewhat of their character because they were my class mates for four years. It is a pleasure to know that my exposures to whites just did not amount to the one after my fourth grade year who started crying because one of my black classmates told him "if you get all A's, you better not walk home because I'm going to beat your ###." It's a pleasure to know that had that been said to my pre-k to fourth Asian classmate who several years ago I saw on a PBS special as a doctor, who also made straight A's would have responded with no I'm going to beat your ### turn around and let me do it. It's a pleasure for me to know that stereotypes are wrong and to know that no two blacks, Asians, or whites or the same from my childhood experiences. I would hate to have lived in any Racial Ivory Tower and not know that people are different, I would hate to live in an ivory tower and think that all whites are prejudice, all blacks are loud, all Asians are quiet, etc. For me to have lived in such a racial tower would truly make me an extremely one dimensional individual which I have no desire to be.
The above link references a case before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in a nutshell will be deciding if quotas improperly penalize white students. One of the cases involves a Seattle mother who's child was not chosen for the Seattle School District's free for all lottery for spots in any of the districts High Schools. The District used race to determine tie breakers. Considering the whole racial makeup of the state of Washington, a 4% population of blacks when I lived there 9 yeas ago. This is an issue brought before the court of a rather nasty and narrow minded parent.
To put this in context when I first made the decision to move to the northwest 9 years ago, it must have been in response to some strange electromagnetic pull calling to many but evidently the call was not for me because when I arrived there I was so shocked to see that when visiting the downtown district I was the only black spot on the street, and when visiting the state capital of Washington I knew I must have been the only black spot in the whole city. This was so shocking to me that while visiting the capital, My one year old child at the time and I immediately made a bee line for the library so we could look at the last census to figure out just how "white: Washington was. The state of Washington has less than a 4% percentage of blacks. I think it was slightly higher for Seattle but not too many points higher. I have to admit the people were "cordial". However they were not "really" too familiar with blacks and what to think of them as far as I was concerned. I felt like some Fox that the neighbors realize is out in the woods and can't get rid of him so they walk around uncomfortably aware that there is a black person around.
From this I examine the context of the Seattle case before the Supreme Court, Personally I think that this is not even an affirmative action case, I think it is a diversity case. This student evidently met the criteria for being admitted in one of the local Seattle Schools so there was no action being taken to equalize a human being or their status because of past wrongs which would be affirmative action. The case to me amounts to an attempt by the Seattle School district to diversify a student body that needed to be diversified. As an adult who basically attended segregated education for the majority of my life. It is a pleasure to say in my early years k-4 I attended schools with Asians and Whites and know somewhat of their character because they were my class mates for four years. It is a pleasure to know that my exposures to whites just did not amount to the one after my fourth grade year who started crying because one of my black classmates told him "if you get all A's, you better not walk home because I'm going to beat your ###." It's a pleasure to know that had that been said to my pre-k to fourth Asian classmate who several years ago I saw on a PBS special as a doctor, who also made straight A's would have responded with no I'm going to beat your ### turn around and let me do it. It's a pleasure for me to know that stereotypes are wrong and to know that no two blacks, Asians, or whites or the same from my childhood experiences. I would hate to have lived in any Racial Ivory Tower and not know that people are different, I would hate to live in an ivory tower and think that all whites are prejudice, all blacks are loud, all Asians are quiet, etc. For me to have lived in such a racial tower would truly make me an extremely one dimensional individual which I have no desire to be.
posted by blackhippychick @ 7:04 AM
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