tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post116025514431141030..comments2024-01-08T05:15:14.232-08:00Comments on Buckhorn Road: Why Jamal can't succeedW.R. Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05908482384887766964noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post-1161300356214847072006-10-19T16:25:00.000-07:002006-10-19T16:25:00.000-07:00One more thing I forgot to add. Let's say I hadn'...One more thing I forgot to add. Let's say I hadn't offered a solution to this problem we have been discussing. Just the fact that it is being mentioned at all is a good first step. In the words of blogger extraordinaire, LaShawn Barber, <BR/><BR/>"Talking and writing about these things, pushing them into the public debate, and encouraging people to discuss the issues, think critically, and solve their own problems is a worthy public service, in the opinion of this blogger."<BR/><BR/>Thanks for reading my blog.W.R. Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05908482384887766964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post-1161291339198031822006-10-19T13:55:00.000-07:002006-10-19T13:55:00.000-07:00First, defending my position is not "getting defen...First, defending my position is not "getting defensive". <BR/><BR/>I think you are reading what you want to read rather than what I am saying<BR/>You are talking to me about having higher standards, and I keep telling you that I am simply holding my students to the same standard. Did you want me to have higher standards for some students and not for others? <BR/><BR/>You make it sound like if one sticks to his job description, then he is being lazy and "French". I keep telling you (and it appears I must tell you again) that a teacher is not, and should not be, a social worker, a police officer, and all the other jobs that they are expected to do, yet they are not qualified to do. I am under the impression that you think that if I do not take on these other roles, then I do not have high standards for myself or my students.<BR/><BR/>What I think we have here is a difference of opinion of what constitutes a solution to the problem that you maintain I don't provide. What you can't seem to wrap your mind around is that the solution is to do less, not more. Stop the special programs, the special considerations, the lower standards, and simply expect the same from black students that you would expect from any other student.<BR/><BR/>I know of someone who agrees with this position. The 19th century abolitionist (and former slave) Frederick Douglass had this to say about this subject:<BR/><BR/>"[I]n regard to the colored people, there is always more that is benevolent, I perceive, than just, manifested towards us. What I ask for the negro is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice. The American people have always been anxious to know what they shall do with us? . I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are worm-eaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! ? And if the negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! ? [Y]our interference is doing him positive injury."<BR/><BR/>Again, you keep asking me what should be done to solve the problem, and my answer (and Mr. Douglass’s answer) is, and will continue to be: nothing.W.R. Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05908482384887766964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post-1161203007586924912006-10-18T13:23:00.000-07:002006-10-18T13:23:00.000-07:00Chanman: You got defensive quickly. What's the ma...Chanman: You got defensive quickly. What's the matter? If you're willing to accept the staus quo and let other people solve your problems then you loose your right to complain about it. Two maxims come to mind: 1)Either you're part of the solution or you're part of the problem. What if everyone just wanted to "do their job," nothing more, nothing less? Then our country would be just like France or Italy. The whole point this particular post is that black people are willing to accept status quo and are not willing to accept higher academic standards. You can't point the finger in just one direction. If you want change you have to be willing to accept higher standards as well. If you don't want higher standards, then fine, but don't preach that it's "other peoples" responsibility. Honestly, I don't have a dog in this fight. But now that you are regularly featured in the Sac Bee you are going to have to step up your game. Your posts are long on distributing blame and short on solutions. You seem like a smart enough person; so don't be lazy. Oh yeah, the other maxim: Everyone complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post-1161151637655245772006-10-17T23:07:00.000-07:002006-10-17T23:07:00.000-07:00I don't make excuses in my third paragraph. How h...I don't make excuses in my third paragraph. How hard is it for you to understand that sometimes the best thing is to do nothing but your job? The job of a teacher is, like I said in that third paragraph, to give students the academic tools they need to go forth and change the world themselves; nothing more. I am not a social worker; I am not a police officer; I am not a "change agent"; I am not their friend; I am their teacher.W.R. Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05908482384887766964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post-1161115219101843832006-10-17T13:00:00.000-07:002006-10-17T13:00:00.000-07:00I like your repsonse until the third paragraph whe...I like your repsonse until the third paragraph when you started making excuses. If you are going to fight the good fight you have to go all the way. No cutting and running. If the kids can't get an education at school, where can they get it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post-1160634618426515322006-10-11T23:30:00.000-07:002006-10-11T23:30:00.000-07:00Anonymous,Simple really; I do my job and I don't h...Anonymous,<BR/>Simple really; I do my job and I don't hold my students to different standards. I don't indulge my black students by giving them feel-good platitudes about their supposed oppression. In my lessons, I point out that we are one of the least racist countries in the world, and I give them statistics and examples from other nations and time periods to back up what I say. I give both sides of the story, rather than just what the students want to hear.<BR/><BR/>I hold my black students to the very same standards of behavior to which I hold all my other students. Believe me, doing this has caused me to receive quite a bit of grief from quite a few of my black students who look at my high standards as being oppressive and yes, racist. But I refuse to insult them by holding their academic and behavioral ability to a lower standard like so many other teachers do. They deserve better than that. <BR/><BR/>I appreciate your wanting to know what I am doing to solve the problems of the world, but please bear in mind that I am but one person, and contrary to popular belief, it is not the job of teachers to be social "change agents". Our job is to give students the academic tools they need to go forth and change the world themselves. I save my social activism for activities outside my classroom and off my campus. <BR/><BR/>Thank you for reading my blog and thank you for commenting.W.R. Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05908482384887766964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post-1160625745879464942006-10-11T21:02:00.000-07:002006-10-11T21:02:00.000-07:00Your treatise on racial inequities in education is...Your treatise on racial inequities in education is interesting; but you forgot an important conclusion. What is your solution? What are you doing as a teacher to buck this trend?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14648942.post-1160347541017373572006-10-08T15:45:00.000-07:002006-10-08T15:45:00.000-07:00Are you kidding? I would love to hear your 4 cent...Are you kidding? I would love to hear your 4 cents on the issue!W.R. Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05908482384887766964noreply@blogger.com