Rantings of a Black Polemicist

I’m crazy for Condoleezza

Saturday, April 10th, 2004 | Politics | 24 Comments

If you didn’t already know Condoleezza had class, her testimony on April 9th made it obvious.

National Security Advisor Dr. Rice maintained her composure during her 3 hour non-partisan testimony before the 9/11 Commision yesterday morning, defending the administration’s actions before and after the terrorist attacks on our soil, and charges leveled by Richard Clarke and others that something could have been done to prevent them.

Condi standing up to the partisan bullies, beating them at their own game.

Sadly, this panel is being used as a political tool by Democrats to cast blame on the Bush administration in an attempt to influence the outcome of the election. It’s supposed to be an investigation, not a blame game. In the case of commission member Bob Carrey, this was more obvious than ever before.

Looking down from atop his perch on the Commission, Bob Kerrey tells Condi how smart she is - you know, for a black woman and all.

Looking to create a great sound-bite for CNN and boost his chances for grabbing the vice-presidential nomination, Kerrey set forth on his mission to impugn Dr. Rice by trying to pin the blame on this administration for the events of 9/11. Even with his opening statement, he took a shot at her with what I saw as a backhanded racist and sexist statement:

“Let me say at the beginning I’m very impressed, and indeed I’d go as far as to say moved by your story, the story of your life and what you’ve accomplished. It’s quite extraordinary.”

In other words: “You’re pretty smart for a black woman. I wasn’t aware that you were even capable of such achievement.”

If it were a white guy there before the commission who:

Closing the wealth gap

Thursday, April 8th, 2004 | Culture | Comments Off

From Vision Circle:

An essential tool to bridge the “racial” gap of wealth, and help Black families “jump classes” within the span of one to two generations, is a sound plan to eliminate debt, curtail discretionary spending by delaying instant gratification, and saving. One of the best methods for Black folk to do this, in my opinion, can be found here. Read more…

Lowering the bar to allow more minority students into gifted programs

Wednesday, April 7th, 2004 | Policy | 30 Comments

Should academic standards be changed or lowered to ease racial disparities in elementary school gifted programs?

Around the country we’re starting to see more of this. In the 70’s, gifted programs were created to give talented students extra challenges. In some areas, they were used as a tool of white parents attempting to circumvent court-appointed de-segregation. With white students regularly testing higher than blacks and Hispanics, the traditional intelligence tests used to identify gifted students were blamed, and pressure was applied by the Clinton administration to adjust the standards.

In South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee, students that failed to make the cut after taking the traditional tests were given a second chance using an alternative test designed specifically for minorities and low income white students. Evidently, these kids were strong in other areas but lacked the language skills needed because of their home environment or prior schooling.

As a result of the alternative tests, minorities are now flooding into these gifted programs. According to a study by the co-developer of that alternative test, gifted 3rd through 7th graders identified by the test were weak in language and organization skills. However, after a year into the program, these students improved their verbal skills and even surpassed the traditional students with their math scores.

It looks like affirmative action has arrived at elementary school. Not enough black kids in the program? Change the test, and see if more make the cut. The problem here isn’t that the tests are unfair to black students. It’s that these black kids start out lacking the verbal skills that they need to succeed in the first place. Tweaking the standards appears to be getting some kids in the door and exposed to a better education, but the real issue here goes beyond the scope of the classroom.

What are these kids being exposed to at home? What are their parents’ language skills like? What about their peers? The standards need to be raised from within our community if we want to find long-term solutions for these problems. Finding creative ways to push kids to the front of the line doesn’t fix the problem that started them at the back in the first place.