So, I was reading this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/06/22/seattle.schools.diversity.ap/index.html

It's about how some Seattle school district wants to use race as a deciding factor when two kids applying for the same school are otherwise exactly the same.

There is also talk in there about reorganizing school districts so you have a more diverse group of kids. Fine, whatever, but this quote really rubbed me the wrong way: Now, I don't know about you, but if 60% of the kids in the school district are so-called minorities, and 40% are white, doesn't that mean that the whites are now the minority?

And regardless of that, does it make sense to bus kids across town to some other school, in a possibly poorer neighborhood, just to get some false sense of racial diversity? I mean, at the end of the day, they would just go back to their neighborhood anyway.

I know I would be pissed if this happened to us. My girlfriend (who, along with her kids, live with me) and I chose this neighborhood specifically because of the school district and the schools we would be assigned to. We paid double the cost for our house than we would have had we picked a poorer neighborhood. Of course, we aren't at the TOP (we couldn't afford this) but we are somewhat above the "middle-of-the-road." It simply doesn't make sense to bus the kids 45 minutes away and drop them in school in a neighborhood which is made up of a majority of kids in other situations (grown up poor, domestic violence, gangs, etc.) - this may help those other kids but how will it help THESE kids?

And no, they are not white, and yes, they are in a minority. But dropping them into a gang neighborhood school just isn't right. It's not the predominate race of the other school that bothers me, it's the fact that the kids there have been raised in broken, violent homes and they have been surrounded by drugs, crime, and gangs.

I may regret posting this but I really hope you guys don't take it the wrong way. If you want to fix schools in run-down neighborhoods, the best way, in my opinion, is to fix the damn neighborhood first.

I agree 100%. What a stupid idea this is.

Maybe it's just me, but in paranoia, people seem to be hell-bent on making sure they don't look "racially selective," by which I mean mostly autority figures (employers, school district admins, and so on). But I was under the impression that racial equality meant you wouldn't be judged on race, either way.

People just don't have a damn clue what they're doing anymore. Instead of actually fixing problems, they're just trying to make it look like problems are being fixed. And in that, we see how much these people truly care.

This is something that is being done I a Louisiana Parish (County) right now. Will it work? Maybe. If the neighboorhoods were right, because I believe how you learn to deal and handle with people in your young day is largley built in your schoool...you spend 50% of the day there.

My question: The Pacific NorthWest, and westcoast as a whole are paticulary known for being accepting to minorities and being a lot more diverse..in a good way. This may just be an attempt of "trying" to hard to spread diversity. I think it would be better to sponsor interschool activities that may go on during the year, then force kids to go to other schools.

[QUOTE}racial equality meant you wouldn't be judged on race, either way.[/QUOTE]

You are right..but because this country is soo sad, its sad that there is a double standard. This way of forcing it is not bad in intention, it is to PROMOTE equality, so I dont see why people always try to play the "double standard" card. If were used to spite all the white kids, ya its bad. But come one, when people have these ideas its not to screw anyone.

oh man. mark this day in massassi history. i agree with brian 100%.

i was working in the greater toronto area and one day having lunch in the lunch room with a bunch of other employees. one of the women complained about 'blah, blah, blah i'm a minority.' of the 10 people or so that were in the lunch room all but myself and another dave were from eastern europe. we were the minority. not them.

I didn't say it was. But puting various ethnic groups together isn't really going to do anything. If the goal here was to get better distribution between better and worse school systems, there is still unequality until, as Brian pointed out:

You know what the problem is. Everyone wants to be the minority these day. Being a minority is not a good thing. Crying minority is not good either, but Evad is a perfect example of those who good to long length to point out that they are the minority only to mock someone who was simply stating a fact or expressing a concern over an issue.

I think exposing your children to hanging out with kids of other races is much better at a young age, then say when they get to middle school. I think it may be too late by then.



Are they trying to fix the schools, or promote diversity? If it is promote diversity which may or may not have to do with how the school is run, fixing the neighborhood will do nothing.

When I was in the AF, we had cultural diversity "training." It was the most ridiculous thing. When we got to the class, we sat with the people who were in our shop or squadron, as did others. We sat there because we knew the people, not because of some racially-motivated activism. Since we sat with people we knew, the tables of people tended to be mixed-race - asians, black, white, etc. When the instructor got there, she split us all up into tables based on our races (seriously, I'm not making this up). Then she said, "look around, see how you have all chosen to sit with people of your own race? Today, we are going to try to change that instinct that you all tend to have." I'm seriously NOT making this up.

You know, the best thing for anyone to do about racism is to just ignore race altogether. Don't even acknowledge that they're Chinese/Mexican/Yugoslavian/whatever, because if we're all equal it doesn't matter.

I beg to differ. If the neighborhood is full of gangs which tend to all be the same race (and we all know that is how many, if not all, gangs operate), cleaning up the neighborhood will result in people of mixed cultures having less of a problem moving there. Of course the results won't be instant.

Damn, I hate conversations like this, it's like walking on eggshells. If you type one thing wrong or phrase something a bit wrong, you are branded a racist Not that it has happened here, but I've seen it a thousand times, which is why I generally don't talk about things like this. *sigh*

Very touchy subject it is. But that is a good thing, because at least we are aware that obviously things are not quiet yet fixed. And you aren't a racist

I blame the politically correct.

I can't believe this. That is just absurd. Something must be up in your Northwest area

There was another story about a college in I think Oregon or Washington about a white kid was trying to get into a small math class, for people having trouble in math and such, but the school wouldn't let him because the last spots were saved for minorities. The actual school officials said that minorities needed to be in that special class because they learn better in these "special" classes for troubled students (although none of the minority students had some sort of handicap that prevented them from learning in a regular class.). So not only was the school employing affirmative action, but they pretty much came out and said that minorities to stupid to learn in a regular class, and that they need special teachers and special classes. I was absoulty disgusted. I still can't believe in this dane (sp) age that people still think that minorities are stupider than white people.

It makes me weep for humanity.

Edit: It was the Universtiy of Oregon, and the first 10 slots of the 18 slot class was set-aside for minorities for a "safe-haven for learning for minorities"

Here is a definition of a "minority" (the definition used in my Sociology class at least):



So the ratio of groups doesn't matter. White people in American society are considered the "dominant" group, so even though blacks, hispanics, etc. might have greater numbers in America, they are still minorities.

I think the correct phrase is "in this day and age" but I could be wrong

Man I hated sociology class. And this definition is flawed because you can't think of the ENTIRE america. I grew up in New Mexico where I was one of about 5 white people in the whole school. Regardless of how "dominant" white people are in america, it didn't help us even a little bit.

Hahahha, sorry, still on medication from Wisdom Teeth. I'll always have to remember that, because whenever people say the phrase, they kind of slur "day and" together.

But surley this is teaching the children that it's "correct" to move classes because the ratio of minority:white childeren in their current one is somehow Okay?



I agree with this, but sending someone to another school because of their race has to have a negative effect. It's teaching children that people of different races are somehow different from one another.

Diversity is a good thing but if you force it, you're sending the wrong message.

Well, he is almost always right. To my recollection he has only ever been wrong when he disagrees with me.

And the way to fix the neighborhood is to give those kids a decent education.

Yes, 'affirmitive action' is a very dangerous tool and one that is very difficult to use properly, but poverty creates poverty and the only way to improve those neighborohoods is to help them improve themselves, and to do that they need education. You need to break the loop, you need to give them a headstart so they have a level playing field, because they're going to be struggling uphill all the way.

It won't work as a permanent measure, no, but it'll be a short-term boost for the racial minorities to help them improve themselves in the long-term.

Hahaha.

Well if you narrow it down to that one school then you are a minority in that school... but not in America. Maybe thats what they are trying to do to schools, make it so that "American" minorities are not "school" minorities.

And Im not on either side of this debate, I'm just dealing with the whole minority definition and how it is misunderstood. And btw I hated Math class...

I agree with Brian's assessment 100%. I think that school placement should have nothing to do with race - this is a stupid plan, promoting racial diversity at others' expenses. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for diversity, however, but there is such a thing as going too far. Talk about political corectness overkill.

The intentions might be in the right place, but I don't think this is going to go over very well.

I'm a northwesterner, and my school has, well, simply put the most startlingly equal portions of races I've ever seen. It's almost scary, like one of those after school special "happy classroom" schools, where there's an absulte equal amount of black kids, white kids, Mexican kids, Asian kids, eastern European kids, republican kids (emphasized because, to be honest, I'd never seen one before)...

-The only real majority, aside from maybe white people (I mean, let's face it, it's not like white people are gonna just dissapear, not yet), are Russian kids. Oodles of 'em. And, aside from the "gangsta" Mexican kids (who all hang out in front of the staircase and speak collectively 8 words in Spanish) they are the most instantly recognizable of all the ethnic groups. They all hang out, are all blond, and all wear either gray, pastels, or leather jackets.

I love how by spreading diversity, they try to make all the ethnic groups as indistinguishable from one another as possible. IMO, it's so ridiculous how touchy we have become about the subject of race. For some reason it has become the ultimate taboo to even acknowledge that some of us have different colored skin then others. If we are not supposed to be racist, then race shouldn't even be a factor. I say, take race off all government forms. Why should they selectively take certain races over others? That is clearly racism, no matter what the outcome. Of course it isn't necessary to state the disgusting double standard that exists in today's society between racism against minorities, and racism against whites.

brian, that's messed up about the AF thing.
it kinda reminds me of our resume writing course after we got laid off. by the end of it she pretty much just said 'write what you want.' it was such a waste of tax payer dollars.

For the longest time I've disagreed with this, but slowly i've come to realize this maybe the only way. I just wish they did it income based rather than race based.

Actually, it has happened here.

i think this is a very silly thing for them to do. very.

anyways, something that sort of threw me off:



em, wtf? Russians are, em, white too, you know.

I meant "here" as in "this thread."

as i see it, the problem in the States is that people are so afraid to be branded "rascist" they actually become ones. i mean, it's pure idiotism.

Oh.

I agree with Mort Hog.

A strange idea. What a mess.

I find that people congregate with their own race. It's a uniting factor. Whites with whites, blacks with blacks, asians with asians, etc. Forcing a mix isn't good. If people want to mix, let 'em, no problem with it.

Agreed. Why is there a separation between "eastern european" and "white"?

Because people are stupid.

Well, I wouldn't try to "force" them so much at such a late age. Focus more on that when they are young. When a 5 year old sees another 5 year old of the opposite race, any negative feelings aren't as heavy as they would be between 18 year olds.