This is an article I published in 2014, but recent events make it pertinent today. I’ll follow this in successive weeks with several related issues.
On August 30, 2012, PJ Media published my article titled “Up Next For Team Obama? Racial Quotas For School Discipline.” I wrote (in part):
This was not Mr. Holder’s only invocation of his dedication to ‘my people.’ On February 25, 2012, while giving a speech hosted by 100 Black Men of Atlanta Inc., Holder mentioned his determination to mandate racial quotas for school discipline:
‘We’ve often seen that students of color, students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and students with special needs are disproportionately likely to be suspended or expelled,’ Holder said in Atlanta, Ga.
‘This is, quite simply, unacceptable. … These unnecessary and destructive policies must be changed’ …
Holder attributed his claim of racial disparity in school discipline to a 2011 study that he said showed ‘83 percent of African American male students and 74 percent of Hispanic male students ended up in trouble and suspended for some period of time.’
On July 26, 2012, Neil Munro of the Daily Caller reported that Obama signed a related executive order:
[The order created] a ‘President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.’ It will include senior officials from several federal agencies — including the Departments of Education, Justice and Labor…
This commission was established to promote:
‘ … a positive school climate that does not rely on methods that result in disparate use of disciplinary tools.’
‘African Americans lack equal access to highly effective teachers and principals, safe schools, and challenging college-preparatory classes, and they disproportionately experience school discipline,’ said the order, titled ‘White House Initiative On Educational Excellence.’
The composition of the commission clearly indicates Mr. Obama’s intentions: he plans to use the full force of the Department of Education to implement a racially based system that will prevent discipline for primarily black students — and other non-white students as electoral expediency requires – and such a system will be enforced through criminal and administrative sanctions by the Departments of Justice and Labor. If progressive tactics in other facets of law such as voting and the environment are any predictor, it is highly likely any rules and mandates will not only allow but also invite lawsuits against local schools. It is equally likely that an Obama administration goal is the abolishment of the in loco parentis (in the place of the parents) doctrine in disciplinary matters.
And so it has been. This movement to restrict school discipline based on purely racial quotas derived from race-based statistics, is spreading across the nation, as I noted in an August 19, 2013 article here at SMM, titled “On Race and Statistics-Based School Discipline.”
That article referred readers to a contemporaneous article at PowerLine linking to my work.
And now comes the invaluable Heather Mac Donald who has done groundbreaking work debunking the very race-based statistics upon which the Obama Administration and their supporters base this horribly destructive and racist initiative. At National Review Online, she writes:
The U.S. Education Department released yet another study Friday documenting the fact that black students are suspended and expelled at higher rates than white students. The Obama administration and civil-rights advocates routinely trot out this disparity to justify a strong federal hammer against allegedly racist school districts.
This latest Civil Rights Data Collection Snapshot includes preschool suspension rates for the first time, and they, too, are racially skewed: Black preschoolers are 42 percent of the students suspended once, and 48 percent of the students suspended more than once though they are only 18 percent of preschool enrollment. Pre-K suspensions are exceedingly rare, however: Fewer than 5,000 students out of over 1 million preschoolers were suspended once in the 2011 school year, 2,500 students more than once.
The usual suspects are cryng “racism,” and cannot imagine why black children, particularly pre-school children, would ever be disciplined or suspended from school. There is no mystery in this to rational teachers, nor to Ms. Mac Donald:
Actually, what Ms. Smith-Evans should be trying to fathom is the black crime rate, which explains the school-suspension rate. Black males between the ages of 14 and 17 commit homicide at ten times the rate of white and Hispanic males of the same age combined. Given such high crime rates, what do the civil-rights advocates and the Obama administration think is going on in the classroom — docile obedience and strict self-discipline? In fact, the same weak impulse control that leads to such high crime rates among young black males inevitably means more disruptive behavior in school.
Is Mac Donald actually suggesting that the behavior of children’s parents and the nature of their upbringing and homes—their culture–might have something to do with their behavior, and that these factors might be more meaningful than skin color?
If the civil-rights industry refuses to acknowledge the behavior that leads to disparate discipline rates, it is even more resistant to confronting the root of both the black school discipline and crime problems. In many urban areas, the black illegitimacy rate is well over 80 percent. Boys growing up without fathers are overwhelmingly more likely to lack self-discipline and the ability to control their anger than boys growing up with married parents. And those behavioral problems show up early. School administrators have been reporting rising violence among ever younger students for years. ‘We see aggressive behavior from kindergarten up,’ Lawrence Jointer, the director of hearings for the Alexandria, Va., school district told the Washington Post in 2012. ‘Student behavior has been worsening over the last four decades,’ he said.
McDonald, simple-minded racist that she is, actually suggests that contemporary schools are not only biased against boys, but suggests that because blacks commit crimes at many times the rate of whites, they are more likely to be disruptive in school too. Imagine that: she’s actually suggesting that students who are violent thugs outside of school don’t turn into veritable angels the moment they enter a school building.
“The refusal to take student behavior and family breakdown into account in interpreting student discipline rates means that more millions of taxpayer dollars will be wasted suing hapless school districts for phantom racism and sending teachers and administrators back to anti-racism training. The advocacy and anti-bias training complex cleans up, while the root cause of student misbehavior still goes unaddressed.
An example of statistic-driven analysis of the criminal justice system is available here. Additional writings–very revealing writings–on this topic by McDonald are available here and here, and an interesting analysis by the excellent Discover The Networks is available here.
This, gentle readers, is just one more facet of hope and change promised by Mr. Obama and delivered by his racialist and racist minions in the Departments of Justice, Labor, Education and elsewhere. If a Republican wins the White House, they’ll need eight years merely to neutralize the most destructive detritus left behind by Barack Obama. If a Democrat wins…the destruction may become so complete there is nothing to save.
Black pre-schoolers more disruptive than their white counterparts? Must be racism, right?
Totally:
Wow!! Just wow!!!
Reblogged this on Gds44's Blog.
Dear gds44:
Thanks for the reblog!
In 2011, a school district police chief in Florida implemented a policy that directed his officers to rely on available school disciplinary measures rather than report criminal activity to the regular police department. He and government officials and school administrators were alarmed at the high rate of crime among young black male students. In one instance, a 16yr old black student who had vandalized school property was questioned and in his possession, school police officers found several pieces of jewelry and an altered screwdriver they characterized as a burglary tool. The student claimed the jewelry belonged to a friend, whom he declined to identify. In keeping with the police chief’s wishes, the student was served with a 10-day suspension, and the jewelry was tagged as “found items” and entered into the local police department’s evidence room. In reality, the jewelry had been stolen in a residential burglary only a few blocks from the school the student attended, but it would not be identified from that burglary for almost a year. Meanwhile, that student was suspended once again the following January for having in his possession traced of marijuana on school property. Vandalism and drug possession are both addresses in the criminal statutes of Florida, but this student, because he was black and because the school district police exercised their discretion in order to reduce criminal arrest statistics, let the kid slide. Less than two weeks later, emboldened, no doubt, by the lack of accountability for his actions, the young man, while serving his third suspension in the short school year, attacked a man who dared follow him from a distance, and during his unrelenting assault, he was shot and killed. His name was Trayvon Martin.
Dear Juggler523ellybean523:
Welcome to SMM and thanks for the reminder. I did cover this issue extensively when I was covering the Trayvon Martin case on a more or less daily basis before the trial. Unfortunately, schools are always tempted to downplay, even cover up, the incidence of serious crimes occurring on campus. Fortunately, relatively few go to the extremes of the Miami-Dade district.
Thanks again!
“Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!”
And for those old enough to remember: ten million voters ageed with George Wallace’s rallying cry.
Today, the biggest threat to America isn’t Vladimir Putin, it’s moral cowardice and the historical ignorance that feeds it. A civilization is the texts that are taught in it’s schools, learned by it’s students and remembered in times of tribulation. Sorry about your bad luck.
I suspect that, statistically, a significant percentage of people arrested and prosecuted for arson are pyromaniacs. And a high percentage of people prosecuted for molesting children are pedophiles. Obviously, we need to repeal laws against arson and child molestation, since they discriminate against these people with “special needs.”
Here’s something I can’t understand: we, as a society, accept that men commit more crimes and are incarcerated at a ratio of approximately 10:1 versus women. Men commit more crimes – simple as that. I would imagine that this holds true with school discipline, as well. However, the libs are now going to squeal about disparate impact for blacks? Can’t have it both ways – either we have affirmative action to get more women suspended in schools or sent to prison, or we (they) let go of the race issue, too.
Dear Fabi:
You’re quite correct. Most school disciplinary infractions are indeed committed by boys.
I don’t know how common it is, but when I was in high school we had a pair of siblings whose absent father was from the Caribbean.
The eldest was scholarly and utterly by-the-book, and she identified as “other,” “mixed” or similar things when it was required on forms.
The younger was a violent thug with very poor impulse control, and even worse judgement. He identified himself as “black” and complained frequently of racism.
By appearance, they were kind of like Halle Berry– could have been Hispanic, Mediterranean, Latin, or even some sort of dark Irish mix, especially in the summer. (Until her “one drop rule” insanity, I hadn’t even thought of Ms. Berry as “black,” but I don’t tend to try to pick apart what folks’ ancestry is unless stories are getting traded; ever since that bit of custody drama, she comes to mind when racial crazy stuff comes up.)
Dear Foxfier:
Welcome to SMM, and thanks for your comment!
Thank you; I finally found a replacement for google reader (it’s theoldreader) and imported all my old stuff, and the place you use to blog popped up so I subscribed.
Just haven’t had anything to say since then. :D
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