The Impact of the Past on the Present

 

I just listened to Dr. John McWhorter’s 2019 remarks at Bard College on YouTube and if I could respond to him, this is what I would say.

 

Before Dr. Ibram Kendi said that all unequal outcomes are due to unequal opportunity due to racism and his particular brand of anti-racism became the rage, we were actually having relevant discussions about unequal outcomes that were due to racism. I call the new diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting that he ushered in “Shock DEI”. It's not his “all” or your none. And while you don’t use the word “none”, your language sets up the dichotomy. Since you used an urban public school to illustrate your point, I thought I would respond as you brush aside some key issues and don’t bring to light others.

 

First, you brush aside history to make your point. And while I agree with most of your solutions; you can’t brush aside history. The unequal outcomes due to racism’s unequal opportunity don’t appear overnight. The racism of white flight and redlining made a huge impact on the economic conditions of communities and while it occurred 50 plus years ago the impression was lasting. When economist Thomas Sowell discusses the damaging effects of desegregation, he focuses on the contradictions of the government trying to force racial balance in schools. He doesn’t discuss the impact of racist decisions such as firing close to 40,000 black teachers that robbed communities of what Chris Stewart calls “cultural capital”. This is the racism that is foundational to building the administrative frame of the schools many Black people now run. It is disingenuous to talk to undergraduates about the War on Drugs and gloss over the racist structural history that has a present-day impact.

 

Now to the education schools. Well, I will take this hit because I have been managing student teaching at a small liberal arts school for close to 20 years now. When you talked about Black people running districts, you neglected to talk about who is in the classroom doing the teaching. In my close to 20 years training teachers, I have only trained two Black teachers. State certification policy has a racist history that impacts us today. But let’s not talk about the race of the teachers. Instead, I want to discuss the present-day racism in the practice of teacher placement. Those urban schools with the large minority populations of people who are poor don’t employ the strongest teachers and, in many districts, the pay scale doesn’t reward more able teachers or teachers who are placed in more challenging schools. Alternative preparation programs are promising, but we need resident teachers who are afforded two years of paid apprenticeship before becoming a teacher of record. Teacher quality must be addressed before outcomes can improve.

 

Yes, explicitly teaching children to decode, not sending people to jail for non-violent offenses, and providing free access to long-term birth control are all solutions that I can get behind. Two income households are always better than one income, but don’t make it sound like all Black men are in jail. There are plenty raising their kids and we need to raise them up and recognize them instead of reinforcing a stereotype. I would like to add job opportunities, gentrification without displacement, and entrepreneurial support as solutions also. We need to thin out urban poverty which is predominately minority. Having raised my children in a rural area surrounded by rural poverty that is low density gave them the opportunity to attend economically diverse schools naturally. Dense poverty creates high density poor schools and we have learned that artificial solutions to force types of integration create friction.

 

One last thing Dr. McWhorter. I can’t get behind walking away quietly when someone openly expresses racism. That is how I was brought up and it’s too much like Jim Crow etiquette. I also don’t advocate acting hurt. Call them out. No, not cancel them; but shed light upon them with your head held high. I will end here because I don’t want to veer from this talk. Hopefully, we can ultimately make headway in getting people the help they need.