Parents Should Take Back Power From the NAACP
By Tracie Reddick
[Reprinted from Issues & Views Spring 1998]
Color me surprised upon
learning that the Pinellas County School Board (Fla.) had
rejected a plan it has painstakingly negotiated with the NAACP
Defense Fund to loosen the county’s desegregation order. In
a move that shocked NAACP members and elated many black and white
parents, the board instead voted to seek unitary status, or
release from court supervision.
The real cause for
celebration does not rest solely on the fact that forced busing
may soon be over. It is the fact that black parents will finally
have some say about where their children are schooled, rather
than have the NAACP act as their educational guardians.
Forget forced busing.
Let’s talk about how the order renders black parents
powerless. If the responsibility of feeding, clothing and
providing shelter for my son is my responsibility, then
shouldn’t I be able to determine which school he attends?
The NAACP should not be able to usurp my authority on this issue.
But it can.
In fact, the NAACP’s
opinion has outweighed the pleas of black parents for nearly
three decades. This civil rights organization should be charged
with educational neglect, given the current state of affairs of
black students. Consider this: School statistics show that more
than 50% of black children enrolled in Pinellas schools are
failing their subjects. Black children make up 18% of the
district’s total enrollment yet account for 36% of
out-of-school suspensions.
What has been the
NAACP’s response to these dismal statistics? The formation
of countless task forces rather than facing the root of the
problem: busing. How can you expect children to perform at their
best when they have to get up at the crack of dawn to attend a
school on the other side of town or, in some cases, in a totally
different city?
How can you act bewildered
when a child who is dropped off on a strange campus does not feel
connected to a school miles away from his home? Why wouldn’t
parents in south St. Petersburg feel disconnected from the school
their kids are bused to and a tinge of anger when they drive past
a school marquee in their neighborhood touting the campus’s
latest success?
Instead of supporting the
board’s decision to end busing, the NAACP is fighting it.
Why? This is not a question of "If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it." After 27 years, it’s time to try
something new. A return to neighborhood schools does not
necessarily mean a return to segregation. And if some campuses
end up becoming predominantly black, that doesn’t mean black
students will not be able to excel. Educational studies have
shown that black kids, even using second-hand textbooks,
performed better in school during segregation than they do today.
Still, NAACP officials
contend it is important that children receive an education in a
culturally diverse environment, since that is where they’re
going to live, play and work for the rest of their lives. That
argument goes to show how much the NAACP is out of touch with
reality. Visit any campus on any given day, and there’s not
a whole lot of race mixing going on. The majority of the kids
hang out with others who look like them. It’s the same in
the workplace. And if the neighborhoods they lived in were truly
integrated, then busing would be a moot issue.
School choice does not
deprive parents of their ability to send children to schools with
kids of other races. Those parents can still opt to have their
kids bused. It does, however, satisfy parents who want their
elementary-aged children to attend a neighborhood school rather
than have them hauled across the county. More importantly, it
takes the power away from the NAACP and puts it back in the hands
of black parents, who should have the right to determine where
their children are educated.
Without the court-imposed
30% racial cap for black students per campus, perhaps my son--who
has made the honor roll, received honorable mention in the
science fair and scored high marks on standardized tests--will
not have to be bused to Pinellas Park. He passes three
neighborhood schools--two within walking distance--during his
35-minute bus ride. Better still, my son no longer will represent
a different statistic: No. 1 and No. 9 on the waiting lists of
two separate magnet programs for the 1998-1999 school year.
--Tracie Reddick is a
columnist for the Tampa Tribune. © 1998 Tampa Tribune
Copyright 1998 © Tampa Tribune
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