I Believe the Children are Our Future...

There was a time when democracy meant to serve the best interests of the general community, but these times have since passed. The song “The Greatest Love of All,” initially recorded by George Benson and further popularized by Whitney Houston, began with the lyrics; “I believe the children are our future, teach them well, and let them lead the way,” however, modern times have seen this statement not apply to all children. There has been a gap in education since the inception of this “great” nation and while the Supreme Court decisions Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, have made tremendous steps to remedy this problem, all things education, unfortunately, are not created equal. Furthermore, the government of Louisiana, at both the state and municipal levels does not seem interested in increasing the state’s rank of 49/50 in education. If we truly desire to teach children well and let them lead the way, then it is up to us, the citizens of Louisiana, to do so.The governor of the State of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has not been looking out for the best interests of the children in our state.

Although Jindal tends to state that he is for the children and higher education standards in the state, his actions prove otherwise. Initially, Jindal started a voucher program that allowed students in low-income areas to attend private schools that offered a more competitive curriculum and boasted of higher educational standards than many of the state’s public schools. However, educational reform throughout the state seemed to be something that was far on the back end of his policy regarding education. How exactly is no child to be left behind when the head of the State considers sending a select number of students to better schools when the general education standard throughout the state is in dire need of repair? Jindal’s actions seem to cover up the actual problem and focus on a quick fix that would not help the general public, only a select few. And when solutions only account for a percentage of the whole, how can it be ensured that the selection process is one of honesty and integrity, or only one designed to further the educational divide benefitting only people who think as the governor does or are firm supporters of his policies? It seems like Jindal cannot be depended upon to help our children.

The end of my tenure at Benjamin Franklin Senior Magnet High School here in New Orleans, saw the nationally recognized magnet school title be done away with in favor of a new city-wide access system. This system, while designed to affect not only Franklin but the four other magnet high schools in the city, increased the average student’s chances of receiving a better public school education, yet did little to prepare students for the rigors of a magnet school curriculum. This, in my opinion, did little to address the real issue. It wasn’t that students weren’t presented with the opportunity to receive a magnet school education or that the test was unfairly biased, but that these students weren’t adequately prepared for such a curriculum. While I thought the best solution was to improve the middle and junior high schools that fed the public high school population of New Orleans, I knew that results would not come instantaneously. I’ll also admit that the city-wide access solution was the easiest solution in the name of being “fair,” it did little for the actual issue. Yes, bottom-up approaches require much more time and effort than a quick fix, but aren’t our children worth it?

There was the time when the Louisiana Legislation and Jindal established the Tucker Commission to remediate the Louisiana higher education system, which only served to further the education divide. According to the Tucker Commission, having universities in the same city that offer the same degrees is a waste of money. The Commission planned to downgrade many universities within the state to junior colleges, community colleges or trade schools that give out two-year Associate Degrees as opposed to four-year Bachelor Degrees. The Tucker Commission told us that they were merely trying to help out Louisiana college students by lowering the costs for enrollment at these schools and the colleges by improving their attrition rates. However, there is always the fine print, and the fine print is where these politicians get you. The State of Louisiana reportedly has 30,000 graduates combined yearly from its institutes of higher education while only having the employment field to accommodate only 13,000. In addition there are another 11,000 jobs that go unapplied for. Most of these college graduates leave Louisiana because they consider themselves too good for those 11,000 jobs I have mentioned. So instead of trying to promote opportunities that would increase the job market, the state of Louisiana would rather that its higher learning centers produce the people who can hold these positions. If education reform were left to these people, gone would be the times where we tell children they can be anything they want to be, but they can only be what is available to be.

In closing, the efforts of the educational reformists who have started the charter school movement here in New Orleans must be commended. These people have taken it upon themselves to improve the conditions inside the classroom and give our children what so many have failed to do; a chance to improve their situation and dictate their future endeavors. Leaving our children’s future up to the government and democracy would be disastrous to say the least. How can we expect today’s children to become tomorrow’s leaders if the children themselves do not know which way is up. Again, the actions of these reformists should be commended and we should do all we can to help them, our children and their future, as well as ours, depends on it.

#IfIWereGunnedDown

Jordan Davis was disrespectful of authoritative figures.

(killed at a gas station over an altercation involving loud music, unarmed)

Trayvon Martin was suspended from school, fought, and smoked weed.

(killed coming home from a 7-11, unarmed)

Remisha McBride was a drunk.

(killed asking for assistance from a vehicular accident, unarmed)

Mike Brown fought the police.

(killed while “resisting arrest,” unarmed)

Andy Lopez smoked weed.

(killed while walking up the street with a toy gun, unarmed)

Noel Palanco drove erratically.

(killed while “reaching for something under the seat,” unarmed)

Ramarley Graham flushed weed down the toilet.

(killed after police kicked in the door of his residence after avoiding a NYC stop and frisk, shot in back, unarmed)

Kimani Gray was a gangbanger.

(killed after being observed adjusting his waistband and avoiding a NYC stop and frisk, unarmed)

Earlier today was ablaze with its usual social commentary through the hashtag #IfIWereGunnedDown allowing people to express their thoughts about the Mike Brown killing. Police in Ferguson, MO killed Mike Brown, a recent high school graduate, on August 9, 2014. Preliminary reports said that Mike Brown was accosted after being accused of stealing $1 cigar like the kind commonly used to roll up marijuana with, but I haven’t seen one of those in hours. The most recent story is that Brown was killed after pushing an officer back into the patrol car and reaching for his weapon. As absurd as this sounds, its what Ferguson police are saying happened. The standard of when it is appropriate to use deadly force is a high one for the general public and while it may be even higher for law enforcement officers in certain jurisdictions, one fact remains the same; these officers in question know how to justify when that force is used. And the media does a good job of helping the accused out by justifying the circumstances with facts not readily available or assassinating the character of the victim.

The Trayvon Martin case hurt me, it hurt me deep to my soul, to the point where not only was I faced with the reminder that the young black man is a perceived threat, but how to explain that to my son.  And in the event that you are unluckily perceived as this threat, you may be vilified to make it appear that this world might be better off without you. While I am speaking from the perspective of the black male, this is an issue for all minorities. Previously listed is what they've said about others who were gunned down while unarmed, what would they say about you?

GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT...and sometimes not even then

A few weeks ago, I was in the middle of a debate where a northerner expressed disdain for the South because of the inherent racism that exists here and most blacks who live in the south are basically forcing themselves to be second-class citizens because of the racially charged climate here. Southern blacks should also force themselves to stop blaming their faults on white privilege and racism because neither are seen in the North. My only remark to her; that just because you fail to see racism and/or the existence of white privilege, do they fail to exist. Gone are the days of cross burnings, public hangings and lynchings, and people telling you that you didn't get the job because of the color of your skin. Now we're "overqualified" and have to deal with people like Donald Sterling who only express their disdain for minorities behind closed doors. Personally, I like upfront racists because they are easier to account for and anticipate, however what are we to do when the racists don't know they're racist, have badges and/or guns, and in their own fear believe that our mistrust of them is unjustified? Add to that argument the killings of Amadou Diallo, Johnathan Ferrell, and Darius Simmons, three of many who were unable to have their characters vilified to justify them being gunned down all while unarmed. Most young minority males have had life experiences where they have seen first-hand actions of overzealous officers result in the harassment, injury, incarceration, or death of someone who looks like them and as a result, don't trust police. So when they avoid police because of no-wrong doing, they deserve to be hunted down and shot? They deserve for their bodies to lay out in the street for all to see while police focus more on crowd control than completing their investigatory duties? And those who demand answers deserve to be coralled, tear gassed, and held back by police dogs?

What's worse is that you brainwashed fools are still spouting off that baloney they let MLK speak about when he said we would be judged on the content of our character and that we are progressing towards a society that sees no color. Well guess what, they killed him and when he was gunned down they called him a womanizer. #IfIWereGunnedDown I would only hope I took some of those sons of bitches with me as to earn the title of villan society would attempt to paint me as, mostly because of the color of my skin.