Just venting.
Tense political discussion today in my class, and now it feels like there are marbles loose rolling around in my head. Here's what happened:
Kristen: I heard on NPR that by defacto segregation, people are starting to live in communities where those around them have viewpoints like their own. So, conservatives are living around conservatives and liberals around liberals--and the schools that serve those areas represent that.
Me: I just want to add that it is not always defacto. There are pockets of impovershed people who don't necessarily choose the area they are in. This is why I think that busing efforts are a good idea.
Next, a couple of conservatives blew holes in my argument because studies show that those who have been bused still achieve at the approximate level of their neighborhood peers, and also segregation exists within the schools they are bused to.
Then of course there was the argument that it is the parents responsibility to get their kids out of poverty.
Ok, these conservatives made good pts, except the last girl who doesn't realize some important things, like that parents in poverty teach those kids the rules of their neighborhood, not the rules of the middle class--where all the money is.
The reasons that this class bothered me a lot, is---I don't want to live in a segregated society! I just don't. And I think that a lot of people, their emotions around the issue are based on racism. And I feel like what they are saying is just give up because studies show that this or that doesn't work.
But I have no good solutions. God, these things are too big for me. Also, I know that I am limited by my own perspective. I mean, I'm a white, middle class, liberal. All I know is what I want. I don't know what people in the communities feel like would be good for their own communities.
Still, it's like all of us in this program, put a lot of work in, just to tear down our own ideas.
Kristen: I heard on NPR that by defacto segregation, people are starting to live in communities where those around them have viewpoints like their own. So, conservatives are living around conservatives and liberals around liberals--and the schools that serve those areas represent that.
Me: I just want to add that it is not always defacto. There are pockets of impovershed people who don't necessarily choose the area they are in. This is why I think that busing efforts are a good idea.
Next, a couple of conservatives blew holes in my argument because studies show that those who have been bused still achieve at the approximate level of their neighborhood peers, and also segregation exists within the schools they are bused to.
Then of course there was the argument that it is the parents responsibility to get their kids out of poverty.
Ok, these conservatives made good pts, except the last girl who doesn't realize some important things, like that parents in poverty teach those kids the rules of their neighborhood, not the rules of the middle class--where all the money is.
The reasons that this class bothered me a lot, is---I don't want to live in a segregated society! I just don't. And I think that a lot of people, their emotions around the issue are based on racism. And I feel like what they are saying is just give up because studies show that this or that doesn't work.
But I have no good solutions. God, these things are too big for me. Also, I know that I am limited by my own perspective. I mean, I'm a white, middle class, liberal. All I know is what I want. I don't know what people in the communities feel like would be good for their own communities.
Still, it's like all of us in this program, put a lot of work in, just to tear down our own ideas.