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Political Correctness is out of control

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knapplc;1953031; said:
I have no idea what this book is about, and like most people I find some of the quotes pulled out of it troubling. Nebraska is a traditionally White state. As of the 2010 census we were 86% White, compared to 72% White for the nation.

The town I grew up in was pretty much entirely White. My high school had a Black kid. We had a few dozen Vietnamese, and a number of Hispanics, but back then I didn't realize (being a kid) that Hispanics were a "them." I figured they were "us." The Black kid was obviously different, as were the Vietnamese kids, but for the most part everyone pretty much got along. I grew up with few, if any, prejudices.

That's not the case in Omaha, which is far more diverse, and apparently is struggling with that diversity:



Schools are slaves to those achievement test scores, as evidenced recently by the news that Atlanta was rocked by cheating , with something like 80% of their school districts having reported cheating in the last year. This is part of the residue of No Child Left Behind, another well-meaning bit of legislation that backfired. Stop me if you've heard something like that before.

I feel for these administrations. I think they're trying to do well by all of their students, but they're educators, not EEO workers.

If I had to guess, I'd bet this book was recommended, some basic (and inadequate) vetting was done, and either the parts about admitting White culpability were ignored, overlooked, or were deemed OK out of an abundance of caution. Whatever the reason, it was a poor decision, and will not make the school environment better for non-Whites.

This quote, again from that OWH article, illustrates what they're trying to do:



I love that last line. Like I said, I grew up in whitebread Nebraska, and it was OK, but I absolutely LOVED the diversity and richness of culture I experienced in San Francisco when we moved out there for the dot-com boom. Living amongst the same "kind" of people you are is fine, but that difference, that diversity, is stimulating as well ? at least to me. I very much agree with the idea that diversity helps expand the mind. There is a lot of resistance to that around here, but my hope is it gets less the more people understand that "they" are a lot like "us," people who want to live their lives, raise their children safely, have food, safety and a job, and overall not bother anyone else.
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I've always enjoyed living in diverse cities too, I don't think I'd ever want to live in a place of only my own kind. It's my opinion though that these pamphlets are a bad idea because they lead to pandering which comes across as not only condescending but also insulting. If you spend enough time around those that are different than you you're going to learn about their culture how to coexist with them without pissing them of or offending them. If you respect them as individuals and not lump them all into one general category you're going to be much better off. Don't they always say "Don't generalize!"? What do you think these pamphlets do? It's just like that incident in Eugene OR where they were trying to teach people how to talk and act around blacks. So insulting.
 
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DubCoffman62;1953049; said:
I've always enjoyed living in diverse cities too, I don't think I'd ever want to live in a place of only my own kind. It's my opinion though that these pamphlets are a bad idea because they lead to pandering which comes across as not only condescending but also insulting. If you spend enough time around those that are different than you you're going to learn about their culture how to coexist with them without pissing them of or offending them. If you respect them as individuals and not lump them all into one general category you're going to be much better off. Don't they always say "Don't generalize!"? What do you think these pamphlets do? It's just like that incident in Eugene OR where they were trying to teach people how to talk and act around blacks. So insulting.
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It's important to note that I do NOT support those books.
 
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Wingate1217;1952994; said:
Now we know that common sense and fiscal responsibility is dead even in Nebbie...I used to live in Omaha and I guess I could say I saw this coming although I thought it might have taken longer....... Great use of $ as it could have paid for a teacher or two...:(

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110710/NEWS01/707109937

The Omaha Public Schools used more than $130,000 in federal stimulus dollars to buy each teacher, administrator and staff member a manual on how to become more culturally sensitive.
The book by Virginia education consultants could raise some eyebrows with its viewpoints.
The authors assert thatAmerican government and institutions create advantages that ?channel wealth and power to white people,? that color-blindness will not end racism and that educators should ?take action for social justice.?
The book says that teachers should acknowledge historical systemic oppression in schools, including racism, sexism, homophobia and ?ableism,? defined by the authors as discrimination or prejudice against people with disabilities.
The authors argue that public school teachers must raise their cultural awareness to better serve minority students and improve academic achievement.
The Omaha school board approved buying 8,000 copies of the book ? one for every employee, including members of the custodial staff ? in April. The decision to buy the book was made 11-0, with board member Mary Ellen Drickey passing on the vote.
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So we'll be culturally sensitive in the classroom while continually falling further behind in science and math scores...

I love it when priorities are COMPLETELY on target :roll2:
 
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