Does anyone have the Rosa Parks' fight in them? On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was asked to give her seat to a white person, yet refused. Did you know she was sitting in the "colored section" of the bus? She wasn't even sitting at the front of the bus. She was in the back! She just happened to be sitting when a white person had no seat. Her family was harassed and threatened on a daily basis. She and her husband lost their jobs. They made the ultimate sacrifice. Now, we feel if we hold up a sign of protest for equal education, we've crossed the line. Our children are being bused to Mitchell Elementary on Wednesdays for SAIL, while Buist kids get SAIL right in their school every day of the week. Our children are being bused to James Island to schools that don't even meet AYP requirements, yet we graciously accept the tranfers. Our children are riding on the back of the bus when it comes to education, yet what are we doing to change that? It's 2008, yet do we have the fight in us anymore?
Marvin Stewart of the District 20 school board says it's not a race issue. I applaud his unwillingness to use the race card; eventhough, I have a tendency to disagree with that idea. He says we're fighting for quality education for every child on the peninsula. The only problem is, most of the white people are seeking alternatives in gaining their quality education. When are we going to say "enough is enough?" And do we really know what it means to fight for what's right?
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Well put, though I would have added just one more image about this struggle. When it comes to the insults that have been thrown at District 20 Board members and the inequities that have been piled on District 20 parents, it is just like what Rosa Parks faced. We have event been told to give up our seat in the "back of the bus" just because someone else wanted it.
I can't think of a better way to describe what has gone on at Buist for years. CCSD and the Buist principal have taken seats reserved for downtown students and given them to others...and then lied about it.
Marvin Stewart's right. It's not about race now, but the inequities many parents are facing today began when racial inequities were officially tolerated, if not encouraged, by those in charge of our public schools. That is why we should fight for justice for others. If we don't, we may soon find that we have become "the other". That is also why the rest of Charleston County should be concerned with District 20's fight for justice for our downtown public schools.
Why is Sen. Robert Ford carrying water for CCSD by submitting a bill that would make District 20 constituent boards appointed by the CCSD school board instead of elected positions?
Good question Babbie
Well, in his defense he did introduce it when his sweetie Dr. Goodloe was still superintendent. What I want to know is what happened to his deconsolidation idea?
I don't think the Justice Department will look kindly on any plan to take votes away from the local communities and place them in the hands of a county-wide at-large group like the school board. Did Robert Ford forget that the Voter Rights Act applies here. Federal laws and regulations like that were designed to prevent just this kind of concentration of political power in the hands of a few while leaving minority voters with less direct power than before. Wouldn't it be ironic if Sen. Ford's proposal was found to be in violation of basic Civil Rights protections. I guess he's gone over to the other side now and forgotten his roots in the struggle for equality.
Ford finally has some legitimate competition during this election cycle so he thought he should get off his bum and do something, anything to look like he is working! But, of course we all know he isn't. Folks should look at the Charleston County web site, www3.charlestoncounty.org to see the 60 plus times he has been sued and several of those are paternity disputes. Yeh, that's what I want representing me and telling me what I should be doing on a moral front. If he is the moral compass, I would rather stay lost.
But who are our choices? No offense, but I'm not too thrilled with Dwayne Green. What has his wife done for District 20 schools as she sits on the school board? Besides repeatedly ignoring her constituents and reminding the community that she "represents the County (not District 20)."
Is Dwayne that different from his wife?
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