tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8612112930808457424.post2700769962697189614..comments2023-10-22T10:16:14.350-05:00Comments on Member of the Squint Squad: I want to be wrongmrswadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10804319491907497982noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8612112930808457424.post-76998894697716170992008-06-02T22:58:00.000-05:002008-06-02T22:58:00.000-05:00O I don't think you're wrong.I think it's predator...O I don't think you're wrong.<BR/><BR/>I think it's predatory, Machiavellian marketing. I think it's smug. I think it's nasty. I think it's wrong. And I think if education in this country didn't think "those" kids <I>can't</I> learn, then "those" teachers would be helping the kids to smell a lie when they see it on TV.<BR/><BR/>One day my kids in NYC were whining that the cops didn't come fast enough when something bad was happening in their neighborhoods. "In the <I>white</I> neighborhoods you <I>know</I> the cops would be there right away!"<BR/><BR/>I asked if they knew why.<BR/><BR/>They cited all the trite answers (racism, hatred etc). I asked them how many of them (some were 18) or their parents voted.<BR/><BR/>They looked at me blankly.<BR/><BR/>I told them <I>everyone</I> I knew in my neighborhood voted...and if the cops didn't come fast enough there would be letters written, protests staged, and new folks voted in.<BR/><BR/>There was <I>nothing</I> that happened in my neighborhood that couldn't happen in their own.<BR/><BR/>The power that one moment gave those kids was immeasurable. It wasn't a done-deal. They weren't screwed for life, just 'cuz'.<BR/><BR/>But if that conversation hadn't come up in class that day...I shudder...Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07519727524364299794noreply@blogger.com