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Old December 25th, 2005 #1
VLC
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Join Date: May 2005
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Default segregated afrocentric schools

"I maintain, professionally and culturally, that all black schools that are culturally based are far superior to integrated schools."
- Taki Raton,
principal, Blyden Delany Academy


In seeking best education, some [blacks are allowed to] choose segregation

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/mar04/214540.asp

Quote:

(...)

With her hair in neat braids and her red sweater and plaid skirt neatly pressed, Alexis joins her younger classmate, Carletta Mayes, 8, in leading the combined classes of third- and fourth-graders.

"I love myself. I love my beautiful image," the two girls say with the 11 other students. As the oath continues, they build to a crescendo, then end with: "I am the perfect design of success. I am just simply, magnificently fabulous."

Blyden Delany - with its daily affirmations, lessons in Swahili and emphasis on black history - is one of more than 200 Afrocentric schools that have opened since 1996. The idea behind them is that black children will have the confidence and power to succeed in the world if their schoolwork builds self-esteem, focuses on African-American heritage and is taught by people like them.

There are 13 Afrocentric schools in the Midwest, including two private and one public school in Milwaukee. Blyden Delany and the New Khamit Institute - which may lose its charter - are private; Martin Luther King Elementary School is part of Milwaukee Public Schools.

It is particularly striking, as the country marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision to end legal segregation in the nation's public schools, that a network of schools for black children would exist that dashes the very notion of integration as a goal.

But even educators and activists who still long for truly integrated schools seem to acknowledge three factors:

# If parents want something like what Blyden Delany offers, it should be their choice.

# There is such a desperate need for good education that the question of how that education is delivered becomes secondary.

(...)

"Parents should continue to have the right to choose what's best for their children," says state Rep. Annette "Polly" Williams (D-Milwaukee). "And it doesn't have to be to integrate. The choices ought to be to educate. If a parent wants a totally black education, there should be no stigma on that."
Rediscovering Africa

(...)

At Blyden, 2466 W. McKinley Ave., Raton believes the discipline, self-esteem and performance of his students are higher than what is found in many public schools. Students abide by a code of silence while walking through the hallways, where "a lockdown posture," crossed arms to avoid touching one another or African masks that adorn the hallways, is a standard.

"I have a saying that culture, history and knowledge of self inspires greatness," Raton says.

Inside a second-grade class at Blyden, Shaliah Pate, a thin wisp of a child at 7 with deep dimples in her cheeks, says her favorite subject is art. But "I want to be a doctor," she says.

Shaliah, Dejon Weaver, 8, and others in Ebony Rogers' second-grade classroom begin each day by counting to 10 in Swahili and to 20 in Spanish, and then by twos, fives and 10s in English.

(...)

Blyden's building is old and needs repairs. The school's second-floor auditorium, where art classes take place, needs roof work. Resources are always a concern. But despite the handicaps, Raton believes his students can compete. He's particularly proud of the second-, third- and fourth-grade classes, where the majority of students read at or above grade level.

"I maintain, professionally and culturally, that all-black schools that are culturally based are far superior to integrated schools," Raton says. "And the notion of integrating schools being better is a myth."

(...)
 
Old December 26th, 2005 #2
Itz_molecular
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Join Date: Dec 2005
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Default So Nice

Isn't this just the nicest thing. Blacks are discovering that segregated schools are so much better for them. Yet when whitey tried to put this point across in Arkansas in 1955, he was met with troops and bayonets. Geez, do I smell a double standard here.
 
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