School Disciplining Goes Color-Coded
Ted Frank blogs at Point of Law about race-based changes in how schools are to discipline kids who act out:
Seventy percent of African-American children are born to single mothers. Moreover, children growing up in the African-American community face the peer pressure of gangsta culture: success in school results in ostracism for "acting white."With such dysfunction in the African-American community one would expect African-American children to have more disciplinary problems than average. And indeed they do: "black students were three and a half times as likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers".
These problems are certainly difficult: how do you change the culture? Unfortunately, the Obama administration is proposing counterproductive policies that would reduce personal responsibility.
According to the Obama administration, the disparity in discipline is a "civil rights" issue of "equity." The Department of Education is threatening "disparate impact" inquiries on school districts that discipline blacks more than whites or Asians. School districts could only comply by failing to discipline poorly-behaving African-American students; disciplining well-behaving whites to get the numbers up will just result in lawsuits.
I've seen both sides of this issue. I saw 20/20's What Would You Do? It featured a scenario where someone was cutting a chain of a locked bike. People assumed that the white male was a park employee, the attractive female was a damsel in distress who needed help - even when she admitted her intentions, and the African American male was a thief - even other African Americans!
On the other hand, I've been accused of racism in my disclipline. One of my students screamed at me that I only get the African Americans in trouble, White kids never get in trouble. Well, there was only one white kid in the class. I asked the young man what would I discipline him for? He happened to be a very meek, well behaved young man. What has he done wrong? Has he ever even come in without a pencil? The African American student couldn't help it, he started laughing. He knew that even if I tried, I couldn't find fault with this young man. That time I was lucky - most students are far from perfect.
The biggest problem is not the original behavior, but the reaction to redirection or correction. Some students get back on track. Others get hostile or belligerent and often shout racism. Which behavior escalates disclipline?
I ask students who question my ability to be fair to document it. Then we can both examine the results. They can even take it to the principal if they find a pattern of unfairness. So far, no one has taken me up on that offer.
Jen at May 6, 2012 6:03 AM
I'd love to say there is no racial bias in the United States. I can't believe it though.
I don't think the bias is really deliberate anymore. That doesn't make it acceptable. If it is pointed out to the person, they amend themselves.
The problem isn't helped by the race hustlers. They don't look at the case on merits, and then determine the person was biased. They declare the injured/dead person a saint and the white person a demon and go from there. They also absolve black on black or Hispanic on Hispanic crime and blame it on culture, or circumstance, or whatever.
Cosby has addressed this -- and gets shut down.
So what will happen is that some school district will be jacked up by this. But from your post yesterday's post the schools can't figure out a real discipline solution anyway.
Jim P. at May 6, 2012 7:00 AM
I read the two comment above and, in the hope that the authors see my response, would like to comment on them.
The intent are both comments are to back up the tone of the original post - unequivocally. Yet, we are so fearful of being on the wrong side of the race issue that these comments had to come with an apologetic disclaimer to the effect of "Trust me, I'm not racist".
The first paragraph of the first comment was purely in this vein. There was no integral theme to connect it with the rest of the post. Ditto the first two, and last sentence, of the second post. The meta-message is, "I am slamming the latest Obama dictate in question. It's as stupid as the rest of the race industry's demands. But I'm not saying this because I'm racist! No, in fact there is a lot of racism out there which I am condemn wholeheartedly."
Can the dictate saying that disciplinary measures are to be rationed out by race rather than incident, not be condemned outright, without us excusing our opinion? Is this what we have come to?
Michael at May 6, 2012 8:09 AM
I guess I am saying that racism exists and that we need to examine the disparity, however there is often reason for disparity of punishment.
In other words, I hate racism. I would like to stamp it out and addrress subconscious racism.
I also think that it is a form of racism if you do not hold certain groups accountable. If there is no disclipline, education is hampered. Students do not learn how to hold a job and find a place in society. The students are the ones who ultimately suffer - they earn less, have fewer choices, and ultimately get sicker and don't live as long on average. Not having the same expectations for everyone may be racism at its cruelest.
Jen at May 6, 2012 8:40 AM
What I'd like to see are statistics that are divided by gender. If 50.00001% of those disciplined are male, then clearly there is gender discrimination, too. lol
DirkJohanson at May 6, 2012 10:12 PM
Don't the guys who get in trouble get laid a lot more than the wussies that don't?
It seems to me that evening out the statistics is going to harm the sex lives of black and Latino guys in high school, so wouldn't that be discrimination, too?
DirkJohanson at May 6, 2012 10:13 PM
Read Thomas Sowell's "Intellectuals and Society"
Jeff Guinn at May 8, 2012 3:54 AM
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