Blacks Misbehave

[IanC]

sorry for the misleading title

Alabama GOP Official Explains Racial Disparities In Schools: ‘Blacks Misbehave’
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has been evaluating the Huntsville, AL school system’s racial integration, and earlier this month released a report that “wasn’t promising.” The DOJ listed “several outstanding desegregation issues that the school district must address,” including “that predominantly black schools have too few advanced courses” and “that black children at predominantly white schools are punished and suspended at alarming rates.”

But Hugh McInnish, a member of the Madison County Republican Executive Committee who also sits on the state Republican Executive Committee, set out to school the DOJ on the real reason racial disparities exist in Hunstville: “Life is unfair.” In a press conference at his gated community and a letter responding to the DOJ last week, McInnish offered a litany of bizarre “proof” that racial disparity isn’t “manmade,” claiming “blacks misbehave on average more frequently than whites do,” and that black students are unable to perform as well as white students. To McInnish, the only “manmade unfairness here” is that the DOJ wants to “correct a problem that is not of their making”:

McInnish went so far as to include in his letter a chart that purports to show the “black crime rate as (a) multiple of (the) white crime rate.” The chart indicates that black people commit more than six times the violent crime of white people overall; it has them committing about eight times as many murders as white people and more than 14 times as many robberies.[...]

McInnish also argued Tuesday that the gap between white and black students’ participation in advanced courses is not because black students are not afforded the chance, as alleged in the Justice Department letter.

Instead, he said, the gap exists because black students are not able to perform as well in advanced classes.

ThinkProgress » Alabama GOP Official Explains Racial Disparities In Schools: ‘Blacks Misbehave’

here is the original letter from McInnish- Hugh McInnish's Letter to the U.S. Department of Justice - Fullscreen

I find it both amusing and alarming that none of the information presented by McInnish is even considered, only insults and personal smears are presented. I suppose that is because the facts that he presents are... well, facts. Blacks arent keep out of advanced courses except by their own abilities and failure to sign up. Black school discipline rates do have the same trend as black adult criminal rates. why is common sense always considered racist when it involves blacks?

 

[Mini 14]

I'm not sure how, or if, it impacts this particular study (at least scientifically), but Huntsville is the "whitest" city in Alabama (among the larger cities). It would be interesting to me to compare the AP offerings in Huntsville (where I would assume the BoE is reflective of the community's racial demographic) to Birmingham's (where I would assume the BoE is reflective of the community's racial demographic).

Color me racist, but I have a very strong suspicion that they are not substantially different. In fact, I would suspect that Huntsville's AP schedule is more robust and balanced than Birmingham's.

Huntsville is probably 80% white, and is a city of technology, military, and some service industries (Boeing, NASA, the Arsenal, several software developers, etc...), while Birmingham is still struggling to find its identity in a post-steel American economy. I'm guessing, but I'd say Birmingham is probably 70% black, while Huntsville is probably 90% white.

How is the AP offering in Birmingham, and does it need looking into as well?

For some reason, that study never gets done.

 

[IanC]

I would think that AP courses have to serve the need of the school. you can't offer courses that arent wanted, filled or passed. just because a school doesnt offer the structured AP regimen doesnt mean it can't offer advanced courses that reflect the ability of that school's more able students and many science, math and english teachers take it upon themselves to do just that.

 

[Mini 14]

I would think that AP courses have to serve the need of the school. you can't offer courses that arent wanted, filled or passed. just because a school doesnt offer the structured AP regimen doesnt mean it can't offer advanced courses that reflect the ability of that school's more able students and many science, math and english teachers take it upon themselves to do just that.

Agreed....but the assumption, and the logical conclusion I'm reading into this scenario is that the AP offerings at the predominantly black schools are low because fewer blacks are meeting the district's qualifications for AP enrollment, or there is no demand for the AP classes at those schools among the students who do qualify.

I think the comparison to a district such as Birmingham, where the BoE is predominantly black and where white students are the minority, would likely support Mr. McInnish's arguments regarding the AP offerings and demand.

 

[William Joyce]

It's like the judge who got in trouble for proposing that the black crime rate is higher because...

BLACKS COMMIT MORE CRIME.

He got nothing but attacked. Be careful of those facts, they're racist.

 

[Flagwavrusa]

sorry for the misleading title

Alabama GOP Official Explains Racial Disparities In Schools: ‘Blacks Misbehave’
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has been evaluating the Huntsville, AL school system’s racial integration, and earlier this month released a report that “wasn’t promising.” The DOJ listed “several outstanding desegregation issues that the school district must address,” including “that predominantly black schools have too few advanced courses” and “that black children at predominantly white schools are punished and suspended at alarming rates.”

But Hugh McInnish, a member of the Madison County Republican Executive Committee who also sits on the state Republican Executive Committee, set out to school the DOJ on the real reason racial disparities exist in Hunstville: “Life is unfair.” In a press conference at his gated community and a letter responding to the DOJ last week, McInnish offered a litany of bizarre “proof” that racial disparity isn’t “manmade,” claiming “blacks misbehave on average more frequently than whites do,” and that black students are unable to perform as well as white students. To McInnish, the only “manmade unfairness here” is that the DOJ wants to “correct a problem that is not of their making”:

McInnish went so far as to include in his letter a chart that purports to show the “black crime rate as (a) multiple of (the) white crime rate.” The chart indicates that black people commit more than six times the violent crime of white people overall; it has them committing about eight times as many murders as white people and more than 14 times as many robberies.[...]

McInnish also argued Tuesday that the gap between white and black students’ participation in advanced courses is not because black students are not afforded the chance, as alleged in the Justice Department letter.

Instead, he said, the gap exists because black students are not able to perform as well in advanced classes.

ThinkProgress » Alabama GOP Official Explains Racial Disparities In Schools: ‘Blacks Misbehave’

here is the original letter from McInnish- Hugh McInnish's Letter to the U.S. Department of Justice - Fullscreen

I find it both amusing and alarming that none of the information presented by McInnish is even considered, only insults and personal smears are presented. I suppose that is because the facts that he presents are... well, facts. Blacks arent keep out of advanced courses except by their own abilities and failure to sign up. Black school discipline rates do have the same trend as black adult criminal rates. why is common sense always considered racist when it involves blacks?

The reporter's hatchet job on Mr. McInnish is not surprising. Filing an unbiased factually driven story representing both sides' perspective would probably get that reporter fired. That's the sad state of American journalism today when it comes to talking about race.