So, what's the point?

Why is the Journal making such a big deal about this? Why do they always want to stir the pot on a quota for minorities? To he-- with quotas. Let's get the best, most qualified, most effective teachers and admin. in our schools instead of relying on filling a specific number of each segment of our society. Put more emphasis on results than this nonsense.

From the Journal.....

Area schools have 
few minority teachers

MIDDLETOWN — After the tardy bell has sounded and area students have taken seats in various classes throughout their respective schools, seldom do they find a black teacher waiting for them at the front of the room.
This newspaper obtained numbers from various school systems regarding the number of black teachers and administrators employed by their districts.
About 5 percent of the Middletown City School District’s teaching force —and a quarter of its administrative team — is black. In Hamilton City Schools, the percentage of black teachers is more than 2 percent, and is less than 3 percent for its administrators.
Franklin has one black individual working in a shared teaching and administrative position. Edgewood, Madison and Carlisle schools do not have any black teachers or administrators.
According to the most recent report card data provided by the state, about 18 percent of Middletown’s enrollment is black. Almost 10 percent of Hamilton’s enrollment is made up of black students. Percentages for black students were not displayed on Madison and Carlisle’s report cards because there were fewer than 10, and less than one percent of Edgewood and Franklin’s enrollment is black.

Leave it alone and let the numbers take their natural course. Stop pitting one race against another by exploiting situations like this. JMO

Another article in today's Journal....

Educators say diversity welcome

“Some of our best teachers come from Middletown,” he (Rasmussen) said. “What it comes down to is that we have to have a community teachers want to move to.” (you're going to have to improve the image, performance and change the culture in the Midd. schools to make it enticing for teachers to want to come here- currently, don't see anything that would attract quality teachers here, do you Mr. Rasmussen?)

In many Butler County school districts, blacks make up less than 10 percent of teachers and administrators, according to information obtained by this newspaper.
Meanwhile, some of them — such as Middletown — have a black student population of nearly 20 percent while others — such as Edgewood — have black student populations of less than 1 percent. (Here we go again with the quotas).

Dora Bronston, president of the Middletown NAACP, has a different perspective.
“We should really be ashamed where there are no educators except Caucasians,” she said. (Oh hell no, Bronston!) If you want more black educators, encourage more black students to get a degree, accrue more credentials and seek educational positions. Prepare as the Asians are known to do. Stop blaming everything/everyone else on the failure to acquire the opportunities for blacks in education and start taking accountability for your own future. Succeed on your merits instead of trying to play the race card all the time.

“That’s a disgrace before God,” Bronston said. “When you hear minorities complain, the statistics show why they’re complaining.”
Meanwhile, Bronston is waiting for more data, and thus more concrete evidence of progress.
“If we have progressed so greatly in this state, and prejudice is not a big issue and we’re much more diverse, why are we still seeing these numbers?” she asked. ( Again Bronston, take responsibility for what you think is happening as to the lack of blacks in education- encourage more blacks to seek college, get a degree in education, set themselves up as a high-quality candidate for hiring and compete at the same level as all other races. We don't hear the Asians nor the Latinos playing the numbers game do we? Stop the blame game as to why blacks are in the position that they are in.) JMO

As long as we continue to see race as a defining characteristic, we will have cries of racism. It exists, it's not going away and counting heads isn't going to change it. Content of character, not the color of skin is the only solution. Why don't we have any statistics on teachers that are based on economic conditions; how many low income students are taught by low income teachers?

The race card is played by Cox because it is a far left leaning, liberal publications. In Middletown, they have a black Editor, that skews the race focus accordingly.

And the Journal just keeps rolling with the theme.......

Today's Journal....

Siblings collaborate to help city residents

Both Phillips and Stewart share a sense of responsibility to help others, emphasizing how important it is to bring community issues to the forefront of people’s everyday lives.

It’s a burden and blessing to represent black minorities, Phillips said.

“Until people become more tolerant, we will often have to defend past so-called transgressions of minorities,” she said

And in yesterday's Journal.....

History, community meet at Douglass Park

Some residents who live near the park said they’re still bitter at the city for closing the pool and replacing it with a splash pad. One resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she viewed the closing as a slap against the black community. ( The "white community" lost their pool altogether...no splash pad....nothing. Few are "bitter".)

Bishop Rudolph Pringle, 78, said he learned how to swim at Douglass and when the pool was closed, more than his childhood memories were bulldozed. (How do you think we feel Bishop when they knocked down Roosevelt school, Wilson, and alot of other buildings in town?) You're not the only one who is losing memories. All of us are losing part of our past, aren't we?
The park and pool also served as historical reminders for the young blacks in the community, Pringle said. He worries that those lessons won’t be taught in another decade. It's up to you and others to pass it along, isn't it?

“The memories of yesterday are removed,” he said. “It’s painful. We have to keep telling them about Martin Luther King, Arthur Ashe, the old warriors. They have to know who (Frederick) Douglass, the head of the park, is. That’s what’s killing me.” (and some of us too)

Abdul Shakur Ahmad, a former Middies basketball standout, then known as Rick Martin, was a lifeguard in the late 1970s. He called Douglass the “gathering place” for the community. The fact is, as long as I've been here (62 years), Douglass was always overwhemingly occupied by the black community and Sunset was the equivalent with the white segment of the town's population. It was always divided.

“We all had fun in the swimming pool,” he said. “That’s where a lot of us learned how to swim.”

He said the future of all Middletown parks “looks good.”

Then he added: “If we make something attractive, people will come.”

Nope- not necessarily....remember the City Center Mall. They enclosed it, made it climate controlled with fountains and benches and no one came. Look at Bicentennial Commons......AK Pavillion, fancy entryway, bike path and an attempt to make a lake and no one is using it. Few go down there. Nope, if you make it attractive, it doesn't guarantee a thing. Must be of some interest, have value in the eyes of the people and present a reason to attend. JMO

And just like the article yesterday, the question remains, "what was the point?"  The article both make some veiled complaints but then it ends there.  Maybe it is payback for the slightly unflattering expose of AJ Smith a few  weeks ago.