JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A REPORT IN BRITAIN SAYS BLACK TEACHERS FACE “INHERENT RACISM” – WHY I THINK THIS CANNOT BE ACCURATE

John Chuckman

COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT

Black and minority teachers face ‘inherent racism’ in UK schools, report warns

I just do not believe this.

It is such an easy route for a mediocre or terrible teacher who happens to be black to take by blaming racism for their perceived inadequacy.

When people demonstrate their abilities in any field, the louts are shut up.

Obama showed this in politics. People like Oprah showed it in popular culture.
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Response to another reader:

“gets disrespected” is mighty poor English, substandard.

Speak like that in a classroom and, indeed, you could create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Response to another reader’s comment:

Yes, there are serious problems in the US.

A huge number of black students never graduate.

Many of those who do graduate, do so with a curriculum designed for easy graduation.

The violence problem in the schools is terrible in major cities like Chicago or Detroit.

School performance levels in every all- or largely-black neighborhood are poor, as measured statistically.

In many cases, schools that were once – decades ago, before ” white flight” from changing neighborhoods – good academic schools have become poor to terrible.

Interestingly, a favorite approach of school boards in American cities is to rename such schools as this-or-that “academy” often with slogans and literature around excellence which simply does not exist.

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Response to another reader who said “Most people give favourable treatment to members of their own ‘tribe’ and discriminate against non-members”:

Unfortunately, yours is largely a true observation.

But it is an extremely unpopular one today.

We live, in our societies, with many untrue assumptions.

And the corporate press just works overtime to reinforce them.

The Greek legend of Diogenes remains a powerful truth today.