� Charles Sumner, Reactionary | Main | Crypt on Win32 �
May 10, 2001
Assimilation
there are many echoes of the ocean hill - brownsville school board controversy in contemporary black/white conflicts over education. it resonated powerfully with me when i first learned of it. my take on the substance of the argument is this:
"give us [blacks] control, and if we fail our children (which is your presumption for not relinquishing control) then let us do it on our own. your racist presence represents your own parents failure, and you can't even see that."
what is good for black children, educationally speaking, is almost always done in the context of what the mainstream of america demands, rather than in the context of what black parents want for their children. it's a very tricky question. decentralization of school boards might result in greater hypersegregation. but it seems to be the fundamental necessity of public school reform.
i think the nature of color prejudice in america forces blacks to assimilate in a different way than jews, who appear to assimilate, yet often keep certain traditions rigidly distinct. blacks do not assimilate in appearance but often mirror domestic practices. the ritual of the seder brings to mind secret societies and a certain inscrutability, much of which never sees the light of popular culture.
this is one of the reasons i so much enjoyed 'keeping the faith' with ben stiller and ed norton. it revealed so much more about jewish traditions than one would expect popular hollywood films to do.
btw. make sure you check out damon wayans' 'my wife and kids' on the tube tomorrow night on abc. very much like august wilson, this is witness. critics have called it the replacement for 'home improvement'. i'm enjoying the hell out of it, and for the first time since 'the cosby show' and 'roc' i'm seeing something on television that makes me think about the way i run my house.
Posted by mbowen at May 10, 2001 02:15 AM
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