Liberals And Their Advice
By La Shawn Barber (06/19/04)
Occasionally I receive e-mails from liberals who advise me on how and what I should write. One of my biggest pet peeves is being told how to write from someone who isn't paying me to do it.
Liberals offering advice, some of whom believe most conservatives are racists, smugly suggest I "tone down the partisan rhetoric." Some call my arguments weak and reasoning faulty without explanation, demonstration or proof. The extremists let loose with ad hominem attacks, while a few liberal blacks "educate" me about the reality of racism in America.
A few have questioned my "journalism credentials", although I'm not a journalist, nor have I ever claimed to be. One detractor wondered why I never criticize whites who vote Republican the way I criticize blacks who vote Democratic. I thought my biased, conservative opinions made it obvious that I'm a biased conservative who supports Republicans, but one should never assume.
The only point worth addressing is the assertion that while I offer plenty of negative criticism about the black community, I propose no solutions. Of all people, I should know that subtlety doesn't work. When I point out what isn't working under liberalism, for instance, I assume the solution is obvious: the opposite of whatever liberals do.
Let's look at the education problem. I believe black children are being cheated out of a decent education by socialist bureaucrats (teachers unions, liberal politicians and school administrators, etc.). I take for granted that readers will see the connection I make between socialist bureaucrats and dismal education and the need to do away with socialist bureaucrats to improve education. Again, one shouldn't assume, so I'll offer "negative criticism", then I'll explicitly propose solutions.
One of the most pressing issues in black America is the shoddy, sub-standard education many children receive, which will have devastating consequences on generations to come. Black high school students (on average) are four years behind white students in academic skills.
In the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), one of the worst school districts in the nation, more than two-thirds of fourth-graders and half of eight-graders are below basic reading levels. In math, 64 percent of fourth-graders and 71 percent of eighth-graders are below basic. About 84 percent of DCPS students are black.
While Democrats are drying the dinner dishes on the Titanic, hoping that tub won't sink after all, Republicans are throwing out life jackets, offering parents real hope. Under President Bush's No Child Left Behind law, parents have the option of transferring their children to a different school if their neighborhood school fails for two consecutive years to meet a rigorous set of standards. There is no guarantee that even this policy will solve the education crisis, but it does provide incentives for school improvement.
To be fair, deteriorating government schools are not entirely to blame. Other factors include lack of parental involvement, a culture of anti-intellectualism and affirmative action, which is just a euphemism for "lowered standards." Parents have to take some responsibility for their children's subpar academic performances, and parents and schools must hold children to higher standards.
President Bush fought and won the battle for a pilot school voucher program in the District of Columbia, which Democrats vigorously resisted. Under the program as originally conceived, nearly 2,000 low-income students would have received up to $7,500 each to attend the school of their choice. According to the chairman of the Washington Scholarship Fund, the organization administering the voucher program, 1,200 low-income students will receive vouchers. Twelve hundred is better than zero.
Teachers' unions definitely don't want parents to have choices. These de facto Democratic Party headquarters and contributors of millions to the party are vehemently opposed to school vouchers. Blacks who still don't want to vote for Republicans could use their leverage (90 percent voting block) and threaten to boot anti-school choice politicians, owned by unions, out of office.
Liberals offering advice made me realize that if Republicans focused on school choice and found a way around liberal elites and the professional civil rights industry, they might be able to make headway with black voters. Upper-middle class (and some middle class) blacks may be able to afford private or parochial schools, but I doubt most low-income parents can.
By targeting this sub-set, particularly those desperate for school choice, conservatives can speak to the appropriate audience and offer real solutions for terrible schools, where Democrats clearly want black children to remain.
And we'll have liberals and their advice to thank for it. How's that for a solution?
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