Obama's Latest Directive: Equal Punishment in Schools

Hat tip Daily Caller


Attention bean-counters: We are hiring.


President Obama has issued a directive that the nation's schools will have to show that punishments issued out to misbehaving students are not imbalanced when it comes to race.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/27/obama-backs-race-based-school-discipline-policies/

Where does one begin?

First of all, now we will have a new bureaucracy composed of bean-counters who will be looking for any statistical disparity in punishments handed out to students based on race. Just what we need.

However, that is the least of the problems. Theoretically, if you have a school where the pupils are composed of say, 50% whites, 20% Hispanics, 20% blacks, and 10% Asians, one would assume your records on disciplinary procedures are going to have to reflect those same numbers-or else.

Or else you have Eric Holder's Justice Department filing a lawsuit on you.

Can you imagine what a nightmare that is going to be for school principals and administrators across the nation? How are they going to come up with figures that don't get them into hot water with the feds?

Secondly, and most importantly, this seems to ignore the socio-economic factors that everyone with half a brain knows.  In urban areas all across the country, black and Latino populations are, for the most part, living in areas where crime and drugs are rampant. Schools in those areas are having to contend with kids with drug issues, gang influences, single-parent households,  and families who are unable or unwilling to involve themselves in the educational process with their kids. This is not to suggest that white kids and their families are immune from these problems-especially drugs, but the problems are especially acute in the black and Hispanic communities. It is hardly racist to state this. The inevitable result here is that black and Hispanic kids are going to account for the most disciplinary problems in school, while Asian kids will account for the least. (I will include Indian and Arab kids with the Asian group). The reasons are not hard to figure out. The Asian kids come from immigrant families, who, for the most part, have an appreciation for education and insist on their children being well-educated. In the case of the Hispanics-especially Mexican-there is less of a family foundation in education and more of an emphasis on working. That is especially problematic with the illegal immigrant families where kids start school with  little or no English skills

The biggest problem in the black community, in my opinion, is the decline of the 2-parent family. Larry Elder, a prominent black conservative commentator, feels that the biggest problem facing black America is not white racism, rather the fact that 70% of black children today are being born out of wedlock. From my own (white) perspective, I have to agree with that assessment.

But now comes President Obama, who thinks that black kids are being singled out for discipline in school unfairly. To make things worse, he has a racially-sensitive attorney general in Eric Holder, who is all too ready to go after those imaginary white demons guilty of racial discrimination-at least in his mind.

No doubt Obama and Holder will have the support of the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus in this latest endeavor. The schools will undoubtedly fall into line in order to comply and avoid lawsuits. God help the occasional Asian-American kid who dares to act out in class, forgets his/her homework, or skips school. He or she will pay a heavy price indeed. The numbers must satisfy the bean-counters of the new bureaucracy being set-up.

But the question still begs: What will this do for the black and Hispanic kids who live in neighborhoods or go to schools plagued by drugs, gang violence, and non-involved parents? The answer is nothing. All is does is set up another government bureaucracy, make the job of the schools even more difficult, further divide Americans based on race, and ignore the real problems. 


President Obama not only has failed to bring the races closer together, but he has not addressed the real problems facing blacks and Hispanics in America. He and his corrupt attorney general have done a tremendous disservice to all of us.