Quote:
Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright
Most poor parents don't even have an hour a day to relax and eat dinner, let alone to spend reading to each of their children. Many poor parents couldn't even provide the necessary assistance even if they had the time because they may not even understand the material themselves because they too were deprived of the necessary education. There is no amount of government money or teacher training that is going to change this. There just isn't and they myth that there is a way to fund the problem away is wholly counterproductive.
Ultimately I think the only way to truly rectify this problem is to encourage socio-economic mixing on a generational scale. This is obviously a difficult task since different social and economic groups tend to naturally distance themselves from one another like oil in water, but there are fundamental policy changes that can encourage this. The best one in effect today are the magnet schools which often do offer a child who is particularly bright a better environment (i.e. better peers) in which to grow out of the poverty trap. I also think that gentrification can play a huge role in gradually mixing the impoverished back into society as a whole. Gentrifying neighborhoods offer a way out for any of the students fortunate to resist the economic change long enough to reap the rewards of improving peers moving into the area. What other ideas do you all have to address the problem from this angle?
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Think about what you're saying: You're saying the solution is one of policy, and policy is determined by government, ergo the problem of institutionalized racism is one the government has to tackle. TUP's post squarely put the blame on the "communities": "The communities they serve are what is failing."
No.
The
government is failing these communities. The government has been failing if not actively persecuting these communities for literally centuries. The government must play a role in helping them succeed, even if it's only by eliminating covertly racist laws (e.g., crack vs. coke penalties, voter suppression, etc.).