The Ignorance Is Multiplying: Lawmaker Opposes Education Funding: "It would go to Blacks"

originally posted by: notquitesure
a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Tell me, what are your thoughts on Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee? Care to label anyone else an inbreed?

While I agree it is taking liberties to generalize the whole state of Mississippi as "inbreeds", Mississippi does have a unique history...and present..

"Inbreed" is too generous for these kinds of Mississippians...

On June 26, 2011, Deryl Dedmon, Jr., John Aaron Rice, and Dylan Wade Butler drove into Jackson, Mississippi — which they referred to as “Jafrica” — to “go # with some n*ggers.” They came across Anderson, a 49-year-old auto plant worker, and assaulted him while yelling “white power.” While Anderson was on the ground, Dedmon ran him over with his truck.

Two women who were involved in the altercation and who encouraged the trio to kill Anderson pleaded guilty to hate crimes charges in December for their role in the criminal conspiracy.

The judges speech at trial answers some of your questions on what makes Mississippi unique in the history of racism..

“Mississippi has expressed its savagery in a number of ways throughout its history — slavery being the cruelest example, but a close second being Mississippi’s infatuation with lynchings,” he said.

Reeves compared the number of blacks who died via lynchings to other statistics commonly associated with tragedy in American culture.

The 4,742 African-Americans who were killed by lynch mobs “contrasts with the 1,401 prisoners who have been executed legally in the United States since 1976.

In modern terms, that number represents more than those killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and more than twice the number of American casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom — the Afghanistan conflict.

Turning to home, this number also represents 1,700 more than who were killed on Sept. 11.”

Quoting one Mississippi historian, Reeves noted that of “‘the 40 martyrs whose names are inscribed in the national Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, AL, 19 were killed in Mississippi.’”

“‘How was it,’ Walton asks, ‘that half who died did so in one state?’ My Mississippi, your Mississippi and our Mississippi.”

“Mississippi soil has been stained with the blood of folk whose names have become synonymous with the civil rights movement like Emmett Till, Willie McGee, James Cheney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Vernon Dahmer, George W. Lee, Medgar Evers and Mack Charles Parker,” he said.

“On June 26, 2011, four days short of his 49th birthday, the blood of James Anderson was added to Mississippi’s soil.”

www.rawstory.com...

These were well educated white kids in Mississippi just a few years ago...Who failed them? Their parents? The education system? Mississippi culture?

originally posted by: SkepticOverlord
It seems that, here in the US, and elsewhere, ignorant racism amongst stupid white men isn't just not going away, it's proliferating in exasperating ways. In Mississippi, bastion of inbreed intolerance, state Representative Gene Alday is opposing an increase in education funding targeted at increase reading proficiency in elementary school students. His rationale is that education funding for children in black families is pointless.


Lawmaker Opposes Education Funding Because It Would Go To ‘Blacks’ Who Get ‘Welfare Crazy Checks’

A Mississippi state lawmaker said he opposed putting more money into elementary schools because he came from a town where “all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call ‘welfare crazy checks.’ They don’t work.”
...
Alday continued, saying that when he was mayor of Walls, MS, that the times he’d gone to the emergency room had taken a long time. “I laid in there for hours because they (blacks) were in there being treated for gunshots,” he told the newspaper.

Miss. third-grade gate: Fear of failure

A survey of superintendents by the Mississippi Association of State Superintendents predicted 28.4 percent of Mississippi's 38,074 third-grade public school students — about 11,000 — would fall short on the third-grade level reading proficiency test, barring them from entering fourth grade.

Alday says he's not racist; GOP leaders decry statements

"Rep. Alday is solely responsible for his remarks," said Gov. Phil Bryant. "I strongly reject his comments condemning any Mississippian because of their race. Those day are long past."

But the former mayor, former police chief and current first-term legislator said he had no idea his remarks would appear in a story and, if he had, he wouldn't have made them.

(Emphasis mine)


So, here we have an ignorant bigot, who has been in public office for some time, not realizing that his comments to a newspaper reporter might find their way into print. Amazing. It's important that he didn't deny the statements, but tried to pass them off as casual off-the-cuff comments.

Isn't that even worse? "Casual off-the-cuff" comments tend to be the indicator of how someone really feels.


ATS: is this fixable, or are we doomed?

I've spent far too much time looking at this and I'm still not able to find any rational answers.

First of all, you make the statement: ignorant racism amongst stupid white men isn't just not going away, it's proliferating in exasperating ways. Why do you think its proliferating? From the stupid statement of a Miss. State Representative? I don't think you can draw such a conclusion from the statement of one politician of a failed state like Mississippi. Why do you think there's any "proliferation" in this?

The statement is of course, indefensible on the face of it and to conclude the speaker is a bigot as a result of having made the statement seems logical. I'm not interested in defending what he said or how he said it.

But I did come to wonder, "Why did he say that and why did he say it the way he did"? So, I spent far too much time trying to research this issue and found: www.biggerpieforum.org...

It wasn't what I was looking for; I was trying to find the actual sources of funding for education in Miss. and came away with that pie chart you'll see at the link, but it didn't tell me what I was looking for because I was curious to know to what extent Public Education is funded by property taxes. In some states, almost all of the funding comes from property taxes and that would be telling. However, after more research, I concluded that the 28% share of receipts contributed by local governments is probably the property tax contribution and that the greater portion, that contributed by the State government is coming from State Income tax. For an understanding of what's happening with Miss. finances, see: www.hattiesburgamerican.com...

After reading numerous articles on the subject of Public School Funding in Mississippi, I realized that right now, in that State, there's huge pressure to increase funding and there's extreme pressure on the State Legislature to "do something" to increase funding. So, I now postulate that the racist comment was uttered in frustration and exasperation over the fact that (see the demographic data) while the State has maxed out its sources revenue to fund public education, there's ever growing pressure to put more and more money toward helping the under performing portion of the student population, i.e., slow readers.

So...what may be happening here is the classic debate about whether, in light of limited money, does it make more sense to spend more money on the bottom 25% of the class or on the top performing 25% of the class. Of course, being a white native born Mississippian, this Representative equates "race" with the bottom 25% of the class although that's not an inherent conclusion, just a racist assumption. In fact it probably isn't even accurate considering that minorities represent 53% of the student population, but 70% of the student population qualifies for free food. But that's really neither here nor there, the dilemma continues about the best use of limited monies.

BTW, for those who actually read this comment and followed the links with interest, the one element of the education problem that jumped out at me as being a serious source for the lack of attainment is the dismal state of the teaching staff in Mississippi. On the last page or so, you'll note that the State doesn't even require English proficiency of the Teachers. What? And you wonder why the kids can't read?

If education is the key...we are truly doomed.

It's going to be the unpopular opinion here but he honestly is correct, at least in areas I've experienced. I grew up in what you would call the "ghetto," and went to a majority black school system. Throwing money into schools without fixing the real issues will just cause more problems.

Separation between race will be taught at home and at school, through parents and "Black History Month." So therefore all those children leave school resenting whites and so on. On top of the fact that some parents teach them to hate police or whites all together.

I could go on forever about that but I'll move on to welfare. The issue with Welfare and EBT. I have a full time job and my family gets EBT, I am ashamed of it but for now it is needed and helpful. I do not buy milk shakes or candy with it however many families do. They believe it is their god given right to have this help. Lets throw out some numbers shall we?

This is all made up of course but lets think about this.

Lets say that a family makes 480 dollars a month. In this fantasy world anyone under 500 gets Foodstamps (EBT). The next year that family makes 505 dollars a month. They lose those bonuses, say a few hundred dollars of EBT. Thus making it fair easier to just stay poor and collect said help from the government.

I think they should also be funding more individual goal setting counseling in schools, not for one race, but targetting interested and all lower middle class and income levels, especially, including small business start ups and discuss alternative markets, such as people promoting buying from each other. Its not all money however, home issues are important, but scarcity and punitive forcing is far less effective than making something appealing, rewarding, enriching and fun for adults and families to get ahead, so small business startups and workshops for entire neighborhoods. With properties to be utilized, like commercial kitchens groups can share.

The actual problems he's talking about should have been solved by think tanks including citizens, trials and errors, and lots of rewarding projects, long ago. They don't want to solve these problems, just liquidate everything and close down cottage industries, and run lean cheap employed monopolies, with only a few experts highly trained and getting better salaries. Its up to people to turn that around.

And it shouldn't be about color of skin.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

His rationale is that education funding for children in black families is pointless.

It is pointless.

To understand why, though, you would have to actually spend time in an all black, inner-city school as an educator to understand why.

Black culture looks down upon education because learning is the "white" thing to do.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

A lot of people will disagree and say "I made my own way blah blah"...

No you didn't.

No one ever has.

Even if you're paying back thousands in loans that payed for your education...

You still had that loan to begin with...

You wouldn't have the chane to pay that back without someone else paying for it initially.

You can't compare tax-funded welfare programs to personal loans, these are two totally different things.

A loan has to be paid back, both the principal and the interest. That burden falls squarely on the shoulders of the borrower.

Weflare money does not have to be paid back, and in the United States you can remain a welfare recipient for life.

"Nobody does anything without help from others" is an extremely poor excuse for financial authoritarianism.

originally posted by: LewsTherinThelamon
a reply to: SkepticOverlord

His rationale is that education funding for children in black families is pointless.

It is pointless.

To understand why, though, you would have to actually spend time in an all black, inner-city school as an educator to understand why.

Black culture looks down upon education because learning is the "white" thing to do.

Strongly disagree.

Of my closest associates and friends, the black ones are generally the most educated. 1 being a graduate of Stanford, the other a pharmacist, the next owns several houses and has held the same job for near 20 years, the next one is a doctor, the next one owns her own business and her husband works for the VA and it goes on and on. You don't really know what you're talking about.

Lets talk about uneducated white republicans next, eh? The think Latin is the same language as Spanish, they "...don't need no liberal education..." They think the sun revolves around the earth and that the earth is only 6,000 years old.

Just saying that you can talk about learning being the NOT cool thing to do for any demographic and I can point out exceptions to any demographic you but forth.

Children will learn if their engaged. Good teachers, well funded schools, a board of education with common sense, parental engagement and community partnerships.

Let's deny ignorance, shall we?

I have to laugh at how people tend to look at to southern states where actually racism is more reverse than many think, I live in one of those southern states, is a reason why education is been downgraded in the US since the 70s, see educated people tend to think for themselves.

So is funny because no wanting to increasing funding to Schools in the south while include the majority blacks children it will affect also any child of "other" race.

Racism in America has never gone away is very much alive in the entire nation.

Now saying that funding education that benefits the majority black children is pointless while is sounds racist, actually shows ignorance coming from the mouth of the lawmakers that in this day and time are nothing but bubble heads that do not need to be very smart to hold offices as long as they stick with the status quo.

If my mind doesn't fail me I believe that as of today the rates of drop outs from high schools in America are held by latino students and not black students, even when the US education system sucks.

Perhaps if the government will stop out sourcing it will be a better and brighter future to look for, for Americas children after public schools years.

The most important question is, "Why are black students failing?".

a reply to: WhatAreThey

Very simple, because the American dream is death.

originally posted by: marg6043
a reply to: WhatAreThey

Very simple, because the American dream is death.

Your statement is non-nonsensical. Care to elaborate?

a reply to: LewsTherinThelamon

You misunderstand the point I'm making.


The loan part was a seperate but similar argument.




Put those taxes into schools and less people will end up on welfare.

More people will end up paying taxes in the future that go towards more education and welfare for those who need it.

a reply to: Metallicus

If you could not understand that simple sentence, you never . . . will.

originally posted by: LewsTherinThelamon
a reply to: SkepticOverlord

His rationale is that education funding for children in black families is pointless.

It is pointless.

To understand why, though, you would have to actually spend time in an all black, inner-city school as an educator to understand why.

Black culture looks down upon education because learning is the "white" thing to do.

I think you win the ignorance prize on this thread.

Congrats! There was definitely some stiff competition.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

I can see why this guy would say that though. In Florida where I live the Education system is out of control with these Governors and others getting major money in their pockets for supporting these crazy programs that are only pushed by the people who make them or the teachers who are going to get paid more for not doing their jobs right the first time, IE: COMMON CORE!!!

Some, very few teachers are good anymore. When I was in school 90 percent of them were LAZY, no good pieces of crap. They would make you feel like crap just for asking a question (like you were stupid) or tell you they are too busy to help you as they sat on their fat asses reading a new paper, eating doughnuts and drinking coffee.

A billion dollars lol. When I was in Elementary school up north nobody seemed to have a problem teaching kids to read. 35 years later and all of a sudden TEACHERS CANT TEACH LOL.

Its either the Teachers or its the Teachers of the Teachers wanting more cash to do their jobs. I could see teachers having problems with older kids but third graders, come on.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Everyone that pushed and supports Common Core should be put in Jail and never let out. That was a money scam to make people rich and the kids have suffered ever since. I went ballistic when my friend showed me what the schools were making his kids do for simple math and how they can be wrong even when they are right. Every Teacher in the state should have went on strike till they stopped making them teach this crap, but no they all got raises.

originally posted by: marg6043
a reply to: WhatAreThey

Very simple, because the American dream is death.

No that is what Obama and the rest of the Government ruling class wants it to be.

originally posted by: Indigo5

originally posted by: LewsTherinThelamon
a reply to: SkepticOverlord

His rationale is that education funding for children in black families is pointless.

It is pointless.

To understand why, though, you would have to actually spend time in an all black, inner-city school as an educator to understand why.

Black culture looks down upon education because learning is the "white" thing to do.

I think you win the ignorance prize on this thread.

Congrats! There was definitely some stiff competition.

Hello suburban white person whose never gone to an all black American school.

originally posted by: Indigo5

originally posted by: LewsTherinThelamon
a reply to: SkepticOverlord

His rationale is that education funding for children in black families is pointless.

It is pointless.

To understand why, though, you would have to actually spend time in an all black, inner-city school as an educator to understand why.

Black culture looks down upon education because learning is the "white" thing to do.

I think you win the ignorance prize on this thread.

Congrats! There was definitely some stiff competition.

I am speaking from experience, that would be the opposite of ignorance. Ignorance is not knowing what you're talking about and accusing others of being ignorant.

I challenge you to go teach at in an all black, inner-city school and see how receptive your pupils are. Or, interview teachers that have.

But that would be too hard, wouldn't it?


Black people who live in the ghetto in the US shun education because it's a "white" activity. The few black kids who do decide to educate themselves tend to be picked on and bullied by their peers in those types of schools.

The education system is so messed up, that no matter how much money you throw, it won't be fixed. There are larger problems that need to be addressed before extra money will help.

Regarding racism, I don't think it will ever go away the way things are currently going. Many people seem to think insulting and berating white people for being white, and attempting to instil guilt is going to make racism disappear. I believe that is just causing much animosity to appear in people where none existed before.