Word: jacksonism
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Enter Jesse Jackson. Jackson, from whatever perch he surveys potential opportunities for race-baiting, took notice of this clear-cut disciplinary case and decided that it was once again time to rattle his rusting saber. He descended upon Decatur, and along with his Rainbow/PUSH coalition organized protests and filed a lawsuit on behalf of the expelled students. Jackson intimated at school board racism and seized on the board's "zero-tolerance" policy regarding violence, claiming that it violated the students' constitutional rights...
...immediate aftermath of Jackson's intervention, school officials sought to avoid the cost of a lengthy battle by crafting a compromise. They reduced the term of the students' expulsion to one year, and further, they arranged for the students to attend alternative schools during that time. Perhaps not surprisingly, this was not enough to satisfy the outraged Jackson...
...Jackson continued with his lawsuit, demanding the full re-instatement of the students. Apparently it was completely inconsequential that these young men had engaged in behavior that had endangered the lives of hundreds. In Jackson's eyes, it seems that they deserved no punishment whatsoever...
...Jackson remains obstinate. He still insists that there is a racial conspiracy and points to the fact that while blacks make up 47 percent of the student body in Decatur, they account for 87 percent of the expulsions. This is an unequivocally troubling statistic. However, racism it does not necessarily imply. At this point the appropriate logic seems trite, but perhaps it still bears repeating. If Asians account for a disproportionate percentage of the honor roll, should we assume that they are the beneficiaries of school board favoritism? There may be complicating factors that land black students in trouble...
...final irony of this whole sordid affair that Jackson's actions have in the end dealt a serious blow to the welfare of the very community who he ostensibly cares so much about. The school board estimates that Jackson's lawsuit has cost them at least $100,000 to date. And, after losing yesterday, Jackson indicated that he plans to appeal. In Decatur, that $100,000 could have been used to pay the annual salaries of two additional teachers, update textbooks, purchase 100 new computers for classrooms, or maybe even lay the foundation for that hypothetical after-school program. Thanks...