[NT!]

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I pretty much agree with this. I have read some of the same research as NT and what he said is true. I just can't see how that is trying to "whiten" African-Americans. If anything, it is trying to get them socially adapted to a work place. I would agree if you said there is a great emphasis to get students ready for corporate America i.e. show up, do you work, get rewarded. That is how society is and how I believe the vast majority of students should be educated.

NT ad JoA, without writing a 6,000 word post, how do you think inner-city youth should be educated or what changes would you make?

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so to summarize your point, schools treat blacks the way they do because they want them to be ready to work in corporate jobs that demand they behave a certain way. in other words, corporations set education policy by demanding a particular workplace culture.

i think this contributes to what i was saying very clearly.

what you are describing isn't just 'getting someone ready for the workplace,' or anything else. it is valuing one culture over another, saying that one thing is acceptable and another is not. children spend a huge amount of time in school - it is one of the primary ways they learn how to interact with other human beings.

when i read the post about how school is about getting people to sit down, shut up, and follow directions, i thought, "regardless of whether there is a racial element to that, why would you want to teach people that? why would that be a good thing, regardless of skin color? is it ANYONE's fault if they think that sucks?"

a school that has those types of goals is preparing someone for a workplace that has similar goals. see where this is going? if the top priority for schools is getting black kids to sit down, shut up and follow directions, what kinds of jobs are they trying to prepare them for?

this is waaaaaay tangential to the original point of the thread, but i think it is important to look at the underlying values of a system like this. sometimes the bias is hidden in plain sight.