Yesterday's New York Times had an inspiring letters page, in which several readers, including three professors and a student, argued for greater racial integration of our public schools for the "civic, moral and personal" improvement of our citizens. No counter-opinion was published. I find this thrilling because the Times is staking out a very progressive position, a commitment to social egalitarianism. Excerpts:
school integration has done more to improve the life chances of poor and minority children than other known interventions. [James Liebman]
According to the [Obama] guidelines, “racially diverse schools provide incalculable educational and civic benefits by promoting cross-racial understanding, breaking down racial and other stereotypes, and eliminating bias and prejudice.” These civic purposes of education have all but disappeared in contemporary education reform. [Lawrence Blum]
By adulthood, stereotypes are entrenched. The time to intervene is childhood, and what better and more natural way to do it than to attend schools with children from different racial and ethnic backgrounds? [Melanie Killen]
The next time you wonder at why our youth are entitled, indifferent and apathetic, consider the very bedrock of citizenship — our public schools — and the false sense of superiority they offer. [Joy Ravona]
The Times letters are of a piece with Jerry Slater's argument against Peter Beinart's push for Jewish day schools-- Slater says that segregating young American Jews in religious schools breeds political intolerance, even if it does encourage Jewish continuity. This is a liberal crisis; and in this context, Beinart is a conservative. Integrationist Jews were opposed to Zionism in Europe as a separatist ideology; and that spirit persists to this day. This raises the same issue I touched on yesterday: the extent to which Zionism makes Americans conservative.
Well, Phil, additional to whence goes US foreign policy in the Middle East, we have, whence goes the US government in re equality of economic opportunity in USA, most especially considering white babies were a minority in 2011, and whites will be a minority generally by 2042? Will the Black Caucas always ignore the Palestinians and what does that mean? link to guardian.co.uk
Or is there no connection between white loss of power in the USA, and Israel’s power?
Integration and the following disappearance of the secular
Jewish community or the continued isolationism , a tough choice.
Bainart should write his next book about this particular crisis.
RE: “This raises the same issue I touched on yesterday: the extent to which Zionism makes Americans conservative.” ~ Weiss
MY COMMENT: Or as I like putting it, the extent to which Zionism contributes to the ‘dumbing down’ of America!
P.S. MUSIC: Mark Eliyahu playing the Kamancha (kamancheh) with the Ashkelon Andalusian Orchestra: “Brothers Getting Together”
(VIDEO, 06:34) – link to youtube.com
h/t: Paul Woodward @ War in context – link to warincontext.org
“The next time you wonder at why our youth are entitled, indifferent and apathetic, consider the very bedrock of citizenship — our public schools — and the false sense of superiority they offer. [Joy Ravona]”
This makes no sense to me. Where are ‘public schools’ segregated? And what about a public school gives students a sense of superiority?
RE: “Where are ‘public schools’ segregated?” ~ American
REPLY: Have you heard about the GOP-sponsored “charter school” craze that is sweeping the nation?
SEE: Publicly-funded Hebrew charter schools serve as ‘vanguard’ for Israel –Forward, by Philip Weiss, 5/09/12
LINK – link to mondoweiss.net
I have heard of charter schools but really don’t know exactly how they operate…been decades since my children were in school (thank God).
We have a friend who is a psychologist and is contracted by the state for something that has something to do with public schools….the more she talks about it the more the whole school system set up sounds like a crazy can of worms to me…
Public schools are not segregated, but apparently charter schools tend to be, at least according to this single study: link to idea.gseis.ucla.edu
OTOH, wiki info on demographics of charter schools says “Charter schools tended to be somewhat more racially diverse, and to enroll slightly fewer students with special needs or limited English proficiency than the average schools in their state.” Wiki also says that charter schools are funded at 61% of what regular public schools get.
A Hebrew charter school just opened near me–Phil wrote about them generally recently here: link to mondoweiss.net
I’ll say it: If you need to isolate kids in order to “save” YOUR identity (these kids dont get a choice, i assume, on any of these matters) – Your identity isn’t worth saving. Full Stop.
“segregating young American Jews in religious schools” [a] “breeds political intolerance, even if” [b] “it does encourage Jewish continuity.”
Well, yes, [a] seems likely to be a reliable outcome, at least for some kids, and is perhaps part of the reason for the segregation, as well.
As to [b], it really beats me why anybody wants to encourage Jewish continuity in these latter days. I mean if there were some valuable substance to be preserved, I could understand it, but all I can see nowadays and in America is a Jewish continuity to promote [c] more Jewish continuity (continuity for continuity’s sake) and to promote [d] the vicious (as practiced these days if not in Beinart’s dreams) political theory (a repressive and oppressive and aggrandizing and whats-mine-is-mine and whats-yours-is-mine theory) called Zionism. If it were up to me, well * * *
Jerome Slater: “in both the U.S. and Israel, Jews who receive religious education are precisely those most likely to reject—indeed, detest—Peter Beinart and what he otherwise stands for.”
This is certainly true of most Orthodox Jewish education, but I’m not sure about the more liberal branches of Judaism. It seems to me that secular Zionists and religious Zionists are most likely to have hardline views, but Jews who are moderately religious have a much greater capacity for criticism of Israel and for transcending tribalism.
Integration produces good food.
I actually watched Masterchef last night. An Australian woman picked two other Australian women for her team. When they won, there were hugs all round.
Here are the three women.
Mindy – link to masterchef.com.au
Amina – link to masterchef.com.au
Audra – link to masterchef.com.au
Here is the episode.
link to masterchef.com.au
“Comfort food” is whatever food you happened to grow up eating, right? Think of how that’s changed, say, here in USA since WW2.
“Think of how that’s changed, say, here in USA since WW2.”
One of the insights of Buddhism is that clinging to the past and refusing to accept change is a source of suffering. The world changes. (It would be dead if it didn’t.)
And not all change is bad.
The racial mixture on that Masterchef episode would have been unthinkable in the days of the White Australia Policy. (I remember those days. I prefer now.)
New comfort food can be as nice as the old comfort food, and sometimes better.
RoHa, yes? I don’t disagree. I was so happy with the culture and people I grew up with I left home at age 17, never to return. Some change is good, some bad; often times depending on nothing one does or does not do personally. In some places eating bugs is a comfort. Others would rather starve first. And so on.
Phil – do you live in the same America that I do? Everywhere I look I see middle class suburbia. The only families that stay in the city are either:
1. wealthy earners/only child families.
2. super-wealthy and totally insulated from the realities of life in the city.
3. too poor or idealistic to flee with everybody else to the suburbs.
There are some suburbs that are mixed, but, for the most part, they are WHITE.
What has the breakdown of the American city and the segregation of American life got to do with Zionism?
Of course, Jewish White flight is interconnected with Zionism. (Look how popular the “tough neighborhood” argument is with mainstream apologists for Israeli violence).
But that is still a far cry from blaming the segregation of American life on Zionism.
Elliot, while agree with what you say generally, there’s a lot more distribution of minorities in the small towns and burbs than you suggest these days: link to docs.google.com
OK, let me try again: link to docs.google.com
Citizen – This quote from your 1st link debunks Phil’s notion that Zionism, or Jewish Day schools, are somehow to blame for America’s dis-integration.
“Despite some progress, America’s racial and ethnic populations remain separated from one another (Iceland 2009) and are perhaps increasingly balkanized by geography (Frey 1996; Massey, Rothwell, and Domina 2009).”
Did Zionism wrought this?
Elliot,
Yes, scroll down pat the Introduction in the study to the subsection: The geography of diversity: “America today reflects a considerably more geographically diverse racial and ethnic tapestry than in the past.”
Did Zionism surely wrought this?
Who goes to Jewish Day schools? Do they tend to make, mold insular characters, or the open-arms types?
Dunno. The people in all-White suburbs appear to me to be more insular than those who choose to send their kids to Jewish Day Schools. Those are the Jews Beinart is talking about. (The ones who go anyway because that’s what everybody else in the neighborhood and local traditional synagogue does don’t need Beinart to advocate for day schools.) Since they made a conscious choice, they may well be thoughtful in other areas of life too. I know kids (and their parents) who go to Jewish day schools who are light years ahead of their counterparts in public school in terms of their progressiveness and awareness of of differences in society. The public school crowd are so clueless they don’t even know they are clueless. …well, I suppose that is tautology, but that’s what White suburbia does to one.
It’s a major stretch to dump all that at the doorstep of Zionism.
Elliot, I don’t disagree with you that “It’s a major stretch to dump all that at the doorstep of Zionism.” OTOH, do you think that there is no significant rational at all for requiring diversity in public schools? Something good to be said for exposure for different customs, traditions, and the free flow of ideas this might spark and nurture? Where do private religious/often substantially de facto ethic schools fit in this picture? Do Jewish day schools only inculcate progressive light, or is there, perhaps, some regressive darkness too? Just asking. It’s simply a reality that public schools with students of a significant majority complexion would be the last to be keenly aware of an outsider perspective concerning what they do and say that is insensitive to the minority. That’s exactly why diversity is taught and sought for in America’s public schools. OTOH again, sometimes that in turn gets out of hand, which is why some speak of reverse discrimination and minority privilege. With each new American generation, the chance of a white kid gaining special institutionalize privilege gets more remote, don’t you think? Various people say, “Don’t piss on my head and tell me its raining.”
By definition and mission, private schools with a religious and/or political bent are a problem. Some may say the same can be said of home-schooling.
So, now, where are we, and where is Phil.
PS: when I was a kid, I went to both public and Catholic grade schools. The kid has to go where his parents or the state put him or her. Sometimes this makes it very hard on the kid. Ever talk to a kid who was forcibly bussed to a school after being ripped out of the school he or she knew?