Addicted to Race 106: Rihanna, English proficiency, and the recession
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Addicted to Race is New Demographic’s podcast about America’s obsession with race. Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find in this episode:
What are the race and gender implications of the Chris Brown and Rihanna dating violence scandal? Why is an American-born honors student being forced to prove she can speak English? And how will this economic recession affect racial diversity in the workplace? Tami Winfrey Harris and Carmen Van Kerckhove discuss.
Got feedback for us? Call 917-720-6348 or email info@addictedtorace.com.
Tami is a writer, and communications and marketing professional living in the Midwest with her husband and stepson. She edits the New Demographic blog Anti-Racist Parent, blogs at What Tami Said and is a contributor to the anthology What We Think:Gender Roles, Women’s Issues and Feminism in the 21st Century.
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Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Minotaar wrote:
I’m so sorry about Laurie’s problem at Storm Lack High school. One of the issues that wasn’t mentioned was that high schools are doing an abysmal job of taking care of the needs of their gifted and talented. So many brilliant students surpass the offerings of their school and are bluntly refused additional educational options and opportunities. I completed all math courses at my high school a year early, and was refused the opportunity to attend the local state college for further courses, even though this was an opportunity the principal himself said he was making possible. In 6th grade, I was one of 40 nationwide finalists to complete a science competition with a perfect score. I was barely mentioned in the school newspaper, but two years later, when a white kid did it, they splashed his face on the front page of the newspaper. The intersection of race and academic accomplishment too often ignores the achievements of those who are gifted and talented and also colored. Mentors don’t volunteer as many suggestions and positive reinforcement. Institutions enforce policies and think of “bottom lines” instead of striving to help their high achievers stand out. Not only is this nation failing the developmentally challenged, but it is crippling and handicapping the exceptional and outstanding as well.
When an emergency happens, too often the media turns to small town high school principals for presidential-quality media briefings, and these people just arent up to the task. The same thing is happening in slow motion with the increasing need for diversity- and achievement-sensitive education. These people are dinosaurs who sit too safely on jobs that should not be protected as much as they are. Wish I had a solution, but we should start at the very minimum by reeducating those principals.
Posted 29 Mar 2009 at 4:59 pm ¶
Minotaar wrote:
Storm LAKE! “Lack” might be a decent substitution, though.
Posted 29 Mar 2009 at 5:00 pm ¶