June 12, 2007
Morning Roundup: Out With the Old Edition
Despite the brightly shining sun and lovely breeze currently making its way through downtown Washington, you might want to bring along an umbrella today -- CapitalWeather.com is predicting a 60 percent chance of showers and possible thunderstorms later this afternoon. But don't think of it as an inconvenience. Think of it as a chance to gleefully splash in puddles just like you did when you were young -- you know, like the last time we had habeas corpus in the United States. Celebrate the government's inability to lock you up indefinitely for no reason, D.C.!
Janey Out, Rhee In: As expected, the Washington Post is reporting that Mayor Adrian Fenty has decided to fire D.C. Schools superintendent Clifford B. Janey. The Mayor assumed official control of the school system at midnight last night, and has a press conference scheduled for 9:30 a.m. this morning to announce his decision. It's expected that Fenty will introduce his choice of Michelle A. Rhee for the new position of schools chancellor. Rhee, 37, runs a nonprofit called the New Teacher Project that recruits and trains teachers to serve in urban districts. Rhee does not have any superintendent experience, and her appointment must be approved by the D.C. Council.
Arrest Tally Higher, But Receives Criticism: The total number of arrests made during Chief Lanier's weekend arrest blitz now stands at 650, but the Post quotes Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Committee, as being critical of the tactic as a mere "PR stunt." Whether Baumann actually speaks for a majority of MPD officers is up for debate, but the implication in the article is that most D.C. police feel Lanier's plan is no different from the "crime emergency" plan under Chief Ramsey, which was unpopular among officers because it allowed him to alter their schedules without regard to union rules.
Briefly Noted: D.C. Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) was robbed at a Southeast gas station Sunday night ... District to study base closures in wake of Walter Reed woes ... John Allen Muhammad appealing Montgomery County sniper convictions.
This Day in DCist: In 2006 we took a first look at new H Street NE music venue The Red and the Black and lamented not always being able to tell the difference between firecrackers and gunfire in the summer.
Photo by el swifterino
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So, was that guy at the bar Nikki Leotardo?????
Is there a realistic chance that the D.C. public school system will not chew up and spit out Michelle Rhee like purple Bubblicious bubble gum?
Despite rumors to the contrary, he's only credited in the final credits as "Man in Members Only Jacket." I'm still not convinced, though I sort of want to believe the idea that the cut to black as being the moment of Tony's death. It would certainly make me feel less disappointed.
Fenty has proven that he is a JOKE!!! This is a very sad AND embarrassing day for DC.
Sorry you feel that way, T. I'm liking what I see.
Wow. I feel bad for Ms. Rhee. She's going to get hit with lots of nasty comments from the folks that are angry that Fenty appointed a non-African American to the position. He's already being hit for appointing whites as the top cop and top firefighter. I'm wondering when the Post will run an op-ed questioning whether Fenty is "black enough" like they did with Tony Williams.
In light of the three part Washington Post series on the DC public school system (which is fantastic, btw), this move by Fenty looks absolutely idiotic. Bringing in a new head administrator every 2-3 years to implement "big changes" only means that the big changes of the previous administration will never come to fruition. Was Janey even here long enough to gauge if his efforts were worthwhile? Meanwhile, the bozos in the DCPS bureaucracy collect checks and wait for the new superintendent to fail. Guess I'll be leaving DC in a few years if/when I decide to breed.
i didn't realize that this summer ``crime initiative'' was only for 1 weekend only. seems sort of pointless. 1 weekend of peace and then what? back to the normal savagery?
The problem is always how far away you are from the Imperial English standard both in speech, manner and empirical outlook. We need to start giving incentives for REAL English as in British teachers to take up residencies in the American public school system. Any working class Brit is 10x more literate than an American middle class type white or black.
Cranky, What is your motivation/problem? you are the most negative person on this site many of your comments and all of your undertones stink (really). Are you a troll? Do us a favor and sleep in once in a while.
chris lee, you *really* have a skewed view of British people. I used to live in that country, and my best friend and his family still do. I also work with Brits in the media and PR industries on a regular basis.
British people, if possible, are even more illiterate than Americans. My friends there, who are teachers, say it's because their school system decided in the 70s or 80s that they wouldn't stress grammar or spelling because they wanted kids to write without stifling their creativity. Of course, the upshot is that these people now have no idea how to use a comma, how to punctuate, or how things are spelled half the time. Even comparing the most banal and annoying corporate press releases, the British ones make far less sense and are far more riddled with errors than American ones.
It amazes me that my mother, who grew up in a blue-collar family on the South Side of Chicago and never went to college, writes with perfect spelling and grammar, while half the college grads I know can't seem to string together a sentence.
Jason, I respectfully disagree. First of all, the better schools on the East Coast, prepatory and University are all based upon the English educational model. Don't get me wrong. I love 'merica, but beyond even grammatical pedantry I will bet that the working class and middle class Brit is a step above his American counterpart in general educational bearing. I believe as a culture we don't stress the King's English enuff. Proper English usage is one of the most practical tools for business and scholastic communication around and it's acquisition and deployment is manifestly absent amongst the American populace. Word.
Is it just me or is the Sun Trust thermometer display shown in that photo perpetually wrong? Last Friday it gave the temperature as 104 degrees. I know it was hot as a bitch, but not that hot..
"preparatory"..**blush**
chris, you're right that our better schools are modeled on the elite British schools. But, when it comes to British state schools, the quality is pretty atrocious these days. They've done some international surveys of UK kids' educational achievement, and their levels of basic skills are pretty low.
Of course, those who go to the elite private schools are in a completely different world. It's like in the US, where the quality of schooling varies greatly depending on where you go. But, in the US, it's more a function of location - schools in rich suburbs have more money & fewer problem kids than inner-city schools, so suburban schools are better. In the UK it's more of a state school/private sector divide, since governmental functions there are far more centralized.
I think you're just being mesmerized by the accent ;-)
Well, that's the point I am trying to make. When we think of Brittish Culture we think of the externals. The accent, cricet, cockney an' all that. I am saying these were at times the most brutal, viscious exploitive people in history, but the Brittish Empire nevertheless defines the environment of modern history. The "better off" are those more in command of it's language, customs and institutions.."when in Rome...".
btw, I know there be alotta spellin and grammar problems in my last post. ;)
Jason: Chris doesn't know that Brits reinforce their class system by kicking the plebes out of school at age 16. And anyone who thinks there is a "standard British English" in the real world should go to
www (dot) bbc (dot) co (dot) uk (slash) voices (slash) recordings
I saw you in a dcist.com picture. You were talking on your cell phone while in Dupont Circle at 10:30something. Glasses on your head, black hair, white shirt, sitting next to a guy with thinning hair (note: I'm not the guy with the thinning hair).
Call me?
Just Wondering:
I am realistic. Wait for the next edition of TheMail and listen to talk radio to see what I mean. There are all sorts of grumblings that Fenty has been nominating non-blacks to top positions. Marion Barry has been hitting Fenty for appointing only a tiny handful of Ward 8 residents to top positions in his administration. Now, personally, I think skin color has no bearing on whether a person is qualified and competent for a top job. But realistically, race is a HUGE issue in DC. Simply look at the recent exerience at Alice Deal Junior High in Ward 3: a Korean-American principal has been the subject of daily protests by a handful of black parents b/c they say she doesn't "understand" black and Latino students. I'm expecting similar protests against Ms. Rhee by people who: A) don't like that Fenty has control of the schools; and B) really don't like that Fenty has appointed a non-black to the top schools position.
Isn't "black culture" exactly the problem. Notice I didn't say black "individuals" ..just "black culture" as such..uh-oh..:)
Anyone know what the heck is/was blocking Mass Ave. around New Jersey Ave. by Union Station. I went by there a little while ago and the police had the street blocked off at the 395 off-ramp and at N. Capitol Street. Looked like some sort of event. There were a couple of satellite news trucks and a helicopter overhead. But I couldn't really tell from my seat on the Circulator bus.
Chris, your opinion of British education is a mite overblown. I grew up knowing a half-dozen Brits, and, to a person, all vastly preferred attending good old Fairfax County schools to anything they received in Blighty, and, after hearing about their (frankly insane) system of A-Levels and O-Levels that basically consign people at age 12 to being a clerk at Tesco for the rest of their life, it's easy to see why.
This isn't to say that you do not, in addition, receive a fine education at the elite schools in Britain. But it's far-fetched to think that we can import just any old chav to teach American kids to speak the Queen's English.
Alright Jason. You got me. I was being cheeky. I was bein' absoid. But I am just saying fer instance in the case of inner city black kids they could benefit from better models.
Nevermind, I figured it out. Bush was attending the dedication of the Victims of Communism Memorial.
I think the mayor is making a big mistake by firing the Superintendent. We finally got someone who was showing results (a universal curriculum plan for the first time since the eighties, a textbook tracking program, graduation requirements) and then we bring in yet another new face with different ideas and approaches. Real reform would have been sticking with a committed superintendent for the long haul. Here it looks like we will be stuck with the same instability DCPS has faced over the last decade. Obviously DCPS operations are still in need of reform but as the Washington Post said yesterday, this looks like the mayor is going for a 'quick fix.'
Chris lee: Interesting point...actually, I don't think it's "black culture" thats the problem. I think it's "white culture." Or actually, since there is no "white culture..." I guess I mean the "holier than thou..." culture. AND-- Why do people say that Fenty is Black????? He's not. His mother is WHITE. Unless we still use the "one drop rule." "Black Culture" (or so you lable) is nothing more than a response to the "mainstream" mass murders, lynchings, present day discrimination, etc...that folks see EVERYDAY in DC. That'll end soon.
My prediction: DC will burn. Just like in 1965. It'll burn, folks will suffer, folks will die...and it will once again be a true FEDERAL CITY.
WATCH and READ-- Tom Sherwood and Jaffe have the story.."Dream City- Race, Politics and the Decline of Washington DC." Great book (even though it's out of print, you can still get it.)
also read-- "the Fire Next time..."
just my thoughts...
The problem is that people actually believe there is "a" white culture or "a" black culture.
It's a simply ridiculous and parochial notion. The world's bigger than that.
What I mean by "black culture" is the admittedly crude common sense concept. There is no reinforcement of what is or COULD be learned in school. No focus on literacy, mental curiosity, proper and pragmatic speech and so on. Admittedly that is a broad generalization and a slight to those black households where parents are very serious about their children's education, but you know what I mean by my generalization.
I hear you, Chris, but the culture you write of is found in many populations of many colors in the US and around the world. Labeling it black culture really isn't accurate, fair, or, most importantly, productive.
I think "confrontation" is productive. I think my statement is "actional". If I were talking to a hall of Cultural Anthropologists I would be more exact, but given that we are a society that traffics in colloguialisms my terminology is necessary. The Post-Civil Rights focus of the American "black" community has got to be on honest self-critique -IF we are to embrace and take full advantage of our future in the developed west.
My point is not to disagree with your premise.
I just don't think it productive to reinforce the attribution of an negative stereotype to a specific (and yet very diverse) racial group in an open forum. While you are not speaking to cultural anthropologists, you're also not only speaking to the "black community" (however one defines that), you are speaking to the general public. And so you reach far more than the "American "black" community" and so your writings have the potential to do more than promote self-critique.
Kind Sir, I respectfully disagree, but your hyper-sensitivity is illustrative of our inability to get anywhere in this kind of public discourse.."people may take it the wrong way, etc.." is precisely what inhibits honest dialogue.
Dr T, I don't think DC will "burn" again like it did in the Sixties. The conditions ( the draft, assassination of black leaders, OVERT discrimination, no economic stake in civic life) don't exist. It may burn for other reasons, but not those.
Of course I don't view my concerns as arising from "hyper" sensitivity. That would imply excess on my part, whereas I think tact is necessary for all parties. Nor do I think that tact necessarily detracts from either "honest dialogue", nor slows progress towards our (presumably) mutual goal.
I simply believe that the best way to frame a specific message depends on the specific audience in question. Who is your audience on this blog?
A forum of blowhards limited only by the prohibitions of profanity, threats, slander and overt incitement. Other than that anything goes. A degree of irreverence and some light provocation is both permissable and even encouraged.
Mark, WTF are you talking about? Leave chris lee alone. You sound like an embittered, 4-year-lesbian program wymyn's studies major I knew in college.
Thanx Jason, I have feewings to you know. ;)
Jason: Now that's funny. Here I am lecturing about sensitivity and you call me insensitive. It's like the old Bloom County strip where Opus decries "Offensensitivity". But I hear your point and, given the context Chris provides in #36, it has (some) merit.
whew.."Praise from Ceasar." Open up a window, it's gettin' all serious in here..:) Now what were talking about, strippers?..No sorry..my bad.