Dr. Mark George talked about present-day inequalities
at the Lowndes County Democratic Party meeting.
I can’t go to my job and pretend
I don’t notice that all the custodial staff are black women,
but the vast majority of the professors are white folks.
He added that he’s all for sitting down and coming
up with a plan for something to do about education.
I’m all for equality, but that means equal power.
King did not want integration; King wanted desegregation.
That meant equal power equal resources
and both at the table as equals in negotiating.
…worked for and reflected everybody.
In response to the person exclaiming about the situation in the sixties:
What many of our members recall vividly from that period of time is how
black teachers and black principals were fired or demoted, some even went
to work as custodians. Our members and their families all experienced
this to some degree. Right now, Valdosta City Schools probably has fewer
black administrators that at any time since integration. We have taken
complaints whereby black professionals were passed over for promotion
or demoted or denied a position which was given to white candidates
with less experience, fewer credentials, and even in one instance, an
incomplete employment application. These stories are profound and leave
lasting impressions which cannot be ignored. It is very impolite for
the majority to tell the minority how to feel about this. Integration,
as Dr. George has clearly explained, did not solve all problems.
Our members have valid reasons for feeling the way we do, we feel
that the rights of all children to achieve are also interwoven with
the rights of all education professionals to be treated with equality
and fairness. Since we are having to fight so hard for equality and
representation in Valdosta City Schools, where we have several Board
members who represent minority districts, and a black Chairman, it is
impossible for us to believe that becoming even more of a minority in a
consolidated system will be beneficial. The struggles have been lengthy,
expensive, and emotional, and they continue today.
Out of the patterns —Rev. Leroy Butler on CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.
Alex Rowell, Lowndes High School student, said he’s been
volunteering at S.L. Mason, and:
I’ve been told, “you work better with black students because you’re black”.
These kids are working with each other, playing with each other.
…
Especially in these lower students,
I don’t see a separation.
I want to know if CUEE…
When I saw your graph…
You have Lowndes predominately white,
Valdosta predominately black.
Is one of your goals to integrate that?
Is the goal to have a more integrated racial system,
or what exactly do you propose to do?
I think the graph was
this one
supplied by Dr. George.
The question remains.
George Boston Rhynes wants to know where was the Chamber of Commerce
and CUEE when a judge was locking up people?
George provided text for much of what he said
in his previous post.
Where was the Chamber and CUEE? —George Rhynes on CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.
We need to come up with some strategies whereby we get more
parental involvement.
He made several other suggestions for improving education,
and then he said:
It takes money to do that.
And that’s why I’m looking at CUEE.
It seems pretty clear from what several of the speakers said
that CUEE’s unification proposal is about getting financial
resources from the county.
Money’s still no use unless there’s a plan for improving education.
Rev. Floyd Rose quizzed Mrs. Ruth Council whether black students
got a better education in black schools.
She said she has taught in all sorts of schools, black and white.
He clarified:
…we were told about the world, where we came from, how we got here.
Mrs. Ruth Council said CUEE needs “parents, administrators, business people,
everybody, city and county”.
Whether we unify or not, we need to improve our educational offerings
for our boys and girls.
…
Will you please come to the meeting on the seventh
and provide information that you think will benefit.
Speakers pro and con school unification assembled up front
to talk about procedures, and a listener took exception to that.
Dr. Lee Allen said the important thing was “the simple idea of what we want to do”
and then talked about the 1960s and what he didn’t want to hear about that.
He never did say what he wanted to do now.
We have complaints that some people couldn’t understand
what Dr. Mark George was saying in
the previous post of his remarks at Monday’s Lowndes County Democratic Party meeting,
so here’s another version from a different camera.
Feedback, please.
He said the Chamber of Commerce said schools were not its issue.
Dr. George pointed out that it was the Chamber and the
real estate industry that largely produced the current situation
by funelling people to the county schools.
He said the unification project started with a request from
the Industrial Authority, who said it didn’t look good when
potential industry saw there was a black school system and
a white school system.
(The timing of this is interesting, because it comes after
Brad Lofton was hired as VLCIA Executive Director,
and other people formerly associated with VLCIA say they
were never asked by any potential industry how many school
systems we have.)
Dr. George discussed many other interesting points, such as CUEE’s
terminology drift from consolidation to integration to unification.
Camera 2: Dr. Mark George about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011 Part 1 of 2:
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.
In this second video from camera 2,
Dr. George noted
that the Valdosta school system is internally segregated.
He said both he and Rev. Rose asked to have somebody put
on the CUEE council, and that that didn’t happen.
There’s more; you can watch it for yourself.
Here’s
Part 2 of 2:
Camera 2: Dr. Mark George about CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011 Part 2 of 2:
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.
Dr. Mark George talked about present-day inequalities
at the Lowndes County Democratic Party meeting.
