Guy Chamberlin Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 There was a kerfuffle a dozen years or so ago, just as my kids were moving into the local Middle School. We have about a 50/50 split between White and Hispanic kids here, and this made a lot of white parents nervous about sending their kids to the public middle school, where they were scared of both non-existent gangs and Hispanics dragging down the academic ranking. The school created a series of Advanced Placement classes (can't recall if the district was involved) that certainly sounded merit based but were essentially designed as a safe space for the white kids, a fact everyone seemed to recognized by the complexion of the classrooms. The principal was replaced and the system was changed, and most folks were good with it, as smart kids of any ethnicity still had the chance to excel. In what was no doubt a well-intentioned move, they created a recognition program exclusively for ESL or second-generation Hispanic students with some aspirational name like Rising Achievers, but when you attended the awards ceremonies it looked like a two track system, with a patronizing nod to kids given lower expectations. But the same district has tried to maintain the college track AP for high schoolers, and no one wants to abandon some kind of merit based option. Link to comment
teachercd Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 5 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said: There was a kerfuffle a dozen years or so ago, just as my kids were moving into the local Middle School. We have about a 50/50 split between White and Hispanic kids here, and this made a lot of white parents nervous about sending their kids to the public middle school, where they were scared of both non-existent gangs and Hispanics dragging down the academic ranking. The school created a series of Advanced Placement classes (can't recall if the district was involved) that certainly sounded merit based but were essentially designed as a safe space for the white kids, a fact everyone seemed to recognized by the complexion of the classrooms. The principal was replaced and the system was changed, and most folks were good with it, as smart kids of any ethnicity still had the chance to excel. In what was no doubt a well-intentioned move, they created a recognition program exclusively for ESL or second-generation Hispanic students with some aspirational name like Rising Achievers, but when you attended the awards ceremonies it looked like a two track system, with a patronizing nod to kids given lower expectations. But the same district has tried to maintain the college track AP for high schoolers, and no one wants to abandon some kind of merit based option. If it is a public school system the district would be involved, changes are not made at the building level unless some principal just went rouge, which could happen and like you mentioned, would not last long and that principal would be gonezo. You know what, let me edit this, there is a chance that the school had some sort of autonomy but usually not for programs like that. 5 hours ago, Archy1221 said: Gotta respect the Yutes. Good! Idiot. 3 Link to comment
teachercd Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Oh my god, watching them bend over backwards trying to get her to shut up because they know how insane she sounds was amazing! Haha Even the super Enviro-Bros have to watch that and like "s#!t, shut up lady, you are not helping" 4 Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 7 minutes ago, teachercd said: Oh my god, watching them bend over backwards trying to get her to shut up because they know how insane she sounds was amazing! Haha Even the super Enviro-Bros have to watch that and like "s#!t, shut up lady, you are not helping" Yes. Link to comment
Crusader Husker Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 So there are stupid people on both sides.... 1 Link to comment
Dr. Strangelove Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 On 4/6/2024 at 1:15 PM, Archy1221 said: Gotta respect the Yutes. The thing that makes me angry about these morons throwing the word genocide around is that it deeply devalues history and the important lessons to be learned from actual genocide in the past. Genocide as a word losses it's meaning the more tik tok activist theater throws it around when civilians are killed in war. 1 Link to comment
teachercd Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 11 minutes ago, Dr. Strangelove said: The thing that makes me angry about these morons throwing the word genocide around is that it deeply devalues history and the important lessons to be learned from actual genocide in the past. Genocide as a word losses it's meaning the more tik tok activist theater throws it around when civilians are killed in war. Yep! I was going to post that the other day. It is so true. 1 Link to comment
Archy1221 Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 19 minutes ago, Dr. Strangelove said: The thing that makes me angry about these morons throwing the word genocide around is that it deeply devalues history and the important lessons to be learned from actual genocide in the past. Genocide as a word losses it's meaning the more tik tok activist theater throws it around when civilians are killed in war. Absolutely. Lots of these types of words are losing their meaning the past 10-15 years…..genocide, racist, fascism, socialism, nazi, socialist. They get used to get views and likes. Both on the left and the right. 1 1 Link to comment
Lorewarn Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 1 hour ago, Dr. Strangelove said: The thing that makes me angry about these morons throwing the word genocide around is that it deeply devalues history and the important lessons to be learned from actual genocide in the past. I don't necessarily land on either side of this, and think language is never static and people have likely always bemoaned the 'lessened impact' of words being used more frequently throughout time. My main question is, how and when do you know something is a genocide while it's happening in real time as opposed to calling that with the lens of history. 2 Link to comment
Moiraine Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 42 minutes ago, Lorewarn said: I don't necessarily land on either side of this, and think language is never static and people have likely always bemoaned the 'lessened impact' of words being used more frequently throughout time. My main question is, how and when do you know something is a genocide while it's happening in real time as opposed to calling that with the lens of history. It’s an accusation that shouldn’t be made in real time unless you are a lot more sure than any of the people referring to it as a genocide are. Gaza’s governed by terrorists who raped/killed/kidnapped a bunch of civilians at a concert. Retaliating by trying to kill the terrorists isn’t genocide. I’m sure Israel could do a much more successful genocide if they wanted to. There’s a reason their existence is constantly threatened yet they’re still there. 1 Link to comment
Moiraine Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 18 hours ago, Crusader Husker said: So there are stupid people on both sides.... But maybe instead of the moon causing ocean waves, the ocean waves are sucking the moon towards the earth, and because all the glaciers are melting the waves are becoming better at moon-sucking, and this causes an influx of eclipses. 2 Link to comment
Dr. Strangelove Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 51 minutes ago, Lorewarn said: I don't necessarily land on either side of this, and think language is never static and people have likely always bemoaned the 'lessened impact' of words being used more frequently throughout time. My main question is, how and when do you know something is a genocide while it's happening in real time as opposed to calling that with the lens of history. It's a fair question, and @Moiraine gave a good answer. Identifying genocide in real time is difficult. But signs of actual genocide are: using state resources to systematically round up all members of a minority group, state resources to indiscriminately kill that minority group, and propaganda messaging that says the aforementioned minority group needs to be annihilated. Employing a poor military strategy that gets civilians killed is not the same thing. Link to comment
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