Re: Ahmed the Clock Maker
The problem with D is that too many people are ignorant* and therefore paranoid.
*I'm not saying this as an insult to their intelligence, I'm saying that general things that people used to know about have become so specialized that they are unrecognizable outside of their field.
....but in this particular instance, there are about a gazillion things the school and police should have looked at and done before they freaked out... And yeah, the local girl that got expelled (later rescinded) for *taking away a razor blade* from a girl trying hurt hersle in the school bathroom aside and turning it in to the school aside (my point being that we overreact a lot), if you look at statistics concerning disciplinary actions and how schools handle kids, there is a huge institutional bias. And, as the parent of an ADHD student whose best friend is black (he also has ADHD0, I can attest to the difference if how the kids have been treated (and Sharkbait's buddy is adorable and a riot)--with Sharkbait, the assumption is almost always that he's trying and doing his best to be and do good...with his friend, less so. Anecdotal, yes...but if really excellent and aware teachers do this (this year's teachers are great), what about ones that aren't?
Put it this way....whether the problem is "real" (actually caused by his race and religion" ir not, it irrelevent. The fact that there are people in the general public that have defended the actions of the school and the police on the basis of the kids ethnic and religious background should be enough evidence that culturally, there is a problem ...and, if you research the city gov't of this town, it seems to start at the top, so yeah' I buy the idea that racism had a role in not giving this child the same benefit of the doubt that other children would have gotten.
The problem with D is that too many people are ignorant* and therefore paranoid.
*I'm not saying this as an insult to their intelligence, I'm saying that general things that people used to know about have become so specialized that they are unrecognizable outside of their field.
....but in this particular instance, there are about a gazillion things the school and police should have looked at and done before they freaked out... And yeah, the local girl that got expelled (later rescinded) for *taking away a razor blade* from a girl trying hurt hersle in the school bathroom aside and turning it in to the school aside (my point being that we overreact a lot), if you look at statistics concerning disciplinary actions and how schools handle kids, there is a huge institutional bias. And, as the parent of an ADHD student whose best friend is black (he also has ADHD0, I can attest to the difference if how the kids have been treated (and Sharkbait's buddy is adorable and a riot)--with Sharkbait, the assumption is almost always that he's trying and doing his best to be and do good...with his friend, less so. Anecdotal, yes...but if really excellent and aware teachers do this (this year's teachers are great), what about ones that aren't?
Put it this way....whether the problem is "real" (actually caused by his race and religion" ir not, it irrelevent. The fact that there are people in the general public that have defended the actions of the school and the police on the basis of the kids ethnic and religious background should be enough evidence that culturally, there is a problem ...and, if you research the city gov't of this town, it seems to start at the top, so yeah' I buy the idea that racism had a role in not giving this child the same benefit of the doubt that other children would have gotten.
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