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The following is a letter to the superintendant requesting action on the
teacher email.
Please circulate it, copy it if you wish and forward to Mr Rainwater and the
BOE: [log in to unmask] Board members: [log in to unmask]
To: Art Rainwater, MMSD superintendent
From: Concerned members of the MMSD community
Date October 29, 2003
Re: E-mail forwarded from MMSD teachers
Dear Mr. Rainwater;
We are individuals and organizations writing to express our concern about an
email being forwarded via the MMSD listserve from teachers calling themselves
MMSDteach1960. (The email is included as an attachment to this letter).
Our concern is two-fold: First, the clandestine manner in which the letter is
being distributed is akin to an electronic KKK raid. During the heyday of
terrorism by robed Klansmen, vulnerable citizens would be awakened during the
night to the spectacle of a cross burning on their lawns. They knew that the
light of day would find those same cross-burning terrorists holding respectable
jobs in the community, their nighttime identities hidden. Secondly, the racist
nature of the stereotyping in the email suggest that these individual
educators are not fit to be entrusted with the important role of nurturing the
children of this community, regardless of race or ethnicity.
We know that you and many other caring citizens of Madison are aware of this
heinous email. We also know that you have not made a public denouncement of
it. We are disappointed. As head of the Madison Metropolitan School District,
it is incumbent upon you to offer leadership on issues that may divide us as
we work toward the important goal of closing the academic achievement gap.
We ask that you and the Board of Education:
Make a public statement condemning the contents of the letter
Make every effort to identify and reprimand the writers
Offer factual information to refute the errors in the letter.
Sincerely,
Name E-mail address
Barbara Golden, chair MAFAAC [log in to unmask]
The following is the email referred to the above letter:
Dear Mr. Rainwater, Now that my collegues and I have emotionally
>>calmed down, we feel the need to defend ourselves against Mr. Singleton's
>>required workshop. We find it offensive that the workshop (and general
>>insinuation) is made that black students are failing due to covert white
>>racism. We have worked hard all of our lives to become excellent
>>educators. The results have been spectacular. Madison has routinely been
>>ranked as the best city and best schools in the country. Our students excel
>>nationally in the SAT/ACT scores. Many of our teachers come from the U.W.
>>Madison which is also ranked as the best program in the country. What do we
>>get in return with our efforts? Allegations of racism! You needn't pretend
>>that educated people cannot realize the racial insinuation: 90% white
>>teachers + 20% black students + racial disparity in testing/graduation
>>success rates = educational bigotry. Everyone knows that the single
>>greatest determinant for childhood success relies on parental intervention
>>strategies, not race workshops for teachers. We would like Mr. Singleton to
>>be fair and give the students and parents of those failing minority
>>students this assessment: · Why are failing student's parents absent in
>>parent teacher conferences? · How come nearly 100% of the students on free
>>and reduced lunch are minorities? · How come you are not accountable for
>>your own school supplies at the beginning of the school year? Why does the
>>P.T.A. have to pay for things you should be paying for? · How often you
>>help you child with their homework? · How often do you volunteer in your
>>child's classroom? · What time does your failing child go to sleep at
>>night? Before 1 a.m.? · What priority do you set for your child? 1.
>>Library 2. Television 3. Unsupervised activities? · How come you are
>>uncooperative with teachers when they are trying to help you? · Do your
>>children have a curfew? Are you there when they arrive home from school?
>> We are also offended at the "color line" experiment at the beginning
>>of the seminar. The loaded questions about race were manipulated to make
>>minorities react in a predictable manner. Many whites don't think about
>>color simply because we are not obsessed with it. Conversely, minorities
>>will predictably react as the victim to ensure pity which translates into
>>leniency and/or government activism. We created some additional questions
>>that deserve equal contemplation: · I can apply for college or any job
>>without having to worry about being an affirmative action casualty. · I
>>can live in a community opposite of my color and not have to worry about
>>crime or violence. · I can question people other than my race without
>>being called a bigot. · I don't have to worry about "having it too good"
>>based on my skin color. · I can be assured that my race won't be regarded
>>as slave owners, scumbags, murderers, and oppressors in history books. ·
>>When I need help, I am comfortable that people won't see my skin color and
>>not worthy of help. We believe that there are many social factors
>>out of our control that contribute to the achievement gap in Madison, such
>>as the black illegitimacy rate at a whopping 70%. We also agree that it is
>>unlikely that Mr. Singleton would have performed a seminar where the racial
>>percentages were reversed. We realize that many teachers don't live in
>>depressed black communities, and don't want to either. What kind of
>>community do you live in Mr. Rainwater? Black? Poor? Neither? We will
>>continue to put on a happy face pretending that we don't understand the
>>real causes of poor academic performance Art. If you feel you have
>>accomplished something by paying Mr. Singleton to tell us all how
>>subconsciously racist we are, then good for you. We don't feel that way and
>>won't make any objections during seminar. For the rest of our hard
>>working staff, we suggest the following reading authored by
>>African-Americans who don't see the world through race-colored glasses like
>>Glenn Singleton does. Larry Elder &&cds2Pid=946 Losing the Race
>>&&itm=1 Shelby Steele &&ean=9780060974152 Black illegitimacy rate
>>walter Williams
>>http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20021120.shtml For
>>those of us who struggle to help all students and have high standards such
>>as: hard work, accountability, positive attitudes, goal setting, and
>>creative solutions for achievement, keep up the good work!
-
-___________________________________________________________________
Barbara G.
608.836.0616
MAFAAC~Closing the achievement gap
through information, advocacy & support
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