Press Release

A recent newspaper article only re-enforces my feelings about the victimization mentality that continues to subvert the educational advancement of many of the students in St. John Parish public schools. Let’s review three of the main areas that were mentioned in the article.

First: The make-up of teachers at any parish school must be within 10 percent of the make-up district-wide.

The problem with meeting the 10 percent black and white ratio in all schools in St. John Parish is that 75 percent of the students in the schools are black.

For more than 25 years, black politicians, black parents, black school board members, and black students have been saying that white teachers are not capable of teaching black students because they do not come from, nor do they understand, the black culture. And thus, they receive an inferior education when taught by white teachers.

If what they say is correct, my question is, “How would those of you who created this lie go about meeting the 10 percent black and white teacher ratio that must be met by the school system?”

I know you can move black teachers into the schools that you say have too many white teachers. But how are you going to move white teachers into so-called black schools, knowing that black students are going to receive an inferior education? Unless this is what you hope to accomplish, so you can continue to blame someone else for your own failures as parents and as a community for the education that your children are getting. Just wondering.

Second: Inferior academic programs

This is also a bunch of bull, manufactured by a group of individuals, and some board members, for the sole purpose of creating racial discourse, and to derail the school district’s move toward a Unitary School System. It was made very clear, during a school board meeting, that the programs that were under scrutiny are controlled by government rules and regulations and, thus, have to meet certain requirements. Once again, it seems to be easier to scream racism that it is to find out the facts.

Third: Pleasure Bend Community

Let’s take this issue and reverse the roles, and say that for more than 25 years black families living in Pleasure Bend have been sending their children to schools in St. James Parish. Then, out of nowhere, a small group of white parents and some school board members (for racially-motivated reasons,) create an issue with the fact that these children are being bused into another parish, which they now (after 25 years) argue is against the law.

How do you think these black parents would react? I would guess that they would react the same way the white parents reacted. They would be mad. They would say that it is racially motivated. They would be worried about sending their children to all-white schools for fear that they would be targeted because of their color.

And they would be contacting relatives and friends so that their children could continue to attend schools in St. James Parish. So, my question to those who created this problem is, “Would you still be calling them racist like you did the white parents?”

These types of manufactured excuses only illustrate the type of victimization mentality that is continually used to find fault with the system, instead of finding fault for your own failures.

For more than 25 years, the educational system in this country has been directed toward the appeasement of minorities. There comes a time when, after years of creating excuses, creating new teaching methods, and turning children into sub-groups, that one has to look in the mirror to find where the problem lies, and stop blaming others for your own failures as parents and as a community.

Chuck Sanford

LaPlace