Opinion Talk

By rob

January 19, 2006 07:51 AM | Link to this

I thought we are trying to get away from people being identified by race? Why is it tolerable for some but not others? Are we not all the same, with good and bad in each?

By Marion Blackwell, Jr.

January 19, 2006 09:37 AM | Link to this

The people who clamor that we should ignore racial differences are the same people who make race an issue when it fits their needs.

By Bradley G

January 19, 2006 11:41 AM | Link to this

Come on guys, race is an issue. As long as we have politics, race will be an issue. I don’t know about the state of Atlanta, but the state of South Georgia has a very large majority of blacks as Democrats and a very large majority of whites as Republicans. We will always see “legal” racial gerrymandering in elections and education. Is is right, I say no. But then again, being white, I probably will be told that I just don’t get it.

By Beverly Jackson

January 19, 2006 02:51 PM | Link to this

I wonder why there was no protest against prayer in the White House after 911? So what’s up with seperation of CHURCH and State? We wanna use God? It ca’t be done. He RULES & HE REIGNS just like THE BIBLE says like it or not.

By Truth hurts

January 19, 2006 07:39 PM | Link to this

I assume you are refering to the article in Thursday’s paper about McEachern HS in Cobb County. It seems that once predominately white McEachern has become 50/50 white/minority racial makeup. Cobb County in response, wants to shift the school boundaries in order to keep it majority white.

What happened is that as McEachern’s white population decreased, so too did the academic achievement level of its student body. It has now fallen on the “Needs Improvement” list. So, in order to keep it from falling further, school officials are going to sacrifice some white students in order to manipulate the minimum test scores. (I.e., put some more white kids in there who will make better on the standardized tests in order bolster the overall school average.)

Ya’ll white parents out there need to think about this. Is it worth your child’s education just to keep some overpaid school administrator in a job?

By Wanda Freeman

January 20, 2006 11:42 PM | Link to this

I agree with Schaefer’s proposal, Senate Bill 429. A woman can only make a wise ‘choice’ when she is given ALL the facts. An ultrasound will allow women the opportunity to know the complete truth on the development of their child so they are able to make an informed decision.

By J & J Ranch

January 22, 2006 01:29 PM | Link to this

I have lived in GA all my life. Forty-some-odd years. When I went to high school there were only 3 African Americans in our high school. First I want to point out that I am not prejudice and do not discriminate against any nationality of people.

With that said… Georgia as well as the rest of the country needs to “get over it”.
Why can people not just “be people”?

Schools should not be allwed to TRY to have more whites or more African-Americans. Can’t we all just get along?

Ya know, if we did manage to “stop the hate” and “just get along”, many of the African-Americans as well as the Caucasians might see that we are all “just people” and not really all that different; one not more important or deserving than the other.

There will come a day when we all must pull together. People need to learn tolerance in order for us to be able to unite. We are Americans - “One Nation under God”.

Maybe some of the Cobber’s (Cobb County residents) should try to stop the hate, get a Chrisitian attitude and get over it!

One thing that has bothered me of late is that no matter what happens, someone brings in “race”. A week or so ago, reading AJC online, the article mentioned a happening in 1906, someting about lynchings in downtown Atlanta and we need to have a “day of rememberance” for the incident. Sure, let’s go ahead and stir up more unrest than needed.
And the week celebrating Dr. King, I guess there’s a reason that the whites that died for Civil Rights are never mentioned. I am not against celebrating Civil Rights, I am against the celebration for African-Americans only.
The Civil Rights movement in this country was a benefit for many nationalities. Many people of many different colors died for the civil rights movement. If we are going to celebrate the movement, we should acknowledge all the people. Just as the King Center should tell of all the people that have been killed in the Civil Rights efforts. Dr. King was not prejudice, he was a man of God and wanted equality for all people.

What would happen if The AJC as well as other nationally read newspapers suddenly quit referring to incidents as “white” or “black”? As long as the media continues to make it an issue, it will remain an issue.

I suppose that most people do not know that the KKK in the 1920s raised money at Christmas for “the poor” in Atlanta. Blacks as well as whites.

Many people do not know that Mr. Venable (of the KKK) welcomed the African-Americans to live on property he owned for free - Shermantown. They only had to pay for electricty.
It is said that the residents could hear the rallys, but have said that it didn’t bother them, all they had to do was close the door. The man was a Christian enough to help in ways that he could.

Let’s live for today. Let’s try to get over the past. Stop the hate and get on with life. One of these days, with terrorism on the climb worldwide, we will have to pull together. While we have the time, we should learn understanding and tolerance. When the time is at hand it will be too late.

By TRUTH HURTS!

January 24, 2006 08:07 PM | Link to this

if black people want to go to another church they can go to another church. if white people want to go to a differnt church let them go. you know why our educational level has gone because there are more blacks than whites moving in our school systems. that is the problem if we took all the blacks out of the schools in georgia then georgia would go up thirty places in the educational ranking system. i my self go to a public school in georgia at lunch the blacks sit with the blacks, and the same with white people. that is the way it has always been and that is the way that it will always be!

By Shari

January 25, 2006 03:47 PM | Link to this

“Truth Hurts,” the exact same thing just happened in Coweta County. Schools way out in the county are pulling kids from downtown Newnan, and kids from out in the county are riding a bus into town, past a school a mile from home, and there’s nothing to it other than just trying to even out the test scores from school to school.

I think there’s only one elementary school in Coweta whose district doesn’t dip way into Newnan just a little bit. It’s absolutely insane, and no one will ever convince me that it’s “overcrowding” or anything else than moving these “rich kids” to this “poor” school and moving these “poor kids” into this “rich” school, in an attempt to bring up the test scores of the schools that need to up the scores.

Sure, it’ll dumb down the scores in the schools that do well on tests, but that’s ok, cuz now they’ll all be the same, right?

In other words, they would rather all the schools have mediocre scores than have some that excel, and some that don’t.

By MC

January 29, 2006 11:18 PM | Link to this

“that is the way it has always been and that is the way that it will always be!”

Do I detect just a tinge of blind hatred here?

Heh. Leave it to the Cobb County educational system to embarrass itself at every opportunity. Nothing they do really surprises me anymore.

By Van

January 30, 2006 10:07 AM | Link to this

Whatever happened to the neighborhood school?

Whatever happened to teachers that taught history and civics instead of teachers teaching to a test?

Whatever happned to School Boards that supported their schools and had the best interest of the student at heart?

Whatever happened to competition in the classrooms?

Why has individual achievement been sacrificed for group mediocrity?

Why has racial balance been given higher priority than community?

Just questions folks, just questions.

By SET

January 31, 2006 03:56 PM | Link to this

School attendance should be determined by achivement - meaning test scores and such.

Segregate the students by ability so that the dumb and violent never have to be seen by the smart and law abiding.

Let the racial chips fall where they may.