My wife Grace and I visited the College Achieve Greater Asbury Park Charter School on the Thursday after the Labor Day "Stand Against Hate Rally." We sought to see the School with our eyes, hearts, minds and through our personal histories of attending segregated black Public Schools in the south.
We believe that if the Asbury Park Zoning Board, the City Council, the Board of Education, and most of those who planned and attended the "Stand Against Hate Rally", visited the School, there would be no question about the School's need to have access to an additional location. It is strange that concerns about parking etc., seem to be more important than the space needs of children and their teachers.
We saw at College Achieve Charter School, beautiful black children, dedicated teachers and administrators, and a facility not large enough to meet the needs of the students. This is what Grace and I saw in our southern Schools when we attended them.
I often paraphrase the words of theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr; "Most of the evil is not done by evil people, but by good people who on some matters are not good." "Good people" are opposing the College Achieve Charter School, not realizing that to do so is not good. What do I mean?
1. We have not come close to responding adequately to the damage, historically and in the present, that legal, cultural and historic anti-black bias have done to black children and black families. Poverty, limited opportunity, and second class status has been responsible for creating traumas of all kinds. Limiting the educational space of College Achieve students, by not approving an additional location, aids and abets the other limitations that black families face.
2. Limiting the educational opportunities for black children, regardless of the reasons, is a kind of segregation that some "good people" do not understand. Many of us daily, take advantage of choice opportunities that others do not have. Why choice opportunities for us, but not for all?
3. It is beyond our ability to understand how existing Charter Schools are using some of their resources to block the establishment of a new Charter School. I have seen this "crabs in a basket" practice in other places I have lived. I did not expect to witness in Asbury Park, some people pulling back other people because they sought to escape the "baskets" in which history and society has confined them. Is this what "internalized racism" means?
4. And, we cannot understand why persons who have lived with and through the struggles of being black, can justify their resistance to the expansion of educational opportunities for black children and families in Asbury Park, Neptune and beyond.
5. At the Rally I said that hate has some distant cousins called, "unconscious bias, prejudice and bigotry." "Good people" of all races at times, internalize these cousins of hate without realizing it.
We believe that today black people and those who are our allies are at our best when we are able to say; "I/we have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, just permanent interests." In this case, our "permanent interest" ought be expanding the educational opportunities for black families and their children. The best way to support black children and their needs, is not to "protect" institutions, despite their best of intentions, that have been struggling for years to educate black young people. But, to make possible alternative opportunities for young people.
Doing this will complement Public Schools, rather than "dissing" them.
The Rally on Labor Day, was a response to the hate that was exposed in Charlottesville. May we not allow the subtle bigotries of race, class, arrogance and control, be energized in Asbury Park, by opposing the space request of the College Achieve Charter School.
Rev. Gil Caldwell
CaldwellChurch@aol.com
Asbury Park, New Jersey
We believe that if the Asbury Park Zoning Board, the City Council, the Board of Education, and most of those who planned and attended the "Stand Against Hate Rally", visited the School, there would be no question about the School's need to have access to an additional location. It is strange that concerns about parking etc., seem to be more important than the space needs of children and their teachers.
We saw at College Achieve Charter School, beautiful black children, dedicated teachers and administrators, and a facility not large enough to meet the needs of the students. This is what Grace and I saw in our southern Schools when we attended them.
I often paraphrase the words of theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr; "Most of the evil is not done by evil people, but by good people who on some matters are not good." "Good people" are opposing the College Achieve Charter School, not realizing that to do so is not good. What do I mean?
1. We have not come close to responding adequately to the damage, historically and in the present, that legal, cultural and historic anti-black bias have done to black children and black families. Poverty, limited opportunity, and second class status has been responsible for creating traumas of all kinds. Limiting the educational space of College Achieve students, by not approving an additional location, aids and abets the other limitations that black families face.
2. Limiting the educational opportunities for black children, regardless of the reasons, is a kind of segregation that some "good people" do not understand. Many of us daily, take advantage of choice opportunities that others do not have. Why choice opportunities for us, but not for all?
3. It is beyond our ability to understand how existing Charter Schools are using some of their resources to block the establishment of a new Charter School. I have seen this "crabs in a basket" practice in other places I have lived. I did not expect to witness in Asbury Park, some people pulling back other people because they sought to escape the "baskets" in which history and society has confined them. Is this what "internalized racism" means?
4. And, we cannot understand why persons who have lived with and through the struggles of being black, can justify their resistance to the expansion of educational opportunities for black children and families in Asbury Park, Neptune and beyond.
5. At the Rally I said that hate has some distant cousins called, "unconscious bias, prejudice and bigotry." "Good people" of all races at times, internalize these cousins of hate without realizing it.
We believe that today black people and those who are our allies are at our best when we are able to say; "I/we have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, just permanent interests." In this case, our "permanent interest" ought be expanding the educational opportunities for black families and their children. The best way to support black children and their needs, is not to "protect" institutions, despite their best of intentions, that have been struggling for years to educate black young people. But, to make possible alternative opportunities for young people.
Doing this will complement Public Schools, rather than "dissing" them.
The Rally on Labor Day, was a response to the hate that was exposed in Charlottesville. May we not allow the subtle bigotries of race, class, arrogance and control, be energized in Asbury Park, by opposing the space request of the College Achieve Charter School.
Rev. Gil Caldwell
CaldwellChurch@aol.com
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Thank you for sharing your experiences - and hopes. I have had mixed school "heritage"....I went to decent public schools all my early life (and my dad was public school teacher/administrator)...I was lucky enough to get enough financial aid to go to an outstanding Ivy university. However, both my kids went to independent schools - because, as a family then, we could afford to make choices and we valued education so that seemed to be the best choice for them. I support all good schools (private, public, charter, religious, etc. - I feel too much time is spent discussing the type of school and not enough about the quality of the education, which is what matters most) and feel we need to support those making real efforts to do the best for our kids - and that standards/competition are good things. I don't know your local situation, of course, so can't opine on that. I work now in the "poverty" business. What I mean by that is that I work for a nonprofit fighting to give all kids an equal chance for success, no matter income/race or other factor that puts up a barrier (still) in today's world.
ReplyDeleteWell said Reverend Caldwell, Asbury Park government should be ashamed of their continued treatment of the non-profit College Achieve Charter team. History will judge them, if indeed they care about such things.
ReplyDelete