jena 6

[Big Swami]

Did this thread just get incredibly weird or is it just me?

[UxKa]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299237,00.html

WASHINGTON — A group of students at a Washington high school for the deaf scrawled "KKK" and swastikas on a black student's body with a marker while holding him against his will, police said Wednesday.

District of Columbia police are investigating the Saturday night attack as a possible hate crime, Chief Cathy Lanier said. The incident began in the dorms of the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, on the campus of Gallaudet University.

Seven students — six white and one black — took part in holding the black student, Lanier said.

University officials would not say whether they had been disciplined, but in a campuswide e-mail Wednesday, Katherine Jankowski, dean of the center that includes the high school, said the seven were sent home.

The school discussed the incident at an assembly Monday and has worked with students on issues of diversity and race, said Stephen Weiner, provost of Gallaudet.

"We do not tolerate any kind of action, any kind of behavior of this type," Weiner said.

Lanier said the attack began when two groups of students, one white, one black, were "horsing around" in the dorms. The groups eventually separated, but the seven students took the black student and held him for about an hour.

The student who was held contacted Gallaudet authorities, who called police early Sunday. He is at home with his family, the provost said.

No charges have been filed, but police said they have identified all seven students involved; they range in age from 15 to 19. "We take it very seriously," Lanier said.

Gallaudet, the nation's only liberal arts university for deaf students, was founded in 1864 by an act of Congress. The university had about 1,800 students last year.

About 170 students attend the Model Secondary School, with roughly 100 living in dorms on campus, Weiner said.

It is part of Gallaudet's Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, which also includes an elementary school. The center works on developing courses and teaching methods for deaf and hard of hearing students.

A. Why did a black kid help? Is he one of the illiterates?

B. People are fucked up.

C. B.


I've stayed out of this topic on purpose. Racism is bad.

The Detroit illiteracy rate is scary. I could read when I was 18 months old.. how this nation manages to get by while not teaching people to read blows my mind. I'm guessing that won't last beyond our lifetimes if we don't pick it up.

[DennyMcLain]

The Detroit illiteracy rate is scary. I could read when I was 18 months old.. how this nation manages to get by while not teaching people to read blows my mind. I'm guessing that won't last beyond our lifetimes if we don't pick it up.

Not a chance. The advantage lies with the politicians. Far easier to lump dough on the lap of a Madison Avenue ad firm to drum up support than to cross your fingers and pray Mr. and Mrs. Voter don't actually READ about the pros and cons of a Proposition, a Measure, or a Candidate.

It's about power, and control... and thre aynt a dam thing u can du abowt it.

[Cross]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299237,00.html




A. Why did a black kid help? Is he one of the illiterates?

B. People are fucked up.

C. B.


I've stayed out of this topic on purpose. Racism is bad.

The Detroit illiteracy rate is scary. I could read when I was 18 months old.. how this nation manages to get by while not teaching people to read blows my mind. I'm guessing that won't last beyond our lifetimes if we don't pick it up.

what the fuck?? I don't think it was because he couldn't read but he was either high or just wanted to fuck somebody up. Most black people get offended still by anything relating to the KKK...this is just one fucked up kid

[Uncle Mxy]

As an aside (because my interest in feeding the main discussion is minimal), the oft-quoted 47% for Detroit refers to a 10-year old report which speaks of "low literacy" (NALS Level 1), not total "illiteracy". In practical terms, a NALS Level 1-literate person generally CAN:

- sign one's name
- identify a country in a short article
- locate one piece of information in a sports article
- locate the expiration date on a driver's license
- add up money for a bank deposit

but generally CANNOT:

- locate eligibility from a table of employee benefits
- locate an intersection on a street map
- locate two pieces of information in a sports article
- identify/enter background information for a SS#
- calculate total cost of purchase from an order form

So, just be clear what you're dealing with. Thus far, a lack of practical literacy has been tied strongly with poverty, but I'm sure that either it's spreading or the definition of literacy needs refining/dumbing down. It's not just about politicians wanting to assert control, either. Here's the guy in charge of all new Saturday morning cartoons in the U.S., talking to a bunch of manga-heads about reading:

I think manga is a problem because we're in a culture that is not a reading culture. Kid's today don't read, they read less today. In every survey, we find that they're watching more television, they're on the Internet more, and that content, although being king, is very disposable. Because the way content gets put out now, it gets put out free. We're streaming most of our shows. The reason why we're streaming them is we want kids to watch them as much as they can, and get vested in the concept and go out and buy products. The products ain't free. The content is going to be free. And manga in my mind is trying to put a square peg in a round hole in the U.S. It will never be a big deal here, for the kids that are in the computer or the Internet generation, because they're not going to read. They haven't read, and they're not going to start now.

[Tahoe]

As an aside (because my interest in feeding the main discussion is minimal):

I'm still shaking my head about the Duke Lacrosse fiasco and what those young kids and families were put through.

[Uncle Mxy]

I'm still shaking my head about the Duke Lacrosse fiasco and what those young kids and families were put through.

Does this really relate to the Jena 6 situation or anything else brought up? That seemed more like sexual politics than racial.

I'm not particularly interested in talking about Jena 6 because I haven't really formed a good opinion about it, and it hasn't captured my spirit as far as issues of the day go. "Race and dumbassery in Louisiana", "school violence", "fun with jury selection" etc. have been talked about to death in other recent contexts.

[Tahoe]

Just that these kids were railroaded because of race.