19 Responses to “The Voice…”

1. posted by Common Sense Mom at May 28, 2008 12:23 pm :
   

   The NAACP, while being very vocal, has only 300,000 members nationally and this number is declining annually. The NAACP has struggled to stay relevant in the post civil rights era and Khalfani is part of the old regime. In an attempt to increase membership and bring the NAACP into the current cultural climate, they have elected a 35 year old Ivy Leage educated Rhoades scholar who is touting the message; “This is NOT your father’s NAACP.” The NAACP itself realizes that times are changing and for the better and new leadership is needed to bring the organization into the future.

   Khalfani is part of the old NAACP and he knows it. His anger, paranoia, extreme defensiveness and use of fear tactics are part of the past that the NAACP is trying to dump. The NAACP has been sharply critticized for being mired in the past and unwilling to move into the future. Declining membership proves that young African Americans are simply not interested in perpetuating the extreme anger and paranoia that Khalfani pushes.

   Khalfani has an ugly agenda and he will say anything and do anything to prove his point, including spreading outrageous lies. He is a sworn enemy to whites, and in his efforts to take whites down, he is actually harming the people he is trying to “represent”.

   Hate has a way of destroying the hater.

   I hope that as the NAACP moves forward into the future they will recognize that the tactics Khalfani uses are not in alignment with the organizations core values. I believe the NAACP is more about peace and fairness than Khalfani represents.

   It’s a shame that Khalfani is attempting to prevent African American children from attending a school that is based on fairness, peace, integration, a unique educational experience, appreciation of beautiful things and the Earth.

   Why in the world is that so threatening to him?

2. posted by a teacher at May 28, 2008 2:02 pm :
   

   And another Voice article on the topic posts today, too…

3. posted by Jennifer C. at May 28, 2008 2:34 pm :
   

   The first article at least mentioned that supporters are hoping for a diverse student body, but that second one…zoiks.

   “It was straight up white School Board members plus Uncle Braxton,
   the lame duck Chairman who will be running for another elected office soon.”

4. posted by gray at May 28, 2008 5:38 pm :
   

   All of this is so disgusting and Khalfani does not represent the black voices I hear everyday at our predominately black school –they welcome school choice, have asked how to enroll their children, and expressed happiness when the charter was approved. Here in the east end we have been barred for years from the very best schools and we’re tired of it.

   This reminds me of what happened at John B. Cary where the principal sucessfully chased out the in zone museum district families and then a few PTA members spread rumors that they were all racists. Incidently, Khalfani’s kid(s) attend Cary and their PTA president spoke out against the charter the night of the PHI vote.

   I don’t understand any of this…they are enjoying their school choice. They drive their children to school. Cary has one of the highest out of zone enrollments in the city. Why do they want to take choice away from others?

   I don’t know if anything is connected but in the words of Khalfani the night he approached the School Board, “something smells.”

   Again, these people are not representative of my experience in RPS and they are doing a diservice to all of RPS by scaring new families from public education.

5. posted by Common Sense Mom at May 29, 2008 1:16 pm :
   

   Khilfani message is anti white and that is not what the NAACP stands for. Judge for yourself if he really represents the NAACP’s Vision and Objectives. (The following taken from NAACP’s official website).

   Vision Statement
   The vision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights and there is no racial hatred or racial discrimination.

   Objectives
   The following statement of objectives is found on the first page of the NAACP Constitution — the principal objectives of the Association shall be:

   To ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens

   To achieve equality of rights and eliminate race prejudice among the citizens of the United States
   To remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes

   To seek enactment and enforcement of federal, state, and local laws securing civil rights

   To inform the public of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and to seek its elimination

   To educate persons as to their constitutional rights and to take all lawful action to secure the exercise thereof, and to take any other lawful action in furtherance of these objectives, consistent with the NAACP’s Articles of Incorporation and this Constitution. (end quote)

   Is Khilfani really ending racial hatred in accordance with the NAACP -or is he fanning the flames?

6. posted by gray at May 29, 2008 3:32 pm :
   

   For the sake of RPS, Wade Elligood of the REA and the Richmond City PTA should keep a safe distance from Khalfani’s divisive rhetoric. Khalfani’s message conveying hate will only chase more families out of public schools.

   Khalfani is a fringe element and is best ignored.

7. posted by David at May 29, 2008 3:39 pm :
   

   I think there are more people on this blog talking about The Voice than there are in the community reading the Voice.

8. posted by Dave at May 30, 2008 6:24 am :
   

   Khalfani is a racist, he is everything the city is not and trying to drag the city down. He needs to grow up and understand that these are different times.

9. posted by edg at June 17, 2008 10:17 am :
   

   I just found out that the conservative/libertarian think tank the Lexington Institute is involved with PHSI. http://patrickhenrycharter.org/links.htm

   Does that bother anyone else, because it sure as heck bothers me. Couldn’t we have done this without their help? http://lexingtoninstitute.org

10. posted by gray at June 17, 2008 8:37 pm :
    

    Doesn’t bother me. Most Richmond Public schools are crappy and we need choice. I know for a fact that the PHI people are liberals and most will be voting for Obama, who also supports a mix of schools in urban settings including charters.

    I couldn’t believe how many teachers and families at our school, Bellevue, were happy when they heard that the charter was approved.

    edg, receiving help from republicans doesn’t make you one. Think of how a corporation will give money to both democrat and replublican candidates. I know I’m in retail and I sell to people from both parties and help them make choices. edg, surely you have a republican friend or two or maybe even a family member.

    Get to know this group –they are artists, musicians, and extremely open people. They want diversity. Besides a school like Holton, tell me where we might find a diverse student body.

11. posted by Just Some Dude at June 17, 2008 9:06 pm :
    

    Besides a school like Holton, tell me where we might find a diverse student body.

    Albert Hill Middle School. About 1/3 are Upper-Middle Class kids from West of Blvd/Windsor Farms and about 1/2 are Gilpin Court/Jackson Ward kids. The rest are out-of-zone kids of various racial & socioeconomic makeup.

12. posted by gray at June 18, 2008 1:17 am :
    

    Okay, that makes two and there might me another out there but for the most part, Richmond Public schools are segregated economically and racially.

    And when it comes to middle schools, only two are fully accredited and those are Albert Hill and Henderson.

13. posted by edg at June 18, 2008 11:29 am :
    

    It’s just bizarre (the involvement of the Lexington Institute). These are the same people who are against publicly funded pre-k and kindergarten (http://lexingtoninstitute.org/1276.shtml), funding for English As Second Language programs (http://lexingtoninstitute.org/1277.shtml) and basically any other funding of special programs by the government. They are also (in general) against the funding of humanitarian for relief for other countries. I guess that’s a real Libertarian stance, which I am sure many people agree with.

    I think it does matter who is involved and who funds the initative. For example, take Narconon, which is a drug detox/ rehabilitation program found through the US. However, it is funded by the Church of Scientology and its goals are to recruit new members to its church. Creepy.

    For me, I really wish that this organization was not involved with PHSI. Its involvement invites criticism. And, I wonder what its motivation is behind this effort. Do we still need them? Can we cut the ties?

14. posted by gray at June 18, 2008 3:03 pm :
    

    RPS invites criticism by overseeing separate and unequal schools. RPS plays in the hands of the neocons by placing emphasis on multiple choice test scores, closing schools, and warehousing huge numbers of poor children in under funded, under staffed schools.

    edg, take a look at Massachusettes and their mix of schools. For urban areas, school choice from IB to Magnet to charters is the future. The days of everyone using a neighborhood school are gone. Don’t you think folk living in the poorest neighborhoods might not want to use their district school? Think of Bellevue, much like a charter, people have chosen this school –only 32 in zone families attend. Here in Church Hill we are paying property tax for students from Blackwell, Broadrock, etc. to attend Bellevue and I don’t have a problem with that except I too want choice for my children. To me, most RPS has set their standards so low that I’m looking for alternatives yet I can’t afford it because I’m constantly slipping and sliding between poverty and middle class. But next school year, my oldest will be attending private middle school because there isn’t a RPS school for her and the tuition payments begin in July less than a month after paying the huge realestate bill and this makes me so mad!!!! I’ve been living in this city for most of my 40 years and my family doesn’t want to move to the ugly counties, we don’t want to leave our home but our kids deserve more than the crappy education RPS is offering.

    edg, I’m not seeing a difference between our gang at city hall and the one in Washington. The is no difference between the wealthy and powerful democrats and republicans, they just use a different vocabulary to say the same thing.

15. posted by tiny at June 18, 2008 3:40 pm :
    

    I looked for you at the Bellevue fifth grade graduation and did not see you. My son is going to Albert Hill in the fall (through No Child Left Behind).

16. posted by gray at June 18, 2008 3:59 pm :
    

    Private middle starts in 5th grade so she is leaving Bellevue early. My little one might still be there next year. By the way, I’m not seeing anyone at the PTA meetings and there are only two PTA board members left and very little money to do anything come fall.

17. posted by gray at June 18, 2008 4:01 pm :
    

    And a big congrats on getting into Hill. I’m so happy for you –I know you were worried about that some months ago.

18. posted by tiny at June 18, 2008 4:38 pm :
    

    It was hard. It is only because I discovered that Hill was not properly following NCLB guidelines that dictate that any open slots must be filled by NCLB candidates BEFORE any slots can be offered through open enrollment or special permission. Hill was not following these guidelines.

    NCLB is the only way many families in this area can send their children to a decent school, because NCLB requires that transportation be provided (not available through open enrollment). It’s not the greatest system, but it’s one I have learned how to work.

19. posted by Ron at June 19, 2008 7:25 am :
    

    Does anyone with a few million spare dollars want to start a charter middle school?

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