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THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF THE MADISON TIMES WEEKLY NEWSPAPER |
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| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
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Need for regional solutions Dear Editor, I write to express opposition to a unilateral Madison inclusionary zoning ordinance. This proposal will in fact increase home rental and sale prices. Your last edition was excellent in the profile of diverse Madison affordable home projects. Habitat for Humanity and the Madison Land Trust are splendid projects that deserve more support. The Twin Oaks development is incredibly exciting. You quote McFarland resident Carol Lobes about the Madison need for inclusionary zoning. Ms Lobes, as a former McFarland official, won't propose this ordinance for her community. What? McFarland resident and UW-Madison official Brazell has been appointed to lead a City of Madison committee. What? What about some of these unilateral proposals for McFarland, Verona, Sun Prairie, or Middleton? We now confront a unilateral Madison minimum-wage proposal as our mayor states the proposal won't have much effect. What? These proposals don't include economic impact statements. Part of the problem is the UW LaFollette Institute and the UW Political Science departments that harbor some professors who have earned the naive ear of our mayor. We need regional solutions. Eugene Parks, Evading racist e-mail Dear Editor, I read with interest and concern the two articles by members of the Madison School District Board (MMSD). The first titled, "MMSD Board leadership needed to engage the community," was from School Board Members Ray Allen and Ruth Robarts. The other, "District's examination of race on the right track,” was from School Board members Carol Carstensen, Bill Clingan, Bill Keys, Juan Jose Lopez, and Shwaw Vang. I don't really take issue with their positions and perspectives on the discussion of race relations that is now an ongoing process in the MMSD. I applaud their attitudes toward diversity and its significance to the district as a whole. But how we get to where we need to be is where we diverge into differing spheres of thought. I read Ray Allen and Ruth Robarts' opinion and share their hope that the MMSD staff, with the help of Glen Singleton, will one day come to understand all students, their families, and their communities. I also share the observation by Mr. Allen and Ms. Robarts that the Board of Education should not rely on Glen Singleton and his program alone to improve the relationship between schools and the community at large. Subsequent-ly, and to illustrate the needed leadership, Mr. Allen and Ms. Robarts outlined five initiatives, which serve to demonstrate the engagement of the School Board with the community, which again is a good idea. Allen’s and Robarts’ proposals included granting Wexford Ridge a new community center, which would certainly be a show of sincerity and good will. Involving students of color in extracurricular and high-engagement activities is an excellent way to involve minority students. Ending racial and income disparities in how discipline is doled out to students would demonstrate a change of attitude by the status quo. Engaging the Madison community, especially its people of color, is a good start toward meaningful dialogue that could eventually help identify strategies to close the achievement gap, and actively listening to MMSD staff, to some degree, would also provide invaluable references for improving academic life for students of color. It all sounds great, and both the liberal and conservative ideological spectrums are represented, neatly emphasizing mutual cooperation and working together toward these goals, which, again, I support whole-heartedly. But I don't see this as the district embarking on a long-term venture to address the issues of race in Madison. I see mainly the denial by all these opinionated board members, Superintendent Art Rainwater, and the MMSD administration of the racism inherent in the educational system in Madison. A good example of their denial and deliberate avoidance, is how Rainwater and the MMSD have systematically and purposely tried to evade publicly addressing the letter from a group of MMSD educators calling themselves MMSDTeach 1960. The letter, a highly racist reaction to Glen Singleton's workshop on race in September, amounted to a very close-up and intricate look at the racism that lives in the MMSD among teachers and other support staff. MMSDTeach1960 positively identified itself in the e-mail to Rainwater as a group of MMSD educators. As you can plainly see, in the opinions rendered by our seven Madison School Board members in their editorials, none of them have openly mentioned or publicly discussed the racially charged contents of the letter MMSDTeach1960 sent to Rainwater. Neither has Rainwater himself acknowledged that the letter indeed came from members of his staff demonstrating their values and beliefs about race as well as their dislike for Glen Singleton and his confrontational workshop. The comments made by MMSDTeach 1960 regarding people of color, particularly African American children and their families, were insensitive, cruel, scandalous, and insulting. Many of MMSDTeach 1960's comments were straight out of the Ku Klux Klan text book on “how to be an effective racist while disguised as a schoolteacher." Many of the stereotypes that were used and directed toward Black students and their families are a direct throwback to early civil rights struggles, when police clad in riot gear beat, put their dogs on, and hit Black protesters with batons while spraying them with fire hoses to prevent them from asserting their basic civil rights. MMSDTeach1960's remarks are an open book on the deeply rooted prejudice and racial bias prevalent among certain MMSD staff, especially a few older White teachers. All those articulate and intelligent board members ought to recognize this assault for what it is and speak out on it, but they lack the courage and won't. Their silence tells me something, as does the inaction by Rainwater and his administration on the letter from MMSDTeach1960. It tells me that they don't get it! It is not my intention to cast negative aspersions on Mr. Rainwater or the Madison School Board. It is my intention to call attention to their inaction, and to ask them to act in an honest manner on the many problems confronting people of color in the Madison public schools. After reading a recent article in The Capital Times, detailing the failure of our fourth graders in reading and math, I think it is rather far-fetched to assert that the Madison School Board or the MMSD administration is committed to any meaningful equity and diversity, especially since Wisconsin ranks the highest for failing fourth graders in these categories. Their inaction and dismissal of the openly racist letter by MMSDTeach1960 indicates that I am accurate to that regard. That is why it is hard for me and for many other well-meaning people of color in the Madison area to have any confidence in the words that these BOE members have written in your publication. Simply add up the staggering statistics on minority failure, expulsions, and low achievement in the MMSD, and the picture becomes increasingly clear, as do the answers. The picture that is beginning to emerge and is becoming increasingly clear is that helping minorities gain educational parity in the MMSD is nothing more than a myth, in terms of closing the achievement gap. It remains a rather low priority. Minorities, in response, are beginning to open their eyes to how that myth is being perpetuated. We are also beginning to question why our kids are failing year after year. Part of the reason that the MMSD, the MMSD Board, and the local media are trying so hard to ignore the letter to Rainwater is to insure that the myth is continually bought into and furthered by keeping minorities thoroughly brainwashed as to the real effects and consequences of racism against them by a few well-connected MMSD teachers and administrators. Allen and Robarts come the closest to getting it by saying that it is leadership that is needed on the MMSD Board to engage the community, but their silence on MMSDTeach 1960's views on race are potentially harmful to students of color as well as to the community at large. I hope that The Madison Times and its readers won't buy into the evasiveness and cynicism that has been cleverly displayed by these MMSD School Board members. Lendell S. Alston, President Berkley Park Neighborhood Association Member, Northside Planning Council MCHC needs your support Dear Editor, You [and your readers] make a difference! During the past three months, over 1,400 men, women, and children received medical care at the Madison Community Health Center (MCHC) and over 300 of these people were first-time patients. Because of you, we are increasing our capacity to provide medical and dental services for the most vulnerable residents of our community. Sadly, many in our community continue to face difficulty accessing affordable medical and dental care. Every day we hear their stories: parents who struggle to find needed health care for their children; working men and women who cannot afford health insurance; seniors who cannot afford their Medicare co-payments or prescriptions; and children who consistently miss school because of dental pain. With your support MCHC has, for over 20 years, been able to provide medical services to people in our community who face finanical, language, and cultural barriers to acessing care. Your assistance also allowed us to add dental care to our services during 2003. Unfortunately, the demand for our services continues to grow. We are still forced to turn away several hundred people each month. We hope you will help us realize our goal. We want to increase our capacity for both medical and dental services, to help the most vulnerable residents of our community gain access to the care they need. MCHC continues to give priority to individuals and families with the greatest needs and fewest resources. With your help, we can do more. Your contribution will go directly to the delivery of medical and dental care. • $5,000 will provide physical exams for 50 infants. • $2,500 will treat 15 people with severe dental pain. • $1,000 will screen 20 women for cervical cancer. • $500 will help 10 children suffering an acute ashtma attack receive a nebulizer treatment. • $250 will test 20 people for high cholesterol. • $100 will purchase flu vaccines for 14 elderly patients. Because MCHC is a tax-exempt organization, your contribution is also deductible to the extent of the law. Your investment will show returns of health and well-being for many of your neighbors for years to come. Brad Murphy President, Board of Directors Barbara Snell, Executive Director Safe community coalition Dear Editor, Hardly a day goes by that we are not reminded that in a growing community, swelling traffic makes it more difficult and often very dangerous for everyone, especially our children and older adults, to cross the street, walk, or ride bikes to school. At the same time, the majority of our personal injuries occur in our own homes. All of us know an older adult — perhaps a close relative — who has broken a hip or sustained a head injury during a fall at home. Unfortunately, even in a community as wonderful as ours, we still live with far too much pain and suffering as a result of injuries that can be prevented. In Dane County, unintentional injuries are the number one cause of death for children under 14. Falls are the number-one cause of injury-related death among older adults. Car crashes continue to take too many lives. The good news is these tragic injuries can be prevented with your support. Since 1999, the Safe Community Coalition has brought people and organizations together to make our community a safer place. With more than 300 members, we are the recognized leader in injury-prevention and traffic-safety programs. With your strong support, we will build on the successes of our "Pedestrian Flags over Dane County," "Stop on Red," "Walk Our Children to School Week," and "Slow Down Campaign." As an active coalition member, you will be working side-by-side with public officials, neighborhood and health-care leaders, public-safety representatives, and business owners on projects that truly make a difference in our community. Remember, 90 percent of injuries are preventable. With your support we can achieve our vision of a safe community. For more information about the coalition, our projects, and members, visit our Web site at www.safecommunitycoalition.org Cheryl Wittke, Executive Director Safe Community Coalition of Madison and Dane County
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