Florida Not A Great Place To Get An Education

Book: I stopped by the library the other day and there were a lot of nice looking (visually) books. I borrowed Heart of Atlanta: Five Black Pastors and the Supreme Court Victory for Integration By Ronnie Greene. The book is not a great place to look for the law (e.g., there was no Eleventh Circuit then) of this important case that upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The book is better in getting the people story, especially the various black clergy who protested.  It is written by a journalist and he also puts it into the wider context of things, ending with a reference to Black Lives Matter.  It would be good for a young adult library though fine for adults too.  One thing it has is an extensive discussion of how it obtained its material. 

We also get a lot on Lester Maddox, a dead-ender, who refused to integrate his restaurant (HOA eventually did desegregate). OTOH, he did become governor. Sorta not a bad booby prize.  Maddox was partially angry because blacks actually had voting rights in Atlanta, as shown by them stopping him from being mayor.  

Maddox ruled as a populist sort as governor and made some effort to give blacks government spots.  But, he held his grudges, including his reaction to MLK's funeral.  Maddox, to be clear, did not just want to keep the feds off his business. That's a common line.  He CHOSE to keep blacks out.

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Slavery, segregation, eugenics, redlining — these are all irrefutable historical facts. Educating young minds about these topics in an age-appropriate and sensitive manner should be acceptable practice to those on both ends of the political spectrum.

[I wrote most of this entry on critical race theory, but a high school teacher in a Bronx school wrote the last portion.] 

This sort of history, include all the messiness involved, should be part of our educations. I continue to educate myself, certain books more education, that that enjoyable as books qua books.  And, education includes children and colleges.  This scares some people.  Fear often leads to attacks, even when the fear is based on chimeras.  

[This violent threat of a dictionary company is but a blatant example. Hate crimes come in various forms. To be clear, like the 2016 election, this stuff will cause real harm.  Real fucking harm.]

The front-line in the war against education -- though others like the new Republican governor of Virginia take part -- is Florida.  There is a mix of factors here.  We have the "don't say gay" mixed with anti-trans stuff, the latter polluting our country at the moment in many states.  

There is some mix of critical race theory phobia and other teaching styles that scare people, leading to certain math textbooks somehow a problem.  The need to stop "bad ideas" includes targeting Disney (who GLBT groups argue were too weak protesters anyway), tenure, and academic freedom.

The laws will potentially go beyond education in some fashion, one "individual liberty" type law seems to applicable to businesses too.  What exactly these laws will do is unclear.  They -- like the abortion ruling coming in June -- will likely require some work for judges.  But, the basic negative reaction from people who aren't assholes is on the money.

The whole thing has shades of ugliness and ignorance, which are often related.  Siblings even, since I'm writing a lot about symbolism lately.  As we need to continue to fight, it is all so depressing.  And sad.  Florida is the third most populated state.  Texas has its own ugliness, and it is the second most.  

We have so much further to go.