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April 19, 2012
How many of us remember
being taught about Rosa Clark get-
ting on a bus to fight for equality?
(Yeah, it says ROSA CLARK, but
keep reading, it getsworse.)
Not many have heard that story,
I bet. But, according to a school
board member fromTucson which
really ought to be named
Racistville, Arizona, that story is
part of the “African American
Studies” that are still allowed in
classrooms there.
His idiotic statement that
demonstrates the effectiveness of
education in Arizona more point-
edly than anything I might say
came during a TV interview about
the school board members' cancel-
lation of all Mexican American
Studies programs. If I heard the
man correctly, the board members'
logic was that Mexican history
incited too much ethnicity in stu-
dents.
Huh?
OK, so I didn't believe it either,
and I was just dozing off when I
heard the interviewer on TV ask
the trustee if the board also
banned
“African-American
Studies”.
That's when he came up with
his brilliant Rosa Clark answer.
Yep, RosaClark.
Political correctness aside,
what is going onhere?
“We don't want these kids hear-
ing all that stuff about how this was
your country and the white man
came and took it away from you,”
the board member told the man
asking the questions.
Oh, well, heck, that makes per-
fect sense then, right? He made it
clear, too, that he never attended
any of the classes or read the
books used. He depended on
“hearsay” to make his decision to
cancel the program. Yep, he
described it as “hearsay.”
This is the state that has some
incredibly strict immigration regu-
lations on the books andwhere the
illegal alien situation is considered
by those in political office akin to
the bubonic plague orEbola virus.
So now children of all ethnici-
ties are not to be exposed to the
harmful elements of those nasty
old history books whichmight help
them become well-informed, edu-
cated and objective thinking
adults?
When a man with an obvious
and severe IQ deficit is the
spokesperson for a district ban-
ning historical and ethnic studies,
there really is nothing left to be
said.
And after all, I did learn some-
thing.
Without his help, I never would
have known about RosaClark.
And, if I were in New York,
school officials there would make
sure that my children and grand-
children were never subjected to
horrible, fright-
ening
and
upsetting words
like divorce,
dinosaur, birthday, pepperoni or
dancing.
You think I'm kidding, don't
you? Nope. The New York
Department of Education has
banned those words from all stan-
dardized tests in the state. They
are worried, they say, that those
horrible, ugly, nasty words might
“make some children uncomfort-
able.”
To that I said…well, I can't
repeat what I said. But believe
me, it was far more graphic than
any of the words these fools have
banned.
See, the word divorce might
upset children whose parents are
experiencing that situation and
dinosaur might confuse children
whose parents do not believe in
the theory of evolution. And birth-
day, well, Christian Scientists don't
celebrate those, so it shouldn't be
included. Pepperoni could be
interpreted as advocating junk
food, so it's a no-no and danc-
ing…well, come on, that one needs
no explanation, right? Anyway,
they didn't provide one.
Listen up you fools. It is your
job to help educate our children
Officials in Westland have proven they not only under-
stand Gov. Rick Snyder's new programs, but can find a way to
make themwork.
The governor made it clear when he took office that there
would be no more state shared revenue automatically flow-
ing into local communities without some conditions. One of
those was a demonstration that the communities were work-
ing to reduce spending and consolidating services in an effort
to provide the maximum efficiency at the lowest cost to resi-
dents.
It's pretty obvious that Westland officials took that serious-
ly. Faced with a projected $2 million deficit budget for the
next two years, they knew they hadwork to do.
The city entered into a joint agreement for recreation
serviceswith theCity ofWaynewhichwill allow themto close
the 45-year-old Bailey Center which is in need of some costly
repairs. They will also close the outdoor pool in the city, send-
ingWestland residents toWayne to swim.
A new plan will have one fire chief for both Wayne and
Westland, too, saving Westland about $180,000 annually and
about $140,000 inWayne.
Those measures alone will save the city an estimated
$900,000.
Taking the shared services even further, they have negoti-
ated an intergovernmental arrangement with Wayne County
that will put more traffic enforcement officers on the streets
at no cost to the community.
The Wayne County Sheriff will begin patrolling in
Westland using funding from the state. With the sheriff's
deputies taking up some of the road patrol duties, more
Westland officers should now be available for other police
duties in the city, providing more benefit and service to resi-
dents.
To make the deal even more attractive, the city and the
county will split any fines or fees from tickets issued by the
deputies to drivers inWestland.
Seems like a gooddeal all around.
Westland Mayor WilliamWild earlier this year announced
a combined water department effort with Canton Township
to share an employee, also saving the city funds.
All these intergovernmental efforts will ensure Westland's
eligibility for $1.7 million in state revenue sharing funds,
exactlywhat Snyder saidhad to be done to qualify.
Despite the predictedmillion dollar deficits, themeasures
taken by the mayor and the administration are expected to
result in a healthy budget surplus for the next two years.
That's quite an accomplishment, especially in a traditionally
Democratic area under the administration of a Republican
governor.
Wild and his staff have done an admirable job and he, and
they, have been open and aboveboard throughout the
process.
What we really admire, however, is the commitment to
open communication and response to the public demonstrat-
ed by Wild and the department leaders. They have not dis-
missed or denigrated the priorities of thosewho elected them
andwho still, through their taxes, pay the bills in the city.
We applaud the newbudget Wild recently presented to the
city council and the professional and respectful procedures
used to ensure the financial health of the community while
protecting the services the city provides to residents.
Libraries
are vital
services
”
Combining city services pays off for Westland
Wild and his staff have done an admirable job
and he, and they, have been open and
aboveboard throughout the process.
They are now longer the
musty, dark and stuffy rooms of
the past.
These days, libraries are one
of the hubs of the community and
their use continues to growas the
facilities providemore andbetter
services to the community they
serve.
In Canton, the library is
always full and always has pro-
grams ongoing for those of just
about every age. The same can
certainly be said of Romulus,
where the continued existence of
the community library was
threatened due to severe budget
cuts in the community.
There, a group of volunteers
saved the facility and continued
fundraisers until they had
enough financial wherewithal to
hire a professional director and
begin improving programs which
increaseduse.
Volunteers have continued to
staff the library to help defray
costs in Romulus where the loss
of the library would have been a
serious blow to the city.
In Wayne and Westland, too,
the library is a hub of the com-
munity. A recent in-house survey
in Wayne showed an increase in
use and service of the facility.
These community libraries
offer a lotmore than books on the
shelves. In Inkster, like all the
others, the Storytime programs
for pre-school and youngsters is
almost always filled to capacity
and gives little ones their first
experiencewith thewrittenword
and the worlds that reading can
open to them.
Libraries are now bright, airy
and fully wired for internet and
computer use. Librarians know a
lot more than how to use a card
catalogue and can help guide
library users through the most
complicated computer programs
with ease, all part of the service
the library provides.
These are community
resources worth saving, even in
these remarkably volatile finan-
cial times. That volunteers in
Romulus saved their library is no
surprise and that use is on the
rise in so many other communi-
ties is to be expected.
These facilities are, more than
ever, a needed community
resource.
See
Ignorance,
page 7
Letters
Apathy is great challenge
To the editor:
There was another wonderful
editorial in one of yesterday's
national papers titled “What Would
Atticus Do?” by WilliamMcGurn. It
brought backmemories of the great
Gregory Peck film “To Kill a
Mocking Bird”, and the prize win-
ning novel byHarper Lee.
The Trayvon Martin spectacle
draws a great parallel to Lee's story
and the assumptions about race.
In his editorial, McGurn says,
“One of the cliches about great lit-
erature is that it challenges what
we take for granted. Heroic litera-
ture especially underscores the
loneliness of those who take a
courageous stand.”
The irony here is your editorial
this April 5, “The Public is shrug-
ging off apathy and being heard” is
in the same class as McGurn's arti-
cle, and gets right the crux of the
today's current struggle for justice
and liberty.
You said, “These days, many of
those leaders understand the
importance of listening to the citi-
”
When a man with an obvious and severe IQ deficit is the
spokesperson for a district banning historical and ethnic
studies, there really is nothing left to be said.
A degree of ignorance in education
See
Letters,
page 7