Turnabout IS Fair Play...Finally...


If you want a good read to go with your morning cup o' Joe (and some "Yin" to go with your "Yang"), take a gander at an article written by Kathleen Parker (Washington Post Group). The title of the article is: "Culture Is No Excuse For Horrible Behavior".

In Charleston, S.C. a white teacher won a court ruling that said she had been subjected to a RACIALLY HOSTILE WORKPLACE.
Imagine that.
The teacher in question (Elizabeth Kandrac) was routinely verbally abused by black students at Brentwood Middle School in North Charleston. The slurs made shock jock Don Imus look like a church deacon. Even after frequent complaints, school officials did nothing, arguing that the racially charged profanity was "simply part of the students' culture". I know EXACTLY how she feels, and I'm not even a teacher! I just happen to live among "people" such as the ones described.

Kandrac filed a complaint with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), and brought a lawsuit against the school district, the principal, and an associate superintendent. And last fall, the jurors found that the school WAS a "racially hostile" environment to teach in, and that the district retaliated against Kandrac for complaining.
(Score one for the GOOD GUYS.)
The defendants sought a new trial, and the U.S. district judge reaffirmed the verdict.
(Score ANOTHER ONE for the GOOD GUYS.)
But the judge did NOT support the jury's findings of $307,500 in damages for lost income and emotional distress.
(Damn...and we were doing so well)
Suffice it to say the teacher had been fired from her job after the EEOC complaint hit the media, and her contract was NOT renewed. A new trial would be needed to determine damages, but the district settled on $200,000.
End of story, right? Not quite...

Was the students' behavior anything less than reprehensible?
Most definitely.
Were the students held accountable for their language by the school?
Not really. (it was stated that since they heard language like that "at home", it was considered "normal" for their culture.)

Back in the day, if ANY student had filth such as these kids diplayed towards their teacher issue forth from their mouths, justice would have been swift...and final. Whether it was a solid THWACK across the face (Parochial students know this all too well), a suspension and THEN sent home to face your parents (uh...oh)...or whatever...it worked. Even a male war veteran stated he rather be in Vietnam than in Brentwood Middle School...well that speaks volumes, doesn't it? The corroboration in Kandrac's behalf was damning to the school...why? Because it was ALL TOO TRUE. It makes me wonder how "tolerant" the FWCS is on issues like this?

But let's look at the other side of the coin...."IF" majority WHITE students had used similar language toward a BLACK student or teacher, the case would have been plastered on the front page of the New York Times (along with every other tabloid, and mainstream media channel) until some heads rolled. Had Kandrac been BLACK, she would have nailed down a million dollar book deal, a movie contract, and hundreds of interviews on every show imaginable. Her oppressors would have been all but drawn and quartered in the public arenas, their faces flashed nightly on the news for WEEKS. Jackson and Sharpton would be in Kismet over the attention THEY would receive with their organized protests (read potential rioting).

As Kathleen Parker states in the article: "Though Kandrac lost her job, the real losers are the children deprived of an education by the actions of a tyrannical few. And the WORST racists are the teachers and administrators who denied these empowered brats (she's MUCH too kind calling them brats, imho) the expectation of civilized behavior."

Now to me, this should be a wake up call to the rest of us. Giving anyone a "free pass" to subhuman behavior all for the sake of "cultural diversity" is not what I like to think of when I think EVOLUTION. I see it (and hear it) every damn day in my neighborhood. And the rest of you probably see it (and hear it) when you're at a public venue such as a mall, or restaurant, or even at the zoo.

At the zoo, the difference between the ones INSIDE the cage and the ones OUTSIDE the cage is usually the fact that the ones INSIDE the cage can't help the way they act; Those on the OUTSIDE of the cage CAN...but DON'T (or won't).

That's why I enjoy the zoo....They're BETTER-BEHAVED animals, no matter how many feet they might have, or what color their stripes might be.