Put On Your Walking Shoes Because We Ain’t Done Marching Yet: New York 8th Grader Harassed Out Of School By Teachers After Submitting Essay Criticizing Racism In Education

Jada Williams was harassed out of her Rochester, N.Y. public school by white teachers who were infuriated by a contest essay she submitted on Frederick Douglass. The child said today's education practices is the equivalent of slavery, charged her peers to hold white teachers accountable, and challenged teachers to do their jobs.

The Bible says that “a child shall lead them” and that’s just what 13-year-old Jada Williams did,writing an essay on Frederick Douglass for a contest. Her very astute analysis describing modern-day classroom practices of “packing 30-40 students into a crowded classroom, and having mostly white teachers give them packets and pamphlets to complete that they don’t fully comprehend, impedes the learnig process; and that this produces results similar to those hoped for by a slave master that forbids his slaves from learning how to read at all”.  The very intelligent little girl’s essay called for her fellow students to ‘start making these white teachers accountable for instructing you’ and challenged teachers to do their jobs. ‘What merit is there,’ she asked, if teachers have knowledge and are ‘not willing to share because of the color of my skin?’ The essay infuriated the child’s teachers who launched a harassment campaign against her, which led to her parents having to remove Jada from her school. Many find the actions by educators at her Rochester, N.Y. school deplorable, outrageous, and note that any student should be applauded for critical thinking and obvious comprehension of the book she was assigned to read about Frederick Douglass. Singling out the child only exacerbates the long-standing argument that teachers, whites in particular, lack the basic practical knowledge to engage, stimulate, and properly educate children of color. Jada’s argument,  the continuous public debate, and the growing number of schools with massive academic failures primarily in impoverished communities is like a powder keg readying to explode while crying for complete reform in the manner the American Education Systems teaches our kids. The actions of these teachers are criminal, and though we should be outraged to the point of full-scale riot, perhaps the most criminal reality is that no Public Official, Clergyman, nor Black Leader has come forward to publicly denounce such blatant racism which directly impacted one of the communities most promising students. However, the cry for better education for American Children, especially poor kids who’s State elected officials routinely make it a point to allocate minimal funding for schools populated by African-Americans, is indeed an old commentary. Ultimately, the parents of these very same poor kids are responsible for demanding that the Educational System afford their children a more competitive learning instruction in the classroom. Jada Williams story is alarming, but we should expect such conduct from racist white Americans charged with educating our children. At what point will Blacks in this country realize that true equality has yet been achieved for our people? What will it take to spark a firestorm in our nation to resurrect black people’s interest to attack with fierce veracity to finish what the entire Civil Rights Movement never fully accomplished, and obtain full relief from hatred, bigotry, and outright racism from a sick and prejudice white America?  Such a perspective seems doubtful considering that many African-Americans in this country have become content with the limited freedoms afforded us by the Civil Rights era. It seems that this generation knows nothing about Fire Hoses, Police Dogs, and brutality that many southern blacks endured paving the way for many of the freedoms that we now enjoy.Racist people will continue to spew their sick hatred, but it’s time that a decisive message is sent that our children are hands off. The fact that these white teaches displayed such immaturity in response to a child’s thoughts, opinions based on her own critical analysis of an educational system failing to properly instruct her and her peers, only highlights that the little girl’s essay had complete merit. it was Dr. Martin Luther King who once said, “intelligence plus character is the true meaning of education”. Clearly Jada Williams spoke with pure intelligence in her essay, but what characterization is owed to a supposedly educated faculty who retaliated against one of the very children they are charged to encourage? The people’s Champion acknowledges Jada Williams for edifying the true spirit of learning and reading comprehension. I pray that black people in the masses by the 100’s of thousands fill the streets of Rochester, N.Y., and put on their walking shoes, because we are not done marching just yet.

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

David Adams

A Self proclaimed geek, Sympathizer for the homeless, Social Change Advocate, Crime Blogger, Promoter of Awareness for Missing and Exploited Children, and a mobile technology enthusiast. A recognized Journalist and Human Interest Writer championing the plight of the masses whom are without a voice of their own.

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Jada Williams was harassed out of her Rochester, N.Y. public school by white teachers who were infuriated by a contest essay she submitted on Frederick Douglass. The child said today's education practices is the equivalent of slavery, charged her peers to hold white teachers accountable, and challenged teachers to do their jobs.

The Bible says that “a child shall lead them” and that’s just what 13-year-old Jada Williams did,writing an essay on Frederick Douglass for a contest. Her very astute analysis describing modern-day classroom practices of “packing 30-40 students into a crowded classroom, and having mostly white teachers give them packets and pamphlets to complete that they don’t fully comprehend, impedes the learnig process; and that this produces results similar to those hoped for by a slave master that forbids his slaves from learning how to read at all”.  The very intelligent little girl’s essay called for her fellow students to ‘start making these white teachers accountable for instructing you’ and challenged teachers to do their jobs. ‘What merit is there,’ she asked, if teachers have knowledge and are ‘not willing to share because of the color of my skin?’ The essay infuriated the child’s teachers who launched a harassment campaign against her, which led to her parents having to remove Jada from her school. Many find the actions by educators at her Rochester, N.Y. school deplorable, outrageous, and note that any student should be applauded for critical thinking and obvious comprehension of the book she was assigned to read about Frederick Douglass. Singling out the child only exacerbates the long-standing argument that teachers, whites in particular, lack the basic practical knowledge to engage, stimulate, and properly educate children of color. Jada’s argument,  the continuous public debate, and the growing number of schools with massive academic failures primarily in impoverished communities is like a powder keg readying to explode while crying for complete reform in the manner the American Education Systems teaches our kids. The actions of these teachers are criminal, and though we should be outraged to the point of full-scale riot, perhaps the most criminal reality is that no Public Official, Clergyman, nor Black Leader has come forward to publicly denounce such blatant racism which directly impacted one of the communities most promising students. However, the cry for better education for American Children, especially poor kids who’s State elected officials routinely make it a point to allocate minimal funding for schools populated by African-Americans, is indeed an old commentary. Ultimately, the parents of these very same poor kids are responsible for demanding that the Educational System afford their children a more competitive learning instruction in the classroom. Jada Williams story is alarming, but we should expect such conduct from racist white Americans charged with educating our children. At what point will Blacks in this country realize that true equality has yet been achieved for our people? What will it take to spark a firestorm in our nation to resurrect black people’s interest to attack with fierce veracity to finish what the entire Civil Rights Movement never fully accomplished, and obtain full relief from hatred, bigotry, and outright racism from a sick and prejudice white America?  Such a perspective seems doubtful considering that many African-Americans in this country have become content with the limited freedoms afforded us by the Civil Rights era. It seems that this generation knows nothing about Fire Hoses, Police Dogs, and brutality that many southern blacks endured paving the way for many of the freedoms that we now enjoy.Racist people will continue to spew their sick hatred, but it’s time that a decisive message is sent that our children are hands off. The fact that these white teaches displayed such immaturity in response to a child’s thoughts, opinions based on her own critical analysis of an educational system failing to properly instruct her and her peers, only highlights that the little girl’s essay had complete merit. it was Dr. Martin Luther King who once said, “intelligence plus character is the true meaning of education”. Clearly Jada Williams spoke with pure intelligence in her essay, but what characterization is owed to a supposedly educated faculty who retaliated against one of the very children they are charged to encourage? The people’s Champion acknowledges Jada Williams for edifying the true spirit of learning and reading comprehension. I pray that black people in the masses by the 100’s of thousands fill the streets of Rochester, N.Y., and put on their walking shoes, because we are not done marching just yet.

 

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

David Adams

A Self proclaimed geek, Sympathizer for the homeless, Social Change Advocate, Crime Blogger, Promoter of Awareness for Missing and Exploited Children, and a mobile technology enthusiast. A recognized Journalist and Human Interest Writer championing the plight of the masses whom are without a voice of their own.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

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