
 |
|
May 13, 2013
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Jan. 8, 2007
/ 18 Teves 5767
The powerless need to hear the truth, too
By
Clarence Page
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Oprah Winfrey's poke at the short-sighted materialism of some low-income students has delighted conservative commentators, but that doesn't mean she's wrong.
Liberals love to "speak truth to power," but the powerless need to hear the truth, too. Knowledge, after all, is power. Don't keep it to yourself, I say. Spread it around.
That's why the Queen of Daytime Talk did poor folks a favor when she candidly explained in a Newsweek interview why she decided to build her lavish new school for impoverished teenagers, the $40 million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, in South Africa instead of the United States. South Africa's students, she said, show a greater need and appreciation for education, even though American schools are free.
"I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools (in America) that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn't there," she said. "If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don't ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school."
Having reported from South Africa at various times since the 1970s and as the parent of a black American teenager, I agree with Winfrey. She's not blaming the victims. Our kids don't know anything except that which they are taught by parents, peers, teachers and other role models. My folks didn't need college degrees to know that as they let me know on a daily basis.
Yet, those sentiments sound so politically incorrect these days that it's easy to understand why Fox News Channel's John Gibson sounded shocked Shocked! at Winfrey's quote. "Uhh, just asking, but can anybody else in America say that and get away with it?," he opined.
And Rush Limbaugh responded with similar astonishment. "This is quite Cosby-esque of the Oprah," he said, approvingly. That, of course, was a direct reference to Bill Cosby, who sparked a backlash from some quarters for lashing out at parents who provide their kids with overpriced gym shoes instead of assistance with their homework.
Indeed, there were some critics who accused Cosby (incorrectly, in my view) of blaming the victims. But having paid close attention to the reactions Cosby has received since his first bombshell in 2004, I have heard more positive than negative responses from black parents and from educators of all races. Nevertheless, in our dispute-driven news media culture, conflict sells.
A similar "Cosby-esque" frenzy has swirled up in recent days around Herman Badillo, the first native-born Puerto Rican elected to Congress, for writing in his new book, "One Nation, One Standard," that too many of his fellow Hispanic-Americans are stuck in poverty because they don't value education enough.
"Education is not a high priority in the Hispanic community," wrote Badillo, 77, a Democrat-turned-Republican and former mayoral candidate. "Hispanic parents rarely get involved with their children's schools. They seldom attend parent-teacher conferences, ensure that children do their homework, or inspire their children to dream of attending college."
Unfortunately, Badillo is right and not only about Hispanics. Indifference to education is unfortunately epidemic across racial and ethnic lines, but it is particularly damaging to the poor. For earlier waves of immigrants to America, unskilled jobs were much more plentiful. Upward mobility for most of today's kids already requires at least a couple of years of schooling beyond high school.
Yet, instead of discussing the worthy points Badillo raises, many will try to shout him down. Bronx Democratic leader José Rivera already has blasted Badillo in a New York Post interview as a "total insult" to Latino parent-advocates. That's OK, Badillo says. He wanted to stir up a dialogue. The controversy will help him sell a few more books, too. Puerto Ricans certainly are not the only Americans who need to read it.
With that in mind, I don't mind the lavishness of Oprah's academy, although it has come under fire from other critics on the right and the left. Sure, the $40 million could have serviced 10 times more students in more modest surroundings. But, why shouldn't bright and promising future African leaders have a learning environment at least as nice as that enjoyed by the Ivy League elites who populate America's leadership class?
Besides, if we really want our kids to appreciate education, we should follow Oprah's example: Fix up the old, crumbling structures into which we herd too many of our students here at home. If we want our kids to appreciate education, we have to show some respect for it, too.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment on Clarence Page's column by clicking here.
Archives
© 2007, TMS
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|