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Ron Jackson's Perspective
The Sunday Journal -
Think
Kankakee, Illinois
November 6, 2005
Misunderstood again |
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Although my aim has been to write my
column at a seventh-grade reading level, it is still sometimes
misread, misunderstood, and misinterpreted by some readers who may
have completed a grade beyond the seventh.
For instance, the William Bennett column elicited some
responses from some who have college degrees, yet they read into my
column things I did not say. Or as we sometimes do, they read
into it what they wanted to read. My clarifying response to a
couple of those readers was also misread.
Ms. Karie Ellison read into my response that I grilled
kids and wanted them to make a perfect effort to achieve better
grades. I clearly said (read this out loud and s-l-o-w-l-y)
that I only ask kids I work with to give their best effort.
Not once did I mention perfect. She went on to add that I said
there are no racist teachers. I never said there were no
racists anywhere. Space did not allow me to point out that
some of the teachers accused by some kids of not liking them because
they were black were also black.
Her contention that I "...tried too damned hard to
please white people for too long," is, as boxer Mike Tyson would
say, ludicrous. My experience with racism would make me an
expert on the subject. Not from studying centuries-old
injustices or decades-old reports, but from living with and being
raised with racists. Two of the biggest racists I know won't
be found in history books. They are a part of my family. One is
black and one is white.
How my simple response to Nickey Yates could be
construed as attacking another black man, I'll never understand.
I didn't seek out Yates; he invited himself into dialogue with me.
I deliberately used the words, "think" and "know" because Yates took
the liberty of using those same words to make his point about me.
Disagreeing with a person of the same race is not attacking.
Contrary what Ms. Ellison and Yates may think, all blacks do not
think, look, or vote alike.
Although I disagree with her regarding the last
Kankakee mayoral campaign, I respect her "white opinion" that Yates
was definitely a victim of racial discrimination.
To further share a bit with Ms. Ellison, and I hope she
does not misinterpret this, I have too much respect for all teachers
to ever discount their ability to teach a student who really wants
to learn. It amazes me that every February we hear of blacks
who succeeded in getting an education when it was illegal to teach
them.
Historical events of the 1957 Little Rock Central High
School Nine and 1963 former Alabama Governor George Wallace vowing
to prevent blacks forever from ever entering the University of
Alabama are examples of blatant racism. Nonetheless, not even
those were insurmountable obstacles.
As one successful, elderly black man told me, "If I
learned how to count and write by writing in the dirt with a stick
and erasing with my hand, these kids can surely learn with all the
opportunities they have."
I can appreciate Ms. Ellison's response. She is
entitled to her opinion of me. However, to put me in the same
sentence with George Bush for any reason was downright cruel.
My opinion of Bush is well known. I have attacked him and his
policies on several occasions, but no one has written in and said I
was trying too hard to please black people because of it.
The likes of Ms. Ellison and Nickey Yates can play the
race card as long as they want, but not at my expense and not at my
casino. For Ms. Ellison's sake, that was rhetorical. I
do not have a casino. |
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