THE BIGOTRY OF LOW EXPECTATIONS

Having been born in East Tennessee, I have a southern accent. It is not as bad as it used to be, but it is still there. When I was a young adult, I moved to California. It became quickly apparent to me that I had to clean up my redneck accent. I felt it would hold me back in any job or business I tried. I watched the anchors on TV and tried to speak like them. It worked to a degree. 

 

Recently, on a road trip across Georgia, I saw a sign on a cattle ranch. It said, "You don't need teef to eat our beef." Cute, but probably offensive to many in the south who have southern accents. Many people associate the southern accent with ignorance. Nothing could be further from the truth. The first people that settled our country spoke with the same southern accent. I know of many people with northern accents who are morons. Remember when LBJ first became President? He sounded like he just fell off a turnip truck. I am truly surprised that the country accepted it as long as they did.

 

The reason I’m bringing all this up is that a high-ranking education official in California wants to change that state’s grading system. He doesn’t believe any student should fail regardless of their test answers. They should be graded on effort rather than results. Another part of this idiotic philosophy is he does not believe certain students should be required to learn or speak standard English. The obvious victims of this nonsense are minority kids. He seems to believe that ebonics is the legitimate language of black people.

 

So what could this lead to? Young black people will apply for jobs unable to speak or write proper English. The disadvantage is obvious. President George W Bush often talked about the soft bigotry of low expectations. It’s still bigotry, it’s still bias, and it still has the same result as hard core, overt prejudice.

 

I have often wondered how people like this California educator get into positions that allow them to affect policies of a state. He obviously hasn’t thought this through.

 

More and more every day we are seeing the need of parental involvement in schools. As parents, we are responsible for raising our children, not some school board sitting in an ivory tower somewhere. The future of our country is in the hands of our offspring. If and what that future holds will depend entirely on the preparation of our children to take over. Right now, I don’t feel so good about it.

 

Ron Scarbro, May 2, 2023