I'm Dave, a member of UNO College Democrats and this is my humble addition to the blogosphere. I'll offer my own rants and ramblings about the state of local and national politics from an Omahan's perspective. Real change begins now, 2006, and we have a number of exciting candidates for office, and a number of generally enthusiastic people dedicated to getting them elected.
With that, here's some news for today, Wednesday, April 5:
Governor Heineman signed into law today a bill that will allow Nebraskans to carry concealed weapons. It is unfortunate that this kind of thinking still prevails. For an example, the UNO Republicans recently placed fliers around campus asserting that "More Guns = Less Crime," the kind of laughable logic that can only exist in a right-winger's mind. After all, these are the same people who honestly still believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, that there really were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that George W. Bush is competent, and that Tom DeLay is innocent.
DeLay, of course, announced yesterday that he would retire from the House of Representatives. As one final act of circumventing the democratic process, DeLay - who already won the Republican primary for the Texas 22nd district - is changing his residency to Virginia so that he will not be eligible to run for reelection. This basically allows the Republican Party to handpick a candidate without the bother of an open primary. The Democratic nominee is former Congressman Nick Lampson, who was defeated in 2004 thanks to DeLay's gerrymandering of Texas.
Another racist Republican. Not a big surprise, and hardly a surprise either that the target of his racism is Sen. Ernie Chambers. John DeCamp is running in the crowded 30th district, against Tony Ojeda and two other Republicans. The Democrats in the race are Jana Hafer and Norman Wallman. The controversy stems from a remark DeCamp made about kicking Chambers' "black you-know-what" all over the Senate. Typical of a racist apology, DeCamp denied that he was a racist, because his kids are half-Asian, and his legal aide is black. Racism, though, isn't just about who your friends are. You can be a racist and associate with, even be friends with, or live with, yes, even marry, someone of a different skin color. Racism is about prejudice and making crude generalizations. It's about denying people economic freedom, or thinking less of someone, because of their skin color.
John DeCamp may love his wife, may think the world of her, but when he calls her his "war trophy," it's hard not for me to think that he's an asshole, and a misogynist. Just like it's hard for me to think that the senators who struck down an integration amendment opposed it for any reason other than opposing integration. It frightens me to think, that 50+ years after Brown, that this is still a controversial issue that didn't even get ten votes. Westside and Millard Public Schools operate within the city of Omaha, but outside of the authority of the Omaha School District. This is inequality, the seperate but equal standard that Brown struck down. Legally, morally, ethically, OPS is in the right here. People are very resistant to change.
4 comments:
This is good information regarding local Omaha politics. Your blog is in my favorites.
One thing I'm not sure I can agree with you on is the OPS debate. I'm not sure how OPS can claim the success of the Millard school district and think that OPS will get any better once the takeover occurs. It sounds to me like money is the key motivator for the OPS takeover. If they actually cared about the students they would fix the schools that they already have before tainting the ones in Millard.
Certainly there are problems with OPS. But a public school cannot and must not shut out members because of geographic (which, in Omaha, is closely tied to economic) reasons. The racial structure of Millard schools vs. OPS schools is jarring. That's before we even touch Westside, a school that can afford to give all of its students laptops.
Money is indeed an issue here. A huge property tax base lies within District 66. Suburban students predominantly go to Millard schools.
One city, one district, might not be the perfect solution, but we need to do something to end what amounts to economic discrimination.
The reason the schools are segregated is because the city is segregated. The only way to integrate the schools is to start a massive busing program. How does it make sense to bus a kid from west Omaha to north Omaha for classes? I do not understand it. All their friends live next door or in the same neighborhood if they have to go north they lose that.
On a side note I understand the argument that all the money is in the west (because the land is valued higher) and it should be shared with the rest of the city. It is a valid argument and the only thing I can say is it doesn't seem like the pro-takeover reasons outweigh the con-takeover reasons. I guess I'm really not sure what the right answer is.
Certainly, but right now, those kids don't have a choice. As a perfect example, look at Westside. It's located near the geographic center of the city, but the population of the school is predominantly, bordering on exclusively, white. The students there get free laptop computers to use. Students at OPS schools are lucky if they have up-to-date textbooks, let alone desktop computers.
If it were only about money, I believe that OPS would be all for the compromise before the legislature. This is about a larger issue. Consolidating the districts doesn't end the inequality, but it's a step in the right direction.
Post a Comment