Decrying the lack of support for the diversity policy

Wow - I've been reacquainting myself with my personal life and other duties are calling, but have now scanned most of the posts since the election.

So much needless angst from some. Some fear we are going back to the 1940s, 50s or 60s (they've all been mentioned). Those decades were 40+ years ago and were about race, not class. They are OVER FOREVER. NO ONE wants to go back and thankfully there is no going back.

My brother (rest his soul) was born in 1949. He was black in the same sense as President Obama (white (German) mother, black father). When my mother and his father talked about marriage, they knew they could NEVER, NEVER go the father's home town in SC. They never did marry. When my parents married in the 50s, my (white) father adopted my brother. My father put in for assignments in the North, West or overseas, never the South (not hard to figure why - two white parents with a black son). Still even outside the South, sometimes my father would take my brother to the club on post (military) and when my father wasn't around some made comments to my brother. Those soldiers then likely about went in their pants when my father walked up and they realized my brother was the son of a higher ranked person. That was more than 40 years ago. That was then, this is NOW. Times have CHANGED. Attitudes have CHANGED FOREVER. Now to see mixed-race people, couples and families of many varieties is not a rarity. I see them in my neighborhood, family, stores, school and most people don't bat an eye. I did see an interview on CNN with an affluent, black women who said she felt invisible because she does not meet the stereotype. Why do some want to continue to perpetuate old stereotypes and ways of thinking? Time has moved on, society has moved on.

Are there still some racists? Yes, on all sides actually. I've had a few anti-white racist experiences. Do I let those define how I feel about black people? Of course not. I saw some report on an American Nazi party rally in DC. It was a busload of 30 people (rightfully so there were more protesters of the rally than Nazis - idiot Nazis combined the American flag with their Nazi crap - earth to idiots, America is about FREEDOM, the Nazis are about anything but - duh.) There will always be some idiots in any barrel, but for every idiot there are thousands of non-idiots.

Let's not let idiots define us, each other, our conversations with each other or have their way by putting walls between us. Let's not let the liberal fear-mongers do that either. This election was/is about moving FORWARD, not backward, and improving achievement for ALL students.

Turnout had nothing to with it. The polling results show that county-wide 61% oppose the policy, only 29% support and 10% were undecided. More A-A also opposed than supported the policy. Considering the status quo candidates in D1, D7 and D9 received around 35-40% of the vote, they did as well as could be expected. The majority of voters do not support the policy, because they do not believe it is needed and/or they see that is has not helped student achievement. Period.

Someone needs to point out to Fitzsimon that the civil rights issue of today is CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. That's pretty hard to do when the status quo folks running the school system EXPECT there to be a continuing gap and expect lower-income students to perform lower. Tell me again who has the problem with diversity? How is expecting less achievement of certain groups diversity? I'll NEVER get that. I thought that was being prejudice and the majority of We the People here are done with that thinking.

Off year elections are ALWAYS sparsely participated ..... the "pro-Diversity" board members who were defeated were likewise voted IN by a very small % of the community. Fitzsimons , like Perry Woods, is a spinmeister for his side.

Liberals NEVER lose elections ..... they just don't stuff the ballot boxes enough some times. EVERYBODY thinks like Fitzsimons, Rob Christensen, Kristin Collins etc ..... NOT!

I see it this way ... people admire Vernon Malone, chair of the 1976 Wake County Board of Education, for his leadership in consolidating the primarily Black Raleigh and primarily White County school system despite overwhelming rejection by White voters into an integrated school system where Whites will soon be a minority. But those who worked to reverse those gains (even unintentionally) will not receive the same admiration and accolades when people look back on their contributions …

Here's some slander for you:

Fitzsimon is a moron.

wow - a whole lot of whining and not one word about EDUCATING kids. When will they get it - their mythical hordes who are satisfied w/ the current policies are few and far between. And, while turnout was low, it was much more than elected this current board. Hardly a mandate there either.

'But even if Tedesco wins, there's time for the school system's supporters to get their act together and convince the new board that overturning the diversity policy would have disastrous consequences for thousands of kids and their families and hamper the county's economic development efforts.'

there it is... hamper the county's development efforts.
School are for educating kids, and the current board should not be touting their success when only 54% of ED kids graduate.

the anti-resegregationists, to follow fitzimon's nomenclature, were too apathetic to vote. why? because those that support the economic diversity policy, which I think most parents do to some extent, were not happy with the overall tenor of things the past few years, and thus not enthused enough to vote. i really am interested to see how the tedesco-truitt run off goes -- its being built up already as the ultimate last stand.

"The four resegregationist candidates received just over 18,000 votes combined..."

I don't consider that type of language "less emotional." More articulate maybe, but not less emotional. "Resegregationist?"