Wednesday, November 25, 2009

NAACP examines its relevancy | tennessean.com | The Tennessean


NAACP examines its relevancy tennessean.com The Tennessean:

"Fifty-five years after its landmark school integration case, the national NAACP is doing some self-examination about its relevancy to members and the communities it represents. The issue carries particular importance in Nashville as the group tries to negotiate a settlement in its federal case questioning a school-rezoning plan."

The local NAACP contended the plan resegregated North Nashville schools, but the district argued that it put students in schools closer to home without seriously affecting racial balance.

When given the choice to continue sending their children to more racially diverse schools across town or enroll them closer to home, 62 percent of affected families chose neighborhood schools, a report made to the board by school district staff said. That figure led some to wonder whether all affected families are represented in a suit that seeks to undo the rezoning.

Edward Fuqua is helping his girlfriend raise her two children in North Nashville. Both are Metro Schools students they chose to send to Pearl Cohn High in their neighborhood after the rezoning was approved. Until a reporter told him, Fuqua had no idea that the NAACP and Metro Schools spent nearly two weeks in a federal courthouse this month battling over the rezoning. He said he doesn't agree with the argument NAACP attorneys are making.