A jury of Derek Chauvin’s “peers” found him guilty on all counts of murder: unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Millions reacted to this conviction in their homes, in the streets, on social media, on their own, in the company of others, or perhaps not at all. As the judge read the charges, perhaps many reacted with a sense of excitement, but folks in my circles reacted with a sense of relief and exasperation. George Floyd isn’t back so we’ll never get justice, but accountability was crucial here. Surely, this trial and the conviction would send a signal to the world that we’d find some form of accountability for these agents of the state whenever they performed as judge, jury, and executioner on a person’s life.
Then we found out that a police officer killed Ma’Khia Bryant only 800 miles away from when the conviction came down a short time after.
Therein lies the structural and deeply personal part of this conversation we need to keep having in America. Too many of us believe that simply changing the faces and phenotypes of the people entrusted to keep the social contract is enough. Too few of us see the ruse. In my heart of hearts, I do believe that much of the work we must do to make a better world rest in us doing so collectively, regardless and because of these differences that stratify us. However, the persistent lies and obfuscation we see play out in front of us lead me to believe we need a more urgent conversation than incremental solutions. Concurrently, words like CONTINUE READING: We're Not Even At Equality Yet | The Jose Vilson
Like most of America, I’ve been glued to the Derek Chauvin trial, watching the evening highlights, nail-biting Tweets–Why is this taking so long? —and cable news analyses. Have we moved forward as a society? Are we, if not woke, at least emerging with new awareness, from centuries of abusive and racist behavior?
Yesterday, before the verdict was announced, I caught the end of an on-the-street reporter’s comments, and she said school leaders–she called them ‘assistant principals’–were on the street with their HS students, awaiting the news, and chanting ‘You can’t stop the revolution.’
The reporter seemed surprised that school administrators would be positive about a student walkout, rather than threatening to put these uprisings on students’ permanent records. Students, it seems, in MN at least, have become more specific and articulate in their demands.
At Minnetonka High School, in Minnesota:
The district has followed through…adding hate symbols to the list of items banned in school dress codes, expanding its reach in hiring to target more diverse job candidates and creating an online reporting system for incidents of harassment and discrimination.
Students see the district’s unwillingness to acknowledge the specific pain or concerns of Black students, or students in other groups, as evidence that leaders haven’t or don’t CONTINUE READING: No Justice, No Excellence | Teacher in a strange land
After arriving home from school today, I turned on the television to learn that the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial had reached a verdict:
Guilty on all three counts in the death of George Floyd.
I thought of Darnella Frazier, the then-17-year-old who filmed Floyd’s death at the hands of Chauvin.
Darnella Frazier, a 17-year-old with a Smart phone doing what usually aggravates me as a teacher of high school students.
Those kids. Always on their phones. Reliant upon those phones and social media for everything.
Thank God for Darnella Frazier, who filmed a terrible incident and posted it to social media– and whose actions provided the ugly truth of those 10 minutes, placing it front and center for a country that cannot deny the video’s ugliness.
Thank God for Darnella Frazier, who helped our country make a critical, relief-laden shift toward the American Pledge of Liberty and Justice for All.
Thank you, Darnella.
1. To bring a case before any court, one must first establish “standing.” Typically this means proving specific individual harm resulting from the actions of another and demonstrating that the offending party has the power to change whatever’s causing the harm.
2. Being a taxpayer is rarely sufficient to prove standing in the courts to complain about how one’s tax dollars are being used, even if that use is clearly unconstitutional.
3. When it comes to violations of the Establishment Clause, however, unwanted exposure to the offense is often sufficient to show standing in the eyes of the law because, well… Establishment isn’t like anything else.
During the same session which determined in Board of Education v. Allen that states could provide textbooks to public and private schools alike without violating the Establishment Clause, even if many of those private school students were attending religious institutions, the Court announced in Flast v. Cohen that taxpayers had the right to oppose their tax dollars being used to do just that.
This was sort of news. It was also sort of confusing.
The case began when Florence Flast and other New York taxpayers objected to federal legislation which provided funds for the purchase of secular textbooks for use in religious private schools. They argued that CONTINUE READING: Flast v. Cohen (1968) - Part One: Stand in the Place Where You Sue (Think About Jurisdiction Wonder If You're Injured Now) | Blue Cereal Education
“Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.”
―
I tell you, I could go a long time without another week like last week. Unfortunately, early indicators are that more of the same with increased peril lies ahead.
This morning I scrolled through my Twitter feed with a deepening horror, recoiling from visages of last week and reactions from both sides. What finally stopped me dead in my tracks was the following tweet, “Unity comes after there are accountability and justice.” Words that chilled me to my bone and also filled me with great sadness.
I’m not going to give the Tweet attribution to anyone, because I want the focus to be on the words and not on the author. Suffice it to say, the source ain’t your crazy uncle who lives in your basement. But rather someone I have a deep respect for, which makes it more alarming.
The words serve as a revelation of priorities. Priorities are established based on individual CONTINUE READING: WHAT COMES FIRST, UNITY OR JUSTICE? – Dad Gone Wild
