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Section: Opinion
Opinion
A De-Politicized Classroom: Possible or Impossible?
The ban on ethnic studies in Arizona has spawned a nationwide debate. The argument over ethnic studies has not been this mainstream since students first demanded and protested for race-based courses and departments four decades ago.  In the late 1960s and 1970s, AALANA (African-American, Latino/a, Asian, and Native American) students, teachers and professors clamored to convince […]
May 18, 2010
Opinion
Stop Objectifying Poor Students
The objectification of low-income students is a perennial problem in education research and policy that undermines the effectiveness of both. It has become so blatant that education researchers and policymakers do not even recognize it when it is right in front of them. It is a major challenge to providing adequate educational opportunity for low-income, predominately racial […]
May 17, 2010
Opinion
The Politics of Fear
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer just signed a law making it illegal for the state’s public schools to teach ethnic studies classes. Tom Horne, the state superintendent for public instruction who supported the legislation, said, “Traditionally, the American public school system has brought together students from different backgrounds and taught them to be Americans and to […]
May 16, 2010
Opinion
Four Misconceptions About Hip-Hop Based Education
While some people find inspiration in unexpected places, I sometimes find it in uninformed and anti-intellectual ones. On account of that inspiration, here are four common misconceptions about the growing body of educational work referred to as hip-hop based education (HHBE):   HHBE is about rap music. Hip-hop culture encompasses much more than rap music. […]
May 11, 2010
Opinion
On Elena Kagan: Is the Supreme Court Not a Civil Rights Issue?
President Obama is reportedly going to nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS), without even interviewing a single Black jurist. For many in his largely progressive base, Kagan’s appointment would be an unforgiveable betrayal—yet another by this president. For some, the most troublesome thing about Ms. Kagan is her sparse publication record. […]
May 9, 2010
Opinion
I’m All for Black/Brown Coalitions … But What About the Supreme Court?
Joel Dreyfuss, editor at The Root.com recently penned the article, “Why Blacks Should Be Outraged at Arizona’s Immigration Law.” Mr. Dreyfuss observes that “Black Americans have not turned out in large numbers at immigration rallies, despite the fact that many African-American politicians talk of the need for coalitions with Hispanics.”    And his is only […]
May 6, 2010
Opinion
A New Spotlight on Less Selective and Open Access Institutions
Recent passage of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act was a major milestone in American history, to be sure, for both health care and student loan reform but also for the $2.55 billion authorized for minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and the $2 billion competitive grant program established for the nation’s community colleges. MSIs and two-year […]
May 6, 2010
Opinion
How Do True Beauty and Ultimate Hate Reside Side By Side?
Since 2003, I have been taking a group of doctoral students to South Africa during the summer. Every year I am amazed and humbled by the absolute beauty of the country. When I look up at Table Mountain in Cape Town or take the ferry to Robben Island, my breath is taken away by the […]
May 2, 2010
Opinion
A “Green” Approach to Education Reform
During recent celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I could not help but think about the condition of the American education system as I listened to the alarming message from environmental experts about how “the world is in greater peril than ever” due to concerns about climate policy, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. […]
April 29, 2010
Opinion
Ugly Resistance Against the President Continues
Read the following examples: On April 15 (income tax day), more than 10,000 members of the recently formed tea party group converged on the nation’s capital to voice their resentment and erratic anger at government and at President Obama in particular. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell initially announced that the state had proclaimed April as confederate […]
April 28, 2010
Opinion
Curtailing Free Speech Due to Safety Concerns: Ploy or Reality
I am a lover of ideas. Old interesting ideas applied to new conditions, new fascinating ideas applied to old or new dynamics — I love them all. Most ideas form ideologies, which are usually located in this day and age along the ideological line that extends from the far left to the far right. Even […]
April 26, 2010
Opinion
The End of Something …
Well, my semester has finally ended, culminating the end of my first year at Lincoln. While I should write about how the 2009-10 academic year went, I figured I’d write about something else that happened on the same day my grades were due: my mother’s passing. Part of the reason why I came to Lincoln […]
April 25, 2010
Opinion
The Importance of K-12 Preparation
I received a call this week from the NAACP leadership in Chesterville County, Va., regarding the disproportionately low numbers of minority students enrolled in advanced placement, honors, gifted and other forms of advanced high school coursework there. The man I spoke with has a daughter who entered college with STEM aspirations only to be discouraged […]
April 21, 2010
Opinion
It is High Time for a Black Woman on the High Court: Part II
Am I the only one who finds it troublesome that of the three people widely reported as likely finalists for Justice John Paul Stevens’ soon-to-be vacant seat on the Supreme Court — all White, two of whom are women — there is not one African-American among the trio? This is hard to understand, particularly since, […]
April 19, 2010
Opinion
Crude Sexist Phrase From Cornell Professor Proves Intolerable
A disturbing, appalling, and revealing incident that occurred at Cornell University two months ago is finally receiving the spotlight and shame it so utterly deserves. Professor Grant Farred, a professor of English and Africana Studies from South Africa, invited two of his advisees, both African-American female graduate students, to a conference in early February on […]
April 15, 2010
Opinion
No (Black) Justice, No Peace?
Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation…want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters…. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”                                                                     –Frederick Douglass, 1857    This weekend, […]
April 15, 2010
Opinion
Gearing for the Stretch Run
One of the quirky aspects of being at Lincoln is that there is no spring break. As a result, the semester is an intense four months beginning in January and ending in mid-April. With just over two weeks until the end of the semester, many of my students are already looking ahead to their summer […]
April 15, 2010
Opinion
Refusing To Define Quality by Anything but Test Scores: Why?
Last night I was at a dinner party. The small gathering included eight Ivy League tenured faculty members. Although we were gathered to talk about another matter, the subject of test scores and college admissions surfaced. I won’t go into the details of the discussion, but, as you might expect, I had to say something. […]
April 11, 2010
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