Former President George W. Bush perfectly summed up how the political left viewed minorities, particularly black Americans, with his great phrase “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” I used the word “viewed” and put it in past tense on purpose, because Democrats have moved beyond the soft part and have reverted back to their blatant, unambiguous bigotry of days gone by.
This is what Democrats do, and how they think of minorities, particularly black voters. They’ve felt entitled to the black vote since the 1960s, and in many ways they’ve owned that vote, making that feeling somewhat justified. When you get something, no matter how you act or what you do, a sense of entitlement is only natural, and Democrats have a sense of entitlement when it comes to the black vote. Honestly, if Democrats actively set out to, say, destroy the education system in majority black cities it is unclear what they could do differently from what they’ve done.
Still, Democrats have a near-monopoly on the black vote because they’ve leveraged their positions of trust as elected officials to convince people the alternative, meaning Republicans, would be worse. How, exactly, remains a mystery.
That brings us to today. The thin veneer of concern in the “soft bigotry” of the left is gone, and that bigotry has hardened to a diamond.
The state of Oregon has suspended proficiency standards for students to graduate high school. Those standards required students to take a test, demonstrating they’d learned the basics of reading, writing, and math that you’d expect from someone deemed worthy of a diploma. But, as you’ve likely heard or guessed by now, the concept of standards and placing expectations on children to, after 13 years of education, have learned the basics is…wait for it…racist.
Yep, leftists in Oregon say having standards, no matter how low they are, disadvantages black and brown students. Actually, it’s not just black and brown students, it’s pretty much anyone off-white. A spokesman for Governor Kate Brown said the new standard of no standards would help “Black, Latino, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.” Why Hispanics required 3 versions of the same word, including one used almost exclusively by white liberals (Latinx), was not discussed, but it is likely racist as well.
This is absurd and racist, of course. It’s also odd that leftists suddenly care about the fate of Asian American students, considering they burn a lot of calories doing their best to discriminate against them when it comes to college admissions. But when you’re pretending to be anti-racist while being racist, you might as well toss in everyone, right? That’s what anti-racism is, at its heart.
The whole thing would be funny, were it not so disgusting and damaging. Black and brown students aren’t failing school, they’re being failed by schools. What the state is proposing to do is hide that fact, to kick the can down the road so the powers that be – teachers unions and Democrat politicians – won’t be blamed for the failures they’ve committed.
There isn’t a Republican in sight of these districts, let alone in charge. This is all Democrats. If minority students are getting through grade 12 without being able to read or write it is the fault of Democrats and the unions. Teachers failed these kids, and politicians failed to hold them accountable. Eliminating standards won’t correct that failure and it won’t make one child be able to read.
Across the country, everywhere Democrats have generational control in majority minority areas, the school systems are failing children and the adults who are supposed to care are scrambling to hide that fact. In Baltimore, for example, it is not uncommon for students to perform “10 grade levels below their age.” A Republican hasn’t sniffed power in Baltimore in more than 60 years.
As Democrats whine about “systemic oppression” in the United States, look at who created the “systems” in the places where the most damning inequality happens – in education. It’s not money, these jurisdictions inevitably spend more money per child than anywhere else. It’s a complete lack of accountability because unions fund the Democratic Party, and the continued lowering of expectations to cover up that failure is one of the few growth industries in Democrat-controlled areas of the country.
The hard bigotry of eliminating expectations is the natural evolution of Democratic Party policies, especially when the only other alternative would be to serve their constituents well. That’s now what Democrats do.