Rhetoric Race and Religion
R3 Contributor
*This is a response to the planned closing of 13 schools in Memphis, Tennessee by the Shelby County School Board.
In one of the most thought-provoking and controversial songs released in 2011 was Lupe Fiasco’s “Words I’ve Never Said”. There is a piercing line in the song that speaks to the paradox of local educational institutions today. Lupe said, “…your child’s future was the first to go with budget cuts… if you think that hurts, then wait, here comes the uppercut… the school was garbage in the first place… that’s on the up-and-up!” The lyrical landscape lifted up here describes the complexity of contemporary educational purposes and practices. In our market-driven, consumerized and capitalistic culture, education has become commodified (consider all of the For-Profit Educational Institutions that are popping up and expanding all over the country). This means that education is currently viewed merely as a means to an ends of achieving capital and material goods (not for the development of self-esteem, personal pride and civic responsibility). Under this rubric the function of a school is to prepare one to be an effective earner and spender in a society that is concerned more with profit than it is personhood.
When these realities prevail we find schools that are clearly missing the mark but still mean something to the personality of a community, even when the community is in decline. As an educator, I understand the value of learning; it is the foundation of liberation and psychological stability. Nevertheless, I sympathize with those who have to make the crucial decisions on whether or not a school is functional or failing (and sometimes both can be true). I would like to see more legislative, fiscal and individual investment in community schools before we commit to detouring our children’s futures. When schools close the moral of the community takes a major hit as well. But dilapidated schools that provide substandard educations do an equal amount of harm to the geographical locations in which they are planted.
The future of a community lies in the ability of its children to receive adequate and effective educations. But the merger of the schools systems (which I supported and continue to support) has intensified the economic disparity and educational inconsistencies all the more. Equal access and equal opportunity educations are now presumed to be established by funneling children to neighborhoods where they are not looked at as neighbors but as foreigners and intruders. Before we close these schools let us find meaningful methods of reconnecting the school to the neighborhood through partnerships with faith-based organizations, local business and other neighborhood institutions that can equip those who are educators with the necessary tools (and compensation) to make a positive impact on the lives of the students as well as a renewed appreciation for the schools themselves. I do not believe we have sincerely exercised this option… yet. Therefore, the closing of the schools seems a little premature, preemptive and part of a larger plan of gentrification and exploitation.
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