Came into the office this morning and there was a water cooler group debating about this woman Melissa-Harris-Perry who is some kind of educator wanting the government to take over the children from the parents to provide for them. Have not had time to research her. One co-worker is telling me she is getting national attention for her views on destroying the parent-child relationship and have the state/federal government take over the role in a collective relationship. Is she a communist or a socialist? Figure I throw this question out to those who would know here.
Here's what she said: "We have never invested as much in public education as we should have. We haven’t had a very collective notion of, these are our children. We have to break through our private idea that children belong to their parents, or children belong to their families, and recognize that children belong to whole communities. Once it’s everybody’s responsibility and not just the household’s, we start making better investments." If that's what you & your co-workers see as commie views then I guess she's a damn commie........ The limited fucking labels & boxes that some of you self proclaimed "educated" & "free thinking" people on the internet choose to place other people in cracks me the fuck up......
So it's commie thinking to suggest that society as a whole should be invested in the education & betterment of children?
Come on. Prisons NEED inmates. Leave those kids alone to be all they can't be. Woulda repped ya Ra if I could:smt038
what she said is nothing no different from "it takes a village to raise a child" when these "CONS"servatives talk ,and yes they are cons, think the opposite then you have the truth she is a black woman on MSNBC on the weekends. she is a professor at tulane. she is a bad ass woman. she is of mix-race...father black mother is white
I've said it before about this dude, he likes to throw out opinions & commentary about everything & 99.9% of the time when he does has no real response when challenged on his opinions because as we see here with this thread, he doesn't know what the fuck is what. How ignorant do you have to be to start a thread about a person and what they aledgedly said and not only not know who that person is or what they actually said, but don't even bother to find out who they are and what it was that they actually said before starting said thread and think somehow you're going to hold your own in any discussion on the topic??:smt017
Ok, I might get run over for this thought, but here it is: Is there a danger that we already consider that our kids belong to the community but not in a good way? I think a lot of parents pawn their kids off on the rest of the community to raise them. I totally understand the point Harris-Perry is making, but I'm not optimistic that what she proposes is possible. Parents count on teachers to not only educate their kids but sometimes raise them too. Meanwhile, teachers are counting on parents to teach their kids basic values and actually raise them to be responsible human beings. The rest of us sit around and wonder why too many kids are being raised up uneducated, with no morals and values or respect for human life. Do we as a community (the village) really care enough to collectively raise and educate kids?
The black community, once out of necessity, was very much like that. That's why many of us black folks, especially those of us who actually remember & experienced that collective community caring are pissed & frustrated at the current state of the black community. I don't know if America as a whole can ever be like that. Too much shit on so many levels are just so screwed up. I think America may literally have to implode to wake everyone up and reboot shit the right way.
There used to be a time when I think the "It takes a village to raise a kid" mentality was practiced in most communities. But nowadays, if you see the neighbor kid doing something inappropriate and call his/her parents to let them know (however nicely), your concern is not appreciated. You will likely be told to mind your own business.
I feel you. There are still places where community caring still exists however. Just not as widespread and encompassing as it use to be. Fortunately most of the parents in the housing development where we live all have that community mentality and don't mine if other parents report on any misdeeds their child/children may be up to if spotted by other adults. It helps that people take the time to find out about their neighbors rather than being strictly concern about their own well being also. Can't build a sense of community focused on self only.
You're very lucky you live in a community like that. I know there are still pockets like that around the country. I remember when I was kid - junior high, maybe? Some lady yelled at me for something and I flipped her the bird. Dontcha know it got back to Mom in a hurry! It took a village back then and that was a villager I didn't think we even knew!!! :smt102
Again this shit cracks me up. The idea that in the 21st century when we have a biracial president in office and a black dude is rambling on about socialism & communism like it's the 1950's and he's on some "Real American Negroes for Joe McCarthy" type shit. Didn't Dr. King and many of the people involved in the civil rights movement get branded as communists for the shit they were doing & thought of as threats to the American way of life? Some real "educated" & "free thinking" at it's finest from a dude who tries to style himself as some sort of scholar/warrior type. SMDH.
It's easier to spread destruction than try to build. The hopeless forever try to steal what they don't have and try to destroy it.
Smells like Fox News in here, lol. I agree with your assessment of labeling people. Taken properly in context, the statement DID NOT mean she supports giving kids to governments. It CLEARLY means that the responsibility for children's welfare is a societal responsibility because the negative externalities of unloved, uneducated, malnourished children are visited on the entire society, not only on themselves or their families. She was critiquing the effects of narrow, convenient conceptions of "personal responsibility". Well said.
