(NAME-MCE) Is Colin Powell a good choice for Sec'y of Ed?

[Stephen K Lafer]

In a subsequent message, someone wrote that NAME should work to inform
Powell on matters of education relevant to the issues with which NAME is
concerned.  I agree that Powell would not be a good choice and a choice
to be protested for all of the reasons Sheila states, but also because
we need an educator in the position of Secretary of Education.  To
choose Powell would be to accede to the notion that anyone with an
education can do education.  And, when me need a humanizing approach to
education, it is doubtful that the military mindset will allow things to
be done as they need to be done to make schools the place where people
want to be because they enjoy, find value in the activities good
teachers design to promote growth.  We, educators, need to assert
ourselves, demand that are expertise (if indeed we believe we have some)
be recognized and that the perspectives of those who study and work in
education be taken SERIOUSLY.  Perhaps those who are in leadership
positions in NAME should find a way to determine the sentiments of NAME
members on the issues such as the appointment of a Secretary of
Education and take their findings to the new administration.  

-----Original Message-----
From: name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org [mailto:name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org]
On Behalf Of Scott Ritchie
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 6:16 AM
To: NAME-MCE - National Association for Multicultural Education
EmailDiscussion Group
Subject: Re: (NAME-MCE) Is Colin Powell a good choice for Sec'y of Ed?



Maybe we don't have to worry.  Powell is last on the list published by  
The Chronicle of Higher Education
(http://chronicle.com/free/2008/11/6631n.htm 
).


On Nov 8, 2008, at 4:27 PM, sheila hamanaka wrote:

>
>
> Sorry, I seem to have lost the posts but someone mentioned that  
> Obama is considering Colin Powell for Sec'y of Education, and then  
> another person asked if she thought he was a good choice.
>
> My unsolicited opinion is, no.
>
> Colin Powell defended Muslims, but is it possible to forget that he  
> lied to the public about weapons of mass destruction, a lie that  
> contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslims? The  
> Muslim kids killed by US bombs or sanctions will never get to be  
> President. If they were your kids, you would want him arrested and  
> tried for aiding and abetting war crimes alongside Bush and Cheney,  
> not given a plum job.
>
> Powell is a military man. When I was at CCNY during the Vietnam War  
> students around the country protested the presence of the ROTC on  
> campus. The military should be keep out of schools, like religion.  
> Why make a retired general the head of education when there are so  
> many qualified EDUCATORS out there?
>
> And, the choice should ideally be an antiracist educator. Antiracism  
> is more than one statement. It's a commitment to dismantling  
> institutional racism, and the US military (and the State Dept) is  
> nothing if not the enforcer of US institutional racist oppression  
> abroad aka colonialism aka imperialism aka US corporate interests.
>
> The military subsists on a poverty draft. That's more racial  
> injustice. Dishonest recruiters hold out college as a lure to  
> desperate kids who want an education. I don't recall Powell speaking  
> out against that. Forget the loans. Stop the wars and pay kids to go  
> to college. That would be an antiracist higher education policy.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> This is a mailing of the National Association for Multicultural  
> Education -
> (NAME) Listserv list - www.nameorg.org. The materials included  
> reflect diverse perspectives of NAME Listserv participants and do  
> not necessarily reflect a position of the National Association for  
> Multicultural Education. If you would like to subscribe (or  
> unsubscribe)to this listserv go to
http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org 
> . You can read all past postings in the archives at
http://mail.nameorg.org/pipermail/name-mce_nameorg.org/
>
>
>
> Name-mce mailing list
> Name-mce at nameorg.org
> http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org
>

Scott Ritchie
Ph.D. Candidate & Teaching Assistant
Language and Literacy Education
The University of Georgia
301M Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602


_______________________________________________
This is a mailing of the National Association for Multicultural
Education -
(NAME) Listserv list - www.nameorg.org. The materials included reflect
diverse perspectives of NAME Listserv participants and do not
necessarily reflect a position of the National Association for
Multicultural Education. If you would like to subscribe (or
unsubscribe)to this listserv go to
http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org. You can
read all past postings in the archives at
http://mail.nameorg.org/pipermail/name-mce_nameorg.org/



Name-mce mailing list
Name-mce at nameorg.org
http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org