This past week, Q-line asked: “How should school officials deal with racial tensions at Santa Monica schools?”
Here are your responses: “Well, I think the school officials should build three different schools. One for the blacks, one for the Mexicans, and one for the whites. Then they would all be separate and do their own thing. Gangster-rap in one, graffiting in another and I don’t know what the white kids are doing these days. Skateboarding or something instead of learning.” “On the surface we all get along for business. Below the surface we all have a hatred for one another. People do not drive around on the streets shooting and killing one another out of love. Nor do we riot in our schools and prisons out of love and respect. As in war, nations fight for position. It is no different when races clash. We all have one thing in common. We are hated by every other nation in the world. Foreign nations do not crash our airplanes into our buildings out of love.” “If baby Adolf Hitler and friends had a class in elementary school that showed that Jews had been in Germany since right after Jesus and after 1,000 years, most Germans probably had some Jewish blood, then the Holocaust may have never occurred. Our children need to be taught not only nationalism, black history, Chicano history, and European history but multi-culturalism. Most African-Americans are mixed with Europeans and Native Americans. There are many Spanish Jews. If we emphasize our cross-cultural ties across schools, rather than our minor differences, it may not end racial strife but it may alleviate much of the hatred.” “The problem isn’t racism, the problem is bad kids. The only solution is to take all the bad kids and put them in reform school no matter what race they are. Leave the regular schools for kids who don’t cause trouble. That’s the problem, not racism.” “I’m not sure that you can do anything about the racial tensions in Santa Monica high schools. Schools conducting mediation and counseling sessions isn’t going to help. Ethnic tensions begin at home. The parents of the students are need to be addressed...” “We need a more active intramural sports program for not just soccer but tennis, football and all other sports where kids are involved and are not strangers to each other. With that we should stop bringing in kids that are not originally from the community. That would make for smaller class sizes. That would allow students to get to know each other on a better basis and that would alleviate racial tensions...” “School officials should teach the commonality of man, not its diversity and difference. There is a commonality of man that includes family. We all have common interests regardless of race, color, age, religion.These are the diversities that God used to divide fellow man.” “Deport illegal immigrants.” “Nothing good will happen until we vote out the current school board. Stop busing in students from other school districts. They are the gang-bangers. Triple-check the residency of students. Students of Santa Monica are the only ones allowed. This will cause a drastic drop in students.” “Officials at Santa Monica High School should look at more balance. They should get more input about reverse discrimination and liberal racism. The current advisors, some of whom are left wing, radicals, should be balanced with more moderate voices. The leftist radicals are part of the problem. They should get input from activists like David Horowitz from the Center for American Culture. He has an excellent book on liberal racism. People need to stop blaming other people and start taking responsibility for their actions. Stop blaming the many for the graffiti of a few. Blaming the principal of Santa Monica High School is scapegoating. There is an old rhythm and blues song, ‘Before you accuse me take a look at yourself’ by black singer Bo Diddly.” “I have a simple solution to decrease the racial tensions at the high school. Disband all parent groups formed on the basis of color and ethnicity such as the black and Hispanic parent groups. By doing this, the school would be following the premise of Martin Luther King whereby they would be encouraging a color blind school. I think it would be great.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 18, 2006. Read the original PDF.