Posted by
John Caile on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 11:59:28 AM
What do air travelers and a six-year old Cub Scout have in common? They are both victims of Political Correctness gone berserk. You have probably heard of the case of Zachary Christie, the first grade student who was suspended and sentenced to 45 days in reform school:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33289924/ns/today-today_people/?GT1=43001
And what serious crime did little Zachary commit to warrant such a harsh punishment? Why, he came to school with a Swiss-Army style camp tool, which, along with its bottle opener, fork and spoon, included (horrors!) a small knife blade.
Enter the Delaware School District's "zero-tolerance" policy toward "weapons" in school. For those unfamiliar with such rules, they require all school officials responsible for their implementation to basically have their brains surgically removed, or at least have all common sense neurons anesthetized.
Contrary to all reason and reality, teachers many not exercise any discretion in the application of the rule - if the item can even remotely be considered a "weapon" then out the door in handcuffs you go. Even more onerous, the punishment is not open to discussion or modification.
Now, it should come as no surprise that such a ridiculously rigid policy has its roots in - you guessed it - the fear of "racism" charges. After all, any reasonable person would think it wise for school officials to apply reason and common sense in such matters - differentiating between a Swiss Army camp tool carried by a first-grader with no history of trouble, and a gun in the back-pack of a 12 year old who has a record of violent behavior.
But alas, when they do use sensible procedures in the application of such "no-weapons" rules, lo and behold, a "disproportionate" number of black students are disciplined. And that will invite the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, hurling accusations of racism. And if there's one thing public school officials fear, it's the specter of being labeled "racist."
It should be noted that study after study reveals that black youths actually do engage in violent behavior at a disproportionately higher rate (Bureau of Justice Statistics show that a black teenager is 8 times more likely to commit murder than a Caucasian or Asian of the same age). But if any group (racial or otherwise) appears to be over-represented in any particular activity, shouldn't such a disparity indicate that there may be a problem that needs to be addressed in that community, rather than blaming the system?
Sorry. In the distorted world of today's "progressive" - facts be damned, if one racial group appears to be "disproportionately" represented in any negative set of circumstances, well, then, we'll just have to tinker with the process until we get the "right" numbers.
Which unfortunately leads to precisely the kind of moronic behavior exhibited by the Delaware School District in the case of Zachary Christie. When we bend over backward to avoid using common sense and reason in order to not "offend" some group or other, we cannot help but end up with policies that are not only ineffective, but often downright counter-productive.
This is the same kind of "thinking" that has led to the utterly stupid policies we find at airport "security" check points. So fearful are we of offending some ethnic group, we subject a little old Norwegian lady to the exact same invasive screening as we might apply to a Middle-Eastern male in his twenties. Even worse, under such policies, that hypothetical potential jihadist may very well receive less scrutiny than you or I would - fearing the dreaded "profiling" charge, screeners often give such passengers a pass. Which, in the end, places you and me at greater risk, not less.
But then, whether it be "zero tolerance" policies at schools or the "take-off-your-shoes-and-belts" nonsense at the airport, such policies are no longer about protecting you or your children - they are about protecting the "sensitivities" of some ethnic group.
My Israeli friends say it best: "You Americans are so foolish. You look for weapons - we look for terrorists."