TheOtherSide said #66:

emjem24,

I dont disagree about your a-d. Yes, there are illegal immigrants such as those. However, the immediate codemnation of the alleged perpetrators in this case as those types of illegal immigrants was unfair. I try to judge each individual on their character and merits rather than the color of their skin or where they were born. If you did the same perhaps, you would begin to understand that there are illegal immigrants who DO NOT think they are entitled…

Are you calling me a racist, TOS? You really do have a nerve. Have you ever taught a class that was so out of control because a couple of Latino students decided that they no longer wanted to participate in their own “free education” and rather blather on about the forthcoming immigration march? Have you ever experienced that?

How dare you suggest that I judge a person by their skin tone? What was I supposed to do in the instance I just cited? Sit back and let those kids interrupt the students actually interested in learning? Yeah, I took their “skin color” into consideration when I wrote them up, called security, and had them escorted out of class.

If you don’t think you’re not being judged every day by certain minorities (such as what I’ve found in the black community I live in), you’re living in a fog.

Another thing, the illegal immigrants are in this country ILLEGALLY. The children they either brought with them or bore while here have the impression things are “owed” them. Furthermore, illegal immigrant kids/anchor babies who attend public school yet don’t work hard enough to either pass a class or graduate are not worth my respect.

Yeah, when you have some Latino kids hijack your high school class, we’ll talk, okay, TOS?

On April 9th, 2008 at 5:01 pm, TheOtherSide said:
Michelle,

I applaud you for posting this follow-up.

I think a few apologies might be in order from some of the commentors in your previous post.

I for one still think you are an idiot.

Please refer to comment number 1. Read it and understand it before you keep running your yap for someone to apologize for stating the obvious about illegal immigration.

I dont disagree about your a-d. Yes, there are illegal immigrants such as those. However, the immediate codemnation of the alleged perpetrators in this case as those types of illegal immigrants was unfair. I try to judge each individual on their character and merits rather than the color of their skin or where they were born. If you did the same perhaps, you would begin to understand that there are illegal immigrants who DO NOT think they are entitled to a) American citizenship without working for it, b) bearing children in the US so that they can become instant US citizens (this little provision needs to be repealed), and c) free goodies like healthcare, education, food stamps, etc. d) commit crimes against US citizens without paying a price.

TheOtherSide said:

I can point out a few from the right in the original thread on this issue that seem a bit more “closed minded” and bigoted:

TOS: Do you ever just stop and think about why people feel angry and frustrated about illegal immigration? Does your thought train ever go that far or do you just derail it when it comes to any unpleasant thoughts?

Have you ever walked the halls of a suburban/urban school and see what’s happening? You should have been around when I taught in a local Colorado Springs school during the major immigration marches… perhaps, you would begin to understand that there are illegal immigrants who think they are entitled to a) American citizenship without working for it, b) bearing children in the US so that they can become instant US citizens (this little provision needs to be repealed), and c) free goodies like healthcare, education, food stamps, etc. d) commit crimes against US citizens without paying a price.

Have you been asleep all this time or what?

On April 10th, 2008 at 1:44 pm, rightisright said:
Before you closed minded bigots tar and feather this gurl, stop and think a little, just a little you sanctimonious left wing wacko’s

Could you please point my to a comment from a “left wing wacko” which proposes harsh penalty for the girl?

I can point out a few from the right in the original thread on this issue that seem a bit more “closed minded” and bigoted:

Another macho latino takes down a girl from behind.

I’d be calling the INS on each and every one of them so fast that they’d be paying for dinner in Pesos by the end of the week.

If those mexican kids have illegal parents here and they are babies born here, send them all back.

Dakine:

Just because the story is a hoax shouldn’t take away the SERIOUSNESS of the crime..

emjem, my point really wasn’t about the current environment in public schools. It related more to the tendency for bloggers (and posters) to jump all over stories which fit a particular narrative they are attempting to advance before all the facts are in.

You seem to jump all over other bloggers here yourself, dakine, so pardon me if I’m a little “skeptical” of your observations.

I was also commenting on your habit of attacking Rusty, lgm or any other poster who disagrees with the “consensus opinion” in a particular thread. “Blog visitors”? So now you decide who the real “members” of this blog community are? Congrats.

Your championing of folks like Rusty and lgm speaks more of who you really are than it does of me. If you think I attack Rusty and lgm then you really haven’t been paying attention. I think sarcasm and pointing out shallow arguments by the liberal blog brigade speaks volumes.

As to your assertion that I seem to determine who and who is not a member of this blog, perhaps, you should have tuned into some of Rusty’s comments over the past week or so. He doesn’t consider himself a member anymore than does lgm. If you want to give partisan pinatas cover, that’s your crusade not mine.

BTW, you know what they say about making assumptions, right? I have taught in public schools, and I also have 4 kids who’ve attended public and private schools in two different states. There are some great public schools and some very bad ones. There are also some great public school teachers and some absolutely horrible ones. Your tendency of making broad, sweeping generalizations about topics such as this one greatly reduces the credibility of the point you are trying to make.

Weren’t you the one who said that you were, at one time, a practicing lawyer? Have you suddenly changed careers? Now did you change from being a teacher to a lawyer or a lawyer to a teacher?

I tend to know a lot about public education since I taught in them for 5 years. I’ve taught in NY, AL, and CO in both urban and suburban school settings. What I saw did not impress me. All the schools (both taxpayer and non-taxpayer supported) were falling apart. I also noticed that the schools were out of control, that teachers taught to tests (which I still do not support) rather than the actual subject, that teachers ran on the liberal side and tended not to welcome folks like me (a conservative military spouse), and that there were no behavioral boundaries for children. I have both a BA in History and a Masters in Social Studies Education, so let’s cut the bull about my generalizing on this subject.

Speaking about generalizations, not everybody like you has positive teaching experiences. If you don’t share the same uniform opinion as both the teachers and administrators you work with, it gets old fast. When you have children make racist comments about you because you’re white and they’re not, that is not a positive teaching moment.

I really don’t know where you get off. I love my subject and I even loved teaching for a while, but I just got sick and tired of being treated like crap because I didn’t buy the liberal, NEA, teacher’s union dogma about education hook, line, and sinker. While I had many enlightening and joyful teaching moments with kids who had fun in my classes learning about history (and about life) I also had many kids already spoiled by irresponsible adults who then felt I should be their punching bag or person to heap abuse on.

You tell me, dakine, am I still generalizing? For every public school you think is successful, there are quite a bit more that are not. On the whole, there is more concentration on meaningless b.s. than on actual knowledge and preparing kids for life. I should know…curriculum specialists continue to tinker with Social Studies curriculums that will appeal more toward test scores, pc apologies, and not American citizenship preparation.

I’m sorry, but you’re the assumption king…

dakine said:

Kudos to the poster in the original thread (a teacher in the school district where this occurred?) who suspected that this story didn’t pass the smell test.

That’s a good guess based on the information I shared, but I don’t teach there. I’m familiar with the district because my college roommate graduated from Athens High School.

BTW, you know what they say about making assumptions, right? I have taught in public schools, and I also have 4 kids who’ve attended public and private schools in two different states. There are some great public schools and some very bad ones. There are also some great public school teachers and some absolutely horrible ones. Your tendency of making broad, sweeping generalizations about topics such as this one greatly reduces the credibility of the point you are trying to make.

dakine said:

Kudos to the poster in the original thread (a teacher in the school district where this occurred?) who suspected that this story didn’t pass the smell test. Let the facts (once they’re all in) lead you to logical conclusions, not the other way around.

When did “facts” or “logical conclusions” ever lead you to pause to conduct a “smell test” over some of the idiotic and ignorant things that are said about conservative issues by liberals and certain “blog visitors?”

emjem, I’ll give you this: your reactions are consistent and predictable.

You know what, dakine, when you spend some time teaching in a public school setting and seen some of the behavior I’ve seen committed by both adults and teenagers, then I’ll put your comment in the “I could care less” file. Until then, I see you can’t understand the criticism of the current environment that exists within public school districts.

Let me revise that: I still could care less about your opinion given that a)you’ve never been a teacher and b)don’t seem to understand how many parents (of different political persuasions) are fed up with public schools.