Lee Dresselhaus / L’Observateur / December 1, 1999

So.. I see that Jesse Jackson has decided to move from the arena of racialequality and civil rights into the arena of deciding policy for a school system.

Recently, Jackson and his followers have been blocking access to a school in Decatur, Ill. because the school expelled six students for fighting at afootball game. OK, kids have always fought at football games, right?What’s the big deal? Did the school overreact to a fistfight? Check out the video of that little “fist fight.”This wasn’t just a fistfight. This was a gang fight. Those six kids attackedas a group, swinging and kicking at their intended targets viciously, as well as anyone else who was unfortunate enough to be in their way in those bleachers. The school reacted by expelling all six for two years,which was later changed to one year and the option to attend an “alternative” school, which is politically correct language for a school for disruptive troublemakers.

And now Jackson is involved. He and his supporters have been protesting,saying that the school has been too harsh on these thugs. He has also suedthe school system for $5 million dollars for each of the students because the schools released records showing that most, if not all, of them have had a history of troublemaking, expulsions, fights, and other fun stuff. Ihave a message for Jackson, for whom I hold some respect.

This was none of his business.

This entire issue is a school board issue. Jackson has not claimed thatthere was any racism involved in the discipline of the thugs. He just saysthat the severity of the discipline was unfair. So, why is he involved tothe extent that he is? Why would Jackson, a respected civil rights activist, get involved in a situation where there is no issue of civil rights? To put it simply..job security.As long as Jackson and people like Al Sharpton and Maxine Waters and David Duke can keep things stirred up they will have attention and, by default, jobs. None of these people offer true leadership to the people theyclaim to lead. They are quick to claim the title “community leader,” yetcontinue to act more like rabble-rousers than true leaders of any kind. Andas long as they can find racism under every bed or make it up as they go along, as with the Tawana Brawley thing – they will have the security of their positions. The ability to create victims is a skill they havemastered.

Not only that, they have ensured that anyone who expresses any different views from theirs is slapped with the label RACIST. That in itself isenough to scare off most critics.

Well, hush my mouth. Yeah, right.Anyone who dislikes any group as a whole for reasons of color, religion, or because they’re circus dwarfs or whatever, is an idiot. I detest a racist.Speaking for myself, I’ve known too many fine people of other races and religions to be stupid enough to lump them all in a group and decide to dislike that group. And the fact is that most people feel that way thesedays and seem to get along just fine with each other when left to their own devices. There is no need to see the spectre of racism in everydisagreement, every lost opportunity. I’m not saying that it’s not outthere, because it certainly is, and it’s wrong. But it’s out there on allsides of the issue, a fact that some of these “leaders” seem to miss, or conveniently ignore.

Being a prejudicial idiot knows no color line.

Another issue in the Jackson thing is this: What kind of example is he setting for those thugs and other kids? The message is clear. Behave asyou want. Be a thug, a disrupter. Ignore the rules. They’re not meant foryou. There will be no need for you to take responsibility for your actionsbecause if you are brought to account for them, you become the victim.

How in the name of sanity can we ever expect to get control of our schools if things like this gang fight are defended? The school was right in the action they took.

Schools should be a safe harbor from this type of violence and anyone who initiates it or is involved with it should be dealt with swiftly and decisively. In my opinion they should be kicked out permanently, whetherthey are white, black, or neon pink. Their education should then becometheir problem, and not the problem of the school systems, which have thousands of other kids to be concerned about who follow the rules.

How can Jackson, after all the genuine good he has done, possibly defend these thugs after seeing that video, or checking into their less than illustrious records? One possibility is that he saw all of that after he was already into it up to his neck, and now he has to see it through or look like a fool.

I think he should have minded his own business.

Lee Dresselhaus is a regular columnist for L’Observateur.

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