Keep kids out of the pipeline to prison

I spent the evening in a church basement trying to convince a group of Detroiters to stand up and demand that their legislators change our state's laws on zero tolerance in schools so that more good students have a chance to stay in school and graduate. It's a needed reform, because we're sending more black males to prison than to college, and to push them out of school and into the pipeline to prison is just wrong.

I shared with them that there were 46,000 suspensions in Detroit Public Schools in 2007-2008. In one school year. That is insane.

I am not suggesting that educators have any fewer tools to manage classrooms, only that in-school suspensions or restorative practices are better ways to address discipline children, and keep them out of the pipeline.

I got a call a couple of days ago from a friend who was frustrated by an incident he had just been involved in with a group of young black men at a local gym. It appears the men, all apparently in their late teens and early 20s, decided to relax after a workout by shooting dice in the bathroom of the facility. He was genuinely bothered by their lack of recognition of their criminal behavior, not to mention their lack of respect when he called them on it.

But this is what happens when we kick children out of school and leave them to their own devices. They end up living street life24/7. I'm assuming the worst, I know. But the reality is that black males are suspended or expelled at a rate of almost 3-1 compared to their white classmates. That blacks are suspended for committing the same offenses as whites who are not. The disparity is so great that the Justice Department and Department of Education are jointly investigating the disturbing trend. It's a civil rights violation and an educational inequity that threatens our neighborhoods and our region. When educational opportunity is denied to children because they are suspended because of offenses like loitering and insubordination they end up hanging out on the streets or gambling in bathrooms, unless someone with a substantial amount of compassion intervenes.

West's criticism worth careful inspection

I have reverence for Dr. Cornel West, but found myself in conflict with his comments this week about President Barack Obama. I understand his well-articulated criticism of the president and realize that many blacks and progressives feel similarly.

After Obama's election I was concerned whether the grassroots movement that elevated him into the national spotlight and subsequently pushed him into the White House would continue to support him once he actually had the job. I thought it was an important consideration at the time because I figured his policies and positions would need that same level of support to be successful. He came in as a representative of those who have been marginalized, including people of color and poor people. West -- a preeminent intellectual and outspoken Democrat -- has been critical of the president in the past. This week he called called Obama a mascot, fueling this latest media frenzy.

I heard West say on the Tavis Smiley Show today that the president should be doing more to help poor people, and black people, and other minorities and disenfranchised Americans who supported him. I understand his point, and he does not stand alone in opposition to the president's efforts to address poverty, joblessness, and a growing sense of hopelessness among Americans who fully expected the Obama Administration to deliver on that "hope" and "change" we heard so much about on the campaign trail. It's fair criticism.

Given that black folks are often bothered when we begin to air our laundry, this was worth watching. But I wonder whether, while not totally off base, West's comments could prove be damaging long term.

After the president took office I wrote that I hoped everyone who came out and voted for the first time, who bought bootleg t-shirts and bumper stickers, and who suddenly took an interest in politics because they wanted to see a black president elected continue to provide support after Obama took office. I recall many people agreeing with me, and one friend, professor Lester Spence, who reminded me that "he works for us." That comment resonated with me, and spurred the first thought I had about how his supporters would hold him accountable. West's comments simply represent that call for accountability.

Every elected official should be accountable to those who put them in office. I just hope in this case those people who were motivated to become politically active for the first time aren't so turned off they sit out the next race. Without them, the president will have a slim chance of ever making good on the promises of hope or change for the voiceless. I don't believe I recall anyone else even putting those things on the table.