The political left loves to virtue signal about tolerance and compassion.
But time and time again these elitists show what they really want is for everyone else to be tolerant and compassionate.
Now Washington, D.C leftists suddenly forgot how much they love diversity when a new plan involves their kids.
The political Left has had a checkered history on matters of race and integration, despite the fact that they seem to revel in lecturing the right on these issues.
In 1977, during a hearing about busing school children in order to desegregate public schools, now-President Joe Biden lamented that busing for the purpose of desegregation would cause his children to “grow up in a racial jungle.”
While such comments would lead to public ostracization if uttered today, some Washington, D.C. parents in a Democrat-stronghold are proving that old attitudes die hard.
Racially polarized Washington, D.C. is home to two separate elementary schools where the fate of students of each may be soon intertwined.
The Washington Post reports that nearly 60 percent of the 500 children at Maury Elementary School are White.
Conversely, at Miner Elementary School, 80% of the kids are Black, and many are in foster homes, or are homeless, with many more on public assistance.
Enrollment numbers at Miner are on the decline.
Diversity for thee but not for me?
District officials have come up with a plan where the elementary students would spend their early education at one school and later transfer to the other.
The stated goal is to improve diversity by integrating the students in each school.
This has caused quite the blow back among parents in a community where “diversity” in any other case would be their go-to mantra.
D.C. Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn said in a statement, “As we’ve shared in our citywide community engagements, racially and socioeconomically diverse schools are one of the guiding principles of the study. We believe that all students and communities flourish when schools have diverse student bodies, provided that schools have, at a minimum, welcoming, affirming, and culturally and linguistically responsive environments for students and families.”
But not everyone is as enthusiastic.
Left-leaning parents are channeling Joe Biden from the 1970s when it comes to their own kids
Shavanna Miller is the Maury parent-teacher association co-president and warned that children can “fall through the cracks” when they move from one school to another in her comments to The Post.
Miller said, “I think it’s not just because the children have to adjust their environment. I think it’s because a whole new set of adults needs to understand the kids, understand their family, understand their needs and how to best support them.”
Jonathan Rothwell has two children enrolled at Maury and says, “From my perspective, there’s a lot of unknowns about what the quality of the school would look like. A lot of parents are already satisfied with Maury, and this jeopardizes that satisfaction.”
Rothwell also worried that teachers might leave over the integration.
Some parents have even threatened to move if the plan goes through.
Petitions against the plan have even circulated among politically left-leaning parents worried about how the integration could negatively impact their children’s education.
An advisory committee will offer recommendations to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in March and she will decide which recommendations should be put in place.
But the entire debate has been illuminating and is reminiscent of what’s happening now across the country where declarations of “sanctuary cities” are now embarrassing the very people who so loudly championed those policies.
Sanctimonious virtue-signaling seems less well-conceived when it impacts one’s own family.
Leftists would do well to internalize this lesson.
Stay tuned to Blue State Blues for any updates to this ongoing story.
