This
article is taken from our next newsletter, to be published in
August 2006. To subscribe to the print edition of our newsletter,
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It
Takes a Community
 Jackson
had its moment in the national media spotlight last month.
Tom Brokaw and NBC’s Dateline came to the Capital
City to assess the changes, both positive and negative,
that have taken place since the days of segregation. The
overall tone of the segment was fair and even-handed, in
our view. It’s true that opportunities have increased dramatically
for some African-Americans in our community.
It’s
also true that, for those who can’t take advantage of those
opportunities, the condition of day-to-day life has gotten
worse. Jackson, along with other cities of similar size
around the country, has suffered an explosion of teen pregnancy
and drug abuse in the past several decades; flight to suburbs
by both black and white has led to a crumbling economic
and bricks-and-mortar infrastructure and a re-segregation
of the public schools. Far too much of this decadence has
struck children at younger and younger ages.
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The
state of the inner city, here in Jackson and elsewhere, begs the
question of exactly how to address these complex and pervasive
problems. A "law and order" approach might help dampen the impact
of crime in the short term; but the conditions that lead to a
high crime rate will remain.
Some
believe that the solution lies in improving our schools. It's
true that education has a powerful impact on a child's future.
But a recent New York Times article by Diana Jean Schemo
argues that schools are, more often than not, scapegoated for
problems that are far broader:
…
a growing body of research suggests that while schools can
make a difference for individual students, the fabric of children's
lives outside of school can either nurture, or choke, what
progress poor children do make academically.
[A
Johns Hopkins University study] found that contrary to expectations,
children in poverty did largely make a year of progress for
each year in school. But poor children started out behind
their peers, and the problems compounded when school ended
for the summer. Then, middle-class children would read books,
attend camp and return to school in September more advanced
than when they left. But poorer children tended to stagnate.
A
plethora of figures are cited to back this thesis. According to
the study, when only the 58 percent of American students attending
schools that are not predominantly poor are considered, student
test scores surpass those of the highest-rated nation overall,
Sweden. The scores of the remaining 42 percent are markedly lower.
As Jack Jennings, president of the nonpartisan Center on Education
Policy, puts it, "It can't just be a burden on the schools to
do away with social inequality. It has to be a burden on all of
us."
The
challenges that face the less-fortunate segments of our community
cannot just be the burden of our schools, or our churches, or
organizations like Operation Shoestring. Their fates cannot be
left to the dog-eat-dog battles of partisan politics. Public policy
must address these challenges in innovative and effective ways,
including a better and more constructive welfare system.
It
takes a community to improve a community. Challenges must be faced
from both the top down (public policy) and the ground up (personal
accountability). At Operation Shoestring, we believe in "investing
in the hearts and minds of our community." It's an investment
in which everyone with something at stake - and that includes
the entire city of Jackson - needs to participate.
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