Washington, DC's new mayor, Adrian Fenty, is under some pressure from local black leaders for not selecting more blacks for his cabinet. Specifically, there has been some outrage after he selected a Korean American, Michelle Rhee, to be chief of DC's failing public schools. In a city that is 57% black with a school system where 84% of its students are black, there is a question whether parents, teachers, and administrators will respond to her because she is Asian/not black. According to the
Washington Post:
According to Guitele Nicoleau, a black Ward 7 resident who headed the education committee on Fenty's transition team, "It's an issue of visibility and trust in a city where race matters. There's an element of shame in this system because it is [predominantly] black and has the money it needs but still can't produce results. People hold a private shame because they have not been able to self-govern. They may not want her to succeed as an Asian American."
I can not take much more of the racial crap in this city. I hope that administrators and parents stop focusing on the color of the school chief's skin, focus more on her qualifications, and start supporting her efforts to turn the schools around quickly and effectively.
Washington, DC's new mayor, Adrian Fenty, is under some pressure from local black leaders for not selecting more blacks for his cabinet. Specifically, there has been some outrage after he selected a Korean American, Michelle Rhee, to be chief of DC's failing public schools. In a city that is 57% black with a school system where 84% of its students are black, there is a question whether parents, teachers, and administrators will respond to her because she is Asian/not black. According to the Washington Post: