Today's Seattle Times editorial endorses King County Councilman Larry Gossett's proposal to spend $600,000 to change the county's logo from a crown to a likeness of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., calling it a "worth-while investment".
Before the County Council approves this expenditure, I think it would be prudent to ask whether there are alternative uses for the funds that could simultaneously serve as both a more fitting tribute to the late Dr. King and also offer a higher return as an investment. An article in today's Times news section points the way to one such tribute that should also satisfy Councilman Gossett -- "Bigger black enrollment still only a dream for UW" --
The article observes that the UW student body is only 2.8% black, and that this year's freshman class is only 2.4% black, while African Americans are 3.2% of Washington state's population. The article's implication, bolstered by quotes from Gossett, who was a UW black student leader in the 1960s, is that the relatively low representation of blacks on campus is a "shameful" situation, for which the university is to blame. Among the potential causes it insinuates:
* I-200, which supposedly discourages blacks from applying to, or attending the UW.
* The UW's inadequate efforts to recruit more black applicants
* The UW's inadequate efforts to recruit more successful black applicants to accept offers of admissions
The one obvious question the article does not ask is: "Could the relatively low number of black freshmen be a function of the relatively low number of adequately prepared black graduates from Washington high schools?"
The article does a poor job of putting the black enrollment numbers in proper context, but this UW document with freshman class ethnic diversity statistics tells a more complete story --
First, when looking at the purported "chilling effect" of I-200 on black applications -- the document shows that the number of black applications rose by 33% from 1998 (the last year before I-200) to 2005, while total applications increased by 20%, so it's hard to make the case that blacks are discouraged from applying.
Second, as I've written in earlier posts, Caucasians are only about 54% of the UW student body, even though they are over 70% of the state's population, while Asians, who are only about 7% of the state's population, are 28% of the UW student body. Statistics from the state's other four-year colleges suggest that the Caucasian and Asian enrollments at other campuses are more in line with the respective proportions in the state's population. I haven't heard suggestions that there is any positive or negative discrimination for Asians or against Caucasians at the UW. But socioeconomic and ethnic groups have a tendency to self-select and cluster in different institutions in different numbers. The fact that people from different cultural backgrounds make different life choices is, well, diversity.
Third, to the extent that the UW can influence the rates at which applicants accept offers of admission, it appears that blacks usually have one of the highest rates of acceptance among all ethnic groups, roughly 60% in most years. This year's acceptance rate was a bit lower than that, roughly 50%. That is still higher than the acceptance rate for Caucasians, which is roughly 44%, so I think it's hard to argue that the UW tries less hard to recruit blacks than it does other groups.
The most salient point overlooked by the article, I think, (and getting closer to the punchline of this blog entry) is that blacks had the lowest ratio of acceptances to applications this year, less than 50% vs. 69% for Caucasians and 72% for Asians. Since we know that the UW is all but begging the legislature to permit it to violate I-200 and discriminate in favor of blacks, it's fair to assume that the relatively low acceptance rate is not caused by discrimination against blacks. A reasonable conclusion, and consistent with other reports, is that the proportion of black high school graduates who are qualified to attend the UW is lower than that of some other ethnic groups. The article includes some numbers which might help explain this, although it fails to make the connection:
In this state, 3.2 percent of the population is black. But in Seattle the figure is 8.4 percent, and in Seattle Public Schools, about 22 percent of students are black.The root cause of low black enrollment at the UW, therefore, may well be the disproportionately high number of blacks whose only option is to attend Seattle Public Schools, presumably because many cannot afford private school tuition. Perhaps if lower income parents could choose the best schools for their children just as their higher income neighbors do, more black children would be able to graduate from high schools that prepare them to attend the UW.
The real solution is to end the government/teacher union monopoly on public education spending and enable all parents to choose the best schools for their children. In the meantime, instead of spending $600,000 to put Dr. King's likeness on fleet cars and letterhead stationery, I propose establishing a Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship fund that would enable lower income children of all backgrounds the opportunity to attend the schools of their choice.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 16, 2006 11:41 AM | Email ThisGood post Shark... This is an issue that needs to be disgussed more amongst conservatives. It is best example of how we can do more for African Americans than liberals, if only we could do a better job of getting that message out.
Posted by: Mathew Pruitt on January 16, 2006 11:56 AMGood idea!
Posted by: Erik on January 16, 2006 12:01 PMI don't think that King County has earned the "right" to be named after Martin Luther King Jr. What has King County done to be a leader in the civil rights arena?
Did Martin Luther King even visit Seattle while he was alive?????
The State of Washington really needs to get over itself and stop trying to emulate California, Oregon and New York.
Posted by: sgmmac on January 16, 2006 12:11 PMEnough with spending public money on "tributes". That goes for all of them, black, white, asian, whatever.
Posted by: Palouse on January 16, 2006 12:37 PMStefan's has substance, honors Dr. King, and would tangibly improve the educational level of the whole population.
Guess which one the Council will choose?
Posted by: Hank Bradley on January 16, 2006 12:39 PMI'm with you on this.
Anyone who wants to pay tribute to King, should do it with private contributions to worthy indigent students of all races.
Otherwise it is a meaningless, empty, and disingenuous gesture that only pays tribute to public apathy.
The larger message Stefan alludes to (King aside) cannot be mentioned too often: "The root cause of low black enrollment at the UW, therefore, may well be the disproportionately high number of blacks whose only option is to attend Seattle Public Schools, presumably because many cannot afford private school tuition."
I might add that students of all races are trapped in the same dilemma, and eventually we will all pay the price.
Some day maybe Seattle will regain sanity. Damned teachers unions be gone!
Posted by: Amused by liberals on January 16, 2006 01:12 PMJust because the county is going to waste $600k doesn't mean a special scholarship is warranted either. What, for all the work done to eliminate racial preferences here and then we establish a scholarship that promotes it?
How does a scholarship promote ratial preferences? You don't think government should make it easier for those to go to college who have a tough time at it now? Are you going to abolish financial aid for middle class kids also? Without government loaning, and yes, sometimes giving money to kids wanting a higher education, I don't know anyone who I went to college with that would have been able to afford it.
Posted by: Mathew on January 16, 2006 01:39 PMI READ A BLOG THIS MORNING (THE NEW TAKHOMAN) THAT EQUATES THE RACE MOVMENT WITH THE UNION MOVEMENT. IT HIT ME...WITH THE UNION MOVMENT DOWN TO LESS THAN 12% OF ALL WORKERS (MOSTLY GOV. JOBS) AND 70 YEARS OF LIB. RULE...WHY IS IT THAT EITHEIR OF THEIR SITUATIONS HAVE NOT IMPROVED...BY THEIR ACCOUNTS... UNDER THE DEMORATS? YET THE THEY FOLLOW THE DEM'S LIKE LEMMINGS OVER THE CLIFF OF UNEMPLOYMENT,IGNORANCE AND POVERTY!!!
Posted by: TACOMA PHLASH on January 16, 2006 01:44 PM$600k is not spare change and I think that money could be much better spent, after-school programs for instance, which benefit kids from all backgrounds. These keep kids out of trouble and away from mindless video games or whatever else they're wasting time on.
Posted by: Palouse on January 16, 2006 01:53 PMRather than spending money on scholarships, as it won't go far, Use the money for travel vouchers to send highschool kids to a college visit. It would affect more students, and allow them to go to wherever they would like to go, and find their own financing there.
I wish the UW would focus on real problems. And the state SHOULD give vouchers so black K-12 students can get the honk out of those cruddy public schools that the WEA (one of THE biggest political forces in WA) keeps forcing them into!
Posted by: Misty on January 16, 2006 03:07 PMWe have a two-tiered education model. Whites and Asians are held to a higher standard than Blacks and Hispanics. We don't expect Blacks to be as smart as Asians. That's the bottom line. It's a "soft" bigotry, and unfortunately, it's too prevalent in our society.
We can no longer tolerate failure anywhere. We need to hold our school boards, administrations, teachers, and students accountable for failure. Go look up your district's WASL pass rate. Then show up to the school board meeting, and say, "Shame on you! You are a complete an utter disaster!"
Our friendly Sup told our town that 700 kids are expected to fail the WASL next year. That's two graduating classes of our high schools in a town with 5 high schools that won't get their diploma. Where is the outrage? Why haven't the people of our town been clamoring to the school board meetings to demand reform? Where's the outrage in all this?
At least our superintendent understands the problem. I can't say as much for our local teacher's union, who thinks everything is fine in Candyland, as long as they get better medical benefits.
As a society, we have tolerated failure in the minority races for too long. Stand up, show up at a school board meeting, and tolerate it no longer.
Posted by: Jonathan Gardner on January 16, 2006 03:21 PMfrom an article by jim douglas
in "probe" magazine, spring 2000
how about them apples? our own government killed him and then gave him a national holiday! if you're so interested in education, why not educate yourself on what kind of government you live under?
As Tacoma Phlash stated...many will continue to follow the liberal Democrats over the cliff like Lemmings....But many are changing from their dependance on the liberal's paid oppression!
Times are changing - and not in the Liberal Dems favor.
To consider such a foolish and expensive "token" toward the black community as Gossett is promoting - just shows how out of touch the elite's in King County Government are!
Why not spend that money on drug rehab in Rainier Valley? Why not spend that money on treatment for drug addicted infants? Why not spend that money on tutoring for the WASL? Job training?
How in the hell is anyone going to benefit from a logo?
God forbid problems get solved by government. What would Democrats do if they didn't have anything to complain about? Instead, Democrats now work to prevent reforms, fight raising people out of poverty and to prevent educating the masses so the unions can maintain power and Democrats can benefit from their generousity come election time. Gee, they might have to have some real positions on issues if we had state and national majorities where everyone pays income and/or property taxes, are educated, and live in at least the middle class where they are on the hook when they vote for taxes and bigger government.
Imagine if the half of the electorate that pays little or no income taxes had a stake when they vote on new taxes or bigger government? Imagine what would happen to the Democrats if they couldn't buy the votes of the people they've worked so hard to dumb down and keep from benefitting from America's opportunities?
Ultimately, would anyone miss them?
Posted by: MJC on January 16, 2006 06:38 PMCompared with some of the crap he's spewed here, that's every bit as plausible ;'}
Posted by: alphabet soup on January 16, 2006 07:48 PMI am against any expenditure for or in honor of MLK> There are enough things named for him now, I don't see why the county couldn't keep the former honoree who really contributed to the state.
MLK never did anything for King County, Seattle or Washington state. It's time to change the day to Civil Rights Day ;instead of honoring one person, it would be better to honor the concept of Civil Rights.
Posted by: Clean House on January 16, 2006 08:18 PMnews.yahoo.com
Posted by: Misty on January 16, 2006 08:36 PMNew Orleans is supposed to be black/chocolate
what a doofus
Posted by: righton on January 16, 2006 08:42 PMwe're wasting our time here, folks--back to basics--school vouchers; demand excellence and the racial thing will sort itself out regardless of the racial makeup;
alternatively, ask the Asians for tips or their 'acheivement secrets' to apply to the other minorities to boost the other minorities' successful numbers in schools; that way, one removes the "so-called white bias bugaboo" in the studies and recommendations for improvements;
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on January 16, 2006 09:22 PM1. Was this part of Sims campaign for County Executive? If not, was he afraid it would have taken votes away from him in the election? I'm sure this wasn't something Gossett thought of overnight.
2. "William King's roots in the pro-slavery, antebellum South" Why does this quote or something like it always appear in every story about this subject? Is this the Times justification to support this move?
3. Is this our society's way of giving reparations for something that happened in the past? If Democrat's say they know what we want, why do they force us to accept what they do?
If black high school graduates were smart, they got out of WA and set their sights on other states that are less about diversity rhetoric and more about removing politically correct boundaries and allowing those who want to succeed to do so on their own merits. And in so doing, they will probably end up with a better education, and a far happier life once they decide to plant their roots anywhere other than WA.
Liberals like Gossett don't really care, they just want their name attached to the feeling of having done something that everyone (other liberals) thought was important.
Stefan makes are far more sensible case for the $600,000.
Posted by: Jeff B. on January 17, 2006 12:57 AMAfter all, what else does he have . . . ?
Isn't it funny? I don't think MLK stood for any of the things King County represents. King's family is deeply religious AND capitalistic. And, according to Towery, they also have manners and don't make a public spectacle of themselves.
Posted by: Peggy U on January 19, 2006 03:50 PM