Apartheid. USA 1988

January 6, 1988:

Increasingly, black politicians, educators and community leaders have risked uncomfortable answers as they confront the plagues of crime, poverty and poor academic performance. Its answers remain elusive. To help teachers understand, the New York State Board of Regents drafted a manual on drop-out prevention. It suggests that ‘children's racial, ethnic and emotional background and cultures influence the manner in which they learn concepts and process information.’ It lists among qualities noted in African-Americans the possession of a keen sense of justice and quick perception of injustice. It also cites tendencies to view things in their entirety and not in isolated parts, to approximate space, number and time instead of aiming for complete accuracy and to focus on people and their activities rather than objects.

It is now being expected, that a majority of Regents would want to delete this section on learning styles from future editions of the manual while outside experts consider its merits. ‘Caricaturizing people by the color of their skin or their ethnic origin is racist,’ said Louis Grumet, executive director of the State's School Board Association, who is white. ‘The ultimate of this section is to say that black kids can't learn the way white kids can, therefore we should go back to ‘separate but equal.’ ‘It's an incredibly stupid

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approach,’ agreed Dr Kenneth Clark, a former Regent, who is a prominent black psychologist. ‘There are individual differences in learning styles, but to lump it all together in terms of groups or culture doesn't make any sense.’^199.

199. The New York Times, from a report by Sam Roberts