Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Can we do IQ tests to test this?

In the middle of sheer puffery for the long-exiting Waukesha Schools Superintendent Dave Schmidt* on the Waukesha NOW website, one of Laura Dritlein's interviewees strays revealingly into politically incorrect waters. Lillie Wilson, president of the Waukesha Branch of the NAACP, let's her obsession with identity politics do the talking.
Schmidt brought sincerity to Martin Luther King Day celebrations and got the schools involved. Schmidt also garnered the support of other superintendents in Waukesha County to attend the NAACP Freedom Dinner. "With his support, we knew we could get the support of the other superintendents," said Wilson.

"All ethnic groups learn at a different pace. Schmidt believed in finding out what the students need. He realized you have to zero in on the student.

I'm glad Schmidt's acceptance of a dinner invite left such a memorable impression.

But surely the newsworthy part of the article is that the head of local NAACP believes "All ethnic groups learn at a different pace." Pray tell, at what pace do African American learn? Or Hispanic students? How about the white children? Orientals? Should she be asking for separate classrooms by race to accomodate this phenomena? Was she suddenly comfortable with the one research work (that I am aware of) on the subject, or is Charles Murray still taboo?

Or can we dismiss her as just another racial politics crank?


*"Concrete things such as opening new schools, a planetarium and a pool would define his legacy."