THE MIDDLE CLASS VS. VOUCHERS :

Voucher Decision Divides Blacks (Earl Ofari Hutchinson, July 1, 2002, AlterNet)

In an impassioned opinion backing the U.S. Supreme Court's majority ruling-endorsing school vouchers, Clarence Thomas called vouchers the path to educational emancipation for poor and minority parents. Thomas drove his point home by evoking the revered name of black abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Thomas's over the top comparison of vouchers to the titanic anti-slavery battle drew the ire of established civil rights groups. They have been virtually unanimous in condemning vouchers. But many black parents agree with Thomas. They regard vouchers as their children's ticket out of miserably failing public schools.

The massive chasm among blacks on public education is yet another example of how mainstream black leaders often march to a far different tune than poor and working class blacks. These leaders are mostly liberal, middle-class business and professionals. Their kids are safely nestled in private schools and escape the ravages of bad public schools. Poor and working class blacks have no such luxury.

That's why poorer blacks have always called it the National Association for the Advancement of Certain People. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 1, 2002 10:46 PM