NAACP Files Civil Rights Complaint Against MNPS by Elyssa Durant, Ed.M. - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
NAACP Files Civil Rights Complaint Against MNPS
Nashville, Tennessee, January 26, 2009. The Nashville affiliate ofthe NAACP has filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of
Education over the pending rezoning of Metropolitan Nashville Public
Schools. Keith Caldwell, community member and parent filed the
complaint on January 20, 2009, just minutes after President Obama
was sworn into office as the first Black president in the United
States of America.
This announcement, made Monday morning, January 26, 2009 at the
NAACP headquarters of the local affiliate as the media and several
members the community watched. Reverend James Lawson, civil rights
activist who worked with Martin Luther King Junior, and Marilyn
Robinson, president of the Nashville NAACP, joined Caldwell. In a
statement, Rev. Lawson stated that he believes the rezoning plan
is "immoral, unethical, and wrong." Mr. Caldwell fears that the
already segregated neighborhoods of Nashville will suffer as a
result of a return to neighborhood schools. Both look towards the
landmark Brown vs. Board decision as an example of how separate but
equal is inherently unequal, however there a several well- known and
established members of the Black community who disagree.
Pastor Enoch Fuzz, community leader and activist, notes that a
return to neighborhood schools will encourage parent involvement
and brings with it large federal subsidies to provide students and
their families with much needed financial resources in the poorest
sections of Nashville. Karen Johnson, elected member to the school
board also points out that the plan includes comprehensive plans to
allow significant choice that includes transportation for children
who are not performing well in their current school environment.
The rezoning hearings took place in an open environment and involved
a Task Force made of up of community members and parents. The Task
Force, the majority African-American, unanimously
supported a return to neighborhood schools in favor of the rezoning
plan. The plan allows for choice with transportation.
The Civil Rights branch of the DOE investigates discrimination
complaints for institutions that receive federal funding, will
investigate the claim.
If MNPS is found to be in violation, MNPS stands to lose as much as
67 million dollars in federal funding. Caldwell's children attend
magnet schools and are not at risk of being transferred back to
their locally zoned schools, however, Caldwell hopes that this
investigation will prompt MNPS to halt the implementation of the
rezoning plan.
-end-
Published by Elyssa Durant
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