No one could lead a civil rights movement like Martin Luther King Jr. But let’s face it: the movement he led was old school. The civil rights issue of our time is the achievement gap, and closing it often requires doing the opposite of what Dr. King stood for. Which raises some important questions: if Dr. King returned today would he be an achievement gaptivist? Which billionaires would fund his important work? And with poverty and racism now officially regarded as excuses, what would he talk about? Meet Martin Luther King 2.0, now with more excellence.
On the ‘not’ list: unions
The original Dr. King was a fierce supporter of labor rights and viewed unions as an essential tool for improving the wages and working conditions of everyone. Obviously things have changed a little since then, and it’s important that we bring Dr. King 2.0 up to speed on the fact that unions have officially been downgraded to ‘not’ on the hot or not list. Does he know, for example, that teachers unions have not only widened the achievement gap but also created poverty in inner city neighborhoods? That is why I am putting a viewing of “Waiting for Superman” at the top of Dr. King 2.0′s agenda, right after he visits a No Excuses school. One other thing: remember when you called right-to-work laws a fraud that had to be stopped, and a law intended to rob us of our civil rights and job rights? You might want to tone that down just a bit, and also add in a reference to putting students first, you know, before the adult interests.
The original Dr. King was a fierce supporter of labor rights and viewed unions as an essential tool for improving the wages and working conditions of everyone. Obviously things have changed a little since then, and it’s important that we bring Dr. King 2.0 up to speed on the fact that unions have officially been downgraded to ‘not’ on the hot or not list. Does he know, for example, that teachers unions have not only widened the achievement gap but also created poverty in inner city neighborhoods? That is why I am putting a viewing of “Waiting for Superman” at the top of Dr. King 2.0′s agenda, right after he visits a No Excuses school. One other thing: remember when you called right-to-work laws a fraud that had to be stopped, and a law intended to rob us of our civil rights and job rights? You might want to tone that down just a bit, and also add in a reference to putting students first, you know, before the adult interests.
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