48Xxx81: Sex, Lies and Videotapes, Floppy Discs, Cd’S, Computers ,Power Trips and Racism

By Dr. Irene Ford

She outlines how she maintained her dignity under adverse
conditions and expresses her suggestions for changes in the
system and its protocol in various situations. Dr. Ford’s goal
is to prevent this from happening to others and encourage others who
may be traveling a similar road to seek support.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483679174

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Dr. Irene Ford.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2013913930

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4836-7916-7

Softcover   978-1-4836-7915-0

eBook   978-1-4836-7917-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 10/20/2015

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

541534

CONTENTS

Foreword

The Beginnings

Court Documents

Letters and Position Papers

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

Ten Ways to Avoid Becoming Postal

Afterword

This is dedicated to all of my students. Thank you for being you and what you added to my life and taught me.

FOREWORD

An Indian proverb says do not judge anyone unless you walk a mile in their shoes. I walked the miles as a high school biology teacher and administrator in the DOE. Teachers are not paid enough for the work that they do on a daily basis. No one cringes when professional athletes garner multimillion dollar salaries. Everyone must go through a teacher whether they become professional doctors, lawyers, accountants or any careers.

It is a difficult and thankless job where you may not see results for years to come. High school teachers in DOE teach 150 children per day on the average and are responsible for assessing them via tests, homework, participation, attendance, and projects to name several requirements.

Student learning is being compared to corporate American business. Students are not commodities with parts like cars which function in one modality. The human mind is extremely complex and modern science does not know exactly how it works. Testing does not determine how well someone will perform in society. A good tester may lack social skills and vice versa. There are multiple intelligences which are not being considered in the equation. Fingers are being pointed at the teachers and the union. Firing the teachers is a terrible and dangerous precedent. Teaching is a highly skilled discipline which requires years of training and support. I would call for collaborating with the Superintendent and the teachers instead of throwing out the baby with the bath water. The school system is in need of analysis and restructuring in a positive way. I am available as a consultant. ([e-mail])

THE BEGINNINGS

I was born in the village of the Bronx, New York the Boogie Down at Morris Hospital, a city hospital facility. I was raised in the Bronx in a public projects by my parents Mr. and Mrs. William and Vonzella Carter along with my siblings Marie, Linda, my older sisters and my younger twin brothers, William Jr. and Ray.

I am the middle child. Our family ate dinner together almost every night and grace was said daily. We had specific chores and responsibilities namely washing the dishes, sweeping the floor and taking out the garbage. Our weekly activities included: choir practice, Youth Fellowship, Girl Scouts and piano lessons. We went to afterschool study center at PS1 Bronx and were guided by Mr. Norman during group piano lessons and the parkees Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Whitman for recreational equipment and activities. There were many two parent families of all ethnicities in the Housing Projects in the 1960’s. Most families attended one of the following neighborhood churches: Reformed, Congregational, Methodist, or Catholic.

My favorite game has always been "Go to the Head of the Class". My fate was written at that time. I was going to be a teacher.

I always had an inclination to study science and living things. I dissected a large dead goldfish after it died in our fish tank to observe the inner structures. I would mix chemicals in the bathroom sink to see if there would be a reaction. I read voraciously nightly which seemed rather odd to my parents and siblings.

I attended PS1 in the Bronx, New York. Our principal, David Minx was a tall, Caucasian man with a very warm demeanor and our assistant principal was Mrs. Rosenblum. Mr. Minx was an avid piano player who led as we sang the school song:

Paul Allen Gibbs is the school for me

Paul Allen Gibbs’ where I’m proud to be

For it’s the kind of school where work is fun

And it’s the kind of school where everyone likes everyone

And though someday we’ll say goodbye and travel on our way to junior high

We’ll always hold you in our memory (memory) PAG

Paul Allen Gibbs, Paul Allen Gibbs, Paul Allen Gibbs, Paul Allen Gibbs

It’s fun to be here, it’s fun to be here, it’s fun to be here now

We’ll soon be leaving, We’ll soon be leaving, we’ll soon be leaving

Forever and ever and ever and ever we will remember PAG

PAG, PAG, what school’s the best school? PAG

We would leave the auditorium exhilarated and filled with school spirit. We were proud to be card carrying members" of this elite group. I wrote my first poem in the second grade about John Glenn, the astronaut. I was asked to read it over the public address system.

John Glenn he went into space

It wasn’t really a race

He came down safe and sound

He’s the greatest hero on America’s ground

I was given a series of examinations which were intelligence tests (probably Stanford-Binet) at PS 1X in the 3rd grade. I was transferred into PS3, Bronx into the Intellectually Gifted Children program (IGC) as the result of my test scores. PS 3X was a new experience for me. I had to walk a distance from home up the hill. I was separated from my siblings during the day as well as most of my neighborhood friends.

The classes were integrated and included African American, Caucasian, Asians and Hispanics. All of my teachers were Caucasian. My teachers were the beautiful Mrs. Bola the cranky, Mrs. Fowl and the consummate professional, Mrs. Chelman for 4th, 5th and 6th grades, respectively. We participated in many mind expanding trips and critical thinking experiences. We performed skits depicting current events, had a luau, ate pineapples and coconuts while learning about Hawaii. We were encouraged to read books, Scholastic Magazines and the New York Times. During one of the trips, we found out that President John Kennedy had been shot and killed. The assassination scenario was reenacted in class via a sketch by a group we named the 6-4 Cubs.

The son of a famous comedian was one of my classmates. He could not perform his dad’s routines at school because they were risqué. Although he tried to make us laugh, I personally did not find him very funny. He was a biracial child in the 1960’s. That was a challenge in itself.

It appeared to me that there was a two-class system at PS3. It was my first semiconscious occurrence with institutionalized racism. There were the "bus children" and the "non-bus children." The major distinction was that the bus children were white and Jewish who had a special vehicle that picked them up along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. They seemly got privileges and received preferential treatment on a daily basis. My classmates had Jewish last names. Regardless of the racial disparities and discrepancies, the education was high caliber and superb.

I don’t know which Junior High School the Jewish children went to but it was not with us, the children of color. The lines of distinction were drawn. I presume defacto segregation kicked in. I entered JHS 45X in the seventh grade which was brand new and classrooms were not ready prepared for the Special Progress (SP) class where my classmates and I were to complete three years of JHS in two years. The majority of us were transferred to JHS 17X, to complete the program.

We were at a disadvantage and were placed there under adverse conditions. Some of us failed out. We were placed in our respective neighborhood schools and mine was JHS 14X. This situation was my first conscious experience with institutionalized racism. Before my departure from JHS17X, I remember writing on the wall, "Miss Winchester is a prejudiced bitch." She was the principal. Some of the students in the program never