"If It's Voluntary, It's Not Segregation"

There's an Afro-centric "school within a school", as reported by the Chicago Tribune. It's open to everyone, but only blacks have signed up for it. Some question whether that results in segregation.

"There's a can-do attitude here," said Supt. Hardy Murphy, who heads Evanston/Skokie District 65. He balked at the notion that the program reintroduces segregation by race. "If it's voluntary, it's not segregation," Murphy said.

Really? I wonder if school officials in Seattle and Louisville, who are arguing modern-day busing before the Supreme Court, would agree? I mean, people can live wherever they want. Since it's voluntary, it's not segregation--so why would you bus a student across town, on the basis of his/her race, just to achieve some racial balance in a school? There's no segregation involved.

Personally, I think the idea behind this school is ridiculous. As I've said on other posts, students need to know that they can accomplish something to be proud of--not be "proud" of something that someone who might have looked like them on a different continent a couple of hundred years ago did.

But if the parents want this school, and the district provides it, more power to them. I just find it entertaining to note that Supt. Hardy's comment about segregation is completely at odds with the liberal elite today, especially in education.