Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 277, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 6, 2014 Page: 4 of 14
fourteen pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
OPINION
4A
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
Will Dunbar
Published by Denton Publishing Co.,
a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corporation
High School
rise up to
glory again?
X
is
Founded from weekly newspapers,
the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882,
and the Denton Record, established in 1897.
Published daily as the Denton
Record-Chronicle since Aug. 3,1903.
just ran
seeAKf
evipeH&i
m
Or
iWFBH’RiAia
BeWTicNSHiPS.
MbLlJEA COMl'/LM
rt33
EDITORIAL BOARD
Bill Patterson
Publisher and CEO
Dawn Cobb
Managing Editor
Dianna Hunt
City Editor
Les Cockrell
Region Editor
Mark Finley
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
*-
ilM
t
unbar High School in Washington is
becoming a controversial issue again
— and the controversy that is begin-
ning to develop has implications for Amer-
ican education well beyond the District of
Columbia.
There has not been much controversy
about Dunbar High School for a long time.
Since sometime in the late 1950s, it has been
just one more ghetto
school with an abysmal
academic record —
and that has been too
common to be contro-
versial.
What is different
about the history of
Dunbar is that, from its
founding in 1870 as the
first public high school
in the country for black
students, until the mid
1950s, it was an outstanding academic suc-
cess.
D
i
Ml,
l
IW i<T|
of FitfMLS
&
c
%
f
Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle
are determined by the editorial board.
Questions and suggestions should be directed to the:
Denton Record-Chronicle
314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201
Phone: 940-387-3811
Fax: 940-566-6888
E-mail: drc@dentonrc.com
%
“poy&o?"
Avoid
witch hunts
to
s it fair to pressure companies into firing
top officials because you don’t agree with
their political views? Since when, I am
asking, is fairness a defining business value?
I raise this question because so many no-
table conservatives, ranging in intelligence
from the thoughtful to the semi-deranged,
have been complaining of “McCarthyism”
(Andrew Sullivan) and ‘liberal fascist bul-
lies” (Rush Iimbaugh) over the forced resig-
nation of Mozilla’s CEO Brendan Eich.
Eich resigned as
CEO of for-profit Mo-
zilla Corp., which
makes the popular Fi-
refox Web browser and
other software, and al-
so from the board of
the nonprofit founda-
tion that wholly owns
the company, less than
two weeks after his
promotion from chief
technical officer was
announced.
What upsets conservatives and, I will al-
low, more than a few voices on the left is how
and why Eich was forced out.
It had nothing to do with his job perfor-
mance and everything to do with his contri-
bution of $1,000 to California’s anti-gay
marriage Proposition 8 campaign in 2008.
That measure to ban same-sex marriages
passed, only to be overturned later in federal
court.
tive causes — often while criticizing the bil-
lionaire George Soros for doing the same
thing on the left — would be shocked,
shocked to learn that political actions often
spark harsh reactions.
My second response is to remind every-
one that the First Amendment only protects
us all from being muzzled by government. It
does not protect corporate officers from be-
ing held accountable to their stockholders,
stakeholders, customers or valued employ-
I
ahbelo.com NYSE symbol: AHC
Thomas
Sowell
Editorial
Exercise right
to pick leaders
As far back as 1899, when tests were given
in Washington’s four academic high schools
at that time, the black high school scored
higher than two of the three white high
schools. That was the M Street School that
was renamed Dunbar High School in 1916.
Today, more than a hundred years later, it
would be considered Utopian to even set
such a goal, much less expect it to happen.
In 1954, the Supreme Court declared that
separate schools were inherently unequal, no
doubt in ignorance of Dunbar, which was
within walking distance of the site of that
sweeping pronouncement.
The test results in 1899 were no isolated
fluke. Over the next several decades, four-
fifths of Dunbar graduates went on to college
— far more than for either black or white
high school graduates in the country at large
during that era.
Most went to inexpensive local colleges
but, among those who went on to Ivy League
and other elite colleges, a significant number
graduated Phi Beta Kappa. At one time,
Dunbar graduates could get into Dartmouth
or Harvard without having to take an en-
trance exam.
That was when Dunbar was controver-
ees.
Besides, the rising up of a protest does
not mean that the targeted corporate officer
has to resign. A few days after Eich’s resigna-
tion, another protest movement erupted on-
line against the appointment by Dropbox,
another popular software company, of for-
mer Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to
its board of directors.
Objections listed on such protest sites as
“Drop Dropbox” have nothing to do with her
international business expertise and every-
thing to do with torture, eavesdropping and
other controversial policies of the George W.
Bush administration.
But in sharp contrast to Eich’s swift de-
parture from Mozilla, Dropbox CEO Drew
Houston stood by their woman. In a post on
the Dropbox blog, Houston praised Rice as
an asset to the company in pursuit of over-
seas markets and restated the company’s
commitment to privacy rights, “transparen-
cy and government surveillance reform.”
Eich’s case reveals a different kind of cor-
porate damage to be controlled. It shows
how much same-sex marriage and other gay
rights causes have gone mainstream, espe-
cially in the new-century business cultures
of Silicon Valley.
Yet it is important to note, Eich, by all ac-
counts, is far from anti-gay. He supports the
rest of the gay rights agenda, including civil
unions. However, unlike former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, President Barack
Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and others
who have reversed their previous objections
to same-sex marriage, Eich still opposes it.
I disagree with Eich, yet his views are still
too widely held to be equated with racism, as
his harshest critics do. Same-sex marriage
supporters would be wise, in my view, to
avoid tactics that resemble a witch hunt.
That’s how otherwise worthy movements
look like its own worst enemy.
CLARENCE PAGE’S column is distrib-
uted by Tribune Content Agency.
ake an informal poll on the best things about being
an American, and odds are a lot of people will put
“freedom of choice” near the top of their lists.
As American citizens, we have the right to make our
own decisions, and there is no more important reflection
of this freedom than the right to choose our leaders.
The men and women who represent our interests at all
levels of government do not assume their roles at birth
and they do not seize power by military might.
Our leaders are chosen by the people they represent, in
free and open elections. It is up to us to decide who will
lead, from local government posts to the highest offices in
the nation.
It is a precious right, one that should be guarded at all
costs. It is one of the fundamental principles of our coun-
try, one that is denied the citizens of many other nations.
And, yet, some Americans fail to protect this right
because they do not exercise their freedom of choice —
they don’t vote.
Denton County residents will head to the polls this
week to elect mayors, council members and school trust-
ees as well as consider bond packages and various propo-
sitions, including a new municipal development district.
Today is the last day for early voting in the nonpartisan
election and election day is Saturday.
There are several key decisions to be made.
Voters in Denton and a dozen other Denton County
cities have at least one council seat up for grabs. Voters in
Bartonville, Denton and Trophy Club have a mayor’s race,
although Sanger and Pilot Point have uncontested mayor-
al races.
And several cities have sales tax propositions, most of
them renewals of existing taxes, including renewing a
sales tax for a crime control district in Corinth and for
streets in Bartonville, Oak Point, Ponder, Dish and Tro-
phy Club.
Dish has three propositions to initiate sales taxes, in-
cluding one proposition that would also set up an eco-
nomic development corporation. Aubrey voters will con-
sider whether to authorize a municipal development dis-
trict, which would allow the city to collect sales tax out-
side its corporate limits but within its extraterritorial
jurisdiction.
The Denton school district canceled its election be-
cause none of its candidates drew opponents. But voters
in the Argyle, Aubrey, Sanger, Little Elm, Lewisville and
Northwest school districts have at least one contested
seat, and Argyle has a $45 million bond package on the
ballot.
During early voting, registered voters can cast a ballot
at any early polling location in the county, and the polls
will be open until 7 p.m., according to information posted
at www.votedenton.com, the Denton County Elections
Administration website. You can also find a list of polling
places on the website, and printed in today’s edition.
We urge all registered voters to protect one of their
most precious rights by going to the polls today or on
election day.
If we don’t appreciate our freedom to choose, it could
eventually be lost.
T
/*'
Clarence
Page
Disclosure of Eich’s donation ruffled
feathers in the Mozilla community in 2012
but erupted with new ferocity after he was
promoted to CEO. An angry contingent of
Mozilla employees demanded his resigna-
tion. A public petition was circulated de-
manding that he step down. The dating site
OkCupid recommended that its customers
stop using Firefox.
Is that fair? The Wall Street Journal and
other members of the business press tended
to cover this dustup as a business story,
which fundamentally is what it is. Appropri-
ate headline: Rising CEO Resigns Under
Pressure.
My first response to the “McCarthyism”
and “liberal fascism” charge from the right is
an equally sarcastic, “Ah, a taste of your own
medicine, isn’t it?”
It astounds me that people who defend
the billionaire Koch Brothers’ right to make
unlimited political donations to conserva-
sial.
Some in the black community were
proud and grateful that there was such a
school where any black youngster in the city,
no matter how poor, could go to get an edu-
cation that would equip him or her to go on
to college anywhere and compete with any-
body.
But others decried Dunbar as an “elitist”
school with academic standards that many
black youngsters could not meet and a set of
attitudes and behavior that some in today’s
world would call “acting white.”
Nor was this accidental.
A handbook issued to students entering
Dunbar prescribed behavioral standards
and values, not just for the school but for life
outside as well.
Without saying so, those standards and
values were an implicit repudiation of the
way many poorer and less educated blacks
behaved.
It would be hard to exaggerate the hostil-
ity, and even bitterness, toward Dunbar by
some of those who never went there — and
who saw, and resented, the differences in at-
titudes and behavior between Dunbar stu-
dents and themselves.
Letters to the editor
Smear campaign
Is President Obama stealing power as the
tea party charges, or is it a plot that by nam-
ing our president as such, the tea party hopes
to sink the Democratic ship of state before
Hillary takes the helm?
There have been 47 failed votes to stop
the Affordable Care Act. I repeat, 47 failed
votes to repeal the ACA, including one that
shut down the government and cost the tax-
payers $24 billion. This from a group of po-
litical hypocrites that brands the Obama ad-
ministration as spending more than govern-
ment takes in.
The tea party and its mouthpieces, Fox
News, Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck, are
calling the president’s right to executive priv-
ilege a breach of the Constitution.
He used the policy to correct parts of the
ACA that makes them better for all of the
people who will benefit from this landmark
legislation.
Will “the do-nothing Congress,” making
fools of its members and those who voted for
them by being defeated 47 times attempting
to appeal the ACA, do anything to improve a
policy that provides insurance to 7.5 million
Americans, many of whom have never had
SUBMISSIONS
Letters for publication must include the writer’s
signature, address and telephone number.
Authorship must be verified before publication.
The Record-Chronicle reserves the right to edit
letters for length.
Letters should be typed or legibly handwritten
and be 250 or fewer words. We prefer e-mail
submissions.
Send to: drc@dentonrc.com.
Otherwise, fax to 940-566-6888, or mail to:
Letters to the editor
P.0. Box 369
Denton, TX 76202
The late William Raspberry once wrote in
his Washington Post column that you could
turn any social gathering of local blacks into
warring camps just by saying the one word
“Dunbar.”
What destroyed more than 80 years of ac-
ademic achievement at Dunbar High
School, virtually overnight, was changing it
from a selective school, to which black
youngsters from anywhere in the city could
apply, to a neighborhood school, located in a
poor ghetto neighborhood.
Now there is a new controversy brewing
as some have suggested that the new Dunbar
High School building be made a city wide se-
lective high school, rather than remain a
neighborhood school.
All the talk about elitism, and about
abandoning neighborhood youngsters, in
order to serve others, has been revived and
another poisonous issue now added — race.
Those black spokesmen who see all issues
through a racial prism see the proposed
change as a way to accommodate whites who
want to send their children to a public school
that keeps out many ghetto blacks.
But the issue of selectivity was controver-
sial even when Dunbar was an all-black
school.
With or without racial issues, there is no
way to provide a good education for young-
sters who want to learn when there are less
able and more disruptive kids in the same
classes.
Are those who came to learn going to be
sacrificed until such indefinite time as it
takes for us to “solve” the “problems” of those
who don’t?
insurance?
He had to use executive privilege to
groom the ACA to the point it is workable for
all Americans.
The tea party knows there is no illegality
involved in the executive privilege charges. If
they smear him though Fox Republican-
controlled media and repeat their lies long
enough, they hope people will believe them.
Why don’t they take lawful action? They
don’t have a legal leg to stand on.
John Nance Gamer,
Denton
This day in history: May 6
Today is Tuesday, May 6,
the 126th day of 2014. There
are 239 days left in the year.
On May 6, 1954, medical
student Roger Bannister broke
the four-minute mile during a
track meet in Oxford, England,
in 3:59.4.
In 1840, Britain’s first adhe-
sive postage stamp, the Penny
Black, officially went into circu-
lation five days after its intro-
duction.
In 1863, the Civil War Battle
of Chancellorsville in Virginia
ended with a Confederate victo-
ry over Union forces.
In 1882, President Chester
Alan Arthur signed the Chinese
Exclusion Act, which barred
Chinese immigrants from the
U.S. for 10 years (Arthur had op-
posed an earlier version with a
20-year ban).
In 1910, Britain’s Edwardian
era ended with the death of King
Edward VII; he was succeeded
by George V.
In 1935, the Works Progress
Administration began operating
under an executive order signed
by President Franklin D. Roose-
velt.
Denton Record-Chronicle mission statement
In 1937, the hydrogen-filled
German airship Hindenburg
burned and crashed in Lake-
hurst, N. J., killing 35 of the 97
people on board and a Navy
crewman on the ground.
In 1942, during World War
II some 15,000 Americans and
Filipinos on Corregidor surren-
dered to Japanese forces.
— The Associated Press
We believe a free society, with all its privileges and opportunities, is partially successful because of
a free press that is supported by the community at large.
Our mission every day is to give you unbiased, wide-ranging news of Denton and the larger Denton
County community. We appreciate your subscription or your purchase of this newspaper. By doing
so, you are supporting an independent look at your community, its leaders, its business people, and
its residents.
Without that, we believe that our communities would suffer from a lack of analysis, a lack of in-
formation, and a lack of oversight of taxpayer money. We want to give you something to think
about every day. We hope those ideas lead you to become involved in your community, both with
your commentary and your actions.
THOMAS SOWELL’S column is dis-
tributed by Creators Syndicate Inc.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Cobb, Dawn. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 277, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 6, 2014, newspaper, May 6, 2014; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1132439/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .