Mercedes Schneider is a teacher. She is also a tireless researcher and writer. She has maxing courage and is fearless in calling out the foibles and corruption of those who make decisions in her home state of Louisiana. She is one of a group of intrepid bloggers who keep intellectual freedom alive in Louisiana.
Schneider here shares her reflections on what it means to be an American. What it means to be a woman in America. And reveals that she is writing a book on the mendacity of corporate reform.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I left a long reply on Mercedes site for anyone who wishes to read my views about July 4 and my own depth of feeling which is non-celebatory.
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With you on this one Ellen. As Rubén Blades wrote in his song “Conmemorando” about the 500 year anniversary of the “discovery” of the Americas:
“Hoy, sin ánimo de ofensa
Hacia el que distinto piensa,
Conmemoro. Pero sin celebración.”
Today without wishing to hurt
those who think differently,
“I will commemorate but without celebration”.
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I urge all the viewers of this blog to consider obtaining her book when it comes out.
Will it have a definite POV? Yes. But for folks like me who have followed her blog—and her comments on this blog—we know she will fight hard but fair to present her case.
What does that mean? It means she will marshal every fact and stat she can to make her case, while also making clear how far the data can take her and how far it can’t.
Why is restraint so commendable in the super-charged ed debates? Formal education and experience can take one only so far. There are plenty of highly educated and experienced people who have lent their names and reputations to “research” and “advocacy papers” that overreach the bounds of professional ethics and that violate the sound maxim to “do no harm.”
“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” [Samuel Johnson]
I look forward to her employing the two weapons that the edubullies and their accountbully underlings dread the most: knowledge and integrity.
🙂
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Thank you, KrazyTA. I try to always present only what I can support with evidence.
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I wish I could still feel grateful for being an American. Today is my birthday. I am in my 60s. I used to feel especially glad to have been born in America, for a variety of reasons, but partly because throughout my childhood, my family celebrated my birthday on the 4th, so always felt personally connected to my country, as well as to the fight for freedom.
I no longer feel that connection to America, and although I would not become a traitor to my country, I have lost hope in America’s freedom fighters, because those who used to stand up for civil rights have been paid off by corporations and remain silent today.
I have been the working poor for most of my adult life, but the struggle has gotten worse over time and I feel abandoned. I’ve learned over and over again that, despite having a college education and decades of experience, no one really cares about people who are not paid a livable wage, have no benefits or pension, and will never be able to afford to retire –least of all my country.
I continue to fight the good fight, so that others won’t suffer as I have. However, I am so disappointed and ashamed to live in a country which feigns greatness and concern for its struggling citizens, while ignoring poverty and investing in those who are least in need.
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Other Spaces,
You are describing the dark side of American life, and it goes so under-reported and it’s up and on the rise.
I agree with what you’re saying.
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Mercedes,
I aspire to feel the way you do.
I know as an American I am so much more fortunate than so many other citizens in other countries, like Uganda, Iraq, Chad, Uzbekistan, etc. Also, my level of education and socio-economic status put me in a world that is more fortunate than far too many people living and working here in the United States. But despite great prudence, and atypical “living considerably below” my means, anything can turn on a dime. If a catastrophic illness befalls a family today, and one has to leave their job and can’t pay for insurance any more under COBRA, or if one becomes under-insured, or reaches a ceiling in their health insurance for a really serious illness, than the future is grim. Even after reducing oneself to a pauper and then qualifying for state aid for such services, the quality of care is often poorer and not as progressive. Fortunately, my wife and I have never had to face this situation, but I personally knew a few people who have here in NY state, and they were gainfully employed and very highly educated. I view access to great but prudently managed healthcare as a fundamental human, civil, and birthright.
For this, I am NOT proud at all to be an American. Sorry; it’s just the way I feel.
Everything is relative.
Having gone back and forth to France and Europe for abot 15 years, I see that we Americans, as a modern industrialized nation, are far behind so many other such countries in terms of fiscal and social equality. We are a very big, disjointed, and fragmented country. “United” in “United States” is a true misnomer. But I realize that human needs, as the ones mentioned in your post, tie everyone together and are culture-proof. If only people living here would realize that faster and band together with consensus to change the politcal and social landscape. I’m not saying that it’s not happening, but it needs to accelerate.
It doesn’t matter who you are: conservative, liberal, neo-liberal, neo-conservative, progressive, Bible Belt, New Englander, Southerner, Midwesterner, religious, atheist, etc . . . . the only differences now are between the greedy uber-rich who can’t make their money any more the way they used to (maybe because of globalization and because the BRICS coutnries are competing for oil and other world natural resources) and the rest of us.
But we, unlike Western and Northern Europe, are still a young nation. We have a lot of growing pains and growing up to do.
You cite religion in your post, and I must say that I don’t do the Christ thing at all nor am I into very much organized religion. But if ever there were a good example of a Christian, or just of a highly respected, moral individual who is sensitive to the needs of not just herself and her immediate community, but to society at large, it’s you.
Thank you VERY MUCH for inspiring us all, we who read your researched work on the Ravitch blog.
My Mount Olympus dream panel of education policy makers on federal level and state levels or as individual candidates for the next AFT and NEA presidents would be you, Diane, Leonie Haimson, Susan Ohanian, Michael Winerip, Robert Shepherd, Arthur Goldstein, Kenneth Bernstein, and Mr. Krazy TA (He only gives his nom de plume).
Mercedes, keep on writing and teaching . . . .
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Thank you, Robert. I appreciate your candor.
Certainly I agree that there are a lot of ills in the USA in need of addressing. At the same time, I realize that half of the world is deprived of clean water and a bed. I hope never to take these basics for granted.
As an American citizen, it is my job to address the ills. Not all of them. Just those in my sphere of influence and ability.
I have found my platform. Or perhaps it found me. For both blog and book, I counted the cost before I chose to begin.
Both are an incredible commitment.
Thank you for your encouragement. it matters.
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