Letters to the Editor: March 18, 2015

Flashy While attention was focused on the fraternity event at OU this week there was another occurrence that went uncovered. On the March 8 broadcast of KFOR’s Flashpoint, the guest was new OKCPS Superintendent Rob Neu. While discussing issues of our inner-city district, Flashpoint host and former Mayor Kirk Humphreys made what I believe is a shockingly racist comment. Referring to the Putnam City School District, Humphreys stated that the district was once the “best … in the state” until the “best gene pool” moved out to the suburbs.

I must vehemently disagree with Humphreys. These people are not the best of the “gene pool” in our area but rather the worst, running ever farther out of town to ensure their children do not have to sit next to brown, poor or English-learning children. I am proud to have graduated from Northeast High School in the early days of white exodus. I am even more proud now to have three children excelling and thriving in the OKCPS district.

I welcome Neu and thank him for coming here to try to lead our district. I’m certain by now he is well aware that people with the Republican Kirk Humphreys ideology are the real battle. — Jamie Levescy Oklahoma City

Racism I wish the current racist chant filmed on a bus full of tuxedoed SAE fraternity brothers and their party-gowned dates was an aberration. But in business dealings, I occasionally experienced covert racist remarks among my colleagues. Sometimes it was subtle, sometimes blunt, but it always left me with a filthy feeling, like I wanted to take a shower. And I was angered that those perpetrators felt they could express their racism in my company. One Memphis broker didn’t realize that by exposing his racism to me, he effectively lost our bank as a prospective lender.

And I wish I didn’t know people who will laugh at the video.

These aren’t cast members from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo; they come from middle-class, if not affluent, families.

Racism is learned behavior. I associate it with ignorance, but these frat brothers have had the benefits of private schools, travel, exposure to the world. Perhaps their parents don’t know of their racist beliefs, but it’s more likely their own comments and actions influenced those of their children.

Here’s the thing: Videos like this one remind me that racism is pervasive in the highest segments of society, unfettered by economic circumstances. There’s still a lot of work to do. — Mike Mager Oklahoma City

Private education It’s not surprising to see Brandon Dutcher promoting the privatizing of public education since he is for privatizing most everything (Commentary, “An Argument for Education Choice,” March 4, Oklahoma Gazette). The poll he constructed and touts does not have any validity. I am surprised that even 33 percent of OKC respondents would answer in favor of public schools now that the GOP chopped down funding to a level that all teachers able to move to another state have, a fact that has led to shortage of teachers, a fact that also increased class sizes beyond a working level.

Let’s see the results of a poll that asks where the responders would like to have their children go if their local school was funded at least at the level of the national average. — Chadwick Cox Norman

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