Reading, Writing and Race

WLXT.com ^ | 5/12/2006 | J.R. Berry

[Anti-Bubba182]

(Cayce) - Inside the walls of Brookland-Cayce High School, you expect students to be treated equally. But a viewer tip led News19 online where a teacher's comments left us asking questions.

"These sorts of things are going to upset people, but the truth can be very upsetting," said Brookland-Cayce High School teacher Winston McCuen.

That truth, at least according to McCuen, is that black people are inferior to whites.

"Intellectually, yes they are," said McCuen. "This has been confirmed over and over, and this is a generalization. Again, there are some blacks who are more intelligent than individual whites. But as a rule, that is true. I-Q tests prove it over, and over and over."

News19's J.R. Berry asked McCuen, "Do you think slavery in America was a good thing? "Yes," said McCuen. "In America there was a rational assessment saying listen, if we give these people freedom right as they are and you have to go back to see how they were, you can't assume they were like us.

J.R. asked, "How were they?" "They were coming out of the jungles," said McCuen. "They had been enslaving each other for centuries in Africa, and in terms of being used to rule of law, they knew none of that."

No doubt about it, Winston McCuen has controversial opinions. But do his views make it into the classroom? He teaches Latin at Brookland-Cayce. He told J.R. that most of his students are white.

J.R. asked," Is this something that enters your classroom, something you tell your students?" "I'm a Latin teacher, so I'm not teaching politics or history," said McCuen. "I'm just teaching Latin."

"We got off subject one day and he mentioned that slavery happened and he mentioned the Vice-President around Andrew Jackson's time, and that's how we got off on slavery," said 9th-grader Candace Carol. The Vice-President she was referring to is John C. Calhoun; someone Winston McCuen admires.

"John C. Calhoun: the greatest South Carolinian in terms of political understanding and wisdom," said McCuen. "And he argued that the institution of slavery was a positive good, and he called it a great good and it was good."

Before talking with us, McCuen posted his views on an internet Web site called "American Renaissance." Most of the comments on the site are aimed at blacks. McCuen's comments are no exception. For instance, last August, McCuen said, "There is no apology to be made for black slavery in America. Why should today's whites apologize for the wisdom of their ancestors?"

J.R. commented to McCuen, "There will be some people that will say those are racist remarks." "They can call them what they will," said McCuen. "But if they call it racist, I just say it's true and you've got to deal with that. I have a responsibility to speak the truth; I believe it is."

J.R. asked, "So if you have black students in your class, do you look down on them?" "No, "said McCuen. "I try to do the best I can with every student I've got."

J.R. asked, "But you just said they were inferior?" "You try to actualize whatever potential is there," said McCuen.

This isn't the first time Winston McCuen has been in the news. In 1999, he was a history teacher at St. Joseph's, a private high school in Greenville. McCuen hung a Confederate flag in his classroom. When parents complained, he was told by school officials to take it down. He didn't, and he was fired.

"Our board of trustees ran screaming into the night saying 'take it down, take it down,' and I refused to because you need to present different views in the classroom," said McCuen.

That was seven years ago. Today, the Emory University graduate is on administrative leave after News19 informed Lexington District Two about his comments. He won't be back next year. But he wasn't coming back anyway because of a certification issue. Though the district declined an on-camera interview, they did issue the following statement:

"District officials have not seen the video done by WLTX, but we are now aware of certain web sites. The District cannot dictate the personal political views of its employees. The positions of Dr. McCuen are not the positions of Lexington School District Two.

The parents of our district have entrusted us with the education of their children, and we continually strive to foster a positive learning environment for all of our students. The District is investigating the matter and will take appropriate action if warranted. Dr. McCuen is currently on administrative leave. For unrelated reasons, he will not be teaching in Lexington School District Two next year."

While McCuen's days with Lexington Two are numbered, McCuen says his time in the classroom is far from over.

"Is that a problem?" said McCuen. "I hope not. "Am I not supposed to make a living because of my views? Or should I just be wiped out or what, and people like me, what do you think?"

[Anti-Bubba182]

This was on DRUDGE.

[Gordongekko909]

Thomas Sowell would beg to disagree. See Black Rednecks and White Liberals. Not only am I anti-racist, but Thomas Sowell pwns. So yeah, this teacher can shove it.

[Alexander Rubin]

This teacher sounds more of a crackpot than anything else, such as a serious and violent neo-nazi; the racist equivalent of an armchair socialist. His views are, in addition to being offensive (which is not a crime), generally poorly reasoned (IQ tests are not the only measure of intelligence) and immoral. Slavery is a terrible, immoral and inexcusable institution. Period.

[Moose4]

He sounds like he's been stopping at Maurice Bessenger's BBQ down at 302 and Charleston Highway and reading some of the pamphlets.

Still, though. We rail about teachers with liberal viewpoints passing them on to our kids in school. Fair enough. So what happens when we find a teacher with an unpopular viewpoint--in this case about slavery--and he DOESN'T pass it on? Do we automatically throw out anybody who's got a political view who's the least bit kooky? And who defines who's the kook?

This isn't as cut-and-dried as it looks. I don't think his political beliefs about John C. Calhoun or the Confederacy or even slavery are necessarily a reason to ban the guy from the classroom. The only reason I'd be leery about letting the guy teach, is that I'd have a problem with a teacher who automatically assumed that a significant portion of his class were less capable of learning the material from the second he walked in.

Stainless, figured I'd ping you to this one, because it's going to be interesting.

}:-)4

[after dark]

Administrators never spot people who are biased against children based on race, or class. People homeschool in order to protect their children from those who are blind to the potential of their children.

[Moose4]

BTW, since the article didn't mention it--this is in suburban Columbia, South Carolina. Cayce is a small city just across the river from downtown Columbia, mixed in with the city of West Columbia. Until recently I think the only semi-fame it had was that the city and the school system (this same district, I think) was set to accept a huge influx of African Bantu refugees and local pressure caused them to back out. Lexington Two is not a rich district, and they would've probably had to raise property taxes to provide the Bantu with the assistance they needed.

}:-)4

[nmh]

What I have noted with children of color is that AT HOME the emphasis is NOT on academics. Asians aren't born "brighter". Learning is a cultural norm that is to be excelled at. This is what I typically don't see in black homes and often NOT in WHITE HOMES.

[nmh]

What I have noted with children of color is that AT HOME the emphasis is NOT on academics. Asians aren't born "brighter". Learning is a cultural norm that is to be excelled at. This is what I typically don't see in black homes and often NOT in WHITE HOMES.

BTW, I'm referring to public schooled kids. Step into a private school and you'll see color melts away. PARENTS are INVOLVED and push learning.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

If you learn how to read you have the enormous advantage of being able to use the internet.

Unless, of course, you get sidetracked and spend the rest of your life idling away on FreeRepublic like some parties I could name.

[speed_addiction]

Thomas Sowell would beg to disagree. See Black Rednecks and White Liberals. Not only am I anti-racist, but Thomas Sowell pwns. So yeah, this teacher can shove it.

My fiance is black and she has two daughters. I have been with her for five years and have been a father to her two girls who I adore and they love me in kind. Both of the girls are honor students who have never recieved even one "b," ever.

Yvette (my fiance) is also a member of a couple of societies that provide scholarships for young people. One of these societies is mostly made up of black ladies who are community leaders. This one holds a debutante ball every year for the black young ladies of the city. I can only say that I am very, very impressed when they are introduced and their merits and awards are read off. I can say that I feel very comfortable and rest easy that our future as a country rests in the hands of youngsters like this.


What We Are About To Do Here Is What The Good Lord Would Call A Cleansing of the Wicked. I Call It A Good Old Fashioned Texas Ass Kicking.

[Alberta's Child]

He might be a redneck if . . . he thinks Tupac Shakur is a Jewish holiday.

[Gordongekko909]

Damn straight. Don't let anyone give your daughters any crap about what they're capable of. This includes fools like this teacher and fools like Al Sharpton.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

This guy is nobody's intellectual superior.

[rogue yam]

This McCuen guy's comments on slavery, as presented in the article, are dumb. He posits America's choice during slavery times as between having slaves and having free Africans as countrymen. McCuen ignores the option of never bringing slaves to America to begin with.

That said, the article also discredits McCuen for observing that blacks don't do as well on standardized intelligence tests as whites. This is a consistently-observed phenomenon with widespread social implications. Right now in California we have a judge throwing out the state high school exit-exam requirement because fewer blacks passed the test. Previously the University of California lessened its reliance on SAT scores solely because blacks post lower SAT scores.

The left opposes all testing because the left wants a society devoted to group entitlements rather than individual accomplishment. The left claims that all tests are racist. We shouldn't let them get away with eliminating testing and the concept of objective merit.

[liberallarry]

This teacher is definitely off the wall and his views on slavery around the bend. I doubt that he's capable of giving black kids a fair shake (but that's not really my right to say).

But differential performance by various racial and ethnic groups on a variety of tests and measures of achievement is undeniable...and the causes in dispute.

30 years prior - in "Ethnic America" - Sowell attributed many black problems to the topography and climate of Africa. 15 years ago his criticism of "The Bell Curve" was limited to a claim that Herrstein and Murray didn't give enough weight to "IQ creep". Here's a nice review of his current offering.

I don't know the state of the dispute today but I very much doubt it's been resolved.

[EEDUDE]

I strongly believe that lack of achievment by many blacks in the academic area has to do with the fact that many of them are told that there is no way they can make it in "a white mans world".

Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with several very talented black engineers. Since they are rare in the profession I have always wanted to know what they thought made them achieve so much.

Every single one of them told me that their parents had never told them they couldn't do something because they were black. In addition, their parents were involved in seeing that homework was done, and expectations met.

I for one do not believe that blacks are intellectully inferior. Nor do I believe that Asians are superior.

That having been said, there is a black culture in this country that seems to have lost hope, and the belief that they CAN achieve.

It is a cultural problem, not a racial problem.

And it is a tragedy.

[mc6809e]

There is a real correlation between race and IQ. It's not a very strong one, but it's been well established. We don't know if the cause is genetic, environmental, dietary, or something else. It could be that simple anxiety or poor diet in youth is responsible.

That said, there is considerable overlap in scores and no INDIVIDUAL should be judged as intelligent or unintelligent simply because of race. Everyone deserves an equal chance. We just can't expect equal outcomes.

[JNL]

Oh come on that's been blown away so many times.

Why do you throw genetic in there? Environmental yes but genetic geez. I'll go to private mail on this one, however my son is mixed east indian / white and you are actually saying what.


I read your second paragraph as an excuse for the first btw.

Sorry to get so angry over it but geez.

[Alter Kaker]

Thomas Sowell would beg to disagree.

Thomas Sowell says blacks are stupid and slavery was good? Cite?