Posted on 05/17/2011 2:52:20 PM PDT by Libloather
Obama: Graduates said 'Yes we can'
Published: May 16, 2011 at 2:14 PM
MEMPHIS, May 16 (UPI) -- Commencement at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis was a celebration and a chance to prove the naysayers wrong, President Obama said Monday.
"Every commencement is a day of celebration. But this one is especially hopeful," Obama told the graduating class during its graduation exercise. "That's because some people say that schools like BTW just aren't supposed to succeed in America. You'll hear them say, 'The streets are too rough in those neighborhoods.' Or 'The schools are too broken.' Or 'Those kids can't learn.'"
Booker T. Washington High School won the Race to the Top commencement competition. Since 2007, the graduation rate at Booker T. Washington High School has risen from 55 percent to 81 percent.
"We are here today because every single one of you stood up and said, 'Yes we can.' Yes we can learn. Yes we can succeed," Obama said, also recognizing the school's administration and teachers, and the students' parents in pushing the teens to succeed. "You decided that you weren't going to be defined by where you came from, but by where you want to go -- by what you want to achieve, by the dreams you hope to fulfill."
I thought that was absurd too.
I have never heard anyone say that schools in the ghetto, or schools serving mostly minority students, “just aren’t supposed to succeed in America”. Where the heck does he get his quotes from?
And will anyone ever call him on that, to give an example of who ever said that such schools just aren’t supposed to succeed?
Kinda seems to make him happy.
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