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Spike Lee says popular music portrays blacks negatively [Full Text] PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Filmmaker Spike Lee told an audience at Brown University on Monday that popular music portrays blacks in a negative light.

Lee, known for directing films that include "Malcolm X" and the documentary "4 Little Girls," spoke to an audience of more than 400 students for about 90 minutes.

"I've always felt you can feel the progress of African Americans by listening to their music," Lee said. "Some of this 'gangsta rap' stuff, it's not doing anybody any good. This stuff is really dangerous."

He said some black adults equate education, good grammar and good grades with "being white," but when he was growing up, those things were seen as positive goals.

"You were not ridiculed if you spoke correct English," he said. Lee urged the audience to make their voices heard by not purchasing or viewing media that portrays blacks in a negative way.

"We buy all this stuff, not even thinking about what's behind it ... Think about the power that we have," he said. "We can't just sit back and think it doesn't affect us. We have to do something about it. We have to be more choosy about the types of stuff we support."

Lee also urged students to follow their dreams after graduation, "or you'll be sitting around, fat, divorced and miserable because you took some job, or you took some path that you didn't really want to do."

The speech was sponsored by the Brown Lecture Board, a student group that brings speakers to campus. [End]

School-reform critics ignore power of accountability***Critics of the law, such as the National Education Association, the powerful teachers union, are trying to stir up opposition from educators and Democratic presidential candidates. But a victory for them would strip superintendents such as Ross of the outside pressure needed to find better-qualified teachers, adopt more effective curriculums and educate children who in the past were allowed to fail.

Critics' arguments against raising standards and holding educators accountable don't stand up. Among them:

o There's no money to support reform . The federal funding of poor schools has grown 33% during the past two years.

o The reform goals are unrealistic . The law demands that by 2014, all children must score as "proficient" learners on state tests. Most educators agree that the ambitious goal probably won't be met. But it is worth striving for. Extending the deadline now would slow down the pace of school reform.

o The law relies on one-size-fits-all testing . In fact, the tests that critics revile identify the children whom teachers are failing to reach. In Gainesville, Fla., for example, Abraham Lincoln Middle School received an "A" under the state's grading system. But federally required tests revealed a wide racial learning gap. While 90% of Lincoln's white students were proficient in math and reading, only 22% of the black students were proficient in reading and 15% in math.***