TX-Gov: Kay Bailey Hutchison Longs for the Days of Segregation

by: Phillip Martin

Tue Aug 18, 2009 at 03:02 PM CDT

At yesterday's press conferencing announcing (for the 15th time) her candidacy for Governor, Kay Bailey Hutchison longed for the days of her old high school education -- back when her high school was segregated and only whites could attend.

From the Austin American-Statesman story, "Hutchison at first event: Rah, rah for good ol' days":

"I want to help to create an education system like I had," said Hutchison, La Marque High School, class of 1961.
No thanks. I'll pass on that.
Yes, 1961 was a great time to be in Texas public schools — if you were white and didn't face learning disabilities. La Marque High School was segregated when Hutchison attended.

Ken Herman doesn't stop there:

Yes, education has become far more challenging these days. And it's for a positive reason. We've decided to challenge ourselves to educate everyone, not just the healthy white kids. So let's be wary of any graduate of a segregated school who wants to "create an education system like I had."

This comes on the heels of Senator Hutchison voting against Sonia Sotomayor -- despite the fact that Hutchison admitted she was a strong judicial candidate. Don't forget this video from the Texas Democratic Party:

Anyone who thinks Senator Hutchison is a "moderate" think again. She longs for the days of segregation and votes against qualified Hispanics. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is either completely ignorant or outright dismissive of the Texas minority communities. Any Democrat that still thinks she's not that bad needs a reality check. Fast.

Tags: TX-Gov, Kay Bailey Hutchison, 2010 Elections, race, (All Tags)

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TX-Gov: Kay Bailey Hutchison Longs for the Days of Segregation | 1 comments

old timey education (0.00 / 0)

Coincidentally I graduated from a (segregated) Texas high school the same year as Kay. The first thing I would have to say, as one who moved around a lot, is that the quality of the all-white high schools I and others attended varied enormously. Many small town and rural high schools stank to high heaven; the big city schools by and large were excellent. The Houston public school system for example was accustomed to automatically setting back by a grade those who transferred in from elsewhere in the state. The Fort Worth high school I entered in 10th grade refused to allow me to take any advanced courses (e.g. Latin) because I was a transfer, regardless of my (straight A) average. On the other hand, a small consolidated rural school (actually in Oklahoma, but it had plenty of Texas counterparts) I had to attend for a semester offered no college preparatory courses, had few students who ever went off even to junior college, and had students who were easily 2-3 grades behind their peers elsewhere. So there were segregated schools with achievement levels to be proud of, much like today's better suburban districts, but much that was terrible.

However, as much as I dislike Republican politicos, particularly in Texas, I must defend her statement, to this extent: she is talking about levels of achievement (in her limited experience) to strive for, not reinstituting segregation or abolishing special education (I think). And this is a goal we should share.

by: Gary Bennett @ Wed Aug 19, 2009 at 13:07:53 PM CDT