Oh, you want something to read?
Then read this, bitches.
I won't be taking the time to address the specifics of the situation that have caused the "epilogue" of this section of my blog. In fact, as even the least technical-minded of my readers may note, I haven't updated my blog in months.
Evidently though, my blog wasn't poppin' enough for several of the people who live in my community. So they took words I had written and ran with it.
My, how I wish I could say more.
I want the world to know that the unsinkable Rashid Darden is on top -- again -- and has weathered his most recent rainfall.
Yes bitches, a rainfall -- you weren't a storm.
If it wasn't clear in any other entry, I will make it plain: I loved being a teacher. I love children. I am one of the few gay men under 30 that I know who really wants a family.
I will never forget the first student who ever [i]asked[/i] to read to me. He wasn't the perfect reader at all, but he tried. And you know what? He is so good now. I don't claim that -- he had good teachers and a mother who he really admired and respected.
That's the crux of the crisis in the schools..... many children I worked with over the years had no one at home to respect. Sure, they loved them.... but when they looked at their parents, they did not see adults that they wanted to become.
And I don't blame them.
I have been the victim of a grassroots campaign of homophobia. Members of my community ignored the greatness that I provided to the students in the form of a positive male role model, a respectful and respectable Washingtonian, a Student Council Advisor, a tutor, a multicultural liaison... they ignored that because they read my blog and got offended.
Sure, I call the kids "little bastards" and "Satan's Little Helpers" in my blog. This blog was also never promoted or publicized to the children. Ask ANY child who ever asked me "Mr. Darden, what's your book about?" and they will say they don't know -- because I never told them. I respected their boundaries and the boundaries that their parents set for them -- homosexuality is not something I want children exposed to through MY novel for the first time. When they're teenagers, find the book in a store, and purchase it with their own money, then clearly they will be ready to deal with the issues.
But several irresponsible adults shared my blog with the children and rather giving them proper guidance, hyped up things I said and took them out of context. In addition, there was never proof that I was even telling the truth all of the time. I write novels for God's sake, not the news.
A discerning reader (as most of you are) would know that I never once disclosed the location of my job in this blog, nor did I ever publish names or addresses of students. But homophobia is deep and rampant in this community.....
Straight people have done far worse where I worked and gotten away with it.
Luckily, I believe in all that I have ever written in this blog and refuse to edit it. I have said some things that have changed my life, most for the better, some for the worse. There are people who I have hurt in this blog.
But for anything I said regarding the children I work with or their parents or the situations I found myself in that were sad, witty, horrible, and great -- I DO NOT APOLOGIZE.
The urban school systems are doomed to fail for several reasons -- the primary one being the irresponsible parenting that I have encountered. I can count on ONE HAND the parents or guardians who I really believe are doing their best. The rest.... well, smoking weed in the car with your child before school... that's normal behavior, right?
No punishment for your child calling a teacher a bitch or a faggot....that's normal, right?
Your child hitting a teacher....no punishment....that's normal, right?
Oh wait, those things should be enforced by the principal, right? Right. But we're not going to get into that -- I have no respect for a man or woman who would allow the type of witch hunt to occur to me. But then again, I couldn't respect someone who was handed a position rather than working for it anyway.
No respect. Urban school systems might fail with bad parenting, but they WILL fail with bad administration. I hope to never have the misfortune of working with anyone like that ever again. The stories I have in me could fill a book.
Hmmm..... a book....now there's an idea.....
Posted by Rashid on August 21, 2007 7:56 PM