Recently, a popular Petworth blogger has featured two voices rarely appearing on his side of the world(wide web), transferring them both from their original contexts and into his kingdom. In both cases, the stated identity of the author is disputed by readers in the comments.
Thoughts From A Reader On School Closings
“I am writing today, because i am discouraged by the list of school closings,
Bruce Monroe was on that list and is the best school I have seen in dc!
Yes the building could use some work, but the programs here are awesome to put it in the lease
This school just received a relationship with The Rosenbaum foundation for aSingapore Math pilot program Bringing the worlds foremost math expert on board.
They are about to with with A.I.R and their math group and the Federal Government to implement this.
The staffs morale is hurting and I am so discouraged with this system.
Why should we stay in it.
Do we care about our kids they will be lost and destroyed at Parkview.
Please reconsider this
From the heart of a teacher who cares probably too much
enrollment here is up, test scores are up, help us!!!!!!!!!!!
we have great leadership and our parrents are comming to me and want to go charter after this.
thanks”
eric
I believe that literacy isn't the same written & typed. Writing legibly and correctly is very difficult for me as I type nearly all of my communication. I think at the pace of typing, not writing; my writing suffers accordingly. A large part of my job involves acquainting older people with email and the internet. People I work with often send me emails laden with typographical spelling errors because it is simply too onerous a task to type a perfect message when one is not accustomed to the QWERTY. Furthermore, the author was writing something to a blogger, not to his students. To question his legitimacy as a teacher based on his email to a blogger seems unfair -- it might be fair to say that this person doesn't type well, but is that relevant?
A little googling yields that the school in question is an elementary school. Obviously, it is not my intent to suggest that all elementary school teachers possess the functional literacy of an elementary school child, but it must be recognized that the credentials for elementary school-teaching are not as high as one might think. Case in point, commenter DCer, writing:
That was some serious piss-poor writing. If Mr. Ginsburg is a teacher then he did the second worst job of defending his right to be a teacher, second to Mary Kay LeTourneau that is, let’s be honest. In all seriousness, I think that strange, grammatically incorrect writing style HAD to be some some kind of joke where a local wag pretended to be an incompetent teacher.
I volunteered for the Bruce Monroe library event that Target put together in September and, you know, the school facility was pretty awful. Let’s not forget that Bruce Monroe was one of those horribly-designed “open” classroom spaces that should have been closed down and converted in 1979.
I have a friend who teaches there and she was basically crying that all her friends who never got their teaching certifications were going to be fired.
What? Didn’t Cafritz require those certifications?
Yes, she explained, but a lot of the teachers never bothered to go to college and are upset that they might get fired.
“HIGH FIVE FOR LOSERS GETTING FIRED!” I said. She sighed and said, “Yes, they really should, but some of them are good teachers.” I gave her “that look.” “Ok, she admitted, no good teacher would refuse to get certified or get a Master’s Degree.”
Dr. Ginsburg, if this ridiculous email isn’t a prank, a PhD teacher will have no problem getting a job anywhere.
If you don’t have a PhD, and you aren’t currently in graduate school, you don’t really belong in the teaching field and I’m sure that there will be options for you outside of academia. (emphasis mine)
But I still vote that an email riddled with so many grammatical mistakes was a prank- no one is that stupid.The commenter makes some pretty interesting inferences, in addition to disputing the legitimacy of the teacher. Not once did the teacher mention anything about job security, yet that is how his message was read by DCer.
I also don't wish to suggest that teaching small children can be done by dunces. But, you don't have to have a masters degree to be an early ed teacher. You don't even need to have a masters degree to teach high school. Many people get k-12 teaching certification while in college; many people get certification after college without being enrolled in a masters program.
Ironic to pick apart the grammar of somebody advocating for education/more resources for schools? Cruel? A way of discrediting the voice of someone seemingly excluded from these conversations who has attempted to enter them, through a private email no less? You decide.
Is it okay to not listen to people who do not speak correctly?
Moving onto the second instance, PrinceOfPetworth replicates a rant posted on the rants and raves section of craigslist DC days after posting an interview with a police commander -- recontextualizing it so as to give an alternative perspective on crime to that forwarded by law enforcement. Of course, the difference is that the ranter is not allowed a conversation with the blogger, rather the ranter is relegated to the commentary of the blogger & his readers, not allowed to respond.
And Now A View From the “Crew”
Yesterday we heard a perspective from law enforcement. So, much like the opposing political party gets some air time after the state of the union, today we will hear from a self proclaimed member of a “crew”. Now, I’ve been called every name in the book, and I have very thin skin so I cry a lot, wait I’m getting off track. Point is I certainly don’t want to be accused of not giving all sides a platform. So a big thanks to my neighbor for pointing out this “rant” from Craig’s List in DC. Now, it is from Craig’s List so I obviously can’t vouch for the author but the original post is here. Without further ado:
“I know who I am. You…not really knowing it…hit it right on the nail!
I am a thug. NO!….I do not rob people or steal from anyone. I work a 60 hour week every single day but Sunday…..but I am a thug!
I carry two guns…..yes, I’m a pistol packing black man whose family can walk their neighborhoods without worrying about being attacked, assaulted, harassed, intimidated or molested…..mainly because I’m a KNOWN THUG.
Everyone knows me in 17 of the criminal neighborhoods in metro DC and PG. They know me as well as my 38 friends….or crew as you might want to call it. My grandmother can walk to the store if she wants and not one hoodlum, crackhead or street urchent(did I spell that right)will accost her….they call her by her name….Hi Mrs.So and So! My sisters and cousins can go to any club in the area and not be molested…because everyone knows who her peeps are..as well as members of my crew…their families are safe as well.
None of my female relatives or acquaintances have to worry about abusive boyfriends or husbands and even the most drunkiest dude who disrespects them at a event, club or venue…..just the mention of a name….either mine or a crew member(sic)will make his ass sober up…stutter and apologize profusely!
If by chance and I do mean…by chance….a family member of close friend is killed…..we don’t need the police, the courts, the fancy lawyers or a technical aquital….we will settle our “own justice” and it works!Let’s say this ‘hypothetical situation’: Two men are found shot to death in seperate locations. the police don’t put two and two together, but when they do they ALWAYS assume it’s a drug deal gone bad (smile).
When in fact…..it is ‘retribution’ for a street robbery that occurred 6 weeks earlier…a robbery that involved one of our close friends or family members. She’ll never ever have to worry about them coming back to hurt her again or worry about them threatening her or worry about them period.
See problem solved…..not your form of justice….but then again….as you already have stated….I’m thug cultured.”I just wonder how he rationalizes innocent civilians getting shot in the crossfire of rival crews? And don’t “known thugs” eventually got shot themselves anyway, when someone tries to knock off the big man to show how tough they are?
Similar to the conversation resulting from the blogger showcasing the teacher's email, a lively discussion evolves regarding the authenticity of the "thug". Consistent with the teacher case, grammar and spelling become a point of interest as one commenter writes, "Pretty high level vocabulary for someone who can’t spell “urchin” (but who can spell and use correctly “accost,” “hypothetically,” and “retribution.”) I’m not saying that this fake thug isn’t posting some real thoughts of someone out there…" While there is some debate, a consensus is not completely made and questions of authenticity do not overshadow the content of the rant as much as they do in my other example. Another commenter writes, "I don’t know, the rant sounds pretty legit to me. Everyone IS on the interweb these days."
Notably, these debates regarding what sorts of identities belong online and how they should be articulated occur in blogs pertaining to gentrifying communities. If anything, they indicate the stereotypes that are maintained among the participants. Perhaps they also suggest what types of entities are permissible in their real space community. Obviously, nobody wants their community ridden with violence -- however, the "thug" challenges the matrix of power that sustains the status quo. Likewise, the commentary suggests that full computer literacy is prerequisite to successfully teaching early childhood education.
Miranda (and other readers), what do you think?
2 comments:
Everyone knows poor people were BANNED from the internet long ago.
It seems that the new Petworth 'community' loves to jump down the throats of anyone who doesn't belong in their vision of Petworth as the new hotspot, REVITALIZING area if you will. Lowly beings such as teachers at public schools and thugs alike have no place in this highbrow discourse, so they MUST be fake...right?
One question I have for the author of this blog is how can we measure the ways that cyber-gentrification manifest themselves IRL (if you will)?
Oh man, I had NOT seen that comment saying you need to have a Ph.D. to be a teacher. That's ridiculous.
It's also interesting for me because I have a couple of friends who are teachers in DC through TFA-like programs. I think they would be considered much more legitimate to many of PoP's commenters than the teacher quoted here--though I'm sure they have much more to learn as teachers. And also probably contribute to gentrification. I know they're supposed to live near neighborhoods they're teaching in.
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