Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White wanted to make the point that public schools have it tougher than private schools because they have to take all comers. He's now taking heat for the way he put it:
Advocacy groups are asking for an apology from the superintendent of the state's largest school district after he referred to children as "blind, crippled, crazy."
Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White made the comments during an interview Monday with WIBC-FM's Denny Smith while talking about graduation rates and the challenges of public schools versus charter schools.
"You've got to understand, we are public schools.What does that mean? We take everybody that come through the door, whether they are blind, crippled, crazy," White said.
White contends that the advocacy groups protesting his remarks are "taking them out of context" and are missing the point he was trying to make about public schools turning no one away. But it seems clear the critics do get that point; they just think better words and "crippled" and "crazy" should have been used. I notice no one is objecting to "blind" -- that's a word that doesn't describe a condition society has had mixed feelings about. Personally, I find "crazy" more objectionable than "crippled," but that's likely because I've had more experience in my circle dealing with mental illness than with physical handicaps.
I guess I have mixed feelings about the whole issue. People are far too sensitive about labels, and changing what we call people doesn't always change how we feel about them or treat them; we just transfer all the baggage of the pejorative to the term we're trying to replace it with. But there's something to be said for sometimes bowing to the politically correct term of the moment if you're trying to make a larger point, as White was. He's been distracted from that now and is having to argue about something he doesn't want to argue about.
Oh, well. You know what they say. In the land of the blind, crippled and crazy, the one-eyed, limping neurotic is king. Call me Mr. Sensitive.
