1980s’ redux

https://www.nj.com/essex/2022/09/plan-to-integrate-schools-cut-courtesy-busing-roils-nj-school-district.html

But I had thought township parents were woke?

mtierney said:

https://www.nj.com/essex/2022/09/plan-to-integrate-schools-cut-courtesy-busing-roils-nj-school-district.html

But I had thought township parents were woke?

Your comment is truly inappropriate, even based on the article itself, and also based on other facts which have been discussed for some time in the community, of which you are no longer a resident. Which means you probably have not been aware of any of it until you saw that one article in the Star Ledger.

So, if you have more of a perspective, than just the trollish "woke" comment, that would be something else entirely.

I was a Maplewood parent of four kids back in the ‘80s, when we were experiencing declining  enrollment, deteriorating buildings, and desegregation. No one was woke back then. The district closed four schools: Fielding, First Street, Montrose and Newstead or So Mt, I can’t recall which one.

It was the time of the great westerly migration. I would think that isn’t an option today, due to Real Estate  prices. So the article I posted certainly brought back memories — I was surprised I couldn’t find other posts on the subject.

My 48 years in Maplewood makes me eligible for continuing interest in all things Maplewood, no matter what you think. I joined MOL back in 2000, while still a bona fide homeowner.

mtierney said:

https://www.nj.com/essex/2022/09/plan-to-integrate-schools-cut-courtesy-busing-roils-nj-school-district.html

But I had thought township parents were woke?

I don't even know what you mean by any of this. 

.

ml1 said

But I had thought township parents were woke?

I don't even know what you mean by any of this.

mtierney said:

My 48 years in Maplewood makes me eligible for continuing interest in all things Maplewood, no matter what you think. I joined MOL back in 2000, while still a bona fide homeowner.

nohero said:

So, if you have more of a perspective, than just the trollish "woke" comment, that would be something else entirely.

mtierney said:

https://www.nj.com/essex/2022/09/plan-to-integrate-schools-cut-courtesy-busing-roils-nj-school-district.html

But I had thought township parents were woke?

You seem to think being woke is a bad thing.  Can you explain why this is the case?

My experience is that "woke" is most often used by those on the Right in a sarcastic way to mock and devalue more liberal perspectives on an issue.  Someone who is Woke is then caricatured as a person who falsely and somewhat grandiosely believes that they have achieved an awareness on a deeper level about an alleged underlying political reality, such as the existence and effects of structural racism on people and society, etc.  

Here is one of many similar examples of usage, from the Urban Dictionary:

"Umbrella term for individuals who are engrossed by social justice and thinks of themselves as saviors with a moral high ground, but remain willfully ignorant to the irrationality of their claims and the problems they create. These individuals give special treatment to certain minorities in hopes of ending racism and perpetuate mental illnesses as the norm.  My son's woke kindergarten teacher taught him that he's actually a girl because he played with dolls.by sealcake May 27, 2022571104"

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Woke

Jasmo said:

My experience is that "woke" is most often used by those on the Right in a sarcastic way to mock and devalue more liberal perspectives on an issue.  Someone who is Woke is then caricatured as a person who falsely and somewhat grandiosely believes that they have achieved an awareness on a deeper level about an alleged underlying political reality, such as the existence and effects of structural racism on people and society, etc.  

In that case, this statement -

mtierney said:

I was a Maplewood parent of four kids back in the ‘80s, when we were experiencing declining  enrollment, deteriorating buildings, and desegregation. No one was woke back then. 

- is incorrect.  They just had a different pejorative word for it. 

It the mid-1980s, black and white residents had to band together to deal with racist incidents in the two towns. I suppose their detractors would have called them "woke".

''Fear, anxiety have become a way of life among blacks here,'' said Mr. Calloway, the leader of a biracial group of about 500 residents formed last winter in response to the vandalism. ''It shouldn't be that way, but that's the way it is.''

Since mid-1983, more than 100 incidents of racial vandalism have occurred here and in South Orange, according to Mr. Calloway. The police documented 70 incidents during the same period.

RACIAL INCIDENTS BESET 2 TOWNS - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Debating the meaning of a word or phrase has been popular in our 23/7 news feed, Twitter and social media times. Back in the ‘70-‘80s, communications took awhile to reach folks — there were no Karens or Brandons to stir the pot — but the times were frantic and contentious on more than one level. The Newark riots devastated our communities, changing the landscape in our cities and suburbs overnight; AIDS was an unknown, scary sickness with which the police and medical personnel had zero experience.

Lots of good people chose to move out of our towns and Essex County, specifically, to protect  their families. My family stayed put, not because we were “woke”, but because we were invested in our town. My husband started school at Seth Boyden Kindergarden , all our kids attended local schools,  graduating from CHS; and we both worked in town.