The Tough Teachers Are The Best Ones
The more I read about James Crupi's coming report on Richmond and how much the old one set people's hair on end, the more I am looking forward to his presentation Monday.
The T-D picked up the story Sunday (and cheers to them for linking to the entire original report!).
Despite his politically incorrect conclusions and blunt assessments of the city, region and people running the city in the private and public sectors, I noticed was that no one quoted in any of the stories as saying anything Crupi pointed out was untrue.
Sure it may not be polite, and may be arrogant or even rude, and yes it was biting, candid, stereotypical, etc, but was it true?
Richmond has never been able to tell itself the hard truth on any number of issues: race, poverty, education, regionalism, you name it. The list of ignored problems is long indeed and our collective vision the last 30+ years has been to ignore them and hope the city doesn't implode on itself.
Our modus operandi for too long has been just be polite and not stir up trouble; do small things to show we care rather than take issues by the throat, shove some tough love down the gullet, ruffle a few feathers, and tackle and eliminate the problems and move to the next. We don't have to be rude about it, but we must be mature enough to separate reasonable talk and solutions from the hysteria.
Too often we have allowed firebrands and furious outcries to succeed and encourage the national media to come and portray us in the very light we fear we will be cast - racist, backward, etc. But rather than tackle the issue and stand up with the hard truth and address it, we gently defend ourselves so as to not flame the fire and wait for the issue to go away and hope the damage is minimal.
Remember when some of the hysterical tried to make the Downtown Plan sessions a racial issue and stir up that it was not representative of the population even though it was open to the public? No one bit on that race card, and rather than fall prey to an Al Sharpton like fury, people from all walks instead rallied and attended the later sessions and took a stake in our future.
That was a good sign the city is changing, and hopefully such maturity will be on display in the wake of this report, because it will likely be more of the same: a tough, blunt assessment of Dr. Crupi's vision of where Richmond has come in the last 15 years.
It is likely to be embraced by some as a sign of progress, derided by others as racist or narrow-minded, and fuel for others who say it is proof that we can't get out of our own way and are our own worst enemy.
But like the original report, this one is also likely to be filled with truths that we must decide we need to look at and address or we can choose to ignore them and hopes they go away. Are we ready for more tough love?
I can't help but think back on the good teacher analogy. The teachers you usually remember as having the best impact on your education were those teachers that were the toughest. You thought then they were mean old hags, but not too long later in life and certainly as you get older, you look back at them with fondness, appreciation, and admiration.
You didn't know it then, but the good teachers' toughness and tenacity were setting you up to become a better person and succeed in the world as you grew older. They weren't - to your surprise - mean old hags at all; they were caring for your future and setting you straight.
Richmond needs such teachers now to take us where we want to go and help tackle and solve the problems that beset us. I have a feeling this report will be filled with such tough love and I welcome it. I fear, however, our anticipated reaction to it.
No matter what Crupi says, we have to remember NOT to listen to the sound bytes and inflamed or bruised egos which will undoubtedly get covered in the media. We would do better to focus on the themes in his report and work toward solving our problems and ignore the hysteria and the hysterical.
Class dismissed.
~
Follow Up:
Richmond: The Next Charleston or Detroit?
Prequel:
Food For The Weekend Thought
~~
The T-D picked up the story Sunday (and cheers to them for linking to the entire original report!).
Despite his politically incorrect conclusions and blunt assessments of the city, region and people running the city in the private and public sectors, I noticed was that no one quoted in any of the stories as saying anything Crupi pointed out was untrue.
Sure it may not be polite, and may be arrogant or even rude, and yes it was biting, candid, stereotypical, etc, but was it true?
Richmond has never been able to tell itself the hard truth on any number of issues: race, poverty, education, regionalism, you name it. The list of ignored problems is long indeed and our collective vision the last 30+ years has been to ignore them and hope the city doesn't implode on itself.
Our modus operandi for too long has been just be polite and not stir up trouble; do small things to show we care rather than take issues by the throat, shove some tough love down the gullet, ruffle a few feathers, and tackle and eliminate the problems and move to the next. We don't have to be rude about it, but we must be mature enough to separate reasonable talk and solutions from the hysteria.
Too often we have allowed firebrands and furious outcries to succeed and encourage the national media to come and portray us in the very light we fear we will be cast - racist, backward, etc. But rather than tackle the issue and stand up with the hard truth and address it, we gently defend ourselves so as to not flame the fire and wait for the issue to go away and hope the damage is minimal.
Remember when some of the hysterical tried to make the Downtown Plan sessions a racial issue and stir up that it was not representative of the population even though it was open to the public? No one bit on that race card, and rather than fall prey to an Al Sharpton like fury, people from all walks instead rallied and attended the later sessions and took a stake in our future.
That was a good sign the city is changing, and hopefully such maturity will be on display in the wake of this report, because it will likely be more of the same: a tough, blunt assessment of Dr. Crupi's vision of where Richmond has come in the last 15 years.
It is likely to be embraced by some as a sign of progress, derided by others as racist or narrow-minded, and fuel for others who say it is proof that we can't get out of our own way and are our own worst enemy.
But like the original report, this one is also likely to be filled with truths that we must decide we need to look at and address or we can choose to ignore them and hopes they go away. Are we ready for more tough love?
I can't help but think back on the good teacher analogy. The teachers you usually remember as having the best impact on your education were those teachers that were the toughest. You thought then they were mean old hags, but not too long later in life and certainly as you get older, you look back at them with fondness, appreciation, and admiration.
You didn't know it then, but the good teachers' toughness and tenacity were setting you up to become a better person and succeed in the world as you grew older. They weren't - to your surprise - mean old hags at all; they were caring for your future and setting you straight.
Richmond needs such teachers now to take us where we want to go and help tackle and solve the problems that beset us. I have a feeling this report will be filled with such tough love and I welcome it. I fear, however, our anticipated reaction to it.
No matter what Crupi says, we have to remember NOT to listen to the sound bytes and inflamed or bruised egos which will undoubtedly get covered in the media. We would do better to focus on the themes in his report and work toward solving our problems and ignore the hysteria and the hysterical.
Class dismissed.
~
Follow Up:
Richmond: The Next Charleston or Detroit?
Prequel:
Food For The Weekend Thought
~~
Labels: change, Crupi, development, gov't, history
posted by Jon Baliles | 7:58 AM
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