FAST FACTS:
tom.powell@wreg.com
twitter.com/tompowell3
(Memphis 2/21/2011) -- MCS Board Commissioner Dr. Kenneth Whalum never shies away from controversy, and he's been making his opposition to the charter surrender quite clear on his Twitter page, twitter.com/kwhalum.
The following is one of Reverend Whalum's tweets from Monday: "TRUE consolidation is like MARRIAGE. Charter SURRENDER is like RAPE. #ThinkAboutIt"
So what did Whalum mean by that? The reverend is out of town, but we were able to talk with him by phone. "When you get past the kumbaya rhetoric and the 'let's all get together, can we all just get along' rhetoric, the bottom line is that Memphis City Schools is forcing itself on Shelby County Schools.
Whalum says in a marriage, or in this case consolidation, both sides come to the alter after a courtship, then they make the conscious decision to be together until death do us part. "The charter surrender takes consolidation off the table and forces the city schools on the county," Whalum says. "That's what I mean when I say it's like rape, it's violation of the will of the other person."
MCS Parent Gretchen Stroud supports the charter surrender. She attended a forum Monday on the upcoming referendum, in which she plans to vote yes. "First of all, I think that's in particularly poor taste," she said in reaction to Whalum's tweet. "To consolidate all of the children back under one single source of funding... is not anything like Mr. Whalum's analogy that he used on Twitter."
Deborah Clubb, Executive Director of the Memphis Area Women's Council, said Whalum should have picked a different metaphor. "As horrible as rape is, as damaging and awful as it is, to use it in a political context like that is just wrong. It's insulting to anybody who has ever been victimizing in that way," Clubb said. "It's just totally unnecessary."
Whalum said he stands by his tweet and his overall message that voting to surrender is giving up more than just the charter, it's just plain giving up. "I really don't care what people say about the stories that I tell, the comparisons that I make, because I know that they're based in truth."
Dr. Whalum also discussed another tweet Monday that referenced a story from the Bible: "Pastors announce support for surrender". Wow. Like the 10 Israelites saying, "We be not able to possess this land. We're grasshoppers." :-( But I say, "Give me this mountain! We are WELL ABLE to possess this land!" Anymore Calebs & Joshuas out there?"
Reverend Whalum said he was talking about the story of Caleb And Joshua. Whalum described the story, saying 12 spies were sent into the Promised Land. When they returned, ten of them said the enemies were giants and could simply not be defeated. "Two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua said we are well able to do the thing that we've been called to do," Whalum said. "'Give us this mountain!' That's the famous line from that story."
Reverend Whalum said he's not claiming MCS is perfect, but he doesn't believe the charter surrender is the right fix. "We are well able to educate our kids," he said. "It is clear when we vote to surrender the charter, that we're saying we can't do the job."
- Whalum's tweet says true consolidation is like marriage
- He says charter surrender is like rape
- Activist says he should have picked a different metaphor
tom.powell@wreg.com
twitter.com/tompowell3
(Memphis 2/21/2011) -- MCS Board Commissioner Dr. Kenneth Whalum never shies away from controversy, and he's been making his opposition to the charter surrender quite clear on his Twitter page, twitter.com/kwhalum.
The following is one of Reverend Whalum's tweets from Monday: "TRUE consolidation is like MARRIAGE. Charter SURRENDER is like RAPE. #ThinkAboutIt"
So what did Whalum mean by that? The reverend is out of town, but we were able to talk with him by phone. "When you get past the kumbaya rhetoric and the 'let's all get together, can we all just get along' rhetoric, the bottom line is that Memphis City Schools is forcing itself on Shelby County Schools.
Whalum says in a marriage, or in this case consolidation, both sides come to the alter after a courtship, then they make the conscious decision to be together until death do us part. "The charter surrender takes consolidation off the table and forces the city schools on the county," Whalum says. "That's what I mean when I say it's like rape, it's violation of the will of the other person."
MCS Parent Gretchen Stroud supports the charter surrender. She attended a forum Monday on the upcoming referendum, in which she plans to vote yes. "First of all, I think that's in particularly poor taste," she said in reaction to Whalum's tweet. "To consolidate all of the children back under one single source of funding... is not anything like Mr. Whalum's analogy that he used on Twitter."
Deborah Clubb, Executive Director of the Memphis Area Women's Council, said Whalum should have picked a different metaphor. "As horrible as rape is, as damaging and awful as it is, to use it in a political context like that is just wrong. It's insulting to anybody who has ever been victimizing in that way," Clubb said. "It's just totally unnecessary."
Whalum said he stands by his tweet and his overall message that voting to surrender is giving up more than just the charter, it's just plain giving up. "I really don't care what people say about the stories that I tell, the comparisons that I make, because I know that they're based in truth."
Dr. Whalum also discussed another tweet Monday that referenced a story from the Bible: "Pastors announce support for surrender". Wow. Like the 10 Israelites saying, "We be not able to possess this land. We're grasshoppers." :-( But I say, "Give me this mountain! We are WELL ABLE to possess this land!" Anymore Calebs & Joshuas out there?"
Reverend Whalum said he was talking about the story of Caleb And Joshua. Whalum described the story, saying 12 spies were sent into the Promised Land. When they returned, ten of them said the enemies were giants and could simply not be defeated. "Two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua said we are well able to do the thing that we've been called to do," Whalum said. "'Give us this mountain!' That's the famous line from that story."
Reverend Whalum said he's not claiming MCS is perfect, but he doesn't believe the charter surrender is the right fix. "We are well able to educate our kids," he said. "It is clear when we vote to surrender the charter, that we're saying we can't do the job."
