Over the weekend, Gov. Bev Perdue awarded state NAACP president Rev. William Barber the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. It’s interesting that Perdue chose to focus on Barber. Barber has gained most of his notoriety for leading the opposition to the Wake County School Board’s decision to scrap the use of socioeconomic status in student assignment decisions in favor of neighborhood schools — a policy supported by most parents and used by the overwhelming majority of NC public school districts. If Perdue finds Barber’s work so laudatory, you have to wonder why either has said little to nothing about that same policy which has been in place for years in many of the state’s other school districts. The selective indignation makes it difficult to take either’s comments seriously.
Saying Barber is “leading” the opposition is giving him way too much credit. The man is lost once a debate goes beyond rhetoric because he doesn’t understand what is going on in our schools. Barber is leading a circus sideshow, nothing more.