I’m from AL and moved here from the North. When I moved several years ago, I was stunned that there are white towns and black towns, and only a few mixed towns. I see a much bigger spectrum here for race relations…I have seen some really positive, warm relationships that I didn’t see up North (people calling each other brother or cousin, etc and really LIKING each other), and then you run across that 5% of ugliness, and the ugliness goes both ways. Up North I only saw neutral.
If Gardendale is allowed to leave the Birmingham school district, their housing prices will skyrocket. HALF of the Birmingham city schools have been put on the FAILED list by the Feds. The violent crime rate in the bad sections of Birmingham is horrific. And all this is going on in a City that is desperate to leave it’s racial past, and has some really wonderful things going on. The dichotomy is so weird.
I was going to comment on a different thread earlier today about merit vs financial aid. I think by the time kids get to college, it’s too late. The colleges are only picking the truly extraordinary kids that manage to do well academically in this environment, and are really only helping 1% of these kids. The rest have gone by the wayside long ago. As a society, we need to focus on the grammar schools!