Wading In

Forty-five years later, it's Obama By Kelvin Wade | | August 28, 2008 22:17 Forty five years ago today in Washington, D.C., on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. resoundingly delivered the 'I Have A Dream' speech. Tonight, in Denver, at Invesco Field, Sen. Barack Hussein Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. The significance of this event cannot be overstated. King's speech began with the Emancipation Proclamation and went on to talk about the Constitution and Declaration of Independence being promissory notes to every American guaranteeing the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But King said, 'Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.' ' The idea of a black man earning a presidential nomination is probably something even Kin...

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Problem with zero tolerance: the zero By Kelvin Wade | | August 21, 2008 15:50 The new FSUSD hate-motivated behavior policy was adopted with good intentions. While I don't think the policy is a sign of the Apocalypse like some opponents, I fear it will end up doing more harm than good. The zero tolerance policy says that 'behavior or statements that degrade an individual on the basis of his/her race, color, national origin, ethnicity, culture, heritage, gender, sexual orientation, physical/mental attributes, religious beliefs or practices shall not be tolerated.' The problem with zero tolerance is the zero. It short-circuits critical thinking, obliterates context and prescribes a one size fits all solution to every incident. Zero tolerance brought us the 10-year-old Ocala, Fla., girl who was arrested last year for bringing a steak knife to school to cut the steak she'd brought for lunch. It brought us the 8th grader in Norfolk, Va., suspended this pas...

Majority vote to end gridlock By Kelvin Wade | | August 14, 2008 17:20 It's time to get rid of the two-thirds vote requirement to pass a budget in California. Forty-seven out of the 50 states require a simple majority to pass state budgets. What makes us so special? Earlier this year, state Sen. Tom Torlakson D-Antioch introduced Senate Constitutional Amendment 22 that would allow the Legislature to pass a budget and vote to raise taxes by a majority vote rather than a two-thirds vote. I know what the argument against it is. Republicans are terrified that tax increase after tax increase would come down the pike. For that reason alone, probably most California voters would be wary of changing the system. But how well has the current system served us? Every year it's the same thing in Sacramento: gridlock. And our budget situation just grows more dire every year after the latest round of smoke and mirrors goes through. We went 52 days without a budget last year ...

School is not a fashion show By Kelvin Wade | | August 07, 2008 17:14 Dan O. Root Elementary became the second school in the Fairfield-Suisun School District to adopt a uniform policy. The principal and teachers encourage the uniforms as a way to combat inappropriate attire and focus on learning. More schools should follow suit. Kids feel pressure to wear the 'right' clothes. Would I have liked school uniforms when I was in school? Of course not. While I certainly was no clothes horse, I knew when to get with the program. When my Kmart-brand tennis shoes got me clowned at school, my mother took me out to get Nikes and Vans that evening. (Unfortunately) the girls I went to school with back in the day weren't wearing the revealing clothing that they wear these days. My girlfriend's 11-year-old granddaughter, Lauryn, wears clothes that often leave me in need of a defibrillator. I once told her what I thought she should wear to school, and she went to her mot...