The esteemed La Shawn Barber laments the controversy surrounding a white man who was hired to head the predominantly black Prince George’s Country school district. The Washington  Post reports:

“Let me tell you, this was an agonizing decision for me,” said Howard W. Stone Jr., vice chairman of the school board, who is black. “We’ve had three black school superintendents who didn’t work out, and I sure didn’t want to leave black people and especially black students with the impression that a black can’t lead.

“Did I want to turn this system over to a white man? Not if I’d had my druthers. But after looking at all of the candidates, this was the best guy to lead the system, raise the test scores and get our kids the best education possible.”

Can you imagine for a moment if a white school board member for, say, the Dallas Independent School District had said, “Did I want to turn this system over to a African-American man? Not if I’d had my druthers.” It would be front-page headlines and the school board member would deservedly be kicked off the board. La Shawn writes:

Another generation of black kids have to settle for an inferior education, which will increase the need for race-based programs so they won’t be totally left behind the rest. The cycle will continue until parents decide, en masse, that their children’s academic preparation trumps politics.

This is another case of “the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are on edge” (Ezekiel 18:2). I’m encouraged that black “leaders” like Jesse Jackson are losing their influence while new leaders like T.D. Jakes are becoming tremendously popular. Jakes tells people that “until your attitude is corrected, you can’t be corrected….You cannot expect the whole human race to move over because you had a bad childhood.” (Woman, thou art loosed!, page 137). It will probably take a while, but I believe that the winning ideas of people like Jakes will ultimately triumph over the losing ideas of Jackson.