ATTN BORED MIDDLE-CLASS WHITE PEOPLE WHO NEED SOMETHING TO REBEL AGAINST:

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

How about a poor mom being robbed of her education, her, dreams, and her ability to secure a better future for her kids by a FELONY CONVICTION for using her father's address to send her kids to a better school?

http://www.blackeconomicdevelopment.com/black-mother-jailed-for-sending-kids-to-white-school-district/

[The Good Reverend Roger]

That's a fucking felony? 

And were the kids living with her father?

(I can't see, the nannywall is being a pain in the arse.)

[Sister Fracture]

An Ohio mother of two was sentenced to 10 days in jail and placed on three years probation after sending her kids to a school district in which they did not live. Kelly Williams-Bolar was sentenced by Judge Patricia Cosgrove on Tuesday and will begin serving her sentence immediately.

The jury deliberated for seven hours and the courtroom was packed as the sentence was handed down. She was convicted on two counts of tampering with court records after registering her two girls as living with Williams Bolar's father when they actually lived with her. The family lived in the housing projects in Akron, Ohio, and the father's address was in nearby Copley Township.

Additionally, Williams-Bolar's father, Edward L. Williams, was charged with a fourth-degree felony of grand theft, in which he and his daughter are charged with defrauding the school system for two years of educational services for their girls. The court determined that sending their children to the wrong school was worth $30,500 in tuition.

When I read about this case, a few thoughts went through my mind. First, it's clear that the court is trying to make Kelly Williams-Bolar into an example. Even the judge in the case, Patricia Cosgrove, said that her sentence was appropriate "so that others who think they might defraud the school system perhaps will think twice."

Secondly, it's interesting how courts find it convenient to make someone into an example when they happen to be poor and black. I'd love to see how they prosecute wealthy white women who commit the same offense. Oh, I forgot: Most wealthy white women don't have to send their kids to the schools located near the projects.

Third, I'm not sure why the court is treating this law-abiding mom like a thug who ran into a building with a shotgun and robbed the district of $30,000. Instead, they could simply subtract the amount it costs for her kids to go to the second school from the amount that would be spent for them to attend the first one. I'm sure the difference would still be substantial, since American educational apartheid dictates that schools in poorer neighborhoods are of significantly less quality than other schools. The racial divisions within American schools are nothing less than a blatant and consistent human rights violation and should certainly be treated as such.

A final interesting blow by Judge Cosgrove that reflects the experience of marginalized African Americans in the criminal justice system relates to Williams-Bolar's quest to obtain a teaching degree. The single mother was in school studying to become a teacher so that she could create a better life for her girls. But that won't happen for her family now, given that the judge has all but shut the door on her chance to fulfill her dream:

"Because of the felony conviction, you will not be allowed to get your teaching degree under Ohio law as it stands today," the judge said." The court's taking into consideration that is also a punishment that you will have to serve."

This case is a textbook example of everything that remains racially wrong with America's educational, economic and criminal justice systems. Let's start from the top: Had Ms. Williams-Bolar been white, she likely would never have been prosecuted for this crime in the first place (I'd love for them to show me a white woman in that area who's gone to jail for the same crime). She also is statistically not as likely to be living in a housing project with the need to break an unjust law in order to create a better life for her daughters. Being black is also correlated with the fact that Williams-Bolar likely didn't have the resources to hire the kinds of attorneys who could get her out of this mess (since the average black family's wealth is roughly 1/10 that of white families). Finally, economic inequality is impactful here because that's the reason that Williams-Bolar's school district likely has fewer resources than the school she chose for her kids. In other words, black people have been historically robbed of our economic opportunities, leading to a two-tiered reality that we are then imprisoned for attempting to alleviate. That, my friends, is American Racism 101.

This case is a textbook example of how racial-inequality created during slavery and Jim Crow continues to cripple our nation to this day. There is no logical reason on earth why this mother of two should be dehumanized by going to jail and be left permanently marginalized from future economic and educational opportunities. Even if you believe in the laws that keep poor kids trapped in under-performing schools, the idea that this woman should be sent to jail for demanding educational access is simply ridiculous.

[Adios]

An Ohio mother of two was sentenced to 10 days in jail and placed on three years probation after sending her kids to a school district in which they did not live. Kelly Williams-Bolar was sentenced by Judge Patricia Cosgrove on Tuesday and will begin serving her sentence immediately.

The jury deliberated for seven hours and the courtroom was packed as the sentence was handed down. She was convicted on two counts of tampering with court records after registering her two girls as living with Williams Bolar's father when they actually lived with her. The family lived in the housing projects in Akron, Ohio, and the father's address was in nearby Copley Township.

Additionally, Williams-Bolar's father, Edward L. Williams, was charged with a fourth-degree felony of grand theft, in which he and his daughter are charged with defrauding the school system for two years of educational services for their girls. The court determined that sending their children to the wrong school was worth $30,500 in tuition.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

This is pretty fucked up.  The message here is basically segregation in a funny dress.

And how the hell is a school enrollment form a "court record"?

[Jenne]

Nice.  Fuck you Judge Bitchtits and your "how dare she try to get a better life for her kids!"...

Wow.

*angry middle aged white person is VERY angry*

[Jenne]

This is pretty fucked up.  The message here is basically segregation in a funny dress.

And how the hell is a school enrollment form a "court record"?

Fine print, probably, at the bottom, where you sign saying you say all is true and correct, etc.

Piece of SHIT, that Ohio judge is.  And that school district is a piece of shit for bringing suit in the first place.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

It occurs to me that suddenly, I have been reduced to a catagory:  Bored Middle-Class White Person.

Which is somehow now okay.

[Jenne]

Aw, I don't know about that, Rog--you're not bored and CERTAINLY not BORING (I've always cottoned to the notion that only boring people are bored).  I think you get restless, but that's not the same thing.

[Eater of Clowns]

It occurs to me that suddenly, I have been reduced to a catagory:  Bored Middle-Class White Person.

Which is somehow now okay.

Nigel's having one of her "little moments" so everyone else gets to be treated like a non-person from her very special and unique perspective.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Aw, I don't know about that, Rog--you're not bored and CERTAINLY not BORING (I've always cottoned to the notion that only boring people are bored).  I think you get restless, but that's not the same thing.

Not my point.  In the eyes of someone I think of as a friend, I am now reduced to a social class and a race...Alongside everyone else here, apparently.

[Suu]

Oh this is right up my mom's alley. She'd be FUMING.

She fought the desegregation busing in Florida for years because she felt it wasn't fair for the kids to be bussed 120 blocks or more to go to school to meet a quota, and lobbied for school-of-choice laws. They also did pretty much the same thing with my brother when he was zoned to be sent to the all-black ghetto school instead of the white school that I went to after the zoning changed (They do it every 3 years. We ended up moving a lot as a kid so we could stay in the same schools.) They caught onto it and threatened my mom with legal action if she didn't correct it.

Sure enough, my brother goes to Lakewood the next year and gets the shit beat out of him almost every day until he turned around and got himself suspended for defending himself.

[Jenne]

Aw, I don't know about that, Rog--you're not bored and CERTAINLY not BORING (I've always cottoned to the notion that only boring people are bored).  I think you get restless, but that's not the same thing.

Not my point.  In the eyes of someone I think of as a friend, I am now reduced to a social class and a race...Alongside everyone else here, apparently.

Ah!  Gotcha. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

We are all here because we have some luxuries we take for granted. I am not exempting myself from that category.

But you can get pissed off about it if you want to. You have that luxury.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

We are all here because we have some luxuries we take for granted.

I have that luxury, but I don't take it for granted, these days.  There is a better than even chance that within the next year, I'll be a legal non-person and will be forced to leave the United States.