An e-mail from Michael Kundu, a member of the Marysville School Board, prompts sharp rebukes.
By Andy Rathbun and Eric Stevick
Michael Kundu linked academic success to genetics in e-mails sent to board members and school administrators last week.
In an e-mail string titled “race and achievement (please circulate),” Kundu said there was a “definitive factor played by racial genetics in intellectual achievement.”
He said Wednesday he was trying to start a debate, not promote discrimination.
Race issues have landed Kundu in trouble before. An environmentalist opposed to whaling, he called the Makah Tribe a “cryptic and dying culture” in e-mails sent in 2000. He apologized for the remarks in 2003 as he sought election to the school board.
Kundu said those remarks weren’t relevant to the latest controversy. He said he has worked to advance opportunities for the Tulalip Tribes. About 9 percent of the district’s students are of Native American descent.
“If you’re going to characterize this as a racist issue, it’s ridiculous,” he said.
Note a point made by pundits before. No one ever talks about the genetic superiority of whites over minorities or men over women as an abstract scientific issue. It's always connected to their racist personal beliefs--as Kundu demonstrated with his Makah remarks.
How do we know this for sure? Because no one ever wants to investigate whether whites and minorities have different finger lengths or blood types or appendectomy rates. It's always about intelligence, which means classifying minorities as inferior, which means racism.
For more on what's behind Kundu's "thinking," see Arizona Laws = Clash of Civilizations and Arizona Laws Target the Indigenous.
Below: Michael Kundu the racist. If he loses his job in Washington, he may want to move to Arizona, where he'll fit right in.
When I was going to junior high and high school in Spokane, WA my teachers routinely wanted to have me tested for learning disabilities. All these tests, despite good grades, high test scores on all standardized tests, high IQ testing scores, etc.. I was told often that the school district is/was highly racist towards only Native American students. This was back in the late 80's/early 90's. Sickens me that it's still going on in that state.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pnwlocalnews.com/north_sound/mar/news/98283944.html
ReplyDeleteKundu announces resignation from Marysville School Board
In an e-mail sent to The Marysville Globe at 4:25 p.m. July 12, slightly more than two hours before the first Marysville School District Board of Directors meeting held since his return from Washington, D.C., Board member Michael Kundu confirmed his resignation from the Board effective the same day.