Oct 08 2007
A vile and inhumane instrument
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By Paul A. Moore
10/8/07
In the heyday of chattel slavery in this country the idea of its “inevitability” was one of the pillars on which it survived. Resistance was futile, slavery was the way things were and so would they forever be. Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, John Brown refused to shrink from the fight based on the idea and though it cost them their lives it turned out they were right. From the moment this vile and inhumane system came into existence it was destined to be torn apart by good people. Many perished in the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil but slavery was consigned to history’s trash—where it belonged.
Just like slavery the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the FCAT, is a vile and inhumane instrument that has advanced the political and economic fortunes of a few at the cost of so many children’s pain, suffering and in the worst cases, their destruction. And just like slavery the FCAT is hoisted on the petard of inevitability.