Colin Powell: I Have 'No Problem' With Gay Marriage
Keith Weigelt: Journeys With a Daoist in the Business World
Williams-Bolar's father, Edward Williams, is also being charged with fourth-degree grand theft for stealing more than $30,000 in school services for the two girls. Williams-Bolar herself will spend 10 days in jail and be placed on probation. Also, the judge in the case, Patricia Cosgrove, made it clear that she was using Williams-Bolar to set an example for other parents who consider doing the same thing. The judge went out of her way to tell the woman that she gave her jail time "so that others who think they might defraud the school system perhaps will think twice.''
Besides being a single mom, Williams-Bolar was going to school part time in the hope of getting a job as a teacher. The judge noted that because Williams-Bolar has been convicted of a felony, she will no longer be allowed to teach in the state of Ohio. Therefore, the punishment that she and her girls will face is set to last a lifetime.
The Kelley Williams-Bolar case strikes a chord with quite a few people in the black community for a few reasons. Most directly, a lot of kids can remember their own mothers doing the same thing to try to break the cycle of poverty that so many of us confront as children. Inner-city schools are inadequately funded, so many parents have no choice when it comes to finding ways to get their kids a good education. Some of the children I mentor attended poorly performing inner-city schools and even though they did what they were told, most of them were unprepared for college after graduation and had never even done any homework.
One has to also wonder why there is a $30,000 funding differential between the school that Williams-Bolar sent her children to and the one that was in her district. Logic seems to imply that if funding were roughly proportionate between the two districts, it would simply be awash, where one school's spending could be compensated by another school's savings. But this is not the case in a world where far too many people of color are locked in to the horrible schools in their districts, as our elected officials continue to ignore the problem. Many of these schools don't have books or quality teachers, while the kids in the suburbs are given everything they need to be successful. The idea that citizens are now being put in jail for attempting to access educational equality is nothing short of being Jim Crow-like in nature.
Black family economic inequality also plays a huge role in this case. It's hard to imagine that the judge would have been compelled to make an example out of Williams-Bolar were she not a poor single mother from the projects. If she were a wealthy woman from the suburbs, she would have been able to afford the kinds of attorneys that keep people out of jail, and she also would not have been forced to break the law to help her girls get access to a good school. This case just stinks to high heaven.
Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us many years ago that a moral man or woman has the right to violate unjust laws. Williams-Bolar's decision to break the law of educational apartheid to give her daughters a better future is no different from those who broke the law to teach slaves how to read. Access to education should be a fundamental American right, but as it stands, being poor has now become a crime, especially if you have the audacity to demand equality.
Kelley Williams Bolar Update: Petitions, Anderson Cooper 360, ABC News Jump In
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here. 
Comments: (248)
Add a comment
By: TalentedTenthNegro on 2/03/2011 11:48PM
Maybe the would be teacher would be better off moving in with her father or maybe even arranging for her children to be tutored so they can improve their inferior education rather than resorting to fraud and then playing the race card when she gets caught. There are ususally more acceptable ways of dealing with racial exclusion and privilege besides fraudulent shortcuts like lying on school entrance applications. Besides, her actions easily violated the ethics of her hopeful career objective: school teacher. What next, approving of her children cheating on SAT exams because they are typically biased against racial minorities?
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Concern on 2/06/2011 12:09AM
First, I could not believe this judge actions. Second, I found it odd that the judge wanted to send a message. Lets stop and think for a second, she wants to send the message to other Afro American in the same situation within the inner city. Caucasian are not trying to send there kinds to an inner city school that’s under educated and poorly finance. Basically the Judge was saying “ This message is for you poor Ni--ers who are thinking about sending your kids to our schools which are in a wealthy district and highly educated think again…I will personally prosecute and hand down a harsh punishment“.
I’m willing to bet my life the Judge is a Caucasian. All I can say is un F--king believable.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Tineisha on 2/07/2011 11:00AM
This clearly is just plain ole Racism !!!!yes I said Racism!!!!!!! you mean to tell me we have murders and rapist and people commiting all types of crimes and you put a Mother in jail for wanting her children to have a better EDUCATION wow what has the justice come to??? and not to mention take her teaching license and Fine her dad!!!! to me this is dispicable. This just shows that the Judge is a Racist also, you mean to tell me only White children deserve the best education and Blacks Don't!!!!! get a grip I think the judge License needs to be taken for sending someone to jail for something as stupid sending their children to a better school.. If I was Ms Bolar I would move away from that Predjudice Ass city, and state because clearly they saying she's not accepted in their community. I just don't understand the people of the world today...
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Jasmine on 2/07/2011 8:59AM
I'm 15 year old black young lady in Michigan and my mom sends us to a different school other than our district to better our future and education. If anything I think that woman deserves some type of pat on the back for trying to change the cycle of her sons future. And its not her fault or her sons that the government cant equally fund all schools so they teach the same thing and we all get the same education. And I personally think that judge and everybody whose critizing her for it should be slappped because until you are a single black mother or a little black kid seeing your mom struggle you have no right to judge anything that we do or how we do it.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Dee on 2/15/2011 5:30AM
First off I understand why she did what she did,she felt that by lying about her residence(falsification crime)she was doing a good thing for her children thus as she percieved a better school and setting a good example as a future educator that you do what you gotta do to get over! Failing to see that while she was "just gett'in mine" she was contributing to what she had a problem with. She selfishly denied her neighbors of the so called under funding of the less than school($30,000 theft of services crime). No instead lets not make it about the only and real reason she was in court for -crime make it an emotional cause and play it like-see here da white man keep'in her down she don't have any responsibility for her actions. She was just do'in what she "HAD" to do-wrong. And pleeze Alexis if you want to delete everyone who takes issue with the brilliant one whats the point,yea it's his page then have no comments just accept BW as gospel. The Quig is right BW is not correct on all the facts of this case. Be real I've caught BW comedy act on msnbc, this newsletter and keep'in it real- shopton. Reminds me of what my daughter once said "If you have to tell people you're cool,then your not cool". If you identify yourself as hey I went to school I am black "SMARTMAN" I'm just say'in.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Alexis Stodghill on 2/15/2011 11:15AM
Not sure what you mean by:
"And pleeze Alexis if you want to delete everyone who takes issue with the brilliant one whats the point,yea it's his page then have no comments just accept BW as gospel."
I only delete comments that:
1. Make so little sense grammatically and logically that they ruin the reading experience.
2. Just call me or writers names for no reason. Comments that start "You are such an f**king a**hole," will be deleted. It's one thing to make a logical argument even in anger. This site is not a place to curse people out.
3. Comments that called black men and women names, or otherwise just attack the black community for no reason.
FYI.
Report This
By: Dee on 2/16/2011 5:31AM
What I meant by my comment was,you threaten to delete Quig for "lying" on the great one for pointing out his incorrect statements. I saw nothing in his comments (or mine for that matter) that were in your reasons for deletion! If you followed your own specs. you would delete 50% of your BV comments from your posters,unless it only goes one way "say whatever you want about whites" I'm searching for a word that sounds like hypocrite. Thanx Alexis I am now enlightened!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: JUSTICE on 2/17/2011 7:46PM
CAN WE NOT WORK THIS OUT,,MISS LADY JUDGE,,
Reply to this Comment | Report This