The first call was from a black policeman who was angry about my views on the controversial police sergeants test.
“This column is racist,” he said. “You’re saying we can’t read or write, and we’re too dumb to pass tests.”
No, I didn’t say that. What I said is that it is possible that white cops might have an edge in taking such tests, since they might have attended better schools.
“Listen, some brilliant black people have come out of the Chicago schools.”
Yes, I’m aware of that.
“Then why would you say we aren’t as well educated as whites?”
Why? Because as far back as I can remember, which is a long way, blacks have been saying that they get shortchanged by Chicago schools.
Since the 1960s, there have been demonstrations, picketing, protests of all kinds about inferior education. Parents have said it, politicians have said it, civil rights leaders have said it and students have said it.
What, have they been fibbing, kidding around, pulling our chain? Are all of those terrible reading scores and dropout rates a hoax? If so, the joke is on me because I believed them.
“Why even bring race into it?” said the cop.
A good question. I didn’t. Congressman Bobby Rush and other black and Hispanic politicians and cops brought race into it when they said that the tests were rigged by City Hall against minorities, and that’s why black and Hispanic cops scored poorly.
“You’ve been around, so you have to know that the tests were biased,” the cop said.
No, I don’t know that. Tell me precisely how the tests were rigged.
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He was quiet for a moment, then he said: “I don’t know.”
Right. You don’t know and I don’t know because nobody has explained how they were rigged. All Bobby Rush and the others have done is grab headines and TV time by demanding a federal probe of racial bias. But Rush hasn’t offered one thin scrap of evidence, other than the results.
“The test didn’t give credit for experience, street smarts, things like that,” the black cop said.
That might be a valid beef. But if so, it means that the tests were biased against any cop-black or white-whose strengths might be their savvy and street smarts, rather than academic skills.
“Then why didn’t you write about that?” the black cop said.
Why didn’t Bobby Rush and the other black critics talk about that?
Our conversation ended without his persuading me of much, or my doing the same. That’s life in Chicago.
Next came a white cop who was angry about the same subject. But for different reasons.
“I went to Catholic grammar and high school, then worked my way through college, and I’m finishing my last course for my master’s degree.
“This all paid off when out of 4,700 officers, I received a final ranking in the top 40 of the 114 who will be promoted to sergeant.
“But I’ve heard nothing but an uproar from prominent members of the minority community because only six of those 114 were members of minority groups.
“Well, let me tell you something-I worked my butt off studying for this promotion. I can also attest that most of the officers who were promoted with me worked as hard as I did.
“Now we hear cries of business as usual and a racially biased exam, and I feel personally insulted.
“The exam we took tested job knowledge based on our general orders, the criminal code and the municipal code. We were all notified of the exam at the same time and told what material to study. If the exam was flawed, then the way in which we are directed to do our job is flawed.
“Many of us formed study groups and gave ourselves practice exams to prepare. The study group I was in was probably the best one formed.
“I also talked with officers who tried to attend study sessions given by one of the department’s ethnic organizations. They told me they stopped going. They were disgusted because half the class time was wasted with people arguing with instructors over interpretation of the material covered.
“I’ll tell you what I believe. The poor performance by minority group members is a direct result of affirmative action and selective promotions in the past. Maybe these officers believed they’d didn’t have to prepare as much and score as well because they’d get promoted regardless.
“And I believe that if these politicians who have been raising a ruckus spoke with the minority officers they claim to represent, they’d find a lot of them would prefer to be promoted in rank order instead of getting a quota promotion.”
Just think, in less then six years, we will celebrate the arrival of the year 2000.
Maybe we will enter a new, modern, enlightened golden age, and we won’t be arguing about who passes a police sergeants exam and why.
Sure. And maybe I’ll grow a head of curly blond hair.