Who do da Junkyard Dog cater to?
Warner M. Montgomery Warner@TheColumbiaStar.com

The Other Paper recently quoted S.C. State Representative Leon Howard as saying Richland One Superintendent Allen Coles was fired because "He catered to white folks." Since then the newspaper has been strangely silent as has the Richland One School Board.

What if S.C. State Representative James Smith or S.C. State Senator Joel Lourie had said, "Dr. Coles caters to black folks." It would have been front page headlines followed by a Warren Bolton editorial and a Brad Warthen blog. The school board would have issued a press release condemning Smith and Lourie as racists.

Leon Howard, a local junkyard dog, served on the Richland One School Board, then moved up to the S.C. House of Representatives where he now serves as chair of the Black Caucus. He has been a dedicated servant of his constituents and his record has been clean...so far. Now he has let the elephant out of the school board room: Racism is alive and well at the highest levels of Richland One.

It is common knowledge that black and white parents demanding quality education continue to flee Richland One to the surrounding districts, to private schools, and to home schooling. As the student population decreases, the black percentage increases, the free- lunch percentage increases, and student achievement (as measured by No Child Left Behind test scores) declines. And the Junkyard Dog has the nerve to criticize Dr. Coles for "catering to white folks."

And its bad, bad Leon Howard

The baddest man in the whole damn town

Badder than old King Kong

And meaner than a Junkyard Dog

(Apologies to Jim Croce)