A muffled groan rose up from some in the audience Tuesday night when a divided Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board picked James Ross to fill a term left vacant by George Dunlap's move to county commission.

Ross, a retired management consultant, is 74 years old and unapologetically Republican. And with the exit of Dunlap and former board member Vilma Leak, he's also the board’s only African American -- appointed to represent a district that's overwhelmingly Democratic.

Not surprising, perhaps, some of Ross' toughest critics are in the black community.

Less than 24 hours after his appointment, he sat with Qcitymetro for a wide-ranging Q&A. He talked about his controversial appointment. He talked about Barack Obama, affirmative action and what the school board needs to become more effective.

What follows is an edited transcript of that interview:
   
Q. You have about a year in this unexpired term. What do you hope to accomplish?
“One of the reasons I considered this position was, when I found out that George Dunlap was going to be named to the county commission, I thought that George had provided a strong African American male voice on the board for years. And I think this community needs that. One of the questions I had was, Who's going to replace George?

"The more we talked about it the more I thought, ok, maybe instead of just talking about this, maybe I ought to do something. And one of the things I can do is, I'm retired, I have some time, I've been involved in civic things in this community. Why don't I just put my name in the hat, really not even thinking about getting elected or getting selected. So, at least there will be someone to replace George on the school board. And, lo and behold, I talked to some people, and everyone I talked to said it was a great idea, go for it."

Q. So, what do you hope to get out of this?
"One is a safe, disciplined, creative, flexible learning environment for every student who comes into the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. I don’t see that as some kind of utopian idea or some far-out idea. I think that is very achievable if we can get four groups to come together. Those  four groups are the school board, the administration and principals, the teachers and parents. In the past, they have not worked together as a team."

Q. Talk more about that.
"Each group has a specific role it needs to achieve.

"Parents provide us with the raw material for the school system. And I'm using 'raw material' in that they send us their most precious possession. It would help us if their most prized possessions would come to school respectful of adults, disciplined and eager to learn.

"Teachers have to have high expectations and aspirations for everyone who comes into their classrooms. If teachers have high expectations and aspirations for students and don't accept anything less than that, what students will do is work up to their full potential.

"Principals, one of the things I think they have to do that has been really missing in this system is principals connecting with the physical locations where their schools are located. Schools are physically located in a neighborhood, and even if none of the students who live in that neighborhood goes to that school, I think it's incumbent on the principals to develop a relationship with their neighbors. Another thing principals have to do is give more autonomy to teachers. And I think superintendents have to give power to the principals. The more energy you have at the top, the less energy you're going to have at the bottom. We've had too many high-level bureaucrats in the central offices and not enough out on the firing lines.

Now, at the board level. The board's job is policy-making. We hire the superintendent and we make policy. In my opinion, the board has been too busy nit-picking into the day-to-day operation of the superintendent's office and the school system. Now, you make policy and you hire a superintendent to carry out policy, and if the superintendent can't carry out the policy then you go and get another superintendent. But what you don't do is stand over the superintendent's shoulder and every time he or she makes a move you criticize it or you nit-pick it. You will never know if you have a good superintendent unless you get out of their way and let them work."

Q. This school board has been called dysfunctional, childish and worse. How would you describe it?
"There is a passion on this board for education. I think where the problem is, is how do we move from that passion to cooperating with other members of the board where you are getting something done. One of the things I do not question from this board is its passion for education and for children

"I think childish might be a description when you don’t listen to other board members, when you take sides and that kind of thing. That’s what children do. I think some of that comes from passion. But what we have to do is crank that passion back to something called civility and cooperation."
 
Q. How do you see yourself working with this board?
"I try to make it hard for people to have a hang-up with me. My basic philosophy in life is this: ‘Don’t win any battle you can afford to lose.’  The whole idea is getting something done. I’m not going to try to change anyone. I just want to be myself. I have strong opinions about everything. But even though I have strong opinions, it doesn’t mean my opinion has to prevail.”

Q. Some in the black community were not happy with your appointment.
“I understand that. I find it interesting that someone would take that position. You show me any Democrat, any Republican, any Libertarian, who has a better record than James Ross for representing this community.

"I have a friend who heard someone say, ‘He’s a 70-year-old black Republican. That’s the worst thing that could happen to the school board.’ If you only see me as those labels, then you don’t really see me. You see some prejudice that’s in your head. What is it about me that says I should not be on the school board?

"What I have to say to those people is, watch what i do. If you want someone on the board who will work hard every day, that has nothing to do with the color of my skin, my party affiliation, my age or my race. I can’t change any of that. I can’t change my skin color or my age, and I’m not going to change my party.”

Q. Do you understand why some blacks may be distrustful of the Republican Party?
"Yes. The Republican Party has done a really poor job reaching out to young people first, and African Americans no matter what their age. There is a conservative bent in the African American community. Why the Republicans don’t understand that, I have no idea. There is a general agreement between the conservative philosophy and how African Americans live and act every day. African Americans talk liberal but act conservative."

Q. How would you describe your politics?
"Common-sense politics. That means I’m not liberal and I’m not conservative. If Barack Obama has a secret, I think it is that people pick up from him that whatever he’s doing makes sense. He is flexible and creative.”

Q. You mentioned Barck Obama. Did you vote for him?
"Yes...yes...yes. But I didn’t vote for him because of the color of his skin or what letter he puts behind his name, but because in everything he does he illustrates good sense.

Q. Some blacks have said they see a cynical plot in your selection. Everyone knew there had to be a black person on the school board, so they went out and found a black Republican.
"They did not find me. I applied. I had never met Larry Gauvreau. I had never met Kay McGarry. I had never met Ken Gjertsen. I had never met any of those people. If you go back to the argument that the only person who can represent District 3 is a black Democrat, then I have nothing to say. I can’t defend against that, but I won’t become a Democrat just to ease someone’s prejudices.

"We  have to be real careful about buying the sizzle and not the steak. The sizzle is nothing; it  just takes your attention off the fact that the steak is tough. The same people who say it’s not right to have a black Republican representing District 3, you don’t hear the same criticism of black Democrats who get into office and don’t do anything.”

Q. Is it important to have diversity of thought on the school board?
"Of course. There is diversity of thought on the school board. It’s fine to have a strong opinion, but part of the art of politics is compromise and cooperation. What adults do is negotiate. That almost describes to me what an adult is. That’s what I don’t see on this board, that comfortable position of negotiation. If you win the battle and lose the war and no one wants to cooperate with you, what have you accomplished?"

Q. Is there anything you would put your foot down about?
"Yes, disrespecting other people. I will not be part of ever disrespecting people. Another thing I’ll put my foot down about is this thing called race. Someone will have to show me why we should continue to deal with people based on this silly thing called race. What race is Tiger Wood’s baby?"

Q. Do you believe in affirmative action?
"No, not in the sense in which it is persistently defined. No, I believe in equality. Do I believe in helping people who have been shut out? Yes. What we did with affirmative action is, we didn’t discriminate. We said if you are an African American and rich, you get the same thing as an African American who’s poor.

"Affirmative action was a particular tool to get a particular thing done. Now, what is the next step? There has to be another tool to remove the vestiges of discrimination and unfair treatment. I’m not naive enough to think we have some kind of utopia. But when Barack Obama can be elected president of the United States, that says to me that there has been a fundamental shift in the thinking of this country."

Q. If not affirmative action, then what are the tools needed to remove those last vestiges of discrimination, as you put it?
"The first tool is to declare, as an individual, your freedom. No one else will ever free you.  If you are waiting for someone else to free you, or some program, you will cling to a foolish thing.

"As African Americans, we are always saying we need to get there together. Well, who are ‘we’ and where is ‘there?” Once you accept that you are free, you will know where you need to go from there. If we had waited for the government to free us, the Civil Rights Movement would not have happened."   
 
 

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