We can probably all agree that the US has gotten a little crazy no matter which side of the political fence one embraces. Most of my "professional" life was spent helping students understand language and words, training them to be able to be expressive without having to resort to either threats or violence. Many of you may also know that I have a very dim view of the notion that parents can teach their children better than any teacher can. A case in point is happening in Florida, where else?
One mother of a young student in Florida demanded that the Amanda Gorman inaugural poem be removed from her child's classroom because it violated her own ideas. My question after reading the latest news this morning is how would she know? Read what she admitted to:
From Politico 5/26--
Salinas added that she is Christian, has Jewish friends and enjoys watching the Israeli Netflix series Fauda.
She also revealed that she only read snippets of the books that she sought to ban at the education center. The books include The ABCs of Black History, poetry by Langston Hughes and books on Cuba, all of which she has criticized for “indirect hate messages”, references to critical race theory and gender indoctrination.
“They have to read for me because I’m not an expert,” Salinas told JTA. “I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.”
So she wants the poem removed even though she did not read it and apparently cannot read it. She also says she is involved in her children's education but what she clearly should be involved in is her own education. I don't believe that she needs to espouse my own political beliefs or ideas but she should at least understand the point of language, words, poetry, etc. She admitted to congregating with the Proud Boys and sharing antisemitic tropes as well.
If you have never seen "Gentleman's Agreement" with Gregory Peck you might want to check it out to see what saying nonsense like, "I watch Israeli tv so I can't be antisemitic" is not just ridiculous but insulting.
No comments:
Post a Comment