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5:56:00 PM EDT
Feeling Sad
Hate Speech not punished in Ohio School.....
One of the blogs I read frequently is by a Cherokee woman who writes extensively about issues that concern Native Americans.
http://journals.aol.com/cherokeedream40/ATsalagisDream/
This incident disturbed me deeply, especially since the Native child who protested the horrible statement "that if he could time travel he would kill all the Indians" was punished---and the White hate-speaker was not. I cannot imagine that if the white child had said all Jews should be exterminated or that all black people should have been killed that something would not have been said about it.
Another argument for homeschooling. Sigh.
Over the weekend I was alerted to a serious situation at a small Ohio public school that involved a student stating to an entire class that if he could go back in time, he would kill all the Indians. The teacher did nothing to
the child who made the horrible comment, but one student (known in the school for his Choctaw and
Chickasaw heritage) was deeply offended by the comment and even said that the boy should not be allowed to say such things. Another student joined the
offended boy, and the result of their protest was several days of detentions. The 5th grade male who made the original comment received nothing... and the teacher failed to even recognize the comment as disparaging and inappropriate.
Below is a letter sent this morning to the Logan Central Intermediate school personnel explaining the incident and requesting an immediate resolution. I have also included the email addresses of several school officials, and the
snail mail address of the town newspaper.
And, FYI, the town is named Logan, after Chief Logan. The school mascot is the Chieftains, and the town and school is literally covered in a stereotypical image that looks much like a Plains Indian from the mid
1800's. The town is nearby (Ohio) and even the police cars and government offices are covered with this image.
If you have a moment, please send a quick email to these folks letting them know that no child should be permitted to stand in front of his class and make a statement pertaining to his desire to murder.
If you receive a response, feel free to forward it to me. I'll keep you posted on my end.
Cheers!
Terri Jean
cpritchard@loganhocking.k12.oh.us Colleen Pritchard, Principal
lrichards@loganhocking.k12.oh.us Laura Richards, the teacher in question
edpenrod@loganhocking.k12.oh.us Edgar Penrod, on the Board of Education
sstirn@loganhocking.k12.oh.us Stephen Stirn, Superintendent
dbuck@loganhocking.k12.oh.us Debra Buck, school psychologist
jwright@loganhocking.k12.oh.us Judy Wright, elementary counselor
The Logan Daily News
72 East Main Street PO Box 758 Logan, Ohio 43138
The Athens NEWS
14 N. Court St., Athens, Ohio 45701
Lancaster Eagle Gazette
P.O. Box 848
Lancaster, OH 43130-0848
========================================================
Greetings -
My name is Terri Jean and I am the director of a local advocacy group - The
Red Roots Educational Project - an organization dedicated to building
positive relationships between Native and non-Native people through-out the
United States.
A complaint involving one of your teachers was recently brought to my
attention. Allegedly, fifth grade teacher Laura Richards assigned her
classroom to write an essay on time travel. One particular student stood in
front of the classroom, making only a statement that he would go back in
time and "kill all the Indians." Ms Richards failed to react to this
child's pejorative statement, rather, she punished the two students who
spoke out in offense, one of which is of known Native American Choctaw and
Chickasaw
heritage.
The child's statement, the teacher'sfailure to respond, and the
consequential punishment of the offended children are of great concern to
our organization.
* First of all,the statement itself is horribly disturbing. The 5th grade
student stated that if he could, he would go back in time and EXTERMINATE
an entire race of people. His statement was of violence, racism, and
complete cultural genocide. This should concern your entire institution.
A child made a comment about murder and nothing was done!
* Second, I question whether this teacher would of tolerated any other race
to be mentioned in such a manner. For example, if a child said they would
travel back in time to participate in the extermination of the Jews, or to
lynch African Americans - would the teacher brush it aside and then hand
out detentions to those representative of said groups once they protested?
If not, then why did she allow this statement to be used in reference to
Native Americans?
* Third, the statement was made to a mixed-cultural classroom. One student,
age 11, is of known Native American blood (known to both students and
teachers - as well as outside of his public school). This humiliating
incident was compounded by the teacher's failure to acknowledge and then
correct the situation. She even further victimized him by assigning
detentions for voicing his rightful offense.
* Fourth - The statement should be considered an act of HATE SPEECH (speech
that perpetuates a negative attitude or stereotype of an individual or
group based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion,
disability, political beliefs or affiliation with a student group). This
solitary
expression advocated violence and annihilation towards an entire group of
people. It is an act of Hate Speech, and such language is an act of racism.
* Fifth - If Hate Speech is condoned in this classroom, and students get
the message that there's nothing wrong with such statements, it could
potentially lead to other serious problems in the future. It should not be
acceptable in any classroom and educators who allow such incidents should
be held accountable.
* Sixth - I was told by a witness that Ms Richards said the kids could not write anything as long as it was not violent. Is there anything more violent than murder?
At a time when schools are fighting a war against school violence, I am amazed that Ms Richards would fail to react to a clear statement of cultural genocide. I am also amazed that the only people punished were the
two students who said what she should have -and one of which is of said culture. It would be far more appropriate for Ms Richards and all other educator's to encourage tolerance education to help children relate to
others from different cultures and backgrounds. Schools should strive to promote awareness, understanding and appreciation of all people, and when
words of racism, hate and cultural stereotypes enter the classroom, drastic steps should be taken to heal, support, educate, correct, and understand.
As for this particular situation, given the seriousness of the statement,
the failed actions of the teacher, and the consequences of the victims, we
suggest that something should be done IMMEDIATELY. Our suggestion would be
to pull a counselor into the classroom to explain the seriousness of the
statement, why it's wrong, and what should have happened when it was said.
We also recommend releasing the offended children from their punishment and
rather than punishing the child who made the comment, using this time to
educate him on the implications of hate speech and school violence. We also
suggest contacting the parents of the entire classroom, offering an apology
for failing to react accordingly, and listing your school anti-racism
policy so parent and child can review it together. A separate letter of
apology should be sent to the children who were rightfully offended, and
then
punished for speaking up, and Ms Richards should personally apologize to
the children and the parents who were offended, and to the boy who made the
statement and was not properly corrected.
If handled properly, this incident could serve as an example to both
students and faculty as to how to handle racism in the classroom.
Considering the serious nature of this complaint, it is imperative you take
action immediately.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Terri Jean
Director of the Red Roots Educational Project
740-664-3030
terrijean@bright.net
www.terrijean.com
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Unfortunately this kind of horrible stuff no longer surprises me.... still disappoints, but no longer surprises me.
I live in the land of the stupid sports team "redskins" and am continually embarrassed that they won't change the name - caring more about money that about this wrong "speech". Thanks for your post.
Peace, Virginia -
Might I suggest the parents contact the anti-defamation league?
The weblink is: http://www.adl.org/
This really should not be tolerated...
robyn :) -
Dr. Sharlotte Neely forwarded one of your messages on to me. I'm coming into this late so please enlighten me as to the time line of the event, who has been involved, and whether any articles have been written in the Logan area papers.
I chair the Committee on Native American Ministries for the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Logan is in that Conference. I also chair the 10 state equivalent (Jurisdiction) of the committee. I am a storyteller of the Shawandasse Nishnabe (Shawnee Nation) as well as a pastor. Thank you for your concern and any further information you can share.
In the circle,
Fred Shaw
Neeake -
My email to his school system:
I was deeply saddened to learn of your school system's response to the eleven year old child's statement in a class essay that "he would kill all Indians if he could travel back in time." As a child who perhaps has been raised by racist parents, the eleven year old boy's actions are sadly understandable. He is a mere child, after all.
His teacher is an adult.
But that his teacher did not immediately and firmly take action to correct this horrible statement--and then punished the Native child who was deeply upset at this statement--- speaks volumes to me. Hate speech--against ANY people--needs to be firmly and quickly corrected.
That the Native child and his supporter were punished---and the racist child was not--makes your school system culpable.
Of course he was "disruptive". Genocide is an ugly subject, particularly when it is aimed at you and your teacher does not defend you!
Now I understand the poor child has been further persecuted by the teacher before being moved to another classroom. This has got to stop.
As a Quaker woman, I am appalled that in this day and age Hate is being tolerated in a public school system.
I believe the family of the Native child has a damn good discrimination law suit. I hope for your sake that you make amends, and soon.
Sincerely, Kathryn Ridiman
4/21/05 7:36 PM
Thank you for the information. I'm glad we have met at the Zoo.
The people there are marvelously caring and alive to the beauty around
them. If it was up to them, there would be a balance and a harmony that
would make the existence of the Zoo unnecessary. In the meantime, they
do what they can.
That also is what all of us will seek in Logan, to do what we can
to reestablish the balance. It is such a shame that the teacher was not
alive to what a teachable moment that was. It would have been so easy to
say to the student who wanted to exterminate the Indians, "Ok, so let's
think about the results if that happened." Then they could have entered
a study of all of the foods, medicines, words, ideas, and important
events that would not exist in our culture today. It would have affirmed
the American Indian students, and it would have made a lasting impression
on the other students that each culture (and person) brings essential
gifts to the others.
In the circle,
Fred
Neeake