Warning: The above picture is politically incorrect and not suitable for children.
* Please refer to my previous post on this topic entitled: "Assault on Thanksgiving in California" (November 21, 2008).
Who says a protest can't have a happy ending? After the Claremont (Ca) School Board reacted to one parent's letter of protest about a planned Thanksgiving dinner in which children from two local elementary schools would dress up as Pilgrims and Indians by banning the costumes, parents took matters into their own hands.
Outraged at the politically correct decision by School Superintendent David Cash that would have ended a decades-long tradition, the overwhelming majority of the concerned parents went ahead and dressed their kids up in the costumes anyway and accompanied them to Condit Elementary School yesterday. Once there, the children sat down to their Thanksgiving feast dressed in their paper outfits.
Meanwhile, several parents participated in a demonstration on the street outside the school and exchanged angry shouts with those protesting the costumes as an affront to Native Americans. Police had to be called to make sure nothing got physical. The kids meanwhile, had their feast and played with each other, oblivious to the commotion. Of course, the news media was there from as far away as Los Angeles, and some kids came up to the cameras asking to get on TV.
A wonderful time was had by all. Except for Superintendent David Cash, who asked the local gendarmes to patrol his house due to hate mail he has received.
And that's not all, folks. Today, most of the parents are keeping their kids out of school. What that means to the schools is-money. No attendance-no money from the government. The schools figure to lose $50 per student who is absent today.
Now that's a protest I can get behind. It's about time common folks stood up to officials imposing political correctness on them.
Before I comment on this, do you happen to know where I could read the original complaint letter?
ReplyDeleteBryan,
ReplyDeleteThe woman who wrote the letter is a UCR professor of English named Michelle Raheja. I suggest you google her name. You will find snippets of her letter. Or you could try john and ken radio show. I have read all of it but I don't recall the site. Most of the entries show the letter in snippets.
She is half-Indian, a parent of one of the kids and feels that the event represents a "celebration of genocide", "demeaning, denigrating, etc."
My fellow English teachers and I have a metaphor that we often use, in reference both to students and even certain teachers: "Is this the hill you want to die on?"
ReplyDeleteIn other words, we're asking of the particular cause that a person is fighting for is really worth all of the effort.
In this case, I think that expression applies to both sides. The protesters are making too much of it - that's for certain. If they were smart, they'd use this as an opportunity to educate the kids (and many adults) about Native Americans and the various cultures and nations that fall under that rather large umbrella. Because let's face it - the kids aren't dressing up as Native Americans - they're dressing up as a caricature of Native Americans. And in all honesty, I can see how somebody would be offended by it. Still, the reaction was extreme (but then again, I'm not Native American - perhaps if I was I'd feel different.)
Then we've got the side that you're praising. PUH-lease. Why would you give a flying crap whether your kid dresses up in some cheesy costume or not? It's tradition? Is it a good one - or even an important one?
And then they protest by having the school lose money - THE SCHOOL WHERE THEY'RE CHILDREN ATTEND. Who will be hurt by this in the long run? THEIR CHILDREN!!! Jiminey Flippin' Christmas, how can you possibly think that's a good idea? Are you also in favor of cutting off your own nose to spite your face? Shooting yourself in the foot?
This whole situation is wall-to-wall stupid.
Man, conservatives accuse liberals of playing the victim card, but you take away a paper "Indian" costume and you'd think that they were being hauled off to the gulag.
Lance,
ReplyDeleteI hear what you are saying, but this whole mess was started by one woman who objected. If one woman is going to make the case that celebrating Thanksgiving is really celebrating genocide, and we cancel the observation, what do we do next-cancel Thanksgiving altogether in the name of sensitivity?
Let's remember, the first Thanksgiving was a peaceful act between the two peoples. It had nothing to do with what followed later.
At a certain point, Lance, people get fed up with political correctness telling us our traditions are bad. Everyday folk like those parents in Claremont don't often take to the streets and demonstrate. I myself was never a demonstrator until I got involved in this Muslim-Jewish issue at UCI. (Actually, I don't demonstrate- I attend, observe, ask pointed questions and report.)
Sorry, Lance. I applaud the actions of those parents. Somebody needs to stand up to the timed officials and activists.
Even if the people whom they are ultimately hurting is themselves? Like I said - they're shooting themselves in the foot. Their protest is even more foolish than the original complaint.
ReplyDeleteTwo things - nowhere in your post do you even consider how maybe having kids dress up as Indians might be offensive. And please realize, being sensitive to that doesn't necessarily mean that you think that Thanksgiving is about genocide.
And two, nobody is going to take away Thanksgiving. There's too much money invested in it.
Oh, and three (even though I said that there was only two) I still think that the better solution would be to alter the Thanksgiving tradition a little. Have it focus on the cooperation aspect as you said and make it an opportunity for kids to learn about Native Americans.
Well, it was offensive to one person. Actually, there were several other parents of Indian descent who loved the event. I understand your point, but what is offensive about wearing feathers? Indians in those days wore feathers. No one is mocking them. Should we portray them in business suits?
ReplyDeleteI can understand being upset about a name like Redskins, but this pc nonsense we saw in the 60s when schools like Stanford had to change their name from Indians to Cardinal is silly. My high school was the Warriors-big deal. What is negative about a warrior? Yet, the school is now ........drum roll, pls....The Wildcats!
To those of us alumni, our school will always be the Warriors.
Maybe we should get rid of that Notre Dame logo of the Fighting Whitey.
Well, like I wrote before, it was an over-reaction, but that doesn't mean that the one mother doesn't have any point at all. I can see how these sorts of things makes them feel like they're being reduced to an almost cartoonish stereotype. The Pilgrims are a bit like that too, but they're not supposed to represent all white people.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I'm not a fan of political correctness gone too far either. I do prefer to say Native American though, but that has more to do with my obsession with accuracy - I mean, they're not from India after all! (Although funnily enough, I believe that there are some Native Americans who prefer to be called Indians - shows you can't please everybody.) From now on, I insist that I be referred to as German-Spanish-Swedish-English-American. Anything else and I'll be deeply offended.