I'm sure there was no "accident" about this Sunday's celebration of Diversity on the Woodstock Square and receiving a magazine in the mail this week with its lead article entitled "Teaching Diverse Students." Since 1998 I have been a member of the Southern Poverty Law Center, of Birmingham, Alabama. In some years I have dragged my heels about kicking in my small contribution, and then they "zing" me with a great magazine issue and I cough up. And it happened again!
I don't agree with every issue they take on, but with many of them I do. And so I am willing to kick in, to help them in my small way to continue their work.
Several years ago I took the Center's idea of a Mix It Up lunch program to District 200, and they tried it out at one school. On one day of the school year, schools bust up the cliques and require students to move around and sit with others they don't know - with someone they would not usually sit with - and to get to know that person. Some of you know my opinion of "try". To my knowledge, D200 "tried" it out only in that one year, instead of joining the thousands of schools that have committed themselves to diversity and implemented the program permanently. It's not that much work, but it requires a commitment. You know ... the "C" word! Like, Choice. Like, Change.
The articles in this magazine that got my attention?
A teacher who introduced her class to disabilities and invited her polio-stricken mother into the classroom in her wheelchair.
A third-grade Texas teacher who stepped up to stop disrespect in the classroom.
A documentary about the first racially-integrated high school prom in Charleston, Mississippi - in 2008!
A documentary created by student with learning disabilities to share their wisdom.
An article on zero-tolerance policies.
I invite your attention to the SPLC and its Teaching Tolerance unit. For more information, visit www.splcenter.org
On the last page? "In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it." Marianne Williamson (1952 - )
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Right up until you announced that you are a member of the Southern Poverty Law Center, I read your blog daily and found it interesting. That will cease. The SPLC has repeatedly labeled people who oppose Obama's spending and healthcare policies and who want lower taxes, who are gun owners, who believe that the 9th and 10th Amendments mean what they say, who are pro-life, AND who are recent military veterans, as rightwing extremists. Sir, I object to the SPLC's application of Alinksy's Rule 13 to conservatives, libertarian, and most Republicans. I do not appreciate being defamed by a collection of leftwing nutjobs who continue to destroy civility by their leftwing rhetoric. I object to the continued existence of the SPLC as a tax exempt organization. Now, you are free to join whom you want and believe what you want, but this reader is gone, and my vote (and likely a check) will go to your opponent.
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