“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?"

I am taking a breather to write about something domestic this week: education in America. 

photo: Kimberly Cambra/Philadelphia Inquirer

In the last year, good folks of Bucks County had a bit of an issue with the Central Bucks school board. Seems the Republican run school board has been replaced by a whole new crop of Democrats. One-time Republican now turned Democrat Karen Smith was sworn in as school board chair not on a Bible,  but on a stack of banned books. The book on top? NIGHT by Elie Wiesel. She chose it because a quote from that book was ordered to be removed from a library due to a board policy that "banned staff from advocating beliefs to students on “partisan, political, or social policy issues." The removed quote? 

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. 

The other books in the pile?

• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: about a child being raped by her father. 
• Lily and Dunkin, by Donna Gephart: with a transgender main character
• All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson: about a young man growing up Black and queer.
• Flamer, by Mike Curato: about a teenager grappling with his identity
• Beyond Magenta, by Susan Kuklin: about the lives of 6 transgender teens

Each of those books confront marginalized groups. Kids need to read books in which they see themselves even when they have not shared that intimate knowledge with others. They need to see they are not alone or weird or abnormal. Each one of those books deals with identity and should never be locked away from readers.

Is this what education in the United States has come to? Mob rule? Get elected or appointed and make rules up as you go? 

Marginalized groups are being terrorized in academic settings and some seek to legitimize that rhetoric. When administrators turn a blind eye and then turn their backs on students of any kind of minority, they are not serving their communities with justice. They are painting targets on kids backs whether or not they fully comprehend the impact of their actions. They are providing tacit approval for bullying and harassment. Doesn't matter if it's gay kids, or trans kids, or Jews, or Muslims, or kids who wear green sneakers. Pull the books about marginalized communities outta the library, tell kids that stuff is bad for them, and the kids will do the rest. Once the target is in place, the potential victim is established, marked, and eventually attacked. 

Ms. Magill, Dr. Kornbluth, and Dr. Gay

This week, presidents of three prestigious universities testified before a congressional House committee about anti-semitism on their campuses. Students across the country are being harassed, attacked, and openly threatened because they are Jews. Those attackers are not going after Israelis per se, they are going after all Jewish students and faculty. Swastikas, threatening graffiti, and physical intimidation are becoming increasingly common on campuses. 

The presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and MIT were all asked about what was happening to Jewish students on their respective campuses. All three were asked the same question by Representative Elise Stefanik (R, NY):

“I am asking, specifically: Calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment?”

All three, Ms. Magill of Penn, Dr. Kornbluth of MIT (who is Jewish), and Dr. Gay of Harvard said it depended on context. While one might argue context may be a factor in prosecutorial conversation, the intent of the speeches, chants, or verbal assaults cannot be dismissed as requiring context. What context would they accept? Someone's head bashed in? Jews herded into a building? Or perhaps a synagogue shot up...like Tree of Life in Pittsburgh or Temple Israel in Albany?

There is a point missing from their context-laden speeches...and that is intent. The shouts, the jeers, the slogans are not innocuous; they are meant to incite a reaction. Just as the January 6th insurrectionists were not merely peaceful demonstrators intent on visiting the Capitol to take in the sights, crowds screaming From the River to the Sea, Palestine Must Be Free are not simply trying to make a point. They are trying to rally others to their cause.   

What would the three presidents say had the word Jews been changed to Blacks? Would they remain as morally ambiguous as they appeared? 

Korbluth did admit to being Jewish during her testimony. She said,

As an American, as a Jew, and as a human being, I abhor antisemitism, and my administration is combatting it actively." 

Still, she insisted that calls for genocide be tempered by context. I wonder how Sally Kornbluth would feel if she was the one being targeted because she was Jewish? Or if her kids were the ones being attacked because they were Jewish? Would that have been enough context for her?

Maybe someone should've asked that. follow-up question.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you're gonna shout slogans,

at least bother to learn what they mean.

from the Wall Street Journal - 5 December 2023

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PS: Bonus points if you get the title quote right. Send an email to 

thewifelyperson@gmail.com

I'll announce the winner next week. 

There just might be a prize for the first correct email.