By ANNA ALLISON | N-O-W candidate
First, I would like to thank the County Line for sponsoring the forum at Ridgeville to give us candidates the opportunity to speak publicly. I thought is was fair. The only problem was it was hard to hear, according to many people. I would like to clarify a couple things reported in the last County Line (I believe it was because of the hearing issue).
On page 14, I was commending N-O-W for NOT adopted the NEOLA policy (particularly article 5310). There were three dots (…). One can look it up on the internet. It deals with invasive examinations.
Also (on page 14), I was commending the large majority of teachers. I was talking about CRT not being in the regular curriculum, but that there are ways it can be taught in individual classrooms by various pedagogies, like SEL and what I call the teachers CRT, which might be confusing. It is Culturally Responsive Teaching. I also believe all of us candidates have been kind to each other during our campaigns, unlike some of the comments that I have received at and after board meetings and have been posted on Facebook as a result of my N.O.W. Is the Time campaign, such as: 1) Despicable; 2) Jesus Christ on a cracker; 3) Needs good psych. meds and maybe some lithium to chill the hell out with this bullsh*t; 4) clutching pearls; 5) only thing concerns the student is #7; 6) A meme with the quote, “It should be clear from recent events that America’s enemy is not the Communist over there, but the right-winged lunatics here”; 7) Watchman on the Wall — probably is a Christian or has the Bible read to her, couldn’t show you where the reference is from; and 8) This is appalling; I want my child’s mind opened up, not shut tight to the world around them.
These are from a Facebook page of someone who does not know me or anything about me. She had clicked a laughing icon on a Facebook post I had posted on my page. I went to her page and found the above comments from various others (who also don’t know me). What I have to say about this is that their minds are closed. To the person with the psych. meds comment, I used to work in a psych. hospital! To the one who made the watchmen on the wall comment, I attended a Bible college, and some of the references are Ezekiel 3, Ezekiel 33 and Isaiah 62. Overall, these comments are mean.
At that March 14 board meeting, someone said I had insinuated that CRT was being taught. Well, I have physical proof I can provide. The same woman continues on “suggesting that that I said that a number of historical black figures wouldn’t want to see systemic racism end.” I did NOT say that!!! After the Feb. 14 meeting, she asked me why I didn’t like CRT. I told her because it was divisive. She wanted to debate on the spot. I told her I would debate her, but not there, which I felt would have been inappropriate.
In short, CRT (along with the “1619 Project”) are disciplines that hold that America was founded on white supremacy and oppression, and that those forces are still at the root of our society. The CRT theorists believe that American institutions preach freedom and equality but are mere “camouflages” for naked racial domination. They believe that racism is a constant, universal condition: it simply becomes more subtle, sophisticated and insidious over the course of history. In simple terms, CRT reformulates the old Marxist dichotomy of oppressor and oppressed, replacing the class categories of bourgeoise and proletariat with the identify categories white and black. I know many past and present black leaders would not and do not like the CRT theory. The aim of Marxism is to establish or create a cashless society through which the overthrow of the bourgeoise and the abolishing of private property. George Orwell said in “1984” that if you can destroy the past, you can control the future. Nelson Mandela said that education is the most powerful tool which you can use to change the world. To me, that can be positive or negative. The Bible says in Acts 17–24 that God made of one blood all the peoples of the earth. That is why there is only one race, the human race!!
I like the following quotes from some well-known black figures. There are many more. For space, I will quote these two:
• Martin Luther King Jr — “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
I am not saying there is no racism. There are always evil people, but for the most part, his dream is coming true.
• Maya Angelou — “We should all know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry and must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what the color.”
This brings up equality vs. equity (#3 on my N.O.W. Is the Time campaign card). I believe we are all equal in value, but sometimes we must use equity correctly to achieve a better life for people with learning disabilities and special needs. That is where special education and higher learning come in. It should not be based on race. Sometimes Asian people are discriminated against, too.
Finally, I would like to say to the parents in our district, DO NOT BE AFRAID!!! Speak your voice and come to school board meetings, talk to our superintendent, and, if not registered to vote, get registered. And then vote!
It is all about the kids and their futures (also America’s future as the children of today are our future leaders in our district, state and all of America).