Comments on: The collateral damage of a missed opportunity

By: A spontaneous reaction « Open Ambition

A spontaneous reaction « Open Ambition — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:57:43 +0000

[...] high school, which revealed the complexity and range of our community’s response. I wrote about this at the time it happened, how in general many opportunities were missed to both care for those involved, as well as make the [...]

By: Peter Zaballos

Peter Zaballos — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:22:28 +0000

Well, Jennifer, that’s a very succinct assessment of this ambiguous and uncomfortable juncture we find ourselves in as a community. I value your observation about the propaganda is playing in this, and I think it’s noteworthy that I have not been contacted by any member of the School Board in response to my post (I forwarded it, along with the email I sent the school principal, and got a confirmation of delivery).

Ignoring the messages that are uncomfortable or challenge the defined truth is another way of promoting the message you want to promote, and it is very unfortunate that no one on the school board saw either this initial racist incident as the opportunity I called out, nor my points as the next opportunity.

And you are so correct to point out pushing down onto our children to do the legwork on is both unfair, and completely sidesteps the responsibilities we adults have, as parents, and as leaders in the organizations involved, and in the community.

Well said, Jennifer, thank you for reading, and for your comments.

Pete

By: Jennifer Drobac

Jennifer Drobac — Sun, 31 May 2009 03:53:15 +0000

Peter–
Your post title of “collateral damage” is an interesting choice. As you know, it was a euphemism used during the Vietnam War for “friendly fire,” or the killing of non-combatants. The “friendly fire” in this case was the school’s firing off of the recent letter which characterized the hate message as a student safety issue rather than as an act of heinous racism. I am reminded of a quote: “Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people… Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea.” Adolf Hitler, “Mein Kampf” (1926)

How ironic that the school used propaganda ostensibly to combat a (racist) threat in the same way that Hitler did to promote it. And if the community does nothing to call the foul both in the first instance (the racism) and in the subsequent propaganda, then where is the truth that you called for in your last post? Individuals behave outwardly (defined truth) in ways that may be inconsistent with what they believe (actual truth). Groups can do the same. Those groups might be school boards, city councils, or small Midwestern town families. Your post may be one of many individual expressions of actual truth about the underlying threat. However, the community also needs to respond. Your daughter and her class might be the first group. However, I am reluctant to ask our children to clean up the collateral damage of propaganda—let alone the underlying damage of brutal racism. I wish you and your (adult) community god-speed in eradicating the ambiguity of the propagandist message to reveal (with a good bathroom mirror) the writing on the wall.

By: Peter Zaballos

Peter Zaballos — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:56:55 +0000

That is so very kind of you Mary, and I think many of us share your bewilderment that racism is something that still occurs. But as I write those words, I also realize how naive the assumption is that it shouldn’t exist. Another reader emailed me separately, observing that racism is likely much more prevalent than we would all like to believe, which to me means it’s all the more important that we publicly and forcefully oppose it when we do see it.

By: Mary Jarosz

Mary Jarosz — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:15:32 +0000

Peter said I should read your blog because it was so powerful. I read it and completely agree that it’s this type of thinking and action that must be followed to eradicate racism. When I first heard about the incident it seemed incomprehensible because it’s the 21st century and we have progressed beyond race issues. Boy was I naive.

By: Peter Zaballos

Peter Zaballos — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:16:02 +0000

Thanks for the comment and support, Peter. My post was forwarded to the editor of the local papers, so we will see how far they run with it. And the City Manager forwarded it to the Chief of Police. I expect this will get out in the open and more visibly addressed early next week. That said, it will have been close to two weeks from the incident, but at least it will have gotten placed in front of everyone. Apparently there was a segment on CNN about this yesterday, although I can’t find it on their website. Thanks again Peter.

By: Peter U

Peter U — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:25:57 +0000

I couldn’t grasp this incident . . . felt somewhere in my gut that the response has been sticking our heads in the sand. Your article nails it on the head and I wish it were a letter to the editor in the local paper – I am glad you forwarded it to school board & city council (how about police too?). This is the second time that race has raised its head in our community recently and the second time that the response is shutting ourselves down in our little homes, putting our fingers in our ears, and saying “la la la la la la”, . . . this time certainly more so.

By: Peter Zaballos

Peter Zaballos — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:38:41 +0000

Thanks for the support and encouragement Susan! The challenge is getting the school administration and school board to acknowledge that while the act took place on the school’s grounds, the sentiments expressed in that act reach beyond the school’s borders and are a broader community concern. Time is less of a factor than embracing the scope, so in that respect I think there’s still plenty of time to act, along the lines of what you suggest. I forwarded a link to my blog to each of the city council members, and to each member of the school board, and am now directing my energy and actions there. Thanks for reading, Pete

By: susan cashen

susan cashen — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:13:29 +0000

These are great ideas — can you rally students/the school to move forward with some of the events to demonstrate support — albeit delayed???