In my home state of North Carolina, a bill to protect students from bullying died yesterday because it dared include the words “sexual orientation.”
It always amazes me when politicians at their own prejudices ahead of what we know is good for kids. But the person who perhaps disappointed me most was Howard Lee, chairman of the state school board, who aided and abetted bigots by saying “I don’t think the problem calls for all these categories and specifications.”
Mr. Lee should know better, as he’s black. He and I are both old enough to remember when schools were segregated in North Carolina (they were desegregated in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools I attended thanks to a court-ordered busing plan when I was in second grade). There is no way in hell North Carolina would ever have desegregated its schools if the “category” of race had not been specifically mentioned in laws.
It would be nice if people always did the right thing. But they don’t and that’s why we need specific laws to make it clear they have to. After all, for two centuries we didn’t offer equal educational opportunities for blacks in my home state and finally only did so because the law ordered us to. I can guarantee you that we’re not going to do that for LGBT kids in North Carolina unless there’s a law that tells folks they have to.
Shame on you, Mr. Lee. You should know from our state’s history how wrong your comments are.
Posted by Kevin on Saturday, July 19th, 2008 at 6:05 pm.
One Response to “Those Who Don’t Learn from History Repeat It Back Home”
Kevin - Our school district is revising it’s harassment policy to include sexual orientation as a defined class. We have to according to our state administrative code. The religious right has been up in arms (putting it mildly) over this. The policy revision has been tabled until our district gets legal counsel. Thanks to GLSEN and your vision, we were able to include in our letters to the board information about enumerating classes and how necessary that process is. It’s unfortunate that state legislatures and local boards are ultimately bullied by ignorance and bigotry. However, we shall overcome. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. “some of us will be scarred” but we shall overcome.
Kevin - Our school district is revising it’s harassment policy to include sexual orientation as a defined class. We have to according to our state administrative code. The religious right has been up in arms (putting it mildly) over this. The policy revision has been tabled until our district gets legal counsel. Thanks to GLSEN and your vision, we were able to include in our letters to the board information about enumerating classes and how necessary that process is. It’s unfortunate that state legislatures and local boards are ultimately bullied by ignorance and bigotry. However, we shall overcome. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. “some of us will be scarred” but we shall overcome.
Left by wrestlefreestyle150 on July 20th, 2008