TURNING KING'S DREAM INTO A NIGHTMARE
Out in Omaha, Nebraska, four students at Westside High School were suspended
for behavior administrators deemed "inappropriate and insensitive." Good
lord. Whatever did these little hellions do?
Remember that Martin Luther King speech where he said he looked forward to
the day when people were judged by the content of their character and not
the color of their skin? Well, these four students actually took Dr. King
at his word. They objected to the school's "Distinguished African American
Student" award because the eight-year old honor was restricted to blacks
only - kinda like the way water fountains were once restricted to whites
only.
So on this year's MLK Day holiday, a trio of students hung posters urging
the school to select student Trevor Richards for the award. Trevor was
uniquely qualified for an "African American" award as he was actually
from...Africa. His family moved to the U.S. six years ago from
Johannesburg, South Africa. Problem was...Trevor isn't black. And this was
exactly the point the high school students were trying to make; that you
shouldn't judge someone solely on the color of their skin.
Exposing the hypocrisy of the award like this didn't sit well with Principal
John Crook who had a conniption over the posters, saying they were
"offensive to the individual being honored, to the people who work here and
to some students." The "black" award-winner, Kingsley Okafor said the
posters showed "the ignorance of the student body."
So Crook suspended the three boys behind the poster campaign, along with a
fourth boy who was caught circulating a petition in support of the three
boys. "My role is to make sure we have a safe environment, physically and
psychologically," Dr. Crook declared in the Omaha World-Herald, saying the
posters prevented a healthy dialogue. "We can't allow that kind of thing to
be hung up on our walls. . . . We all need to be more sensitive."
Wow! Political speech suggesting that it's wrong to judge people solely on
the color of their skin is psychologically unsafe? What would Tommy
Jefferson, Georgie Washington, Pat Henry, Johnny Adams, Sammy Adams and
Benny Franklin have said about THAT? For that matter, what would DR. KING
have said about it? How does a person with such politically correct,
anti-American views get put in charge of a public school? Is it any wonder
Johnny can't read?
BRUSHFIRE ALERT: Frankly, I think Dr. Crook ought to (a) apologize to the
students he suspended, (b) be forced to take a Revolutionary War/American
history course at the local community college, and (c) discontinue the
divisive and racist "African American" award effective immediately.
If you'd like to share your opinions on Dr. Crooks' decision to punish high
school students for exercising their non-violent rights of free speech, you
can reach him by phone at (402) 343-2600 or via email at:
jcrook@westside66.org
TURNING KING'S DREAM INTO A NIGHTMARE
