There's been a controversy in the news lately about two African-American high school students who say that they have been racially bullied on the bus and in school. They say it has gone on for quite some time and has escalated to the point where they are being confronted by white students wearing KKK robes and hoods. One of them said, "I can't believe this is happening in 2013."
I can. The town where this occurred is the same town that made the news when the (white) chairman of the local Republican party (who lives across from an elementary school) hung a chair from a tree in his yard right after Clint Eastwood's empty chair speech. HE claims it wasn't racist. I do not know what rock he was living under. If he truly does not understand what hanging means to African-Americans he is either a fool or ignorant or both. And certainly no one I'd want to see entrusted with the business of politics.
Meanwhile this is just a smattering of the comments: the girls must have brought it on themselves somehow; they are making way too much of this; why is it that no one else has reported seeing the KKK regalia? Well, I can answer that one. Remember the famous video of the basketball game where viewers are asked to keep track of how many times the ball is passed between players and at the end they are asked if they saw the gorilla? Nine out of ten people fail to see the gorilla on first viewing. It's only when it is called to their attention and they see the video again that they see the guy in the gorilla suit walking around. If you aren't looking for it and you don't expect it, of course you are not going to see it. And remember that quote about "First they came for this group but I wasn't one of them so I didn't speak up and then they came for that group but I wasn't one of them so again I didn't speak up and finally they came for me but by then there was nobody to speak up?" That's what's going on here. No, I don't live in that town and I don't know the girls, but I believe them. Why? Because I know human nature.
Why is it that when people finally get the courage to stand up for themselves other people are so quick to put them back down? In the PG-13 version of "Bully" (I'd like to see the original R version) one of the most disturbing scenes was when the filmmakers were filming a young boy being attacked on the bus. The kids knew they were being filmed yet they continued with their attack. The filmmakers said that what they saw was so disturbing that they broke their self-imposed rule of not interfering and showed what they had shot to the boy's parents BECAUSE THEY (the filmmakers) WERE AFRAID FOR THAT BOY'S SAFETY.
It doesn't take long for someone who is being targeted by bullies to learn not to speak up. ANYONE WHO WORKS WITH KIDS SHOULD READ THIS. When you tall a kid that has taken the courage to come to you that it is nothing, that they are making too much out of it, that they are just feeling sorry for themselves, that they are misreading the situation, then you are telling that kid that you are not at all interested in him or her. That you really don't give a damn. You are telling that kid to put up and shut up. It takes tremendous courage to speak out. Some kids are not good at speaking out. Some don't know how. When you close the door on communication you may be telling this kid to go out and kill him or herself.
I wish I could go up to that town and stand with those two girls as they face down their tormentors. There is no reason, no reason at all for another person to torment another. And it should not be tolerated. Ever.
I can. The town where this occurred is the same town that made the news when the (white) chairman of the local Republican party (who lives across from an elementary school) hung a chair from a tree in his yard right after Clint Eastwood's empty chair speech. HE claims it wasn't racist. I do not know what rock he was living under. If he truly does not understand what hanging means to African-Americans he is either a fool or ignorant or both. And certainly no one I'd want to see entrusted with the business of politics.
Meanwhile this is just a smattering of the comments: the girls must have brought it on themselves somehow; they are making way too much of this; why is it that no one else has reported seeing the KKK regalia? Well, I can answer that one. Remember the famous video of the basketball game where viewers are asked to keep track of how many times the ball is passed between players and at the end they are asked if they saw the gorilla? Nine out of ten people fail to see the gorilla on first viewing. It's only when it is called to their attention and they see the video again that they see the guy in the gorilla suit walking around. If you aren't looking for it and you don't expect it, of course you are not going to see it. And remember that quote about "First they came for this group but I wasn't one of them so I didn't speak up and then they came for that group but I wasn't one of them so again I didn't speak up and finally they came for me but by then there was nobody to speak up?" That's what's going on here. No, I don't live in that town and I don't know the girls, but I believe them. Why? Because I know human nature.
Why is it that when people finally get the courage to stand up for themselves other people are so quick to put them back down? In the PG-13 version of "Bully" (I'd like to see the original R version) one of the most disturbing scenes was when the filmmakers were filming a young boy being attacked on the bus. The kids knew they were being filmed yet they continued with their attack. The filmmakers said that what they saw was so disturbing that they broke their self-imposed rule of not interfering and showed what they had shot to the boy's parents BECAUSE THEY (the filmmakers) WERE AFRAID FOR THAT BOY'S SAFETY.
It doesn't take long for someone who is being targeted by bullies to learn not to speak up. ANYONE WHO WORKS WITH KIDS SHOULD READ THIS. When you tall a kid that has taken the courage to come to you that it is nothing, that they are making too much out of it, that they are just feeling sorry for themselves, that they are misreading the situation, then you are telling that kid that you are not at all interested in him or her. That you really don't give a damn. You are telling that kid to put up and shut up. It takes tremendous courage to speak out. Some kids are not good at speaking out. Some don't know how. When you close the door on communication you may be telling this kid to go out and kill him or herself.
I wish I could go up to that town and stand with those two girls as they face down their tormentors. There is no reason, no reason at all for another person to torment another. And it should not be tolerated. Ever.
