Written by Barbara Smith,
Blogger and Social Justice Activist
https://www.facebook.com/HWdemocrats/
My comments are in purple. The Boston Globe article written by Samantha Gross is in black italics.
The above article in the May 26, 2022 Boston Globe demonstrates how pledging can be weaponized. I am against all pledging because it is an act of indoctrination, mind control and has a history of being abused in the United States. Diehl has managed to show the harm caused by pledging because it is wrong and it weakens the left’s moral authority to lead. He has weaponized the use of pledging by showing how wrong it is…….
According to the Boston Globe article:
“The superintendent of the school district Geoff Diehl’s daughter attends said the Republican gubernatorial candidate was wrong to claim that his child was forced to sign a pledge to acknowledge her white privilege.”
Educators have no business telling students what to think and feel. Their job is to teach facts and help students learn how to think critically about the daily information and misinformation bombarding them on varied forms of media. I read Malcolm X’s autobiography, and other books that sharpened my thinking skills and empathy for victims of hate. I would have been horrified in the 1960’s to be offered a pledge to sign to prove that I was not a racist. This indoctrination is similar to how the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition, a 501 (c) (4), faith-based, political lobby asked candidates and town officials to sign THEIR pledge. Anyone who does not sign it is obviously questioned as being anti-human rights… Pledging is unnecessary, divisive and cruel.
“On Monday, Diehl told reporters that his daughter, a sophomore at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, was required to sign such a pledge, citing it as an example of how schools in the state are being emboldened to teach children lessons their parents might find “inappropriate.””
“Whitman-Hanson Regional School District Superintendent Jeff Szymaniak told the Globe Thursday that no such pledge exists.”
“I did speak with Mr. Diehl,” he said in an e-mail. “No student in the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District is required, or is even asked, to take any sort of pledge involving white privilege.”
“Szymaniak explained that Diehl’s concern was over a pledge student athletes were expected to sign to participate in MIAA sponsored athletics. Diehl’s daughter, a student athlete, signed the pledge, which is an eight-point list of rules regarding discriminatory practices.”
Regardless of the exact nature of the pledge requested of students- it is wrong to tell them how to think and feel. It was wrong to force women in Salem to prove that they were not witches and it was wrong for Joe McCarthy to demand that people prove that they were not “commies”. I DO NOT HAVE TO PROVE THAT I AM NOT A RACIST, BIGOT OR A TERF!
“She also took a one-hour implicit bias training created by the National Federation of State High Schools and required of all student athletes, Szymaniak said.”
“Diehl’s daughter also signed a “No Place for Hate” banner, which students could sign voluntarily.”
As innocuous as it sounds, no student should be asked to sign any banner. Why should athletes be singled out to take an implicit bias training? Understanding hate, discrimination and antibullying efforts and accountability should be taught to ALL students according to the student’s age and cognitive abilities, beginning in kindergarten with why we do not touch others without permission. This link shares some suggestions… https://foodcorps.org/31-antiracist-books-for-kids-and-teens/
“Diehl made his claim Monday upon reflecting on the Massachusetts GOP convention in Springfield Saturday. He said that, while he frowned on some of the vulgar language used by candidates endorsed by his party, he agreed with claims that children were being “indoctrinated” in schools.”
While candidate Diehl is a despicable, Trump supporter and election denier who threatens our human rights and democracy, I have to agree that some schools seem to be going overboard with asking for pledging, flying nongovernmental flags, forcing proclamations at meetings and teaching children gender and identity lingo before they even learn to read and write is wrong. I choose to never pledge to any flag because the American pledge of allegiance is obviously not true, we do not have justice for all and I do not believe in god. All indoctrination is simply wrong but what Diehl describes is also scary …..
“When asked for an example, he told reporters about the white privilege pledge his daughter was allegedly made to sign.”
Is this true? Trump and his supporters have a history of lying, they even lied about the election being stolen, so how do I know what is true in this case? I highly doubt whether or not students are asked to pledge about white privilege. BUT- what gives ????
“Diehl said the school was “trying to tell my daughter she has racist problems.””
“My wife and I have done our best to try and get racism out of our household,” he told reporters.”
Diehl’s comments beg us to ask ‘How did racism get into the Diehl household in the first place?”
“On Thursday, Diehl told the Globe in a statement that “as a prerequisite for participating in high school sports, my daughter was required to sign a form acknowledging that she took a course to help her manage the influence implicit bias as to race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexuality has on her real-world behavior.” “
“It’s the nineteenth clause in a multi-page permission slip to participate in school sports in town. In the preceding clause, she was also required to sign a pledge whereby she promised to hold her community responsible for the use of exhibition of any discriminatory practices,” Diehl said in a statement. “In this case, the MIAA and the public schools are coordinating to require this of athletes in our public schools. Certainly, the public schools are aware and supporting this, because they allow the MIAA to use the schools’ athletic programs to carry this out.”
I understand that there are horrible hate, racially motivated hateful incidents in schools and all over the United States, all greatly increased due to the influence of hatemonger Trump. I believe that discussion, role playing , reading age-appropriate anti-racist literature with adult supervision and discussion is the answer. Requests to sign pledges, banners, anything puts independent thinking individuals on the spot, because if they don’t sign, somebody like Anna Voldemort might call them a “racist”, “a bigot”, a “TERF” or worse….
Diehl said “the argument is not whether bias or discrimination is acceptable. No such argument reasonably can be had because hatred and discrimination are never acceptable.”
I totally agree with Diehl’s above statement (although I doubt that he practices what he preaches since he is a Trump supporter) ….
“My wife and I have always tried hard to teach our girls that important lesson and to focus on the content of one’s character beyond all else, and we expect our kids to model that behavior in all they do,” he said. “But, we also expect our public schools to be a sanctuary free from the inculcation of political agenda. I find it exceptionally offensive that high school students are being told they are intrinsically guilty of racism and bias within their soul, and to thereby imply that they lack innate ability to independently see beyond bias in the conduct of their actions, as a precondition of participating in a school activity that itself should be seen as a great equalizer.”
“Diehl, a former Whitman state lawmaker who’s trumpeted Trump’s false claims the 2020 election was rigged, received 71 percent of the 1,194 votes cast by party delegates at the convention, winning the party’s backing for governor.”
“Diehl, who unsuccessfully challenged Senator Elizabeth Warren for her seat in 2018, will face Chris Doughty, a Wrentham business owner, in the Republican primary Sept. 6.””
The Human Rights Coalition, political lobby should include voices such as my own. However, they banned me from their face book page because I requested that they include “women” and “atheists” in the human rights policy as protected classes because…..
I am a natural ally to the Black Lives Matter movement.
I’m a lifelong Democrat and former chair of the Hamilton Democratic Town Committee
I am a proud, founding member of the North Shore NAACP, but I no longer participate due to their choices to involve faith-based organizations.
It pains me to agree with a hateful, Trump supporting candidate for Massachusetts governor. But, Diehl is correct in his assessment about pledging….. asking for anyone, especially vulnerable, young people to pledge their values or risk ostracism or worse, is simply WRONG- whether coming from the extreme left or right ……
This article was written by Samantha J. Gross and can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthajgross.