More work to be done
Before he died last year, my 83-year-old father-in-law said he believed racism was worse in this country than it had been when was a kid, and if you watch enough television news and talk shows these days you would have to agree.
Recently, a couple of our local kids found themselves in hot water after re-posting, or posting, some racist comments and video on the Internet at their social media accounts. Their comments were swiftly condemned by the community, and rightly so.
A lot of people wanted to know right away what the school was going to do about this, even though it is believed the racist posts were not made at school.
Our public schools can do a lot to help teach, and demonstrate, to our young people how and why racism is wrong, but more importantly it’s up to parents and family members to lay the foundation at home for good values and good moral character in their kids.
Racism in any form must not be tolerated and incidents like these must be taken seriously as teachable moments to promote racial sensitivity and racial diversity.
A letter to the editor on page 3 of this edition from a former HHS student this week further amplifies the need for more work to be done in the community - in every community - to combat racism.
Maybe it’s a new thing, but I think political racism - the effort to use racism to further political causes and campaigns - is just as real as racism itself.
Political racism permeates the national news/opinion talk TV shows. Political racism advertises/promotes racism as a way to divide Americans, in my opinion.
If there is more racism today, then I think it’s because that’s the advertising/promotional intent of a lot of political racism shown on television and online.
Our three local school districts each have different sets of rules when it comes to cell phone use by high school students during the school day.
Schools can help teach students about how to properly use cell phones and the Internet and the schools can do more to promote more respect for all people of all colors and cultures. But it is up to parents and family members to be the first teachers and best role models.
