Thursday, March 17, 2005

The fruits of mandatory diversity training 

At a Catholic New Jersey high school, kids are walking out of class after the state superintendent of education inflamed racial tensions with a "preacher-style" talk about racial justice. Captain Ed notes:
That's why speakers at high schools should be well advised to temper their rhetoric around teenagers; they're not politically or emotionally developed enough to understand the preacher-style stemwinder that Thomas used. (Hell, neither are some adults.)
I think we need to be careful about this. If we tell people that the fruits of preaching about racial justice are inflamed passions and resentment, do we not just feed back into the perception of the diversity community that whites are all latent racists? On the other hand, if Superintendent Thomas' intention was to create racial healing, could she not have known that her style might cause problems? Of course. And how do you deal with this? The problem isn't her; it's that her remarks are not challenged or probably even discussed in the classroom. It isn't necessarily a matter of maturity but one of preparation.

I would love to find a transcript of what she said.

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